Individuals
Dr. Blanchette's research focuses mainly on marine ecology. Her main areas of study include an examination of how certain species adapt to ocean acidification as CO2 emissions increase, the ecological responses to climate change, and sustainable fisheries management.
Marine Science Institute
Dr. Bookhagen's research is involved with mass transport on the Earth Surface and includes phenomena such as erosion, landslides, floods, and glaciers. He focuses on identifying spatial and temporal patterns that are often linked to climate changes. For example, heavy rainfall events after intense wildfires can increase erosion and the removal of the fertile soil layer. Dr. Bookhagen uses spatial technology (lidar, satellite data) to map and predict erosion and rainfall. A large component of his work includes measurements and sample collection in the field.
Earth Research Institute
Darcy Bradley, a senior ocean scientist, and Cori Lopanzaski, Ph.D. student, current research identifies the significance of a climate change plan embedded in marine protected areas plans. These areas play a big role in protecting marine life and sustaining marine ecosystems. The importance of resilience in marine protected areas plans relates to sustainability through ensuring the conservation of the ecosystems for future generations in marine protected areas.
Dr. Brzezinski's research focuses on marine phytoplankton, oceanography, and climate change science. He is currently working on projects related to effects of high CO2 conditions on organic matter, the effect of wave energy on kelp forest ecosystems, and the maintenance of species diversity.
Marine Science Institute, Director
Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Fluids
Professor Burbank studies tectonic geomorphology and surface processes. Working with the Earth Research Institute, Burbank’s research areas include earth evolution, earth systems science, and natural hazards. His current research projects include analyzing the climate and tectonic controls on growth of the Puna Plateau in the Andes of NW Argentina, changes in Andean erosion rates over the past 5 million years, and the interactions of tectonics, erosion, and climate in shaping the Himalaya, Pamir, and Tien Shan mountains in Asia.
Earth Research Institute
Dr. Carvalho's research interests are in regional and large-scale climate variability and change, regional and global climates and extreme events. More specifically, she researches the characteristics of Monsoon Systems and how these characteristics will be modified in future scenarios of climate change. Dr. Carvalho also looks at the pattern of increased precipitation rates in various regions around the world, and investigates windstorms and wildfires in California and climate variability and change in high mountain regions of the world.
Earth Research Institute
Dr. Caselle's research is broadly focused on marine conservation and reef ecology. She currently works in both coral reef and kelp forest ecosystems, studying community dynamics, recruitment and larval dispersal, and movement patterns of fishes. She also manages a large-scale field-based monitoring program of kelp forests in the California ecosystem with the goal of assessing long-term changes due to climate and anthropogenic impacts.
Marine Science Institute
Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans
Palmyra Atoll Research Consortium
Dr. Clemencon's policy research has focused on international climate negotiations and the Paris Agreement, international organizations, sustainable development, and globalization. Currently, he is examining how different countries define and try to operationalize the concept of sustainable development and the political processes that determine the allocation of funds for climate change through multilateral mechanisms like the Green Climate Fund and the GEF and the World Bank. Dr. Clemencon is interested in the political opportunity structures that determine a country's ability to provide leadership in the climate negotiations.
Frank Davis brings conservation science and geographical analysis to bear in land use planning and the conservation of wild species. Davis is a Distinguished Professor in the Bren School and directs the La Kretz Research Center at UCSB's Sedgwick Reserve. His research focuses on the landscape ecology of California plant communities, the design of protected-area networks, rangeland and farmland conservation, and the biological implications of regional climate change.
Biogeography Lab, Director
National Research Council Committee on Science for EPA's Future
National Research Council Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology
National Research Council Committee for the Independent Scientific Review of the Everglades Restoration Program, Chair
Dr. Deschênes’ research focuses on economic and health impacts of global climate change, adaptation to climate change, and the relationship between energy markets and labor markets. More specifically, his current projects include the impacts of climate change in India and the effect of electricity prices on the labor market. He also is currently studying the role of the diffusion of residential air conditioning in reducing heat-related mortality in the United States.
National Bureau of Economic Research
Institute for the Study of Labor
Broom Center for Demography
Dr. Dickey studies interdisciplinary oceanographic and Environmental problems. He has researched air-sea interactions, coastal processes, pollution, and ocean technology, among other things. He recently analyzed ocean eddies in southern California, as well as creating an overview of sea state conditions and air-sea fluxes associated with the Office of Naval Research’s Radiance in a Dynamic Ocean (RaDyO) field program. Through his research, Dr. Dickey has helped to launch key multi-platform observational networks to model and monitor global climate change and coastal pollution. Professor Dickey is currently researching the use of medical scent detection dogs for screening the COVID-19 virus and other diseases.
Dr. Ding worked on developing an isotope-enabled global climate model and understanding the recent climate change in the Arctic and Antarctic from the perspective of climate dynamics. He found that the recent warming trend in the Arctic and Antarctic is partly attributed to a tropical SST-related natural variability. He joined the Polar Science Center in 2014 and accepted a faculty position at UCSB in 2016. For future research, his focus is on exploring polar-lower latitude connection in the past 1000 years by using atmosphere-ocean-ice fully coupled GCM, isotope-enabled GCM and paleo-climate proxy data. The ultimate goal is to provide more reliable future projections of the polar climate response to anthropogenic climate forcing.
Earth Research Institute
Dr. Gautier's research interests include global radiation and water, El Niño, and earth system science education. She looks at the science of climate change and earth system sciences using computer science. Dr. Gautier has examined global warming from different perspectives and has considered how the debate surrounding this concern has played a role in education. Dr. Gautier is also looking at ways to entrain people to face climate change and prepare for transition towards a livable future.
Principal Investigator of The Institute for Computational Earth System Sciences (ICESS) at UCSB
Dr. Hannah leads climate change adaptation research for conservation international. His current research interests include effects of deforestation and climate change on ecosystem services in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, modeling foodweb responses to climate change in the Tonle Sap lake of Cambodia, and understanding the effects of agricultural adaptation on biodiversity globally. He has published on the design of protected areas systems for climate change, assessing vulnerability to climate change in Madagascar and other countries, and the impacts on biodiversity of wine production suitability shifts due to climate change.
Earth Research Institute
The Betty and Gordon Moore Center for Science, Senior Fellow
Dr. Holbrook's research focuses on population dynamics, marine species interactions, and impacts on coral reef ecology. She is currently doing research on temporal patterns in reef communities by analyzing long-term trends in population abundance and species richness. This research is especially vital when looking at the adverse effects of climate change on marine ecosystems.
Marine Science Institute, Co-Principal Investigator
Santa Barbara Coastal and Moorea Coral Reef LTER
Dr. Homyak's research focuses on how humans have altered biogeochemical cycles and its effects on the Environment. More specifically, his research examines the production of gaseous N emissions from soils and how they are influenced by dry-season processes. Because N emissions influence the chemistry of the lower atmosphere, he is interested in developing an understanding of important links between soil and atmospheric processes.
Dr. Charles Jones co-heads the Climate Variations and Change research group. His work is dedicated to achieving a better understanding of the Earth's present and future climates on different temporal and spatial scales. His research interests are in Dynamic Meteorology and Climate Sciences, and his research topics include the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), predictability of extreme events (especially precipitation), monsoon systems, climate change, WRF regional modeling, and wildfires.
Earth Research Institute
Dr. Lea's research interests focus on global climate change, marine geochemistry and carbon cycle. He focuses on the study of past climate change in order to establish a context for future global warming. As part of an international working group called SENSETROP, Dr. Lea has compiled, harmonized, and synthesized proxy sea surface temperature data from the tropics during the Ice Ages to assess climate sensitivity. He is also examining how salinity and other factors affect the accuracy of paleotemperature proxies. Dr. Lea worked at the U.S. State Department in 2010-2011 as climate science advisor to the team negotiating what would eventually become the Paris Agreement (2015).
Marine Science Institute
Dr. Meng explores particular empirical settings selected to inform upon a world under anthropogenic climate change. Examples include examining the relationship between adverse local weather driven by the El Ninõ Southern Oscillation and the onset of civil wars in the tropics during recent decades; using betting markets to elicit beliefs over the cost of U.S. climate policy; and studying the development of 20th-century U.S. coal-fired electricity capacity to inform upon a future low-carbon energy transition.
Dr. Michaelsen's research focuses on analyzing climate variability and climate change using statistical modeling techniques. Along with the members of the Climate Hazards Group (CHG), he has worked on implementing improved methods of monitoring and predicting rainfall variations in Sub-Saharan Africa and Central America on seasonal and longer time scales. This monitoring and prediction is done by blending data from satellites, weather stations, and models. The primary objectives of the research are to: 1) provide African officials and relief agencies with early warning of developing drought conditions on seasonal time scales that could increase food insecurity; and 2) determine relationships between rainfall and larger atmospheric circulation and ocean temperature patterns that may help officials adapt rainfed agricultural systems to longer term changes in rainfall regimes associated with global warming.
Climate Hazards Group (CHG)
Dr. Schimel's research focuses on ecosystem and microbial ecology and their feedback on global climate. Specifically, his research looks at the role of soil microbes in controlling ecosystem scale processes through the linkages between plant and soil processes. Schimel's research is particularly important when analyzing the effects of increased temperature and altered rainfall patterns and CO2 emissions on global climate. Major foci of Schimel’s research are on Arctic ecosystems, which store huge pools of organic carbon and are warming rapidly, and California grasslands and scrublands which experience regular droughts.
UC Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology
Professor Simms’ research focuses primarily on coastal systems. His studies use a wide variety of tools to study past depositional systems, including coring, high-resolution seismic data, GPR, and outcrop analysis to understand how past depositional systems have responded to sea-level, climate, and tectonic changes. Modeling and investigating depositional systems allow us to further understand the Environmental impact of climate change and tectonic forces.
Dr. Stratton has been the Director of Ecosystem Management for UCSB's Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration (CCBER) since 2005. As the manager of 340 acres of open space on campus, including the 136 acre North Campus Open Space Restoration Project, she has been active in pursuing opportunities to help campus adapt to climate change and sea level rise while also working to improve water quality and provide habitat through bioswales and treatment wetlands. In conjunction with students, Dr. Stratton and CCBER conduct research on water quality, hydrology, endangered plants, and biological diversity which provide evidence for the benefits of these features. Interpretive signs throughout campus, several courses (Restoration Field Skills and Conservation and Restoration Ecology Seminar Series) and web site material make their work available to a broader audience.
Earth Research Institute
CCBER
Dr. Suh’s research focuses on sustainability through understanding materials and energy exchanges between nature and humans. His work has involved carbon footprinting, understanding drivers of greenhouse gas emissions, climate change, and industrial ecology.
International Resources Panel of UNEP
Wildfire Resiliance Initiative
World Business Council for Sustainable Development
UC Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology
Dr. Tague studies ecohydrology. Her work examines climate and land use change impacts in the terrestrial Environment by combining observed data with computer-based spatial models. She is currently investigating the impacts of climate change on ecosystem services and water resources in mountain regions, including the Western US, the European Alps, the Pyrenees, and select locations in China. Her work also examines how forest management practices and land development or urbanization alters biogeochemical cycling and water availability for watersheds throughout the US.
Association of American Geographers
American Geophysical Union
Ecological Society of America
Dr. Wilkinson's research is focused on water and energy policy with regards to climate change. He has analyzed US freshwater management policies, California water supply management, and climate change adaptation strategies.