Center for Fire Research and Outreach researcher and ESPM alum Brandon Collins (B.S. '01, Ph.D. '07) is featured in this Vox article on California's dead and dying trees. Collins discusses the mass tree dieoffs and the practicality of using prescribed fires to thin out forests, noting that prescribed fires are incredibly tricky to pull off in dense forests that have been allowed to build up for many decades.
KQED | November 21, 2016
ERG professor Dan Kammen was featured on a KQED Radio Forum segment, hosted by Michael Krazny. Kammen, who recently attended COP22 in Marrakesh, spoke on the economics of coal and the natural gas industry.
UC Berkeley News | November 21, 2016
ESPM adjunct professor and Cooperative Extension specialist Matteo Garbelotto was quoted in this Daily Californian article on the lingering effects of California's recent widespread tree dieoff. “Lack of water makes trees more combustible and at the same time more susceptible to what we call secondary insects and diseases,” stated Garbelotto. “These secondary agents are the ones that really predispose trees to be affected by catastrophic fires.”
Democracy Now | November 15, 2016
ERG professor Dan Kammen is highlighted in this Democracy Now interview segment on Kosovo and its coal-firing plant. Kammen noted that Kosovo is "a country where the wind and geothermal resources are enough, and yet—study after study from the outside has said go with the clean energy, and yet we’ve seen no switch in position from the World Bank. We haven’t seen a pullback from the U.S. position. It’s the kind of testbed where you want to see clean energy lead, not lag."
Democracy Now | November 15, 2016
ERG professor Dan Kammen was featured in this Democracy Now video segment on the Pentagon's climate change analysis. Kammen noted that not only were "researchers around the planet were really pleased to see the analysis by the Pentagon’s internal experts and external deliberations," but that the analysis highlighted "clean energy is one of our best defenses against that, because we can build energy resources for poor communities more rapidly with clean energy than with dirty energy—with none of the downside."
East Bay Times | November 14, 2016
ESPM postdoc researcher Joan Casey coauthored this commentary for the East Bay Times on the critical role of antibiotics and the increasing dangers posed by antibiotic research. Casey notes that California's newly passed regulation of antibiotic overuse, if successful, could serve as a model for other states.