Overview of MEDS Capstone projects     Overview of MESM Group projects    

Projects
Year
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Global Spatial Analysis to Identify and Characterize Wood Sourcing Regions

Global Spatial Analysis to Identify and Characterize Wood Sourcing Regions

Faculty Advisors: Lee Hannah

Clients: The Sustainability Consortium

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Biological and Social Tradeoffs of Implementing Fair Trade USA in Small-Scale Fisheries: A Case Study of Costa Rican Snapper

Biological and Social Tradeoffs of Implementing Fair Trade USA in Small-Scale Fisheries: A Case Study of Costa Rican Snapper

Faculty Advisors: Hunter Lenihan

Clients: Conservation International

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Eco-Entrepreneurship: Fruit Forward: Recapturing the Beneficial Properties of Wine Grape Skins and Seeds to Produce an Organic Preservative

Eco-Entrepreneurship: Fruit Forward: Recapturing the Beneficial Properties of Wine Grape Skins and Seeds to Produce an Organic Preservative

Faculty Advisors: Emily Cotter, Bruce Kendall, David Tilman

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EVMatch: Reducing the Barriers to Electric Vehicle Use by Matching EV Owners With Reliable Charging Options in Their Community (Eco-E)

Connecting EV owners in need of reliable charging with nearby owners of residential EV charging infrastructure on a reservation basis.

Faculty Advisors: Emily Cotter, Kyle Meng

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Eco-Entrepreneurship: InGrain: Transforming Brewery Waste Into Sustainable Packaging and Marketing Solutions

Eco-Entrepreneurship: InGrain: Transforming Brewery Waste Into Sustainable Packaging and Marketing Solutions

Faculty Advisors: Emily Cotter, Matt Potoski

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Finding a Place for Conservation: A bio-economic analysis to inform the re-zoning of the Galápagos Marine Reserve

Finding a Place for Conservation: A bio-economic analysis to inform the re-zoning of the Galápagos Marine Reserve

Faculty Advisors: Christopher Costello

Clients: National Geographic Society Pristine Seas

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Gallatin Valley Water Exchange: A market-based approach to sustainable water management in Western Montana

Gallatin Valley Water Exchange: A market-based approach to sustainable water management in Western Montana

Faculty Advisors: Thomas Dunne

Clients: The Nature Conservancy, Trout Unlimited

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A Citizen Science Monitoring Protocol for the Rocky Intertidal Habitat

A Citizen Science Monitoring Protocol for the Rocky Intertidal Habitat

Faculty Advisors: John Melack

Clients: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

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Assessing the Environmental and Economic Impacts and Benefits of PV-battery Microgrid Systems in Off-Grid Communities

Assessing the Environmental and Economic Impacts and Benefits of PV-battery Microgrid Systems in Off-Grid Communities

Faculty Advisors: Roland Geyer

Clients: First Solar, Inc.

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Assessing the Effectiveness of Fire Mitigation Strategies in the Wildland-Urban Interface

Assessing the Effectiveness of Fire Mitigation Strategies in the Wildland-Urban Interface

Faculty Advisors: Sarah Anderson

Clients: City of Santa Barbara Fire Department

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Factors Influencing the Expansion of Environmental Water Markets

Factors Influencing the Expansion of Environmental Water Markets

Faculty Advisors: Gary Libecap

Clients: Mammoth Trading, Inc., Water for Food Daugherty Global Institute - University of Nebraska

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Economic Analysis of Invasive Giant Reed (Arundo Donax) Control for the Lower Santa Clara River

Economic Analysis of Invasive Giant Reed (Arundo Donax) Control for the Lower Santa Clara River

Faculty Advisors: Derek Booth

Clients: UCSB Riparian Invasion Research Lab

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Not a Drop to Spare: Sustainable Water Management Solutions for the South Coast of Santa Barbara County

Not a Drop to Spare: Sustainable Water Management Solutions for the South Coast of Santa Barbara County

Faculty Advisors: Robert Wilkinson

Clients: Santa Barbara Channelkeeper

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Microfiber Pollution and the Apparel Industry

Microfiber Pollution and the Apparel Industry

Faculty Advisors: Patricia Holden

Clients: Patagonia

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More Housing, Fewer Cars: Reducing Commute-Related Emissions on the South Coast

More Housing, Fewer Cars: Reducing Commute-Related Emissions on the South Coast

Faculty Advisors: Mark Buntaine

Clients: City of Santa Barbara Planning Commission

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Developing a Water Risk Analysis Framework for Suppliers and Applying it to a Pharmaceutical Supply Chain

Developing a water risk analysis framework for suppliers and apply it to Eli Lilly’s supply chain for two insulin products, Humalog and Humulin.

Faculty Advisors: Patricia Holden

Clients: Kaiser Permanente, Eli Lilly and Company

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The City of Santa Barbara Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment

This project conducted a vulnerability assessment to determine the impacts of sea level rise on: human impacts, critical infrastructure, recreation and public access, and ecological resources. It also identified preliminary adaptation policies that address the impacts of sea level rise hazards.

Faculty Advisors: James Frew

Clients: City of Santa Barbara

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San Joaquin Valley Landscape-Scale Planning for Solar Energy and Conservation

Working with the Defenders of Wildlife, this project aims to ensure that the proper balance is achieved, with smart planning for renewable power that avoids and minimizes adverse impacts to wildlife and lands with known high-resource values (agriculture).

Faculty Advisors: Mark Buntaine

Clients: Defenders of Wildlife

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Eco-Entrepreneurship: Slightly Nutty

Slightly Nutty developed insects as an alternative protein ingredient to significantly reduce price-volatility and environmental impact of meat industries.

Faculty Advisors: Emily Cotter, Matt Potoski

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The Bathtub Ring: Implications of Low Water Levels in Lake Mead on Water Supply, Hydropower, Recreation, and the Environment

This project explores the impacts to each stakeholder group if Lake Mead reaches each key elevation outlined in the Interim Guidelines, as well as 1,000’.

Faculty Advisors: Christina Tague

Clients: Western Water Policy Program - University of Colorado