CNR alum Joseph Hurlimann (B.S. '61, M.S. '64, Ph.D. '74) was remembered in this Daily Californian obituary. Hurlimann, who was part of the first class to graduate from CNR, worked as a lab technician under Robert Raabe, a former campus plant pathology professor, for almost 20 years. PMB professor Steve Lindow noted Hurlimann was "the heart and soul of (Raabe's) plant disease control lab."
News Deeply/Water Deeply | February 03, 2017
ESPM professor Todd Dawson is featured in this Water Deeply article on oak tree landscapes in Central California.
MIT Technology Review | January 31, 2017
ERG professor Dan Kammen commented in this MIT Technology Review article on reports that the Trump administration intends to shut down or slash resources for select Department of Energy programs. As the administration has a focus on job creation and careers in solar and wind are among the fast-growing job sectors in the US economy, Kammen noted that common sense shows that "if you can leave ideology behind, which I don't think this administration seems able to do, we know these things create jobs."
LA Times | January 28, 2017
ESPM professor Scott Stephens is featured in this LA Times article on the millions of drought-stressed and beetle-ravaged dead trees across California forests. Limbs and trunks from the dead trees are piling up, turning the forest floor into a tangled mass of fuel. To lessen the fuel build-up, Stephens says federal land managers should conduct prescribed burns in hard-hit areas.
Vice Munchies | January 26, 2017
BFI executive director Ann Thrupp commented in this Vice Munchies article on a recent Trump administration memo directing the USDA to halt all external communications. Thrupp noted that "It is clear that there is a fair amount of confusion regarding the intent of the memo. We do know, however, that the USDA’s responsibility is to release high-quality, unbiased, peer-reviewed research for the public benefit. [The research community] will be watching to ensure that data regarding critical issues like climate change and environmental sustainability is not suppressed."
UC Science Today | January 14, 2017
ESPM professor Todd Dawson is featured in this UC Science Today audio segment on his work using drone technology to study drought effects on forests. Researchers can survey canopies of individual trees and entire forests, as drones fly over and take images with multi-spectral cameras. "That means we are basically keeping our finger on the pulse of the forest change, which we have never been able to do with any of our other tools before," noted Dawson.
Washington Post | January 10, 2017
ESPM professor emeritius William Libby is highlighted in this Washington Post article on trees falling across California as a result of winter storms combined with the effects of six years of drought. Libby noted that after a heavy rain, trees weakened by drought have been known to die suddenly instead of rebounding, likening it to giving a starving person too much food too fast.
Washington Post | January 04, 2017
ERG grad student Zeke Hausfather is featured in this Washington Post article on the confirmation of a 2015 paper that suggested that ocean temperatures were indeed warming at consistent rates. The recently published study confirms that NOAA scientists correctly adjusted their record of ocean temperatures in light of known biases in some observing systems.