Graduate Students

Research Description

Sustainable Consumption and Environmentalism in India

Modern consumption patterns are among the primary drivers of environmental problems like climate change. Globalization and economic liberalization are enabling individuals in emerging economies like India and China to access…[read more]

Research Interests

Population Genetics, Biological Control, Hybridization, Plant Insect Interactions

Research Description

Sustainable Agriculture

If we consider plant physiology and ecology data together, a more complete picture arises. Crop productivity cannot be calculated from synthetic chemical input alone, but relies also in a crop ecosystem that by itself…[read more]

Research Description

My research aims to examine how different protected area governance strategies influence conflict arising at the interface of extractive industry and biodiversity conservation. Madagascar, an island globally renowned for its biodiversity, species endemism, and high…[read more]

Research Interests

Geochemistry (of soils, oceans and the atmosphere), Terrestrial sulfur cycle, Astrobiology

Research Interests

Freshwater ecology, biological indicators, land use and climate change, dragonfly distribution

Research Interests

Systematics/Natural HIstory/Entomology/Evolutionary Biology

Research Description

My life now isn’t that much different than it was when I was 8 years old. I wander outside with a net chasing insects and putting them in jars. Except now I do it in…[read more]

Research Description

How do science and democracy shape each other? My research examines this question by tracing how knowledge about the environment is produced and used in Chile’s Environmental Impact Assessment process. Chile is an interesting country…[read more]

Research Interests

Science and Technology Studies (STS), Political Ecology, Public Policy || Agriculture and food systems, Diversified farming systems, Food justice, Politics of technological change and development, Collective knowledge production, Science and democracy, Sustainability, efficiency, and other normative frameworks for socio-environmental governance

Research Description

Equitable and Sustainable Food Systems

The great success story of American agriculture in the 20th century was increasing productivity. The industrialization of agriculture through mechanization, technological innovation, and consolidation allowed massive yield increases with…[read more]

Research Description

I am interested in behavioral and spatial aspects of wildlife disease. Through the use of dynamic modeling and field work I hope to gain insight into how host movement and social behavior contribute to the…[read more]

Research Description

Hekia is interested in the power dynamics between nation-states and indigenous peoples, specifically the way in which hegemonic powers are influenced by indigenous resistance movements today. She employs social theory to explore the impact of…[read more]

Research Interests

Biological Control of Insects

Research Interests

Forest ecology and management, carbon allocation and sequestration, clonal regeneration

Research Description

Currently, my research interests include global scale geographic data analysis, focus on spherical spatial analysis, and application of remote sensing data in ecosystem models. During my graduate study in UC Berkeley, I developed a spatial…[read more]

Research Interests

My research interests include the ecological and historical roles of fire in the western United States, and addressing relevant management questions. Current research includes shaded fuel break vegetation regrowth according to treatment type and site factors.

Research Description

Trees are fundamental to tropical rain forests and very often ecological related questions require knowledge of plant species identity. And since many forest trees flower infrequently, identifying plants from only leaf specimens is quite common….[read more]

Research Interests

Global Environmental Health; drinking water; WASH; metrics & evaluation; rural poverty; Asia/China

Research Description

My research is situated in the field of Global Environmental Health with a focus on water and sanitation. Specifically, I am interested in water quality, drinking water safety and treatment, as well as sanitation & hygiene…[read more]

Research Description

I research how to reduce the environmental burdens and increase the social benefits from production activities.

Motivated to identify greenhouse gas mitigation strategies, my dissertation research seeks to better explain the places, markets, production practices and…[read more]

Research Description

Climate Change and Environmental Justice

I am interested in the intersections between climate change impacts and adaptation and environmental justice. At the moment my work focuses on vulnerable populations and distribution of risk, vulnerability, and adaptation…[read more]

Research Description

• Policy frameworks for adapting to climate change in water management
• Equity and role of science in natural resource policy
• Flood management in the California Delta
• Managing climate risks for sustainable development in South and SE Asia

…[read more]

Research Interests

plant stress, forest community ecology, silviculture, urban-rural interfaces, cultural landscapes, and environmental history

Research Interests

Phylogenetics, Population genetics, Drosophila

Research Description

My research interests broadly encompass the systematics, behavior and biogeography of carabid beetles. I am particularly interested in the snail-eating beetles belonging to the genus Scaphinotus. Using contemporary methods in morphological and molecular systematics I…[read more]

Research Description

Influence of Microbial Bodies on Soil Humification Processes

I am interested in the ways in which microbial bodies are broken down and metabolized by other microbes and transformed into soil organic matter. My research uses 13C…[read more]

Research Interests

Natural resource governance with indigenous peoples in Pacific Northwest salmon watersheds

Research Description

I am studying co-management (collaborative or cooperative management) of natural resources with indigenous peoples.  This course of study builds off of eight years of previous NGO work on issues of community participation in natural resource…[read more]

Research Interests

Ecosystem and Landscape Ecology, Remote Sensing and GIS, Biodiversity and Conservation, Coupled Human and Natural Systems

Research Description

My current dissertation research applies multi-scale analysis of remote sensing and field data to examine spatio-temporal variation and functional diversity of wetland vegetation and its linkages with waterbird habitat associations.

Specific interests:

1. Manifestation of landscape ecosystem…[read more]

Research Interests

Indirect Interactions, Parasitoid Food Webs and Dispersal in Disturbed Landscapes, Host Selection

Research Description

Parasitoid wasps can significantly affect the population growth and dynamics of host species. Researches have focused on numerous “just-so” ecology-based systems involving specialized parasitoids and their hosts.  However, parasitoids can also be relative generalists, and…[read more]

Research Description

Evolution of social behaviours and colony function

I am interested in the evolution of complex social behaviours in ants, particularly in ant-ant associations. My research focuses on chemical, genetic and behavioural aspects of ant nesting interactions,…[read more]

Research Interests

Landscape Ecology, Conservation Planning, Collaborative Resource Management, Adaptive Management

Research Description

I am an interdisciplinary environmental scientist, interested in collaborative natural resource management. My research bridges geography, landscape ecology, and land use planning to address complex natural resource management issues in California. Many of the environmental…[read more]

Research Interests

Geochemical processes; Impact of life on surface processes

Research Description

Broadly, I am interested in the intersection of natural resource use and human health. My research will explore how ecosystem changes and interactions between wildlife and people impact human health.

My study site is located in…[read more]

Research Description

I am interested in three main academic areas: interaction between organisms and ecosystem processes; connectivity among ecosystems; and impacts of land use. More specifically I am interested in how these topics play out in the…[read more]

Research Interests

Gender and Participatory Development, Indigenous Knowledge, Race and Environmental Policy

Research Description

I investigate the conflation of gendered perspectives into homogenous frameworks in which women’s engagement in natural resource management is obscured. My research focuses on Gullah Geechee fisherwomen in South Carolina’s Sea Islands. I critique fisheries…[read more]

Research Interests

quantitative ecology, wildlife ecology, biodiversity, bird song

Research Description

I manage a long-term, large-scale, biodiversity monitoring project for the California Department of Fish and Game (birds, mammals, plants) .

My current research includes:

1. Species- and community-level modeling of biodiversity monitoring data in order to provide trend information…[read more]
   

Research Interests

Fungal ecology

Research Description

I am interested in the interactions between aboveground and belowground terrestrial communities, in particular the effects of mycorrhizal symbioses on plant community composition and function. I am also interested in understanding broad patterns of fungal…[read more]

Research Interests

Microbial diversity and ecology of extreme environments

Research Description

My research interests are in the intersection of environmental ethics, animal studies, and STS. Specifically, I am looking at the human-animal and human-nature dichotomies and how they bear on ethical theory and societal norms. One…[read more]

Research Interests

Systematics; Coleoptera; Behavior; Microscopy

Research Description

I am generally interested in Coleopteran systematics, behavior, biogeography, and ecology.  I am especially intersted in unique behaviors or morphological characters and their effects on the diversification of beetle groups.  I also enjoy scientific illustration…[read more]

Research Interests

political ecology, rural livelihoods, human-wildlife conflict, conservation policy, community-based natural resource management, Botswana

Research Description

My dissertation examines the way in which conservation policy, in relation to broader political economic dynamics, has influenced rural livelihood strategies in a set of villages around Chobe National Park in northern Botswana. More specifically,…[read more]

Research Interests

Conservation, restoration, community ecology, and environmental management.

Research Description

My research is focused on understanding how an endangered keystone species, the Giant Kangaroo Rat (Dipodomys ingens), interacts with the plant community in California’s largest remnant grassland at Carrizo Plain National Monument. Specifically, I’m interested…[read more]

Research Description

My research interests are focused on the effects of population connectivity, via the dispersal of individuals, on population dynamics of threatened and endangered wildlife. I use a combination of direct and indirect techniques to measure…[read more]

Research Interests

Riparian forest ecology, physical-biological interactions in river systems (e.g., effects of altered disturbance regimes on vegetation dynamics), persistence strategies of pioneer trees, floodplain restoration and water resources management.

Research Interests

Codiversification of a plant-insect mutualism in the Pacific

Research Description

I am interested in the role of coevolution (reciprocal natural selection) in generating biological diversity. Although biodiversity (especially in the tropics) is often attributed to extreme ecological specialization and coevolution, we have a poor understanding…[read more]

Research Interests

Spider and Grassland Ecology

Research Description

Forest carbon measurement and modeling from remotely-sensed data; statistical methods for forest assessment; statistical object recognition and classification from remotely-sensed data; modeling of individual tree growth and yield over spatial-temporal domains.

Research Interests

My research interests include Parasitology, Marine Biology, Ecology and Biological Control. At UC Berkeley I utilized my first summer studying the consumption rates on the invasive lettuce aphid, Nasonovia ribisnigri, by four syrphid larvae commonly found in Hollister, Ca. Currently I am researching the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM), an invasive moth from Australia in California. My 2nd and 3rd summer, I studied the tritrophic interactions among the host plants, LBAM, and LBAM's parasitoid wasps. Currently I am investigating competition and behavior of an Australian parasitoid, Goniozus jacintae on its host (LBAM); in addition to physiological consequences of parasitism and superparasitism.

Research Interests

Community diversity, plant population dynamics, alpine tundra

Research Interests

Remote Sensing, GIS, Hydrological Modeling

Research Description

Matthew does work primarily with the phylogeography of forest trees of California, particularly red fir and tanoak.

Research Interests

Aquatic ecology, pesticide ecotoxicology, sustainable agriculture

Research Description

Pyrethroid insecticides are rapidly replacing organophosphate pesticides in many countries, due to their lower toxicity to humans and other organisms. However, recent studies indicate that pyrethroids tend to persist longer in sediments, and that concentrations…[read more]

Research Interests

Atmospheric Chemistry, Aerosol, Instrumentation

Research Description

I work to develop and improve in-situ instrumentation to better study the sources and formation pathways of atmospheric particulate matter. By collecting and analyzing the specific organic compounds in particulate matter, we are able to…[read more]

Research Interests

Carbon sequestration dynamics in forested ecosystems

Research Interests

biogeochemistry, reactive transport, soil aggregates, selenium

Research Description

Aggregate scale transport and biogeochemical heterogeneity effects on selenium reduction and retention in soils

Selenium (Se) plays a role of twofold importance in the environment: Trace amounts are essential to the growth and wellbeing of animals…[read more]

Research Description

My research focuses on the effects, both ecological and socio-economic, of human displacement from national parks in Cameroon.

I am interested in finding conservation solutions that leave space for social justice, human well-being and security but…[read more]

Research Interests

GIS, spatial analysis, environmental justice, public health, health disparities

Research Description

I use geographic information systems (GIS) and spatial analysis to evaluate the availability and accessibility of resources that influence health behaviors and outcomes, such as food, recreational resources, and public transportation. I’m also interested in…[read more]

Research Interests

Plant ecology, plant ecophysiology, plant water relations

Research Description

My overarching area of interest is plant water relations.  Specifically, I’m investigating how coastal fog might facilitate the establishment of Baccharis pilularis (commonly called coyote brush) in rare coastal prairie habitat in central coastal California. To…[read more]

Research Description

My research broadly involves the development and application of theoretical and simulation models to predict the distribution of biodiversity in fragmented landscapes. I am also engaged in several field projects that aim to gather basic…[read more]

Research Interests

Food systems, farm to hospital, commodity networks, alternative agrifood movements, ecological nutrition, corporeality

Research Description

My interests lie at the nexus of public health and alternative agrifood movements.  I’m conducting participatory action research within the farm to hospital movement, exploring how an ecological nutrition approach to food and health is…[read more]

Research Interests

Global Metropolitan Studies, Political Ecology, Science and Technology Studies

Research Description

My research focuses on international environmental governance of electronic waste recycling. My work crosses both environmental and social sciences through a political ecology and science studies approach. I am interested in questions around…[read more]

Research Interests

Population Genetics of Phytophthora ramorum (causal agent of Sudden Oak Death)

Research Interests

Fire, GIS, and LiDAR

Research Description

Investigating the uses of LiDAR for wildfire models.  Specifically, utilizing LiDAR to derive fuel characteristics for the physics-based fire model, FIRETEC

…[read more]

Research Interests

Forest Ecology / Disturbance Ecology

Research Description

My work is inspired to better understand forest ecosystems and answer pressing questions about how we should protect, use, and manage our forests. During the past century, many American western forests have seen dramatic changes…[read more]

Research Interests

Historical population genetics and invasions

Research Interests

Information and Environmental Governance in Collaborative Management of Public Resources

Research Description

China: Environment and Information

China is the fastest growing country, the most rapidly changing country, and has the most far-reaching ripples in the world. How can China sustain its economic growth as well as its environment?…[read more]

Research Description

Self-perpetuating systems

I am in John Harte‘s lab. I am investigating a hypothesized feedback system in which biology and geomorphology reinforce each other in the mound-pool microtopography of many California grasslands. In previous work I…[read more]

Research Interests

Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Remote Sensing, Land Use Change, Biofuels

Research Interests

Remote Sensing, GIS, LULC, biodiversity, infectious disease

Research Interests

Tropical Ecology and Conservation Biology

Research Description

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Tropical Forest Conversion to Oil Palm

Oil palm expansion may be the single most immediate threat to terrestrial biodiversity with staggering growth across the tropics. Specifically, over nine million hectares of oil palm plantations continue to…[read more]

Research Description

Conservation, development and land use in southern Africa

My research examines patterns of conservation, rural development, and land use in southern Africa, primarily Zambia. I compare and contrast the types of information gathered from different methods…[read more]

Research Interests

Economic and Environmental Impacts of Wildlife Management in Rangelands

Research Description

I study how policy that regulates hunting and management for hunting impacts  environmental and economic factors on privately owned rangelands.  I’m evaluating these impacts in oak savannas in Spain, Texas, and California, three places with unique policy…[read more]

Research Description

Plant-insect and multi-trophic interactions, smoke ecology, sunflower moth population genetics

Insect community ecology: Predator-herbivore-plant interactions, and potential effects of smoke from wildfire on these interactions.

Insect population genetics and genomics: Population genetics of sunflower moth Homoeosoma electellum…[read more]

Research Description

Hawaiian aquatic ecosystem resilience

I am interested in nearshore coastal ecosystem resilience in the face of multiple anthropogenic stressors including climate change, sea level rise, nutrient loading, and invasive species. Specifically, I am working in two…[read more]

Research Description

At the broadest level, I am interested in how state-society relations influence the development of more “sustainable” industries. I examine the overlapping efforts of public institutions, the private sector and civil society to shape new…[read more]

Research Description

Floodplain Restoration

Rivers provide a variety of ecological services necessary to sustain human communities, and floodplains are integral parts of river ecosystems and critical to many of these services. Over the last century, however, humans have…[read more]

Research Interests

Behavior and chemical ecology of social insects; cue use in multitrophic interactions; phorid flies; ant associated beetles

Research Interests

My main interests relate to the biogeochemical controls on greenhouse gas fluxes from soil and the methods used to extrapolate in situ flux measurements across larger scales.

Research Interests

Agroecology; Diversified Farming Systems; Multi-functional Agriculture; Political Economy of Agricultural Development

Research Description

My research explores the tradeoffs and synergies between biodiversity and agricultural production. I am interested in multi-disciplinary and applied approaches for studying the influence of biodiversity in and around farming systems on the provisioning of…[read more]

Research Interests

Social movements, hegemony and articulation, justice and equality, Vietnam and East Asia

Research Interests

Chemical Ecology

Research Interests

Forestry

Research Description

My research is on the spatial clonal patterns of coast redwood.  By incorporating genetic data into forest structure indices, I hope to provide a framework that incorporates genotype data in a way that is meaningful…[read more]

Research Interests

Groundwater Geochemistry of Arsenic

Research Description

I am interested in the abiotic groundwater geochemistry of arsenic in altered local aquifer environments. Aquifers are comprised of saturated geologic units whose chemical mineralogy represents complex assemblages of dominant and trace solid phases. In…[read more]

Research Interests

Lepidoptera (moths); Island Biogeography; Systematics

Research Description

Most of my work revolves around Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) on Pacific Islands. I am particularly interested in the evolutionary histories, biogeography, ecology, and conservation of “microlepidoptera” (small moths) in the Hawaiian Islands, Society Islands,…[read more]

Research Interests

Geochemical processes occurring at Earth's surface, Application of isotopic techniques to geochemical problems

Research Interests

Women's Transborder Activism on Environmental Justice in the San Diego-Tijuana region

Research Interests

Mima mound-vernal pool ecosystems; bioturbation; geomorphology; GIS

Research Description

Broadly, my research explores the interactions and feedbacks between life and landscape. I am using a combination of remote sensing (LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging)), spatial pattern analysis, geomorphic modeling, and biologic monitoring to explore…[read more]

Research Description

I’m broadly interested in behavioral ecology, sexual selection, and mating behavior. My primary research focuses on acoustic, visual, and multi-modal communication.

Research Interests

Resilience of Rainfed Agroecosystems to Climatic Variability (Mexico)

Research Description

Diversified farming systems and indigenous land management in Latin America. Current research focuses on farmer-led adaptation strategies to climatic variability in the semi-arid, tropical highlands of Southern Mexico. Collaborative research with a the Centro de…[read more]

Research Description

Urban tree mortality

Why do trees die in cities? Understanding the urban tree mortality process is critical to planning for cycles of tree removal and replacement, modeling tree population changes over time, and accurately predicting ecosystem…[read more]

Research Description

Applications of Technology to Ecological Study

Broadly, I am interested in the fusion of our ever-evolving technological capabilities with conservation and resource planning objectives. Remote sensing technology provides new types and scales of data collection while…[read more]

Research Interests

Macroecology, ecological theory, evolution on islands

Research Description

My research focuses on understanding the limits and successes of statistical theories of biodiversity, such as the maximum entropy theory of ecology or the unified neutral theory of biodiversity. My ultimate goal is to use…[read more]

Research Interests

Climate Change Impacts on Carbon Storage in Annual Grassland, Nitrogen Deposition Effects on CA Soils

Research Description

Broadly, my research explores global change ecology questions and employs field manipulations, laboratory studies, ecological modeling, and stable isotope and radiocarbon ecological research methods. I am specifically interested biogeochemical mechanisms driving changes in ecosystem carbon…[read more]

Research Interests

Engineering Studies, Environmental Science and Technology Studies (STS), Sustainability Engineering, Green Engineering, Solar and Wind Energy Systems, Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), Engineering-specific metrics of sustainability, Philosophy of Engineering, Engineering Education for Sustainable Development.

Research Description

Dissertation Project Summary:

Much of the world’s socio-cultural, environmental, health and industrial prosperity depends on the design and governance of engineering projects, in particular energy infrastructure (Nader, 1980; UNIDO, 2010). In recent years, technological expertise,…[read more]

Research Interests

Restoration Ecology, Pollination Ecology, Native Bee Conservation, Agrobiodiversity

Research Description

Native bees provide the essential ecosystem service of pollination in both agricultural and natural areas. However, native bee populations are increasingly threatened due to agricultural intensification, habitat fragmentation and habitat loss. Ecological restoration has been…[read more]

Research Description

I am interested in the ways in which science is used to inform the management of water resources.  My work has focused on the Klamath Basin of Northern California and Southern Oregon, and has examined…[read more]

Research Interests

Population and environment, demography, climate change, family planning, international development, gender, race, medical anthropology, political ecology, science & technology studies, U.S., Africa

Research Description

Dissertation: “Empower Women, Save the Planet? Environmental Advocacy and the Search for a Progressive Population Movement.”

Research Interests

Wetland Ecology, Climate Change Modeling

Research Description

My research focuses on the monitoring and restoration of tidal wetlands in the San Francisco Bay Estuary. Combining field experiments and remote sensing, I’m examining how predicted sea-level rise might affect tidal wetland plant species…[read more]

Research Description

My research interests lie at the intersection of landscape and population ecology. I am interested in developing integrated models for understanding and predicting how populations will respond to human disturbances to landscapes, especially in the…[read more]

Research Description

I am currently studying life history variation in arthropod communities with a combination of field work, population models, and statistical model-fitting methods.

Research Interests

Marine Fisheries, Food Security, Development, Conflict Studies, Africa

Research Description

Since the 1980’s, marine fisheries have experienced a dramatic decline in global catches, despite overwhelming increases in technology and capitalization. Furthermore, by 2025, the number of people living within 60 miles of coastlines is projected…[read more]

Research Interests

Environmental Health, Epidemiology, Climate Change, Environmental Policy

Research Description

Primarily, I am interested in environmental health and equity implications associated with different climate change mitigation strategies. My research looks at these issues both within local and international contexts and among regional policies and global…[read more]

Research Description

Research Interests

Political ecology, STS, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services, carbon markets, environmental politics of British Columbia

Research Description

How much is the environment worth? I am interested in how this question has increasingly come to preoccupy environmental practitioners around the world.

Currently, my research explores what it means to put a dollar value on…[read more]

Research Description

I am broadly interested in conservation biology of large herbivore mammals in semiarid environments of Africa. Specifically, how land use and resource management, especially of water, affect animal movement and distribution, population dynamics and land…[read more]

Research Interests

Restoration and management of urban riparian forests

Research Description

I am interested in the biogeography of dune endemic insects in desert regions of North America. I hope to use comparative phylogeographic methods to understand the relationships of these areas. My focal taxa include the…[read more]

Research Interests

Dendroecology, competition, forest biomass, tree demography, forest community ecology, tree neighborhood dynamics

Research Interests

Plant Biogeography, Fire Ecology

Research Description

Improving plant species distribution modeling.

Research Interests

Fire ecology

Research Description

I am interested in fire policies and their effects to ecosystems in California’s Sierra Nevada forests. My proposed research examines both historic and altered fire regime effects on biodiversity, functional diversity, and the forest’s water…[read more]

Research Interests

political ecology of war; ceasefire capitalism; Burma-China borderlands, production and regulation of narco-political territories

Research Description

My research is situated on the Burma-China border where I initially investigated cross-border timber trade in the mid-2000s. My current dissertation project follows emerging post-war land governance changes in northern Burma’s uplands with the arrival…[read more]

Research Interests

Forest Pathology