Master of Environmental Data Science Capstone Projects are a unique and crucial component of the Bren School's approach to environmental data science. Capstone Projects bring together small teams of students  to help tackle environmental problems using data science. Through their Capstone Projects, students cultivate the necessary technical and professional skills to successfully work as a member of a team and manage a professional data science project.

In their Capstone Project, students collaborate with real-world clients, from industry, government, academia or non-government organizations. Each Capstone group is advised by a UCSB faculty member and supported through the MEDS Capstone Project courses.Through their MEDS Capstone Project, students gain professional experience in fostering collaborative group dynamics, designing and implementing strategies, engaging with stakeholders, writing technical documentation, public speaking, and developing data science products that are reproducible and robust.

Current MEDS Capstone Projects

MEDS students and their project partners are tackling global environmental problems with data-driven solutions. A handful of capstone projects are featured here. Explore all current and past MEDS capstone projects in the project directory.

VIEW ALL MEDS CAPSTONES

Projects

Identifying Priority Survey Sites for Early-Season Milkweed Conservation

The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden is restoring monarch butterfly habitats in the Los Padres National Forest. Using habitat models and accessibility tools, the team identified key areas for milkweed planting to support monarch populations and streamline future surveys.

Assessing Fire in Groundwater-Dependent Ecosystems

We produced spatial layers of four different wildfire metrics, and conducted exploratory statistical analyses to assess how these wildfire metrics may be affected by GDEs in California. These layers and analyses are incorporated into an interactive dashboard that allows users to view general spatial relationships between groundwater variables, such as GDEs, and various wildfire metrics.

Tent perched on cliff overlooking national park

Visualizing Visitor Use Trends at California Campsites to Explore Equitable Access

Producing an interactive web platform that allows National Park managers to easily explore and visualize park-specific patterns such as visitation volume, demand, visitors’ origin, and more.

Co-Locating a Power Couple: Retrofitting Existing Wind Projects with Solar PV in the U.S.

Adding solar PV to existing wind energy sites can boost profits and minimize the need for new transmission infrastructure. This study used a nonlinear optimization model to size solar PV additions at over 1,300 U.S. wind projects, ranking sites by environmental impact and cost efficiency.

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Classroom of people watching an instructor

Capstone Timeline

Summer
Bren School releases a MEDS Request for Proposals. Proposals for MEDS Capstone Projects may be submitted by UCSB faculty, students, and prospective external clients.

Fall
Submission period for new proposals ends. A committee of students, faculty, and staff selects appropriate projects. Students vote on and join project teams at the end of Fall Quarter.

Winter
Students meet clients, refine project objectives, develop a design and implementation plan, host meetings with their client and advisor, and begin preliminary product development.

Spring
Students complete the project’s data science products, write technical documentation, host meetings with the client and advisors, and present their work in a final, public product demonstration or visualization.

Are you ready to solve environmental problems?

Request more information, get to know the Bren School, and start planning your application today.
 

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