Projects
Year
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four students posing together

Assessing Agricultural Carbon Quantification Methods

This project assessed the effectiveness of regenerative organic practices to store soil carbon, modeled greenhouse gas emissions and evaluated the effect of different regenerative organic practices on total GHG emissions, and developed recommendations for Patagonia on which practices have the largest impact on carbon sequestration in the soil.

Faculty Advisors: Kyle Meng

Clients: Patagonia

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podcast microphone

‘Greenhouse Sass’ Podcast

The ‘Greenhouse Sass’ podcast breaks down current environmental headlines, in an accessible and conversational way. With quirky humor, topical environmental issues are explained by reviewing relevant scientific studies. Three 20-minute episodes will be discussed,  covering Microplastic Generation, Coral Bleaching, and the future of Renewable Energy. 

Faculty Advisors: Lisa Leombruni

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Group of four students smiling

Evaluating and Improving the Ability of an Adaptive Management Framework (FISHE) to Identify and Resolve Fishery Management Challenges related to Climate Change

This project examined if the Environmental Defense Fund's Framework for Integrated Stock and Habitat Evaluation (FISHEF) would continue to provide sound guidance to data-limited fishery managers given the influences of global climate change on fish.

Faculty Advisors: Steve Gaines

Clients: Environmental Defense Fund

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four students posing together

Air Quality & Diabetes Risk in California

This project assessed the relationships between air pollution particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) and diabetes prevalence throughout the state of California using a cross sectional and panel data approach for the Sansum Diabetes Research Institute.

Faculty Advisors: Ashley Larsen

Clients: Sansum Diabetes Research Institute

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colorful fish

Small-Scale Big Deal

Small-Scale Big Deal is a multimedia project to raise awareness of small-scale fisheries. Using short films and social media, the main objective is to illustrate who small scale fishers are, what they do, why they do it, and how consumer demand impacts their lives. @smallscaleBIGDEAL

Faculty Advisors: Lisa Leombruni

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four students standing with faculty mentor

Evaluating the Multiple Benefits Associated with Distributed Rainwater Catchment Systems in Austin, Texas

Through evaluating the benefit of adding rain capturing technology to Austin, TX, this project aimed to create a versatile evaluation framework for water management projects in other municipalities.

Faculty Advisors: Christina Tague

Clients: Pacific Institute

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Group of five students with faculty mentor on outdoor terrace

Implementing Vessel Monitoring Devices in Small Scale Fisheries: Analysis of Social and Economic Enabling Conditions to Maximize Adoption

This project analyzed the willingness of small-scale fisheries to participate in a vessel tracking program that is incentive-compatible to their preferences. The team conducted a dual response choice experiment to evaluate fisheries' preference data from surveys conducted in Indonesia and Mexico, then utilized a contingent valuation to gauge both fishers’ willingness to pay for a tracking program and the effects of fishers’ characteristics on their willingness to pay.

Faculty Advisors: Christopher Costello

Clients: Global Fishing Watch

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Five students stand with professor in group

Functional Forests: The Role of California Forests in Achieving Statewide Carbon Neutrality

In conjunction with the Joint Institute for Wood Products Innovation (through the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection), the project team aims to assess how California’s forests may support statewide carbon neutrality.​ The project focuses on determining the costs and carbon consequences of a host of forest management treatments across all forests in California, and how these treatments can contribute to the State’s climate goals. 

Faculty Advisors: Andrew Plantinga

Clients: Joint Institute for Wood Products Innovation, California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection

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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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Cookstoves are distributed to rural Rwandans to be used

Adopt-a-Cookstove

Looking to help Adopt-a-Cookstove find and communicate with its target audience, the team conducted interviews with industry experts and researched its competitors. With this information they designed infographics and a website for the organization.

Faculty Advisors: Lisa Leombruni

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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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Sea bluffs eroding under buildings

Let's Talk About Sea Level Rise

The California Coastal Commission knows how important it is for Californians to prepare for a future that will include sea level rise. This project aimed to create digestible communication tools for the agency that highlight the importance of sea level rise planning and adaptation in coastal communities.

Faculty Advisors: Lisa Leombruni

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Five students posing with their project mentor

Building a Case for Conservation-Compatible Renewable Energy Development in the US Wind Belt

This project worked in partnership with the Nature Conservancy (TNC) to explore how we can support the wind energy growth while ensuring the continued conservation and protection of nature and biodiversity. To do this, the group evaluated whether wind power projects located in areas that avoid harming wildlife have a lower likelihood of cancellation. 

Faculty Advisors: Kyle Meng, Sarah Anderson

Clients: The Nature Conservancy

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Group of five students posing together

Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions Assessment of California Floating Offshore Wind Energy

To develop floating offshore wind projects in federal waters off the coast of California, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Pacific Region has tasked the Bren School with characterizing and assessing the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the integration of offshore wind energy into California electricity markets.

Clients: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

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Five men in warm outdoor coats standing by sea shore

Driving Sustainability in the Gulf of California: Fishery Management and Offshore Cultivation for Totoaba Macdonaldi

This project modeled market interactions for different scenarios of offshore cultivation to elucidate what effects these new markets would have on both consumers and suppliers of totoaba products, as well as the illegal market for poached buche.

Faculty Advisors: Steve Gaines

Clients: Cygnus Ocean Farms

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Five people link arms and smile on stage

The Hurd Co. (Eco-E)

Reducing the environmental impacts of the apparel supply chain through harnessing waste from the agricultural industry, converting it into apparel-grade fiber.

Faculty Advisors: Andrew Plantinga, Emily Cotter