Projects
Year
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Mud and debris half burying a house

Post-Fire Debris Flows: Leveraging Science for Environmental Management and Community Resiliency

Quantifying sediment distribution through modeling; economic and social cost-benefit evaluation; and recommendations and outreach.

Group Members: Nicholas Bissonnette, Mikel Irigoyen, Aaron Kreisberg

Faculty Advisors: Arturo Keller

Clients: South Coast Habitat Restoration

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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.

Group Members: Clarissa Boyajian, Halina Do-Linh

Faculty Advisors: Frank Davis

Clients: National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS), University of Montana

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Cougar in the woods

Conserving Cougars Through Connectivity

This short film for The Nature Conservancy is meant to inspire and educate local communities about the importance of habitat connectivity for the conservation of mountain lions and other wildlife.

Group Members: Meghan Fletcher

Faculty Advisors: Lisa Leombruni

Clients: The Nature Conservancy

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Kelp floats near the surface of the water

Perceptions of Seaweed Aquaculture in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties

Developing a community engagement and outreach strategy for commercial kelp producer Ocean Rainforest to use as a framework for aquaculture expansion along the California coastline. 

Group Members: Janelle Gaun, Madeline McEwen, Sydney Rilum, Laurel Wee

Faculty Advisors: Hunter Lenihan

Clients: Ocean Rainforest

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Wind turbines in a field

Understanding US Wind and Solar Energy Siting

Identifying the historic drivers of wind and solar power plant siting, and generating a predictive model for future siting using machine learning.

Group Members: Paloma Cartwright, Joseph (Joe) DeCesaro, Daniel Kerstan, Desik Somasundaram

Faculty Advisors: Ranjit Deshmukh

Clients: UCSB Environmental Science Department

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Aerial view of solar panels on grass

Modeling Land-Use Change for Solar and Conservation on Predicted Retired Farmland in the San Joaquin Valley

Analyzing potential for new solar development on formerly irrigated lands.

Group Members: Travis Christy, Kaley Dodson, Roshni Katrak-Adefowora

Faculty Advisors: Kyle Meng

Clients: The Nature Conservancy

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Mountain lake and forest

A Reproducible Machine Learning Approach for Interpreting Ecohydrologic Model Outputs

Developing a machine learning algorithm designed to interpret RHESSys output and extract insights into possible impacts of climate change on forest health.

Group Members: Alex Clippinger, Wylie Hampson, Shale Hunter, Peter Menzies

Faculty Advisors: Christina Tague

Clients: UCSB Bren School

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Pine trees and mountains around Lake Tahoe

Funding Future Forests: Evaluating Ecosystem Services for Forest Restoration in the Tahoe-Central Sierra

Identifying financial incentives for forest restoration projects, examining supply and demand of ecosystem services within California’s Tahoe Central Sierra Initiative.

Group Members: Laurel Abowd, Kirsten Hodgson, Brendan McGovern

Faculty Advisors: Charles Kolstad

Clients: Blue Forest Conservation

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Fruits and avocados on market table

An Open-source Pipeline for Remote Sensing of Crop Yields: a Zambia Case Study

Using the MOSAIKS machine learning approach to make fine-resolution agricultural crop yield predictions over time across all of sub-Saharan Africa.

Group Members: Steven Cognac, Juliet Cohen, Grace Lewin, Cullen Molitor

Clients: UCSB Bren School

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Plastic bag that says thank you

Environmental and Financial Analysis: Single-Use Plastic versus Reusable Recycling Bags

Analyzing environmental and financial factors to develop a calculator and marketing tool to help a commercial recycling company make decisions about transport packaging.

Group Members: Karla Bonilla Cordero, Kat Cotti, Larissa Neilson, Morganne Sigismonti

Faculty Advisors: Matt Potoski

Clients: WSP Sustainability, Energy & Climate Change Division

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Mouth of Pacific Lamprey

Identification and Conservation of Larval Pacific Lamprey Habitat in the Columbia River Estuary

Identifying larval Pacific lamprey habitat locations to aid ongoing restoration efforts, and providing policy recommendations to the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission.

Group Members: Ethan Hoffman, Lory Salazar-Velasquez

Faculty Advisors: Scott Jasechko

Clients: Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission - CRITFC

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Baseball field and stadium

Play Sustainaball: An Environmental Footprint for an MLB Team Season

Quantifying the environmental impacts of a stadium and clubhouse operations to better understand and mitigate these impacts.

Group Members: Gabrielle Barsotti, Hannah Brady, Jordan Davis, Carly Norris, Eric Shaphran

Faculty Advisors: Eric Masanet

Clients: Goldring Family Foundation, Players for the Planet

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Aerial view of solar panels floating in pond

Exploring the Feasibility of Floating Solar on Lauro Reservoir

Developing a framework for a floating photovoltaic system identifying potential opportunities, difficulties, and concerns for various stakeholders, including financial, regulatory, and technical components necessary to gain permitting approvals.

Group Members: Trent Buchanan, Andrea Gracia Duran, Colin Schimmelfing, Carlos Simms

Faculty Advisors: Roland Geyer

Clients: City of Santa Barbara

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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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Small fishing boat floats unattended in ocean.

Supporting Cooperation in Brazil’s Marine Extractive Reserves

Using several data sources, this group project is building a model to guide day-to-day decisions and high-level campaign strategy for a new fishery co-management framework in Brazil.

Group Members: Dylan Glave, Elliott Matthews, Peyton Moore, Ruben Sanchez Ramirez

Faculty Advisors: Steve Gaines

Clients: World Wildlife Fund Brazil

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Yosemite Valley

Water Balance in National Parks

The National Park Service wants its managers to incorporate ‘water balance’ into their park management practices—but it’s a challenging topic and not many are aware of how it works. This project includes an ArcGIS StoryMap to explain the topic and why it’s relevant to park managers.

Group Members: Joanne Pham, Janelle Christensen, Keene Morrow

Faculty Advisors: Lisa Leombruni

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Silhouette of a sting ray underwater

A Framework for Designing Marine Protected Areas for Sharks and Rays in Mozambique

The goal of this project is to assist the government of Mozambique to improve the management of shark and ray populations and associated fisheries, through appropriate analysis and translation of data into science-based recommendations for policy and management.

Group Members: Anna Abelman, Courtney Krone, Vanessa Rathbone, Rachel Rhodes, Erin Ristig

Faculty Advisors: Hunter Lenihan

Clients: Wildlife Conservation Society

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Purple urchin uni

Uniquely Sustainable Seafood

The purple urchin is a delicacy that can help repopulate California’s kelp forests if fished. But Americans aren’t knowledgeable about the culinary uses and potential of ‘uni.’ To help curious foodies learn more, this cooking video will educate home cooks and share cooking and urchin sustainability tips.

Group Members: Max Diamond

Faculty Advisors: Lisa Leombruni

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trees in a forest and mountain creek

Prioritizing Prescribed Fire to Protect Water Quality in the Sierra Nevada

This project is identifying locations for fuels reduction to maximize benefits to river ecosystems and clean water supply. This model will be looking at fire and water processes in the Cosumnes, American, Bear, and Yuba (CABY) river regions in the Sierra Nevada Forests.

Group Members: Simone Albuquerque, Indigo Bannister, Allison Hacker, Jon Hart, Evan Heberlein

Faculty Advisors: Christina Tague

Clients: American Rivers

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Aqua lake surrounded by forested hills

Energy Savings from Moulton Niguel Water District Water Efficiency Programs

This project explores residential water rebate programs' impact on water, energy, and greenhouse gas emissions, specifically for the project client, Moulton Niguel Water District.

Group Members: Pat Byrne, Claudia Flores, Jaleise Hall, Ruoyu Wang, Jakob Wilford-Bivin

Faculty Advisors: Arturo Keller, Eric Masanet

Clients: Moulton Niguel Water District