- Author: Kathryn M Stein
Linda Estelí Méndez Barrientos is a PhD candidate in Ecology at UC Davis, where she works within the Center for Environmental Policy and Behavior, focusing on the implementation of environmental policies.
You have over a decade of experience studying the relationship between water governance and social justice, not only in California, but internationally. Could you tell us about your current research?
Through my work, I seek to...
/h1>- Author: Kathryn M Stein
Destructive debris flows, commonly known as mudslides, have affected many parts of California in the past few years. Debris flows can cause extensive damage to homes and infrastructure, and threaten human safety. A related issue that gets less attention is how debris flows affect water quality downstream following fires. A current study led by Andrew Gray of the University of California, Riverside, is therefore timely.
“Historically, we haven't known much about the quality and quantity of sediments exported from burned areas. Our approach to addressing this knowledge gap was to monitor debris flows and associated suspended sediment so we could get a...
- Author: Faith Kearns
Drinking water contamination is an ongoing issue across the United States. However, tracking water quality violations and notifying residents about them is challenging, and there is no systematic approach for prioritizing assistance once a violation is detected. Using a dataset intended to assess bottled water marketing trends, Maura Allaire, an assistant professor in Urban Planning and Public Policy at UC Irvine, and her collaborators are tackling these challenges and gaining a better understanding of how communities deal with contaminated water.
In a new paper published in the...
- Author: Harrison Tasoff, UC Santa Barbara
Tens of millions of people face malnutrition the world over. Fortunately, systems are in place to help anticipate famines and coordinate life-saving aid. Among them are the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, or FEWS NET, a cutting-edge drought early warning system, created some 30 years ago and run by scientists at UC Santa Barbara and several partner institutions.
FEWS NET identifies the location, severity, and causes of food insecurity and issues alerts to humanitarian NGOs and government agencies. It achieves this by taking advantage of satellite observations, in-situ measurements, Earth systems models, and field scientists' observations. FEWS NET covers Africa, central America, and...
- Author: Holly Ober, UC Riverside
Nothing beats summer heat better than diving into a pool or sipping a cold glass of lemonade. Luckily, like Hogwarts wizards, water engineers are working to ensure that water to beat the heat will be available, though the source might be unexpected. Increasingly, California's water will come from transforming the water we flush down our toilets, sinks, and washing machines into sparkling, pure water.
Indeed, potable water reuse seems like a no-brainer. So why don't we do it? In some places, we already do, and those places have lessons for the rest of the state and beyond.
Haizhou Liu, an associate professor of chemical and environmental engineering at UC Riverside...