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Hotter Summer Days Mean More Sierra Nevada Wildfires, Study Finds

December 7, 2021
The hottest summer days in the Sierra Nevada in California greatly increase the risk that wildfires will ignite or spread, and as the planet keeps warming the risks will increase even more, scientists said Wednesday. The research, which examined daily temperatures and data from nearly 450 Sierra...

Kurtz’s Latest Publication Examines Renewable Energy Expansion

December 6, 2021
Finding creative solutions to lessen humans’ impact on the environment and reduce reliance on fossil fuels is a core tenet of the renewable energy field, something engineering Professor Sarah Kurtz specializes in. In her most recent paper with co-author Nancy Haegel ...

UC Merced, UC Davis Are Ground Zero for Saving Farms and Environment

December 6, 2021
Valley researchers are about to play an even bigger role in helping farmers in California and the rest of the nation tackle the challenges brought by drought and the need to reduce groundwater pumping. UC Merced and UC Davis, which are already deep into research on the effects of climate change...

'Self-serving garbage': Wildfire experts escalate fight over saving California forests

December 1, 2021
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — As the Caldor fire roared into the Lake Tahoe basin more than a month ago, Brian Newman took some comfort in the surroundings. An operations section chief with Cal Fire, Newman knew that thousands of acres of trees and brush had been deliberately removed from around...

Winston Cone Optics' Innovative Technology Garners State, National Attention

November 22, 2021
When people hear the word “solar,” many think of solar panels on a house, which generate electricity. But there is another way to use energy harnessed by the sun: heat. Founding faculty member and Director of the University of California Advanced Solar Technologies Institute (UC...

Study Shows Climate-Driven Forest Fires on the Rise

November 17, 2021
An upside of the increase in forest fires in the West is that they reduce the amount of fuel available for other burns. That might provide a buffering effect on western fires for the next few decades, but the threat of climate-driven forest fires is not diminishing, a new study shows. Without...

Researchers to Study, Report on Impacts of Drought on Agriculture and Communities

November 16, 2021
Just because there has been rain lately doesn’t mean California is drought-free. A new $1.5 million research grant from the California Department of Food and Agriculture is supporting School of Engineering Professor Josué Medellín-Azuara, collaborating engineering professors ...

Professor’s COVID-tracking Earns Her a Spot in New Center of Excellence

November 15, 2021
School of Engineering Professor Colleen Naughton has been selected to be part of a Center of Excellence, along with colleagues at UC Davis, funded by a National Institutes of Health grant. Ceres Nanosciences, a private company that makes products to improve life science research and...

Researcher Studies Cloud Formation as a Key to Climate Change Modeling

November 15, 2021
Lots of people look at clouds and think about flying, floating or the shapes they see. When atmospheric chemistry Professor Xuan Zhang looks at clouds, she thinks about tiny particles in the air. With her first grant from the National Science Foundation, Zhang is studying how pine tree...

Keske Publication Shows Central Valley Ripe for Biochar Studies

November 10, 2021
Central Valley natives are accustomed to seeing plumes of smoke from burning tree piles after harvest. This is the traditional way farmers dispose of crop waste, such as trees, nut shells and pruned vines. But there may be a better way to get rid of residual orchard waste that is less harmful to...

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