04 May 2010
UC Berkeley launches Master's in Sustainability
By José RodrÃguez, UC Berkeley Marketing & Communications
Recognizing the proven leadership of campus faculty and students in addressing climate change, poverty and public health, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation today (Tuesday, May 4) selected the University of California, Berkeley, as one of 10 universities worldwide to launch a new master’s degree program in development practice.
UC Berkeley and UC Davis were the only two U.S. universities given MacArthur grants this week to set up the program. They and the eight foreign universities also selected are now part of a global network of 20 schools offering advanced degrees in sustainable development practices. Last year, five U.S. and five foreign universities became the first to join the network. The MacArthur Foundation gave grants today totaling $5.6 million; UC Berkeley will receive $800,000 to support this program.
The UC Berkeley program will provide rigorous, cross-disciplinary professional training for future leaders in sustainable development, enrolling 50 students in a two-year master’s degree program that will welcome its first 25 students in fall 2011. It will be housed in the College of Natural Resources and combine the work of faculty across the campus in fields including engineering, business, public health and public policy.
The campus’s success in establishing innovative programs and institutes that cut across diverse disciplines – including the Beahrs Environmental Leadership Program and the Blum Center for Developing Economies – coupled with the strong interest of about 200 UC Berkeley faculty and hundreds of students in pursuing sustainable development studies, contributed to its selection by the MacArthur Foundation, said David Zilberman, professor of agricultural and resource economics in the College of Natural Resources. Zilberman helped spearhead the effort to establish the program on campus.
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Posted by Pinar Aybar at 2:38
15 February 2010
Prof. O'Hara wins 2009 Forestry Achievement Award
Professor Kevin O'Hara received the 2009 Forestry Achievement Award from the Northern California Society of American Foresters for his work with the College's Forestry Club and Society of American Foresters Student Chapter.
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 8:57
30 April 2003
Environmental Science Major Wins 2003 Educational Initiatives Award
by Kathryn Stelljes
Berkeley—The Environmental Sciences Major--the first and only cross-college major at Berkeley—was awarded the Chancellor’s Educational Initiatives Award at a ceremony last night at the Zellerbach Playhouse.
The major allows students in either the College of Natural Resources or the College of Letters & Sciences to take the same curriculum, with a choice of emphasis in biological, physical, or social science.
“No single department can provide a comprehensive view of environmental sciences, and at Berkeley, expertise in this area is distributed widely among departments and colleges,†said Lynn Huntsinger, CNR Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Instruction. “The broad, interdisciplinary academic preparation in this major allows students to work effectively toward solving real-life environmental problems that very rarely fall within the lines separating traditional academic disciplines.â€
Students complete a senior research project and thesis as a capstone experience. In a series of senior courses, students first investigate an environmental problem or issue of their own choosing. Then, working closely with instructors, they design a thesis project and conduct their research.
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 1:39
12 May 2003
Chemical in Broccoli Blocks Growth of Human Prostate Cancer Cells
by Sarah Yang
Berkeley - Those seeking yet another reason to eat their veggies, take note. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have found that a chemical produced when digesting such greens as broccoli and kale can stifle the growth of human prostate cancer cells.
The findings show that 3,3'-diindolylmethane (DIM), which is obtained by eating cruciferous vegetables in the Brassica genus, acts as a powerful anti-androgen that inhibits the proliferation of human prostate cancer cells in culture tests.
"As far as we know, this is the first plant-derived chemical discovered that acts as an anti-androgen," said Leonard Bjeldanes, professor and chair of nutritional sciences and toxicology at UC Berkeley's College of Natural Resources and principal investigator of the study. "This is of considerable interest in the development of therapeutics and preventive agents for prostate cancer."
Vegetables such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale and cauliflower are rich sources of indole-3-carbinol (I3C), which the body converts into DIM during digestion. Over the years, Bjeldanes has been researching the anti-cancer properties of dietary indoles with co-author Gary Firestone, UC Berkeley professor of molecular and cell biology.
The new study will be published in the June 6 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, but is now available online.
Androgen is an important hormone for the normal development and function of the prostate, but it also plays a key role in the early stages of prostate cancer, which is typically treated with anti-androgen drugs.
In most cases of prostate cancer, the cancer cells develop resistance to androgen and grow independently of the hormone in later stages of the disease.
In the new study, the researchers conducted a series of tests comparing the effects of DIM on androgen-dependent human prostate cancer cells as well as on their androgen-independent counterparts.
They found that androgen-dependent cancer cells treated with a solution of DIM grew 70 percent less than the same type of cancer cells that had been left untreated. The same solution had no effect on the growth of androgen-independent cells, pointing to androgen inhibition as the key mechanism by which the DIM is acting.
This was confirmed with further tests showing that DIM inhibits the actions of dihydrotestosterone (DHT), the primary androgen involved in prostate cancer. DHT stimulates the expression of prostate specific antigen (PSA), which acts as a growth factor for prostate cancer. When androgen-dependent cells were treated with DIM, the researchers found a drop in the level of PSA.
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 1:28
05 May 2004
The New Consumers: Future Challenges to Sustainability
by Kelly Hill
The new consumers are coming, and they have a dramatic environmental impact.
Norman Myers, who has been called the Paul Revere of the environmental movement, brought that message to a crowd at the Alumni House as the guest lecturer at Tuesday afternoon’s William Main Distinguished Visitor lecture by the College of Natural Resources’ Center for Forestry. Due to the rapid development of countries such as China, Mexico, South Africa, India and Brazil, the wall-to-wall poverty of decades past is giving rise to a new global middle class.
Myers, who grew up in northern England and earned his undergraduate and masters degrees at Oxford, received his Ph.D. from Berkeley’s College of Natural Resources in 1973. He has worked in countries around the world and received many awards for his work in the environmental arena. He is at Berkeley to receive the Haas International Award, to be presented at the campus Commencement Convocation ceremony on May 13.
While Myers noted that the swift rise from poverty has vastly improved the lives of millions, he also sounded cautionary notes on what could happen if all global consumers follow the same path as wealthy nations such as the U.S.. And, he said, wealthy countries themselves need to take a hard look at their resource consumption.
“We in the rich world can’t start being critical of folks on the horizon unless we are setting a massive, undeniable example ourselves,†Myers said.
Myers said that the long-standing ultra-rich number about 850 million in a world of 6.1 billion. The new consumers could reach 1.1 billion people in 17 developing countries, with 300 million in China alone.
But the environmental impact of providing houses, food and electricity-powered appliances, televisions and computers to those new consumers could, as Myers put it, have the world bumping against the ceiling of its natural resources
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 9:42
22 April 2005
Schools can Improve Nutritional Value of Food While Increasing Revenue
by Sarah Yang
BERKELEY – When schools kick high-sugar sodas and high-fat chips off their campuses, food service department revenues tend to increase, according to a new report by researchers at CNR's Center for Weight and Health.
The findings provide encouraging news to school officials concerned about the budgetary hit they might take if they eliminate junk food from school grounds.
"Our results show that when kids have less access to high fat, high sugar snack foods and beverages, they will switch to healthier meals," said Patricia Crawford, co-director of the Center for Weight and Health and co-author of the report. "This trend can benefit the students' health as well as the school food service department's bottom line."
The conclusion comes from a fiscal analysis of 16 middle and high schools in nine school districts in California that participated in a pilot program called Linking Education, Activity and Food (LEAF). The Nutrition Services Division of the California Department of Education established the LEAF program with funding from the California Department of Food and Agriculture to pilot test the implementation of Senate bills 19 and 56 (SB 19/56).
The state education department contracted with UC Berkeley's Center for Weight and Health to evaluate the impact on schools that implemented SB 19/56. The fiscal analysis is the first in a series of evaluation reports on the LEAF program to be produced by the center, which is based at UC Berkeley's College of Natural Resources.
The state bills, together called the Pupil Nutrition, Health and Achievement Act of 2001, set nutrition standards for food and drinks sold outside the federally regulated school meal programs, such as items in vending machines, snack bars, student stores or on a la carte menus. Such offerings - classified as "competitive" foods by school nutrition experts - are typically high in sugar and/or fat, and low in nutritional value.
Under the bill's guidelines, the percentage of total calories from fat in such foods would be capped at 35 percent, and the total weight from sugar limited to 35 percent or less. Sodas would be replaced with water, milk and fruit drinks that have at least 50 percent fruit juice and no added sweeteners. Certain sports drinks would be allowed only if they contained, at most, 42 grams of added sweeteners per 20-ounce serving.
"I am glad to see evidence that schools do not have to forfeit revenue as a tradeoff to offering healthy options to students," said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell. "We know from prior studies that students with healthy eating habits perform better in class. I hope this study will encourage more schools to increase the availability of nutritious food and drink options and eliminate unhealthy snacks."
Schools that participated in the pilot program were each given $200,000-250,000 to implement SB 19/56 regulations as well as policies promoting consumption of fresh produce grown in California. These funds were particularly critical for upgrading kitchen facilities and improving the appeal of the meals and serving areas in order to encourage students to participate in the school meal program. Some ongoing funding for coordination and evaluation, as well as to support nutrition education and promotion, would probably also be beneficial to ensure fiscally sustainable institutionalization of the nutrition standards.
The report analyzed two academic years' worth of data - from September 2002 through June 2004, excluding summer months. The researchers focused on sustainable daily revenues and expenses, so they did not include grant funds in revenue figures, nor did they include one-time capital expenditures in their calculation of expenses.
The report's authors found that 13 out of the 16 participating sites saw increases in food service per capita gross revenues ranging from 1 to 38 percent during the study period.
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 1:18
05 November 2009
Physical education key to improving health in low-income adolescents
School-based physical education plays a key role in curbing obesity and improving fitness among adolescents from low-income communities, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and UC Berkeley.
The study, which identifies opportunities for adolescents to improve their health based on routine daily activities, finds that regular participation in PE class is significantly associated with greater cardiovascular fitness and lower body mass index.
“We took an incredibly comprehensive look at all of the opportunities kids have throughout their day to engage in physical activity and determined which are the most strongly linked to fitness and weight status,†said first author Kristine Madsen, MD, MPH, an assistant professor of pediatrics at UCSF Children’s Hospital. “Obesity continues to be a major public health concern, particularly in low-income communities, so it is imperative that we develop targeted interventions to improve the health of at-risk youth.â€
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 1:17
05 July 2005
Kent Daane named grape and raisin liaison
by Jeannette Warnert
Kent Daane, Cooperative Extension specialist at UC Berkeley, has been appointed the University’s research liaison with the California Raisin Marketing Board and the California Table Grape Commission effective July 1.
In this role, Daane consults with the commodities’ research advisory boards, which provide guidance on grant requests that have been submitted by researchers. The California Raisin Marketing Board disburses about $200,000 annually and the California Table Grape Commission disburses about $550,000 annually to fund research in the crops grown by their members. Daane’s work as research liaison will be in addition to his current duties.
Daane has studied pest control strategies for California crops since 1990 at the UC Kearney Research and Extension Center in Fresno County. He and his research staff focus on the development of ecologically based pest management systems. Programs are developed to help farmers achieve economic success while farming using environmentally and socially sustainable practices.
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 0:48
01 August 2005
Student Resource Center gets new computers
The College of Natural Resources’ Student Resource Center located in 260 Mulford recently acquired ten new computers, replacing older computers that did not meet University security standards.
The new computers not only meet security standards, but also provide faster and more powerful computing.
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 0:40
10 December 2005
Student research: different perspectives, common goals
The first joint undergraduate poster session with CNR and the College of Engineering was a hit with students, faculty, and staff.
Taking on the theme of Natural Bridges: Different Perspectives, Common Goals, the forum gave students in a variety of disciplines to showcase their work, which ranged from projects in progress, to completed honors projects.
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 9:26
13 October 2009
Alum's Project is a Finalist for the BBC World Challenge
Andaman Discoveries, a non-profit organization founded by CNR alumnus Bodhi Garrett, is among twelve finalists in the 2009 BBC World Challenge. The BBC World Challenge recognizes "innovative business projects that increase investment into the local community and take a responsible approach to the environment in which they are operating." Andaman Discoveries was chosen by a jury of high-level executives from Shell, BBC World, the World Bank, IUCN, and Newsweek. The World Challenge winner, selected from among the twelve finalists by BBC viewers and readers via online voting, receives a $20,000 grant.
"Our connection to the villages comes from rebuilding our lives together, and our projects focus on the big picture, empowering people to define their own future. This means that, along with responsible tourism, we also support scholarships for 120 kids, reforestation, [and] a community development network," says Garrett.
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 1:33
12 October 2009
Professor Honored for Outstanding Contributions to California Forestry
The California State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection presented the Francis H. Raymond Award for Outstanding Contributions to California Forestry to Dr. William Libby on October 7, 2009.
Dr. Libby is Professor Emeritus of Forest Genetics, having taught forestry at the College of Natural Resources in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management between 1962 and 1994. His pioneering work in the field of forest tree genetics is internationally recognized and respected. Dr. Libby has practiced forestry on several continents and is well known for his work with California’s coast redwood and Monterey pine trees.
Though he officially retired in 1994, Dr. Libby has continued to educate and enlighten across the borders of country and perspective. He currently sits on the Board of the Save the Redwoods League with a focus on promoting research on redwood forest disturbance effects and the impacts of climate change on California’s coast redwood and giant sequoia forests. Dr. Libby’s observations on state and national forest policy are reflective of his insight and intellectual curiosity. His dedication in service to the forests of California and elsewhere is inspirational.
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 7:59
05 October 2009
CNR Student Helps Keep Water Fresh in Uganda
CNR student David Dinh is helping rural Ugandans to have access to safe drinking water.
"In every home in Uganda, drinking water is traditionally stored in a clay pot and culturally, there is a tremendous preference for this method of water storage. Unfortunately, water stored through this method can become quickly contaminated from repeated hand contact," Dinh writes. Because of the need for safe water storage, Dinh has helped to create improved clay pots with plastic spigots. They are "an affordable, accessible, and culturally appropriate safe water storage approach for rural Ugandan communities, " says Dinh.
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 1:39
06 July 2009
Growing young scientists in Tahiti
A University of California, Berkeley, project to catalog nearly every living thing on the Polynesian island of Moorea is enlisting the help of the island's 5th graders and showing them that science is not for foreigners only.
While conducting research for his thesis and for the Moorea Biocode Project, ESPM graduate student Brad Balukjian has been teaching 5th graders at the Paopao Primary School about biodiversity and introducing them to the scientific study of the plants and animals they see every day.
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Posted by Cyril at 5:22
21 April 2009
ELP Alumna wins Goldman Environmental Prize
Working to reduce the impact of Bangladesh’s exploitative and environmentally-devastating ship breaking industry, leading environmental attorney Syeda Rizwana Hasan spearheaded a legal battle resulting in increased government regulation and heightened public awareness about the dangers of ship breaking.
Hasan is a 2003 alumna of CNR's renowned Beahrs Environmental Leadership Program, which provides mid-career professionals and policymakers from around the globe with an opportunity to interact with UC Berkeley faculty engaged in up-to-date research and policy analysis on sustainable environmental management.
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Posted by Cyril at 3:27
09 September 2008
Teaching Biology at Prison University
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 3:35
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