A new book edited by UC Berkeley Rausser College researchers centers equity and justice while delving into the complex elements that support or constrain biodiversity in cities.

Urban Biodiversity and Equity was edited by Christopher Schell and Max Lambert.

Research continues to show that development has created environmental hazards like factories, freeways, or power plants that are often disproportionately placed in low-income areas or communities of color, and that remaining natural resources in urban areas, like trees and parks, are concentrated in wealthier neighborhoods. With renewed attention placed on the role of conservation, researchers are exploring new ways to make cities and their inhabitants active partners in preserving biodiversity and mitigating climate change. 

A new book edited by Rausser College researchers delves into the complex elements that support or constrain biodiversity in cities — including human-wildlife interactions, climate fluctuations, landscape diversity, and environmental racism. Edited by Environmental Science, Policy and Management professor Christopher Schell and former postdoctoral researcher Max Lambert, Urban Biodiversity and Equity: Justice-Centered Conservation in Cities offers scientists, decision-makers and practitioners a new model to develop solutions for managing urban biodiversity while centering social justice, environmental justice, and civil rights.

Rausser College spoke to Schell and Lambert about their book ahead of its Dec. 19 release in the United States.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. 

What inspired you to create this book? 

Christopher Schell (top) and Max Lambert. Schell photo by Anastasiia Sapon

Max Lambert: We were invited to put together a book on urban ecology and biodiversity. We knew there were other books out there, but we knew we wanted to write a book through a different lens: specifically, we're building off a Science paper led by Chris that centers equity and justice as the primary axis for conservation work. That was our guiding principle for taking this from journal publications to something that people can hold. 

Christopher Schell: This is something that Max and I have been discussing since 2018. After our Science paper came out in 2020, Max contacted me to discuss what it would look like to expand that paper as a larger volume. We connected with folks who reached out about the paper and others whose work spans the urban-ecological spectrum to coalesce their contributions into a book that integrates equity throughout.

We didn't want to fall into the trap of thinking that academic institutions somehow have a hold on all this knowledge. Max led our efforts in trying to convey how applied this field is and emphasize the field's interconnectedness. We were excited to get folks who could span what it looks like to think of these theoretical applications in biodiversity science in relation to a city. 

Lambert: And because urban ecology has blossomed so much as a field during the past 20 years, we spent a lot of time determining what topics we knew we wanted to emphasize in this book and what we would put on the back burner. We also wanted to bring in people from different backgrounds, walks of life, career stages, or parts of the world who can tie the threads of equity and justice together with this science.

How would you say the field of urban ecology has evolved over time?

Lambert: There have been pockets of people studying urban ecology from the 60s onwards, but their research never became part of the dominant mantra. By the 90s, we had the National Science Foundation (NSF) support two Long Term Ecological Research stations in Baltimore and Phoenix, which helped blossom and lead this area of research. But in my experience, even when I started my doctoral work a decade ago, urban conservation wasn't really a thing—there were still tons of folks saying we needed to protect nature from the city.

Schell: For us, the question is, when do we recognize that urban ecology has entered the public consciousness to the point that folks outside the academic sphere are thinking about it? We're certainly getting there in the Bay Area, as well as in a handful of cities across the country and globe. Folks in these communities are thinking more and more about their relationships with wildlife, biodiversity and nature inside these urban spaces. But sometimes folks look at us like we're crazy when we talk about the critically endangered species that are encased in a metropolitan area, or when we tell them about the large carnivores that roam their backyard. Some people have not yet fully understood that cities are hubs of nature that we created on top of existing biodiversity hotspots.

How does this approach differ from traditional models of conservation research?

Schell: We're leveraging a past research framework called the ecology in, of, and for cities to propose something called conservation in, of, for and with cities. We're still thinking about the many ways in which we maintain biodiversity across different axes; incorporate biological, social, and built elements of cities to manage ecosystem processes; and implement justice-centered approaches as we build sustainable practices. But all that felt unidirectional, where scientists or practitioners are doing things for the people who live in the city. 

Conservation in, of, for and with cities is the new atom. It's explicitly calling out co-production, how we have equitable resource distribution, and how we fold in the other paradigms. We're emphasizing that if we don't have conservation with cities, none of the other components are going to work. In our minds, this is the linchpin to all those other pieces. We're not the only knowledge holders in this conversation, and by no means do you need to be of a certain age, race, class or ethnicity to participate in it. We're all in this together and have something to add to the conversation. 

Lambert: You can't do conservation work without cities. You can't grey out urban areas and focus conservation work elsewhere. It's all part of the mix. Conservation with cities means engaging in conservation work at any scale — from state to national to international. You can't set goals just for remote places; you have to bring them into urban areas as well. All this goes back to our fundamental principle of centering equity and justice in all conservation. It is heavily pronounced in urban areas, but it's central to conservation work anywhere in the world. 

Ecology and evolutionary biology are fundamental fields of biology, but they don't exist in a vacuum. Our Science paper showed that we need to be mindful of how society, culture, and politics influence life on Earth. We're doing the same thing here with conservation.

Can you think of any people, cities or organizations that are taking the principles you describe in your book and using them to improve urban biodiversity?

Schell: Max and I often riff off of Singapore being the mecca of urban ecology because of how that city is designed and embedded inside of nature, but we're starting to make improvements on the West Coast, too. One of the local organizations that has been pushing urban ecology forward is the California Academy of Sciences. Their Reimagining SF initiative brings together researchers and practitioners from across the Bay Area to think about San Francisco not as an urban environment with nature sprinkled in, but as a city inside of nature — one built in collaboration with ecosystem processes. It's a clear departure from the ways in which cities have thought about urban ecosystems in the past, which was strictly concerned about providing municipal services to its people. 

Lambert: I went to Canberra, the capital of Australia, in 2016. It's a highly built place, but they've embedded trails and green spaces throughout the city; there are kangaroos, wallabies, and all kinds of parrots everywhere. It's very clearly designed, as Chris said, in collaboration with nature. The Presidio of San Francisco has also been an interesting nexus of urban conservation work. The Presidio Trust, which manages the park with the National Park Service, has done tremendous work with communities nearby. They've replaced non-native plants that have overgrown the area, cleaned up a bunch of pollution in the pond, and reintroduced endangered plants within the Presidio.

I also work closely with the City of Tacoma in Washington. Maintenance workers — the folks who take care of the concrete, asphalt, and sewers—are not the type of people you traditionally think of as doing conservation work, but in Tacoma, they are so impassioned to make sure biodiversity can thrive, and people can experience it everywhere they live. 

A pair of coyotes (left and center) captured by trail cameras placed at Alice Marble Tennis Courts in the Russian Hill neighborhood of San Francisco. A bobcat (right) is photographed in Wildcat Canyon Regional Park. Photos courtesy of Schell.

Have you found engaging with policymakers or community members difficult while conducting your research?

Schell: The flagship species that my lab studies is coyotes, a species that garners a lot of interest in the Bay Area. In SF, a good chunk of folks have a real love-hate relationship with them. They think that their cats have some agency to stay outdoors indefinitely or that their dog can stay off-leash in an on-leash area, which often results in conflicts with coyotes. And as we start doing more of this work, it seems as if everybody has a story about a coyote — or a bobcat, raccoon or a fox — doing something they adore or disdain.

These fine-scale human-animal interactions bring everybody to the table. They want to hear more about how these are connected to the larger universe of stories around urban biodiversity, environmental justice, equity and resilience because it impacts them at this individual level. 

Lambert: Maps will become essential to these conversations and are what entice people to join. For so long, the image of conservation was just David Attenborough in the middle of the world somewhere, in a place we can't necessarily relate to. But now, I can set up a map on iNaturalist that everyone can contribute to and access for free. Whether it's a map of all the trees in their city or observations of turtles, frogs or hawks, people will be able to put themselves in the context of their city. They can actually paint that picture of the landscape — they can see the asphalt, they can see trees — and place their community in the broader grand scheme of the universe.

Schell: One of our flagship projects deploys camera traps across urban to wildland spaces. We put up placards that give out our contact information if people are interested in the project; we've had over a dozen people in the last year reach out to us who are interested in learning more about the camera traps, including city officials. A figure from our Science paper created by co-author Dr. Simone de Roches was recently republished in the New York Times, and after reading that, some folks from the City of Piedmont's Recreation Department reached out. This small example highlights how far-reaching and continually helpful the work has been in creating collaborations across the Bay. 

Lambert: I think that's the power of urban areas for conservation and getting people engaged. They know where they fit into much more easily than if you were to ask, “How do we protect tigers inMumbai?” It matters in the grand scheme — people generally care about tigers — but they have no context for it. People have context for their backyard coyote: almost everyone has a story about something in their urban area; they're just looking for someone to tell it to.

A figure that illustrates how structural racism and classism underpin landscape heterogeneity in cities. Courtesy of Schell

Do you think it's possible to create policies that improve urban biodiversity without first addressing the inequities like redlining?

Lambert: There are two panels to the figure that was just republished in the New York Times. The panel on the right shows conservation embedded in a cycle of social justice, environmental justice, and civil rights: that's the foundation for which successful conservation efforts will ever be possible. You can try to chip away at it in small ways, but you will always fight an uphill battle unless you center equity and justice because the things that cause injustice and inequities also degrade the natural world. These things are inherently intertwined.

Schell: If we can't figure ourselves out and figure out how we got to this point while centering equity and justice —which is something we said in the Science paper and at the beginning and end of this book, and also urged all of our co-authors to talk about it — then we will never get to our goals. This book was something that we wanted to get out into the world because this is not something we're alone in; there are other folks who are also interested in this, who also feel the same way, and who have been beating this drum in their communities. It's been a good journey to be able to put this into words and have folks understand how important it is to be able to restore ourselves as a means of then going on to continue to restore the natural world.

Heile Gantan of Impact Justice, second from left, and Ron Strochlic of Nutrition Policy Institute (plaid shirt) chat with residents of California State Prison Solano about the quality of their food..

The UC ANR Sustainable Food Systems Strategic Initiative Panel will be hosting two 90-minute public webinars in February about food waste (Feb. 22) and nutrition in correctional systems (Feb. 29). UC ANR staff and academics, collaborators and partners and the public are invited to participate in the free webinars.

The UC ANR Sustainable Food Systems Emerging Issues Webinar Serieswill first cover food waste on Feb. 22.

“The Sustainable Food Systems strategic initiative panel aimed to highlight innovative solutions to emerging issues within the food system from field-to-fork,” said Danielle Lee, UC Nutrition Policy Institute director of communications and research engagement. 

“Over one-third of all available food in the U.S. is uneaten through food loss or waste – totaling up to over $160 billion – which has negative impacts on food security and the climate,” she said. “Households could save over $370 per person each year by reducing or preventing food waste. Additionally, when uneaten food ends up in the landfill, it generates greenhouse gases, and landfills are now the third largest producers of methane in the U.S.”

“California's adoption of SB 1383 aims to solve these problems,” Lee said. “You'll meet experts who are implementing consumer education and organic waste recycling programs aligned with SB 1383.”  

The second webinar, on Feb. 29, will focus on nutritious foods for residents of correctional facilities.

“We also wanted to touch on novel, local food distribution systems that can be used to support nutrition security through improved access to affordable, healthy and nutritious foods for underserved communities,” Lee said.

“We chose incarcerated people as our case study population for two reasons – the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is the single largest public purchaser of food in the state and studies have shown that 63% of incarcerated individuals rarely or never have fresh vegetables and 55% rarely or never have fresh fruit.”

California has two policies that can support institutional procurement of fresh produce – AB 822 and AB 778.

“The Harvest of the Month program is an innovative solution to implementing these policies while supporting improved nutrition security for incarcerated individuals,” Lee said. “Prison gardening programs can not only provide therapeutic benefits to residents, but also reduce recidivism rates and serve as workforce development opportunities to better prepare residents for returning to their communities post-incarceration.”

Part 1 - Harvesting Solutions: A Trio of Perspectives on Addressing Food Waste from Field to Fork

Thursday, Feb 22, at 10-11:30 a.m. PT

To minimize food waste, three experts explore factors influencing food loss and waste, delve into innovative recycling techniques, and explore statewide initiatives targeting household food waste. Experts in postharvest handling, food waste recycling and community education will share research findings and strategies.

Agenda:

• An overview of food waste in fruits and vegetables
  Deirdre Holcroft, Holcroft Postharvest Consulting
• Exploring means to extract embodied energy and lower greenhouse gas emissions in food waste recycling
  Michael Cohen, UC Cooperative Extension organic materials management and agri-food systems advisor for Santa Clara County
• The opportunities in statewide programs in reducing household food waste: Results from UC ANR household food practice needs assessment
  Yu Meng, UC Cooperative Extension youth, family and community advisor in Riverside, San Bernardino and Imperial counties

Part 2 - Farm to Corrections: Cultivating Justice through Nutrition and Gardening Initiatives

Thursday, Feb. 29, at 10-11:30 a.m. PT 

Experts share insights on groundbreaking initiatives for justice-involved individuals' access to California-grown produce and nutrition and gardening education. Innovative initiatives such as a “Harvest of the Month” program by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in collaboration with the Nutrition Policy Institute and Impact Justice aim to increase access to fresh, locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables and trauma-informed nutrition workshops. They also highlight the impact of UC Master Gardener projects on rehabilitation and workforce development.

Agenda:

• Produce during and after prison: Increasing justice-impacted individuals' access to California-grown produce and nutrition education
  Carolyn Chelius, UC ANR Nutrition Policy Institute; Heile Gantan, Impact Justice; Lance Eshelman, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations
• UC Master Gardeners Prison Gardens Projects
  Missy Gable, director of the UC Master Gardener Program

Learn more and register at https://ucanr.edu/sites/StrategicInitiatives/Sustainable_Food_Systems/Events.

Intermountain Research and Extension Center research plot of garbanzo beans. Photos by Darrin Culp

The Intermountain Research and Extension Center is soliciting proposals for new and continuing research projects in 2024-25.

IREC is a 140-acre research facility located at 4,000 feet elevation near the Oregon border. It specializes in crops grown in Northeast California including potato, small grain, onion, peppermint, forage grasses and alfalfa. Most cool season field and vegetable crops can be accommodated and grown at the center. 

Research topics of interest include variety development, integrated pest management, irrigation management, plant nutrition and agriculture-wildlife interactions. Available facilities and equipment at the center include a greenhouse, controlled postharvest facility, drying ovens, an automated potato grading line, a mini-still for essential oil extraction, clean and dirty laboratory space, specialized small plot pressurized irrigation equipment, research-adapted small-plot planters and harvesters, and a full line of commercial farm equipment for field and vegetable crop production.  

Mint can be grown at IREC, which has a mini-still for essential oil extraction.

IREC also has a multi-purpose conference and laboratory building for extension events with high-speed internet connection, wifi and audio-visual equipment for video conferencing. Technical assistance is available for all farming practices, field instrumentation and equipment operation, data collection, and data entry and analysis. 

The center's Research Advisory Committee will evaluate proposed research for scientific merit and regional need. Approved projects will be eligible for center-provided support, which includes land, labor, technical assistance, equipment and facilities.

Questions about the research proposal process or about research opportunities here at IREC should be directed to Rob Wilson, director, or Darrin Culp, superintendent, at (530) 667-5117. 

Proposal forms can be found at https://irec.ucanr.edu under “Submitting a proposal.”  

For new proposals, please fill out the REC New Project Proposal form and submit via email to Rob Wilson at rgwilson@ucanr.edu or Darrin Culp at daculp@ucanr.edu.  

The closing date for the 2024-25 call for proposals is March 11, 2024. Off-cycle proposals can be submitted any time; off-cycle proposal acceptance is based on labor and land availability.

Due to a recent increase in vehicle break-ins and theft-related losses statewide, Risk Management would like to remind you of some important safety tips to help prevent you from falling victim to these types of incidents.

1. Be sure all vehicle doors are locked and the windows secured before leaving a vehicle unattended.
2. When leaving a vehicle unattended, remove all valuables and belongings and take them with you whenever possible.
3. If unable to remove items, hide or conceal them  from view.

If an incident occurs and items are stolen from a vehicle, please report this immediately to Risk Management.

Vehicle break-ins typically occur in less than a minute. So even if you are only gone briefly, there is always a possibility that a passerby can take advantage of an unattended vehicle. Vehicles left overnight should be completely emptied as that is when most of these break ins occur.

It is important to remember that the university will not be able to reimburse you for personal items lost or stolen from a vehicle (e.g.  phone, wallet, keys).  

You may have coverage through your home, condo or tenant policy for these losses, but reimbursement may be subject to a deductible. Following the steps above will help prevent these types of costly incidents.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Risk Management at risk@ucanr.edu.