University of California, Berkeley, scientists have identified more than 35 new groups of bacteria, clarifying a mysterious branch of the tree of life that has been hazy because these microbes can’t be reared and studied in the lab.
Putting Energy Savings Programs to the Test
A $5-billion Weatherization Assistance Program offered ARE faculty the opportunity to study the effectiveness of such energy efficiency efforts.
Environment takes big hit from water-intensive marijuana cultivation
The debate over the legalization of marijuana has focused primarily on questions of law, policy and health. But a new paper co-authored by UC Berkeley researchers shines a spotlight on the environment as an underappreciated victim of the plant’s growing popularity as a cash crop.
DFS postdoc Liz Carlisle wins Green Book Award
Liz Carlisle, a postdoc at the Berkeley Center for Diversified Farming Systems, won the Green Book Festival award for general non-fiction for her book, The Lentil Underground.
Claire Kremen discusses pollinators on KQED's Forum
ESPM Professor Claire Kremen is one of three panelists on KQED's Forum program addressing the decline in bee populations and steps being taken to mitigate the problem.
Ian Sussex, Influential Plant Development Biologist, Is Dead at 88
A Remembrance Gathering will be held 11 a.m., June 13 at Yale University.
Glaunsinger appointed 2015 Howard Hughes Medical Investigator
The PMB associate professor wins prestigious long-term research support.
New bootcamp on spatial data science
We live in a world where the importance of spatial data is ever increasing. Many of the societal challenges we face today — fire response, energy distribution, land use, food scarcity, privacy and safety — are associated with big spatial data.
Soil depletion threatens global food security, study says
If the alarming trajectory of soil depletion does not change, soil erosion, combined with the effects of climate change, will present a huge risk to global food security over the next century, warns a review paper authored by some of the top soil scientists in the country.
Citizen science helps predict spread of sudden oak death
Efforts to predict the emergence and spread of sudden oak death, an infectious tree-killing disease, have gotten a big boost from the work of citizen scientists.
Earth Day Brings Progress, Celebration to UC Gill Tract
The pioneering University-community collaboration at UC's Gill Tract marks its one-year anniversary this Earth Day and celebrates its progress as a center for research, learning, and outreach.
Wildfires emit more greenhouse gases than assumed in state climate targets
A new study quantifying the amount of carbon stored and released through California forests and wildlands finds that wildfires and deforestation are contributing more than expected to the state’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Love national parks? Thank UC Berkeley.
“Cal alumni had a major influence on both launching and maintaining the National Park system,” says wildlife ecology professor Steven Beissinger.
Study IDs key birds that host Lyme disease bacteria in California
Birds are more important than previously recognized as hosts for Lyme disease-causing bacteria in California, according to a new study led by UC Berkeley researchers.
A 23-year experiment finds global warming impacts already underway
A new paper published in Global Change Biology summarizes the results of a 23-year experiment monitoring how global warming is impacting certain ecosystems.
Taking it slow helps cells cope with stress
UC Berkeley scientists have identified a new molecular pathway critical to aging, and confirmed that the process can be manipulated to help make old blood like new again.
Back to the future: Cal and National Parks start second century of science
A conference initiating the science emphasis of the National Park Service (NPS) centennial takes place March 25-27 on the Berkeley campus, exactly a century after an historic conference at Cal paved the way for the 1916 birth of NPS.
Food education streams into the spotlight
The popular and food luminary-studded Edible Education 101 course has moved to CNR this spring. It kicked off with a packed auditorium and a public live-stream.
Warmer, drier climate altering forests statewide
Old trees are declining and smaller trees are denser, a study comparing California forest data from the 1930's with recent U.S. Forest Service data found.
Sensing distant tornadoes, birds flew the coop. What tipped them off?
When birds unexpectedly flee from their nesting grounds, it may be a demonstration of Mother Nature's early-warning system that a massive storm is approaching.