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Student Presentations

2026 PhD Student Symposium

Learn about the diverse, cutting-edge research being conducted by Bren School PhD students
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Bren Hall 1414
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Collage of students presenting at the symposium

The Bren PhD Student Symposium is held annually to highlight the diverse, cutting-edge research being conducted by Bren School PhD students. The students will present short (3-minute) talks, longer (12-minute) talks, and posters describing their work. The event is open to the entire UCSB and Santa Barbara communities and is free to attend.

The Symposium will be presented in person in Bren Hall 1414, followed by a reception, poster session, and awards ceremony in the Michael J. Connell Memorial Courtyard.

SPEAKERS

  • Mauricio Collado, Prices versus Quantities Under Complex Constraints
  • Risa Lewis, Renae Marshall, and Zoe Sims, Beyond Monoculture: Understanding Impacts and Enabling Conditions for Intercropping in the United States
  • Trace Martin, Safer Swimming: Innovating Microbiological Water Quality Testing
  • Michelle Mohr, Novel Fire-Disease Interactions May Buffer Forests Under Climate Change
  • Fatiq Nadeem, Satellites vs Farmers: Evidence from Strategic Evasion in South Asia
  • Aidan O'Neil, From Climate Help to Hindrance? An Analysis of Combined Heat and Power Systems in the US Industrial Sector
  • Anna Pede, Agreeing on Conservation? Forests and Land-Use Consensus in Peru
  • Paxton Ridgway, Drivers and Management of Changing Sediment Regimes in California's Rivers
  • Emma Rigatti, One Species, Many Strategies: How Plant Hydraulic Traits Shape Divergent Water Use in Coast Live Oaks in Response to Water Stress
  • Olivia Ross, Investigating Fire-Drought Interactions in the Sierra Nevada
  • Ojas Sarup, Comparing Ecohydrological and Climate Resilience Outcomes of Forest Management in India
  • Eleanor Thomas, How Does Industrial Electrification Impact Local Air Quality?
  • Wen-Tien Wang, Air Quality, Health, and Equity Outcomes of Decarbonizing Petroleum Refining in the United States
  • Jaenna Wessling, Life Cycle Carbon Footprint of Global Apparel

Schedule of talks to be announced. Reception to follow.

 

Thank you to our 2026 PhD Symposium Supporter:
 

Rincon Consultants, Inc.: Environmental Scientists - Planners - Engineers

And thank you to the Bren School's Corporate and Institutional Partners:

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, California Homebuilding Foundation, California Marine Sanctuary Foundation, Donald Bren Foundation, Kingfisher Foundation, Latham & Watkins, Natalie Orfalea Foundation, Professional Environmental Managers Association (PEMA), Rincon Consultants, Safe Passage Youth Foundation, Southern California Edison, The Kirby-Jones Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, Toad&Co.