ERG professor Dan Kammen is featured in this Vox interview on his resignation as science envoy, the debate on 100 percent renewables for the grid, the recent Department of Energy report on grid reliability and coal’s supposed contribution to grid resilience
A former Trump science adviser on his “impeach” message, getting rid of coal, and embracing renewable energy
Vox | September 06, 2017
California Magazine | August 31, 2017
ESPM professor Gordon Frankie is featured in this California magazine article on the Sonoma Bee Count, a citizen-science initiative led by Frankie's Urban Bee Lab. The Sonoma Bee Count has identified more than 70 species in the agricultural region of Sonoma, a higher number than Bee Lab scientists expected to find in an urban environment. “This is a people, flower, bee thing,” says Frankie, meaning it takes each of the three for this study to work, and, more generally, to keep bees in urban environments.
Scientific American | August 30, 2017
ESPM postdoc researcher Justine Smith is featured in this Scientific American article on new research shows that some of the world’s biggest carnivores are responding to humans in a way that resembles how prey animals react to predators.
KQED | August 30, 2017
ERG professor Dan Kammen is featured in this KQED Forum segment on the role of climate change on the severity of Tropical Storm Harvey and on his recent resignation from his appointment as a science envoy for the US State Department.
Bay Nature magazine | August 29, 2017
ESPM professor Neil Tsutsui is featured in this Bay Nature article on citizen science and the California Pools Project. Although the project has been running less than a year, it is already giving scientists a new perspective on insect biodiversity in California, with roughly 4,000 insects and arachnids recorded – from just 12 pools — so far. That figure includes over 300 ant specimens, which has been especially exciting for ant specialist Tsutsui. Pools are also potentially a new way of identifying invasive species that might be showing up in California or that have extended their range to a new place in the state.
Democracy Now! | August 25, 2017
ERG professor Dan Kammen is featured by Democracy Now! after his resignation in protest of President Trump’s refusal to quickly condemn the deadly white supremacist violence in Charlottesville. In his resignation letter, Kammen, referring to Trump, wrote, "Your presence in the White House harms the United States domestically and abroad and threatens life on this planet." The first letter of each paragraph of his resignation letter spells out the word: "Impeach."
Sacramento Bee | August 23, 2017
ERG professor Dan Kammen is featured in this Sacramento Bee article on his recent resignation from the US Science Envoy post with the US State Department. In his resignation letter, Kammen said the president’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement and undermine energy and environmental research was unacceptable. As a science envoy, Kammen focused on building capacity for renewable energies, according to a state department website. The science envoy program draws on scientists and engineers to leverage their expertise and networks to build connections and identify opportunities for international cooperation.
KQED | August 23, 2017
ERG professor Dan Kammen is quoted in this KQED article on the EPA's recent questions to the Valero Energy Corporation regarding power issues at its Benicia oil refinery, including requests for detailed information about outages that have led to flaring events at the refinery and inspection records for the facility's process units. Kammen noted the EPA’s demand for information from one of the nation’s largest oil companies in connection with a local emergency should be the kind of on-the-ground work the agency does, no matter who’s in the White House.
Nature | August 23, 2017
ERG professor Dan Kammen is featured in this Nature news article on his recent resignation from the US Science Envoy post. In his resignation letter, Kammen criticized the Trump administration’s “destructive” policies on energy and the environment, which he said have affected his work as a science envoy. Andrew Rosenberg, who heads the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Cambridge, Massachusetts, says that Kammen’s letter illustrates the moral and ethical quandaries that Trump's policies have created for scientists who serve the US government.