In Fairfield, on the northeast edge of California’s Bay Area, there is a spot where the land drops below a gravel parking lot and into a ravine. Ledgewood Creek flows through an underpass, just out of sight from passing traffic and across from a Home Depot. On a hot day in early September 2024, researchers from UC Davis are in the creek, setting up transects to measure its size and shape.
Tiny fragments of DNA permeate the air, soil, and water around us. This environmental DNA (eDNA) unlocks a non-invasive way to monitor biodiversity and detect species that might otherwise go unnoticed. Dr.
A new community-based flood insurance pilot program in the Sacramento River Delta hopes to more quickly connect residents with aid in the event of a flooding emergency.
Chinook salmon are facing unprecedented challenges as their once-thriving populations struggle to survive. A new study published in the journal Ecosphere suggests that decades of human activities, including ocean harvest, artificial propagation
and reservoir construction, have not only reduced the size of these fish, but also disrupted their ability to spawn successfully.
This project connects immigrant, refugee, and Indigenous women culture keepers from Central Valley agricultural communities with cultural organizers in agricultural communities in the Mississippi Delta through the Mississippi Center for Cultural Production.
Environmental design professor Emily Schlickman studies land use in the Big Chico Creek watershed, which has been devastated by the Park Fire in California.
The clarity of Lake Tahoe’s famed blue waters in 2023 continued its years-long trend of improving during the winter and deteriorating during the summer.
Water experts say that officials must work closely with communities to efficiently manage groundwater systems amid climate change — despite growing animosity among landowners.
Dr. Nina Fontana is a researcher at the University of California Davis in collaboration with USGS Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center. Her research focuses on cultural burning and Traditional Ecological Knowledge in forest-dependent communities. In February 2024, Nina participated in a series of policy engagement workshops in Washington, DC facilitated by COMPASS and the Federation of American Scientists.
