ESPM visiting scholar and alum Seth Shonkoff (Ph.D. '12) comments in this NBC Bay Area article on the use of produced water (byproduct of oil extraction) in agriculture fields. “From a food safety perspective, the thing we’re most concerned about,” says Shonkoff, “is whether these chemicals are going to migrate from the water into the plant, and particularly into the edible portion of the plant.”
Phys.org | February 16, 2017
ESPM professor Neil Tsutsui is highlighted in this Phys.org article on honey bee origins, research that could be useful in breeding bees resistant to disease or pesticides. The study combined two large existing databases to provide the most comprehensive sampling yet of honey bees in Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
Daily Californian | February 15, 2017
ESPM visiting scholar and National Park Service Principal Climate Change Scientist Patrick Gonzalez is highlighted in the Daily Californian for his work on a recently published research on the applications of paleontology in climate biology, which will help direct the NPS's conservation efforts. “We are developing plans for managing the National Parks under climate change,” Gonzalez noted. “To do that we need more information on the sensitivity of plants and wildlife and other resources to climate change.”
The Guardian | February 14, 2017
ESPM visiting scholar and NPS Principal Climate Change Scientist Patrick Gonzalez is featured in this Guardian article on the future of the National Park system. Gonzalez noted that the NPS is tackling the issue of climate change in part by adapting its management of the parks to cope with how things might look under climate change rather than trying to maintain them as pictures of the past.
Daily Californian | February 12, 2017
CNR alum Joseph Hurlimann (B.S. '61, M.S. '64, Ph.D. '74) was remembered in this Daily Californian obituary. Hurlimann, who was part of the first class to graduate from CNR, worked as a lab technician under Robert Raabe, a former campus plant pathology professor, for almost 20 years. PMB professor Steve Lindow noted Hurlimann was "the heart and soul of (Raabe's) plant disease control lab."
News Deeply/Water Deeply | February 03, 2017
ESPM professor Todd Dawson is featured in this Water Deeply article on oak tree landscapes in Central California.
MIT Technology Review | January 31, 2017
ERG professor Dan Kammen commented in this MIT Technology Review article on reports that the Trump administration intends to shut down or slash resources for select Department of Energy programs. As the administration has a focus on job creation and careers in solar and wind are among the fast-growing job sectors in the US economy, Kammen noted that common sense shows that "if you can leave ideology behind, which I don't think this administration seems able to do, we know these things create jobs."
LA Times | January 28, 2017
ESPM professor Scott Stephens is featured in this LA Times article on the millions of drought-stressed and beetle-ravaged dead trees across California forests. Limbs and trunks from the dead trees are piling up, turning the forest floor into a tangled mass of fuel. To lessen the fuel build-up, Stephens says federal land managers should conduct prescribed burns in hard-hit areas.
Vice Munchies | January 26, 2017
BFI executive director Ann Thrupp commented in this Vice Munchies article on a recent Trump administration memo directing the USDA to halt all external communications. Thrupp noted that "It is clear that there is a fair amount of confusion regarding the intent of the memo. We do know, however, that the USDA’s responsibility is to release high-quality, unbiased, peer-reviewed research for the public benefit. [The research community] will be watching to ensure that data regarding critical issues like climate change and environmental sustainability is not suppressed."