- Author: Faith Kearns
From beaches to canyons, southern California is well-known for its iconic landscapes. Palm-lined streets are so ingrained in the popular imagination that it's easy to forget the trees haven't been there all that long. In fact, much of what is commonly thought of as the area's natural beauty has been created to match a specific human idea of what nature should look like. However, a new study indicates that what many residents and visitors see as the ideal coastal landscape may have evolved during California's prolonged drought.
Andrew McCumber, a doctoral student in cultural and environmental sociology at UC Santa Barbara,
- Author: Faith Kearns
From ecosystems to housing, fire and water issues are deeply connected. That lesson keeps coming home again and again in California this year, most recently with the Thomas, Creek, Lilac, and several other fires in the southern California, as well as the Tubbs, Redwood, and related fires that happened in Sonoma and Mendocino counties. After years of drought, a wet winter that led to lots of summer-dried vegetation, and some very high winds (among other factors), many thousands of California residents are being deeply affected.
In addition to working here at the California Institute for Water Resources, I spent several years working at the Center for Fire Research and Outreach...
- Author: Faith Kearns
Doug Parker is the director of the California Institute for Water Resources and Strategic Initiative Leader for UC Agriculture and Natural Resources' Water Quality, Quantity, and Security Strategic Initiative. I interviewed him as we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the water institute.
Can you explain what the California Institute for Water Resources is?
It's a bit of complicated, but fun, history. In 1956, the state legislature passed a bill to...
- Author: Faith Kearns
Dr. Melanie K. Yazzie is an Assistant Professor at UC Riverside. This the second part of our conversation, read the first here. See her full bio at the end of the interview.
You've written and thought about, and worked directly on, tribal sovereignty issues. For example, you've written about Navajo water rights as an important sovereignty issue. And, recently I've read articles about the role of tribal sovereignty in dam re-licensing, about tribes upholding the Paris climate treaty, and you've also done work related to the Muslim ban,...
- Author: Faith Kearns
Melanie K. Yazzie is an Assistant Professor at UC Riverside. I spoke with her after seeing her presentation at the UC Merced Humanities conference “Water: Ways of Knowing and Being.” This is part one of a two part interview with Dr. Yazzie. See her full bio at the end of the interview.
This spring, you gave a talk about Indigenous politics and what you called the “social life of water.” A main premise of your talk was that