Projects
Year
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An agricultural crop growing in rows

Evaluating the Climate Mitigation Potential of Natural and Working Lands in Santa Barbara County

This project evaluates how Santa Barbara County’s working lands may be managed to best mitigate and adapt to climate change. Using TerraCount, this project aims to quantify the carbon storage impacts and co-benefits associated with a range of management activities.

Group Members: Alicia Fennell, Gavi Keyles, Madeline Oliver, Minnie Ringland, Michael Wells

Faculty Advisors: Samantha Stevenson-Karl

Clients: County of Santa Barbara Sustainability Division

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Beautiful monarch butterfly perches delicately on the vibrant petals of a purple flower

Saving Monarchs

The Western Monarch’s population has dropped precipitously, with only 1,914 individuals observed in 2020. To help save this iconic species from extinction, this project is working with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to help nurseries, gardeners, and community-members to adopt monarch-friendly behaviors.

Group Members: Lizzy Schattle, Zoe Duerksen-Salm, Courtney Krone, Marie Bouffard, Nicole Schmidt

Faculty Advisors: Lisa Leombruni

Clients: US Fish and Wildlife Service

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gorillas in the congo

Combining Conservation and Community Empowerment to Protect Grauer’s Gorilla

This project hopes to promote the conservation of the endangered Grauer's gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Using a data-driven approach to inform habitat corridor management, we are looking at priority conservation areas to investigate the trade-offs between human activities and gorilla conservation planning.

Group Members: Kelsie Fronheiser, Monica Gordon, Zoe Duerksen-Salm, Lizzy Schattle, Yani Pohl

Faculty Advisors: Mark Buntaine, Frank Davis

Clients: Strong Roots Congo

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tropical bird

Wildlife-Friendly Farming and Crop Resilience in Southern Costa Rica

This project team is working with the Costa Rica-based non-profit, Osa Conservation, to evaluate the potential of eco-certifications to produce a net economic benefit to farmers in the Talamanca-Osa Region, and to upport Osa Conservation and local farmers in decision-making by projecting shifts in crop suitability distributions considering the anticipated impacts of climate change.

Group Members: Marie Bouffard, Cameryn Brock, Julia Dagum, Bret Folger, Lauren Manzo

Faculty Advisors: Ashley Larsen

Clients: Osa Conservation

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Still lake water surrounded by boulders.

Understanding Multiple Benefits of Floodplain Restoration from Flood Managed Aquifer Recharge in Madera County, California

This project is working to address California's groundwater resilience by analyzing the multiple benefits of using flood waters for managed aquifer recharge and floodplain restoration in the Madera Basin of the San Joaquin Valley.

Group Members: Alex Ehrens, Annika Leiby, Alex Milward, Nicole Schmidt

Faculty Advisors: Scott Jasechko

Clients: California Department of Water Resources, Environmental Defense Fund

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Sunset behind large electrical towers

Advancing Methods for Corporate Climate Risk Assessment

This project first seeks to identify the climate weather events that will have the most signifiant impact on 19 Raytheon Technologies locations within the United States.

Group Members: Margaret Brickner, Derek Nguyen, Jordan Faires, Paul Rikhter

Faculty Advisors: Eric Masanet, Matt Potoski

Clients: Raytheon Technologies

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ground level view of a tall pine tree

Conservation of Southern California Yellow Pine Mixed Conifer Forests

This project will assess the natural range of variation (NRV) for southern California National forests, in addition to analyzing current research to provide the client with feasible management objectives that maximize forest resilience under a changing climate.

Group Members: Hannah Garcia-Wickstrum, Leana Goetze, Anne-Marie Parkinson, Jennifer Truong

Faculty Advisors: Bruce Kendall

Clients: US Forest Service

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Five students pose together

Assessing Brazil’s Marine Aquaculture Potential

This study explored the spatial feasibility of mariculture development and create an interactive web-based tool to predict potential locations, yields, and profitability for offshore mariculture of cobia (Rachycentron canadum) in Brazil’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Faculty Advisors: Hunter Lenihan

Clients: World Wildlife Fund Brazil

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Group of four students smiling

Creating a Region-wide Green Infrastructure Strategic Plan for Maunalua Bay

This project developed a model using the Environmental Protection Agency’s Storm Water Management Model 5.1 to facilitate identification of "hotspot" areas that contribute higher stormwater pollution relative to surrounding areas in the Maunalua Bay Region, O'ahu, Hawai'i.

Faculty Advisors: Kelly Caylor, Samantha Stevenson-Karl

Clients: Mālama Maunalua

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Three students standing together

Eco-Entrepreneuship: Bad Grass

Arundo donax, or giant reed, is an invasive plant species that thrives around rivers and streams. Bad Grass creates consumer products thus promoting demand for Arundo biomass. By introducing a line of cannabis pipes that are strategically positioned between joints and pipes, we can attract customers interested in smoking out of disposable pipes.

Faculty Advisors: Bruce Kendall, Mark Buntaine

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Group of four students smiling

Eco-Entrepreneurship: Powered by Moxie

Powered by Moxie is an Eco-Entrepreneurship Project that analyzes the environmental impacts of different types of grocery and snack packaging and offers a solution to reduce packaging waste by using reusable packaging. Powered by Moxie delivers farmer’s market produce and snacks to corporate offices as a supplemental employee benefit program.

Faculty Advisors: Matt Potoski

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Group of four students smiling

Whales, Vessels, and Fish: Economic Valuation of Whale Watching and Marine Spatial Planning Surrounding Dominica

To reduce the risk of vessel strikes on the Caribbean community of sperm whales off the coast of Dominica, this project created a dynamic marine spatial plan for the coast waters of Dominica and proposed shipping lanes that will avoid high suitable habitat of sperm whales.

Faculty Advisors: James Frew

Clients: Dominica Sperm Whale Project

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Five students stand together

Quantifying and Managing Microplastics From Footwear Use: Outsole Loss Through Wear

In partnership with Adidas AG, the Future Footwear team seeks to understand the microplastic problem that is generated from the footwear industry within the United States.

Faculty Advisors: Roland Geyer, Patricia Holden

Clients: Adidas

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Group of four students smiling

Climate Change Impacts to City of Santa Barbara Water Supplies

This project provides an analysis of a range of potential variations in streamflow for the Santa Ynez River watershed, and therefore inflow to the City of Santa Barbara's reservoirs, from 2020 to 2058.

Faculty Advisors: Arturo Keller, John Melack

Clients: City of Santa Barbara Public Works

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Group of five students in courtyard smiling

Evaluating Connectivity in the Northern Appalachian and Acadian Region to Improve Wildlife Mobility

This project developed a framework for habitat connectivity in the Northern Appalachian/Acadian ecoregion to improve conservation outcomes through specific conservation goals, enhanced connectivity models, and methods for priority setting. The framework was applied to a case study in the Mohawk Valley of New York State, a new Staying Connected Initiative priority area. The case study informs future road barrier mitigation and land conservation work undertaken by SCI partners, The Nature Conservancy , and the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy. 

Faculty Advisors: Frank Davis

Clients: The Nature Conservancy