Outdoor enthusiasts scaring off native carnivores in parks
Even a quiet stroll in the park can dramatically change natural ecosystems, according to a new study by conservation biologists from the University of California, Berkeley. These findings could have important implications for land management policies.
(21 July)

Genes could solve pollution mysteries
Scientists have for the first time identified environmental pollutants using a genomic approach. This new gene-based technique could lead to better and faster lab tests for pinpointing pollutants in contaminated ecosystems.
(10 July)

Nature reserves attract humans, but at a cost to biodiversity, says study
Countering a perception that establishing nature reserves in developing nations drives away local communities, a new UC Berkeley study finds that human settlements are actually drawn to protected areas in Africa and Latin America. Unfortunately, the researchers also found a link between high rates of human population growth and illegal harvesting of timber, bushmeat hunting and species extinction.
(03 July)

Genetic study reshuffles bird family tree
The family relationships among the world's 9,600 bird species have been thrown into question by a genetic comparion of bird DNA. According to UC Berkeley ornithologist Rauri Bowie, the study sheds a whole new light on birds' long evolutionary road from the dinosaurs.
(30 June)

Climate change could severely impact California's endemic plants
California's endemic plants — those found no where else in the world — could disappear from their natural ranges as a result of global warming and associated changes in rainfall, according to a new study by UC Berkeley and Duke University researchers.
(24 June)

An alliance for green prosperity?
On a visit to Berkeley and LBNL this week, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet emphasized the value of collaboration between her nation and the state of California as she sought solutions to one of Chile's most pressing challenge: how to provide its own energy.
(13 June)

CITRIS co-sponsors Copenhagen climate and energy conference as lead-in to 2009 UN meeting
On Thursday, June 19, some 250 of the world's leading climate and energy researchers, industry representatives and government leaders will convene in Denmark for an international research summit co-sponsored by the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) at UC Berkeley in partnership with the Copenhagen Climate Council. The conference, organized at the request of the Danish government, aims to identify the critical research and development achievements necessary for a successful transition to a low carbon economy.
(13 June)

Chilean president to talk about new Chilean-California pact
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet will speak at the University of California, Berkeley, this Thursday (June 12) at 5 p.m. on the challenges facing her country and the impacts of a new agreement between Chile and the state of California.
(09 June)

Javan mud volcano triggered by drilling, not quake
On May 29, 2006, a mud volano erupted in East Java that to date has inundated five towns and displaced 30,000 people. It shows no signs of stopping. A new study confirms earlier suggestions that the eruption was triggered, not by a distant earthquake two days before, but by oil drilling.
(09 June)

Rapid escalation characterizes virus/host arms race
In the constant warfare between viruses and their hosts, escalation can be rapid. Looking closely at a small community of microbes collected from acid mine drainage, UC Berkeley researchers have found not only a sophisticated microbial immune system but a simple but effective counterstrategy adopted by viruses.
(22 May)

Q&A: Raj Patel talks about the food crisis
A visiting scholar at UC Berkeley's Center for African Studies, Raj Patel shares insights on the global food crisis. Patel authored the newly released book "Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System."
(21 May)

New study analyzes why endangered parrot population isn't recovering
A new study led by a UC Berkeley biologist sheds light on the factors influencing the stalled growth of the severely endangered Puerto Rican parrot, and in turn, provides an analytical tool that could help pinpoint the biggest factors hindering the recovery of other endangered species.
(06 May)

$2 million for sustainability projects designed by students and faculty
Twenty-three projects aimed at helping people live more sustainably have been granted a total of $2 million through a new program at the University of California, Berkeley, that is funded by the Dow Chemical Co. Foundation.
(01 May)

High environmental certification for Haste Street Center
Officials will gather today (Tuesday, April 29) to celebrate the University of California, Berkeley's first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-silver certified building - the Haste Street Child Development Center - which also is the state's first freestanding LEED-silver certified child care center.
(29 April)

Campus's Sustainability Summit turns five
In a half-day meeting, more than 500 participants take stock of progress and challenges, small and large, in the student-fueled movement to green the UC Berkeley campus
(22 April)

Energy expert Alex Farrell has died
Alex Farrell, an associate professor in the Energy and Resources Group who worked closely with state government over the past year to chart a course to reduce California's carbon emissions, died earlier this week at his home in San Francisco. He was 46.
(17 April)

This year’s Sustainability Summit definitely has an agenda
Reflecting the growing importance of sustainability on campus, Berkeley’s fifth annual summit on the issue is expanding to a half-day, with workshops on everything from greening your own life to the energy frontier far beyond fossil fuels.
(16 April)

Sudden Oak Death pathogen is evolving, says new study that reconstructs the epidemic
A new UC Berkeley-led study finds that the pathogen responsible for Sudden Oak Death, a disease that has felled millions of oaks and tanoaks along the Pacific Coast, is evolving, suggesting that movement of infected plants between different quarantined regions should be minimized. The study also revealed that the pathogen got its first toehold in California's forests outside a nursery in Santa Cruz and at Mt. Tamalpais in Marin County.
(16 April)

Unprecedented conservation map maximizes species protection on biodiversity hot spot
An international team of researchers led by UC Berkeley biologists has developed a remarkable new roadmap for finding and protecting the best remaining holdouts for thousands of rare species that live only in Madagascar, an island nation considered one of the world's jewels of biodiversity. The new plan not only includes lemurs – those large-eyed, tree-hopping primates that have become poster children for conservation – but also species of ants, butterflies, frogs, geckos and plants.
(10 April)

Birgeneau testifies before U.S. Senate panel examining greenhouse gas emissions
UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau outlined for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Thursday the efforts underway on campus to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and discussed research initiatives that have made Berkeley a leading center on energy research and education.
(03 April)

New oak woodland reserve near San Jose
The new Blue Oak Ranch Reserve, a 3,260-acre oak woodland just east of San Jose, will provide a research site for UC scientists and an educational outpost for local college and K-12 students.
(13 March)

New analysis finds alarming increase in expected growth of China CO2 emissions
The growth in China's carbon dioxide emissions is far outpacing the previously expected trajectory for the country, making the goal of stabilizing atmospheric greenhouse gases even more difficult, according to a new analysis by economists at UC Berkeley and UC San Diego.
(10 March)

Carbon calculator provides personalized footprint
Anyone concerned about global warming will want to check out UC Berkeley's new carbon calculator to see how their lifestyle contributes to their personal carbon footprint, and to find ways to reduce their greenhouse gases emissions.
(28 February)

Study finds cloudy outlook for solar panels
Despite increasing popular support for solar photovoltaic panels in the United States, their costs far outweigh the benefits, according to a new analysis by Severin Borenstein, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business and director of the UC Energy Institute.
(20 February)

Genome of marine organism tells of animals' one-celled ancestors
A ubiquitous but little-known marine organism, the choanoflagellate, is the last one-celled ancestor of humans and offers clues to how cells learned to assemble into multicelled organisms. The genome of the choanoflagellate Monisiga has now been sequenced and, according to UC Berkeley's Nicole King, offers clues to the origin of the glue that holds many-celled animals together.
(14 February)

Berkeley, and the nation, turn the spotlight on climate change
In an all-day series of symposiums Jan. 31 at International House, the UC Berkeley campus joined with other colleges and universities across America to 'Focus the Nation' on global warming.
(01 February)

Campus issues statement of environmental commitment
A milestone in the Berkeley campus's efforts to measure and mitigate its impact on the environment, this “statement of commitment to the environment” was approved as campus policy in November 2007.
(30 January)

New director in place to coordinate campus sustainability efforts
Lisa McNeilly starts work as the campus’s first director of sustainability on Wednesday, Jan. 30. The position, reporting to Vice Chancellor for Administration Nathan Brostrom, will (in the words of Chancellor Birgeneau) “better coordinate the many initiatives currently under way to reduce the long-term environmental impact of campus operations.”
(30 January)

Anna's hummingbird chirps with its tail
Male Anna's hummingbirds can now be seen in many West Coast backyards and fields executing theirdisplay dives to seduce females and drive away intruders. UC Berkeley students have now shown that the characteristic chirp at the bottom of the male's dive, thought by many to be vocal, is produced by a split-second flaring of the tail feathers.
(30 January)

Campus joins national Focus the Nation "teach-in" with Jan. 31 global warming symposium
On Thursday, Jan. 31, UC Berkeley will join more than 1,500 institutions - most of them colleges and universities - across the United States in hosting an all-day symposium called "Focus the Nation: Global Warming Solutions for America."
(28 January)

Rich nations' environmental footprint falls on poor
In the first-ever global accounting of the financial costs of environmental damage caused by human activities in high-, middle- and low-income nations, UC Berkeley researchers have found that rich nations disproportionately impact poor countries, exacting a cost that exceeds what the poor owe the rich.
(22 January)

Parasite morphs ant into ripe red berry
Parasites occasionally change the behavior or looks of their host, but a nasty tropical nematode alters both, making its ant host's parasite-filled abdomen resemble a ripe red berry. According to UC Berkeley and Univ. of Arkansas biologists, this behavior is a strategy the nematode evolved to entice birds to eat the ant's abdomen and spread the parasite in their droppings.
(16 January)

Teen pregnancy the norm among dinosaurs
Until recently, paleontologists had found only one dinosaur fossil that was identifyably female: a T. rex that was 18 and pregnant when it died. UC Berkeley researchers now report two more - fossil bones from a 10-year-old female Allosaurus and an 8-year-old female Tenontosaurus - that together indicate dinosaurs grew quickly and became sexually mature before reaching their adult size. Because these dinosaurs typically lived only 30 years, female dinosaurs got pregnant and laid eggs in adolescence.
(14 January)

Orphaned bear cub snuggles into new home at UC Berkeley's Sagehen reserve
A 1-year-old orphaned black bear cub was relocated to UC Berkeley's Sagehen Creek Field Station on Jan. 3, joining two other orphaned bears who were successfully relocated to the reserve in 2005.
(03 January)

Moss genome tells of origin of land plants
Sequencing of the genome of a dainty green moss is telling scientists how aquatic plants learned to survive on land.
(13 December)

East Bay announces its 'green corridor' ambitions
At Richmond's industrial waterfront, leaders of UC Berkeley, four East Bay cities, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab pledged to join forces to make their region a leader in green research and industry.
(04 December)

Black, white, and shades of green
Exploring issues of race, land, and identity, geographer Carolyn Finney finds a place for herself in academia.
(28 November)

Might as well face it — we’re addicted to oil
The first step in cleaning up the environment is plugging in our cars, says Clintonista-turned-Brookings-scholar David Sandalow.
(28 November)

Global warming sends salamanders packing
During two past episodes of global warming, salamanders moved back and forth between North America and Asia as they sought cooler climes. This long march for such a slow-moving creature has been reconstructed by UC Berkeley biologists from genetic and climatic data.
(27 November)

Energy Biosciences Institute contract signed
With a final signature today (Nov. 14) from BP president Bob Malone, the Energy Biosciences Institute has become reality. The EBI partners - BP, the University of California, Berkeley, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - embark on a critical mission to explore the potential of biofuels to help forestall the effects of global warming.
(14 November)

Sun struck
Student concern about global warming is fueling broad research interest in harnessing 'the warm power of the sun.'
(08 November)

A cool, green place to be
Sierra, the 1.2-million circulation national magazine of the Sierra Club, has named the University of California system one of America’s Top 10 “coolest” schools for its efforts to stop global warming.
(08 November)

New program to focus on sustainable products, solutions
With an initial $2 million gift announced today (Tuesday, Oct. 30), the University of California, Berkeley, will move forward to establish a new program aimed at providing students educational and research opportunities in the area of sustainable products and solutions.
(30 October)

Center for Energy and Environmental Innovation launched
Energy and environmental innovation is the focus of a new cross-disciplinary center housed at the University of California, Berkeley, that aims to promote viable global energy solutions.
(24 October)

Claire Kremen, UC Berkeley conservation biologist, wins MacArthur 'genius' fellowship
Claire Kremen, a UC Berkeley conservation biologist whose applied research advances the fields of ecology, biodiversity and agriculture, has been named a MacArthur Fellow, one of 24 nationwide "genius" award recipients announced Tuesday, Sept. 25, by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
(24 September)

What’s modern planning theory got to do with my day hike?
In his latest book, The Country in the City, geography professor Richard Walker calls the Bay Area ‘the leading edge of modern environmentalism.’ Much of what it stands for today, he adds, ‘came right out of Berkeley.’
(19 September)

Ancient whale fall found from Año Nuevo Island
When a whale dies and falls to the bottom in the deep ocean, it attracts a weird community of mollusks, crabs and worms that feed on its oil-rich bones. A 15 million-year-old fossilized whale discovered on Año Nuevo Island is the first fossil whale fall discovered in California, and one of the youngest and most complete fossil whale falls ever found.
(13 September)

Down from the mountains
In 1977, Berkeley biochemist Arlene Blum warned of the dangers of toxic flame retardants in household products -- and then departed academia to climb some of the world's highest mountain peaks. Three decades later, she's picking up right where she left off.
( 12 September )

Forestry field camp at 90
As the term 'forest wars' suggests, our woodlands have long been fiercely contested terrain. For nine decades UC Berkeley students of all stripes — from would-be timber operators to aspiring environmental activists — have been learning the complex science of forestry, from the ground up, at a summer field camp in the northeastern Sierras.
(06 September)

Whales evolved biosonar to chase squid into the deep
Sperm whales, dolphins and other "toothed" whales today chase squid so deep in the ocean that they have to rely on biosonar instead of their eyes to find them. Two UC Berkeley paleontologists have come up with a likely evolutionary scenario to explain how these whales developed their echolocating "biosonar" over the past 40 million years.
(05 September)

Savanna habitat drives birds to cooperative breeding
Birds of a feather stick together, but for African starlings, this is true primarily in savannas, where cooperation improves survival in the unpredictable habitat, according to researchers from UC Berkeley and Cornell. Cooperative breeding, where helpers forego breeding to gather food for the offspring of others in the group, seems to be a successful survival strategy in the highly variable rainfall of the savanna.
(16 August)

Frog-killing fungus could be greater threat, finds new genetic analysis
A new study led by UC Berkeley researchers suggests that a frog-killing fungus may be harder to fight because of the pathogen's ability to spread over long distances and possibly persist in the environment as a consequence of sexual reproduction. The fungus has already decimated populations of mountain yellow-legged frogs in the Sierra Nevada.
(06 August)

Details announced of new vehicle-fuel standard
UC energy experts release their much-anticipated blueprint for fighting global warming by reducing the amount of carbon emitted when transportation fuels are used in California. This "low carbon fuel standard," designed to stimulate improvements in transportation-fuel technologies, is expected to become the foundation for similar initiatives in other states, as well as nationally and internationally.
(02 August)

A big stink to come at UC Botanical Garden
When UC Botanical Garden's rare corpse flower blooms this week, the flower will both attract and repel visitors with its large and visually arresting but odiferously revolting blossom.
(30 July)

Transportation researchers to test Toyota plug-in hybrid vehicles
UC Berkeley transportation researchers have been given a $750,000 grant to conduct, along with project partner groups, the first real-world testing of an automaker-produced, plug-in hybrid electric passenger vehicle (PHEV). The campus's Institute of Transportation Studies announced the award July 25.
(25 July)

UC Berkeley's Alex Farrell joins governor in introducing low-carbon fuel standard for state
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced a proposed new low-carbon fuel standard for the state and praised the University of California scientists who worked intensively over the past four months to put it together.
(18 May)

Greenhouse-gas emissions: How low can we go?
Last week Chancellor Birgeneau announced that that the Berkeley campus has committed to reducing its greenhouse-gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2014 — six years earlier than the target set by California Assembly Bill 32, the Global Solutions Warming Act. The chancellor made the announcement at the campus's fourth annual Sustainability Summit to an enthusiastic audience that packed the Wells Fargo Room in the Haas School of Business.
(02 May)

Birdwatching goes hi-tech with online video camera game
Researchers from UC Berkeley and Texas A&M University have developed a new online game that will allow players to earn points by taking live photos using a remotely controllable robotic video camera and classifying the wild birds they see. The game, to be launched April 23, will be free and open to the public.
(19 April)

Dirty work for a clean creek
UC Berkeley students turned out in force for the campus's spring cleanup of Strawberry Creek.
(18 April)

Green Biofuels Index would aid consumers, market
Confusion reigns around biofuels such as ethanol, because some production methods can be worse for the environment than gasoline refining. A UC Berkeley group proposes a Green Biofuels Index to help consumers decide where to fill their tanks, and to spur a market for "green" biofuels.
(17 April)

Policy expert appointed to intl. biofuels panel
As biofuels take over more of the marketplace, nations around the world are struggling to deal with the environmental and societal effects of producing large quantities of plants for fuel. A UC Berkeley energy expert has been appointed to a new international roundtable to develop guidelines for assessing the impact of biofuels production.
(17 April)

Energy Biosciences Institute timeline
Dates and details on the process leading to creation of the Energy Biosciences Institute.
(12 April)

Energy Biosciences Institute Q&A
Answers to frequently asked questions about the partnership with BP to create the Energy Biosciences Institute
(12 April)

EBI: Taking a closer look
In a package of articles, the Berkeleyan offers details on the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI), including answers to often-asked questions, an overview of the social-science component of the research effort, a primer on intellectual- property issues, and an update on Academic Senate involvement
(12 April)

What is EBI?
Information about the background and objectives of the Energy Biosciences Institute.
(12 April)

Shifting to a biofueled world
Much of the buzz over the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) has centered on the promise of new, cleaner fuels from renewable resources. Equally important will be research by EBI partners into the social, economic, and environmental impacts of the move toward biofuels.
(12 April)

An intellectual-property primer
Carol Mimura, of the campus's Office of Intellectual Property and Industry Research Alliances, helps explain the role of IP in transferring technology to benefit society.
(12 April)

Senate wrestles with industrial alliances
On April 19, the Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate will hold a special meeting to discuss competing views related to the industry-sponsored research contract to establish the Energy Biosciences Institute.
(12 April)

Bees keep her busy as a, well, a bee
Public curiosity about bees kept UC Berkeley graduate student Alex Harmon-Threatt on her toes at an annual wildflower festival last weekend at the Sunol-Ohlone Regional Wilderness, south of Livermore, as kids and adults alike peered through her magnifying glass at a collection of native wild bee species on display.
(10 April)

Weighing the financial risks of nuclear power
Power companies are rushing to invest in new nuclear power plants, thanks to promised government subsidies, but a new study warns that unexpected costs often arise that may not make such plants a good financial investment.
(02 April)

Report makes case against Delta urbanization
Urban development in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta poses a major threat to the Delta's health and sustainability, according to a report released today by the University of California, Berkeley-based Delta Initiative.
(15 March)

US experiment extending Daylight Saving Time unlikely energy saver, researchers say
As the United States readies to launch Daylight Savings Time this Sunday (March 11) -- three weeks earlier than previous years -- residents can count on more sunshine later in the day, but not on saving energy, advise two University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D. students.
(08 March)

Michael Pollan, Whole Foods' John Mackey usher Berkeley foodies into 'ecological era'
A sellout crowd turned out on a rainy, blustery evening for a conversation between a reporter and a grocer — Berkeley professor and food detective Michael Pollan, and Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, who discussed the history of agriculture and the future of organic food.
(28 February)

Feinstein's pitch for cap-and-trade legislation
U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) made a rare visit to the Berkeley campus Friday, Feb. 23, to promote what she called "a practical, achievable, and sustainable regimen" to combat global climate change, beginning with a package of five bills she has either introduced in the Senate or plans to offer in the near future.
(28 February)

First Terner Prize for affordable housing awarded
The inaugural I. Donald Terner Prize for Innovation and Leadership in Affordable Housing — named for the late Berkeley professor and founder of Bridge Housing in San Francisco — has been awarded to Central City Concern for a building that provides 180 units of housing for nearly 700 formerly homeless residents in the historic Pearl District of Portland, Ore.
(28 February)

Berkeley, LBNL, Illinois join forces with BP
The stars came out to celebrate what campus, LBNL, and government officials call the beginning of a beautiful relationship with the University of Illinois and energy giant BP -- in the form of a 10-year, $500 million strategic partnership to develop new, carbon-neutral biofuel technologies at Berkeley. "We are not waiting for a clean energy revolution," declared Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. "We are the leaders in that revolution."
(08 February)

Birgeneau: 'This is going to be a phenomenal place…'
The day following the announcement of BP funding for the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) — led by Berkeley and with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as partners — Chancellor Birgeneau sat down with Public Affairs for a discussion about the implications of this research for Berkeley.
(08 February)

Biologists shed light on health of marbled murrelet population in early 1900s
UC Berkeley biologists studied marbled murrelets specimens collected around the early 1900s, and reconstructed the seabird's reproduction and survival rate before its dramatic decline. Their work provides for the first time a baseline measure of health by which contemporary populations can be compared.
(05 February)

Glossary of alternative-fuel terms
From biofuel to synthetic biology (plus a deeper look at cellulosic biomass), this glossary defines the terms that are important to understanding the issue of alternative fuels.
(01 February)

Energy Biosciences Institute proposal summary
A summary of the plan submitted to BP for creation of the Energy Biosciences Institute lays out the qualifications of the partners and their vision for the institute.
(01 February)

BP awards $500 million for clean energy research
Global energy firm BP announced Feb. 1 that it has selected UC Berkeley, in partnership with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, to lead an unprecedented $500 million research effort to develop new sources of energy and reduce the impact of energy consumption on the environment. The funding will create the Energy Biosciences Institute, which initially will focus its research on biotechnology to produce biofuels.
(01 February)

'Our generation's moon shot': Launching the Energy Biosciences Institute
Excitement and purpose were palpable as the governors of California and Illinois and other speakers addressed a packed press conference announcing the formation of the Energy Biosciences Institute. The launch of the new industry-university partnership, to develop and deliver clean, renewable sources of energy, made today (Thursday, Feb. 1) not only "a good day for the University of California, but a really good day for California — and a tremendous day for Mother Earth," said UC President Robert Dynes.
(01 February)

Point of view: How concerned are you about climate change?
As climate change and energy policy move to center stage, the NewsCenter asks students whether global warming is a major worry for them.
(31 January)

"There is no time": Six Nobel Laureates say averting world's climate crisis requires immediate research, conservation, and regulation
The six Nobel Laureates who participated in the sold-out "Energy Self-Sufficiency in the 21st Century" colloquium took the global climate crisis as the starting point for a freewheeling discussion about the urgent need to make conservation a national way of life, get the U.S. public to accept nuclear reactors, and persuade the U.S. government to serve as a world leader in developing clean, renewable energy sources.
(22 January)

Rotting leaf litter study could lead to more accurate climate models
Bags of decomposing leaf litter have allowed a research team led by scientists at UC Berkeley and Colorado State University to produce an elegantly simple set of equations to calculate the nitrogen released into the soil during decomposition, which in turn could significantly improve the accuracy of global climate change models.
(18 January)

Nobel laureates, chancellor to discuss energy self-sufficiency
Six Nobel laureates will gather at the University of California, Berkeley, with Chancellor Robert Birgeneau this Saturday (Jan. 20) to discuss energy self-sufficiency in the 21st century.
(17 January)