Projects
Year
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Closeup of the blowing blue whale on the water surface.

Blue Whales Blue Skies Certification Strategy

The BWBS program is a successful incentive program that slows ships in the SB Channel to reduce pollution & whale strikes—but it must become more widely adopted to have the intended impact. This team presents a strategy to build a pathway to certification through a brand ambassador network.

Group Members: Sachiko Lamen, Anusha Sridhara, Devon Rossi, Julia Bickford

Faculty Advisors: Lisa Leombruni

Clients: NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

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Metal water pitcher tipped over to water green plants and grass below.

Exploring Advanced Treatment Options for California Water Security

MESM 2023 Group Project

Group Members: Savana Gonzales, Renee LaManna, Thomas Lenihan, Trevor Maggart, Matthew (Matt) McCafferty, Taylor Medina

Faculty Advisors: Arturo Keller

Clients: State Water Resources Control Board

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River running through a vast lush landscape, clouds in a blue sky

Informing Forest Conservation Regulations in Paraguay

This project estimates how changes to the rules governing private LUPs could affect the extent of forest cover and agricultural land in the Paraguayan Chaco through a four-step approach: (1) Assess property owners' compliance that deforestation only occurs in authorized areas and determine deforestation rates by using geospatial overlays, (2) Estimate protected forest area under different potential laws in the undeveloped Paraguayan Chaco region by creating mock properties with simulated land use plans, (3) Integrate the simulated LUP configurations into a machine learning model to examine how potential changes to land use laws might influence future deforestation patterns, and (4) To inform forest conservation regulations by providing INFONA and other stakeholders with an interactive platform for exploring the results.

Group Members: Atahualpa (Ata) Ayala, Dalila Lara, Alexandria (Alex) Reed, Guillermo Romero

Faculty Advisors: Robert Heilmayr

Clients: UCSB Bren School & Environmental Studies Department

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Beautiful scene of the Mirador de Las Planas in Spain under blue sky

Chaparral & Public Land Mismanagement

The chaparral ecosystem is prone to fire, but traditional fuel breaks can lead to some unintended consequences. This team delivers educational materials, talking points, and an op-ed on land management for Los Padres Forest Watch to spread awareness of proper land management.

Group Members: Thomas (Tommy) King, Conner Smith

Faculty Advisors: Lisa Leombruni

Clients: Los Padres National Forest

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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.

Group Members: Jillian Allison, Meagan Brown, Andre Dextre, Wade Sedgwick

Faculty Advisors: Max Moritz

Clients: The Nature Conservancy

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Mini planet Lofoten is an archipelago in the county of Nordland

'Sustainable Ways By Day' Instagram

Making sustainable choices when it comes to everyday buying decisions can be challenging for people who are not working in the environmental field. This Instagram strategy fills the gap by providing easy, practical, and fun sustainability tips, emphasizing connection with communities of color.

Group Members: Daija Odom

Faculty Advisors: Lisa Leombruni

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Evaluating Carbon Emissions from Electric Arc Furnace Steel Plants in the United States

This project provides the first facility-level analysis of indirect carbon emissions from EAF steel plants in the US. As the US steel industry seeks to decarbonize and promote green steel, understanding the Scope 2 emissions of EAF steel production is essential. The calculated emissions and emissions intensity for each steel plant are available in a public dataset as well as an interactive Tableau dashboard.

Group Members: Erica Bishop, Ruth Enriquez, Amritpal (Amrit) Sandhu, Michael Zargari

Faculty Advisors: Roland Geyer

Clients: Global Energy Monitor

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Service engineer checking solar cell on the roof for maintenance if there is a damaged part.

Clean Power, Clean Health

Health centers are vulnerable to unreliable power supplies during natural disasters & blackouts. This team created educational flyers, infographics, and a video to help engage & encourage health center staff to transition to solar through Community Energy Company.

Group Members: Hollie Pennington, Samantha (Sam) Rozal

Faculty Advisors: Lisa Leombruni

Clients: Collective Energy Company, LLC

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Improving Monitoring and Evaluation of Enforcement in Coastal Marine Protected Areas and Fisheries

Through this project, the capstone team created a reproducible workflow to streamline data entry for the MPS Tracker, as well as a data visualization tool to summarize and highlight trends. These deliverables allow WildAid Marine to increase their efficiency in monitoring and improving MPA enforcement, and successfully share progress with donors and stakeholders.

Group Members: Kiran Favre, Elise Gonzales, Jared Petry, Adelaide Robinson

Faculty Advisors: Gavin McDonald

Clients: WildAid

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Marine biologist writing down data sitting on a boat

LTER Video Series

The Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) network uncovers unique findings only possible through its long term approach to science. However, many are not aware of its contributions. This team created a video series on the benefits of the LTER network & the scientific insights it can offer.

Group Members: Shayan Kaveh, Cristina Mancilla, Alessandra Puig-Santana, Charles (Charlie) Wilson

Faculty Advisors: Lisa Leombruni

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Offshore mussel farm and boat

Assessing the Value of Environmental Information for Shellfish Aquaculture Farmers in British Columbia

Identifying locations for new shellfish aquaculture development along British Columbia’s coastline and a geospatial visualization tool for First Nations rights and title holders.

Group Members: Emiliano Espinoza, Halley McVeigh, Caitie Reza

Faculty Advisors: Christopher Costello

Clients: ScootScience

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Hand holding a glass orb

Identifying the Impact Potential of Early-Stage Circular Investment Opportunities

Developing a standardized framework to measure the circularity of potential investment opportunities which can be used to provide an impact assessment of a venture capital firm's investments.

Group Members: Alex Gaynor, Amber McEldowney, Joaquin Meckler-Pacheco, Aya Rosenfeld, Dani Sclafani

Clients: Regeneration.VC

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Skier on snowy mountainside

Identification and Communication of Climate Change Impacts on Rock Climbing and Trail Sports

Identifying the scientific and economic impacts of climate change on the rock climbing and trail sports communities to produce strategic communication materials for non-profit ambassadors.

Group Members: Sam Fearer, Karla Garibay Garcia, Will Geiken, Sage Kime, Matt Koller

Faculty Advisors: James Frew

Clients: Protect Our Winters

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Oak trees with rolling hills behind

Discoveries At Dangermond

The Dangermond Preserve  has over three years of research to share with the public since they acquired the land, and this  ESRI ArcGIS StoryMap, helps to articulate new discoveries, to grow awareness, and to promote engagement and economic support from the local community.

Group Members: Kristin Gill, Kirsten Hodgson, Roshni Katrak-Adefowora, Morganne Sigismonti

Faculty Advisors: Scott Jasechko

Clients: The Nature Conservancy, Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve

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Aerial view of wildfire and smoke

Equity & Wildfire Resilience: Recommendations for Inclusive Wildfire Management in Ventura County

Identifying socially vulnerable communities at risk of wildfire and developing a Community Wildfire Protection Plan that equitably addresses community needs.

Group Members: Brianna (Bri) Baker, Yvonne Dinh, Elena Ortiz, Alison Sells, Iris Foxfoot

Faculty Advisors: Sarah Anderson

Clients: Ventura Regional Fire Safe Council

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Kelp growing in the ocean

Growing in the Ocean

This educational film outlines the benefits of seaweed aquaculture and is targeted at stakeholders in the California seaweed aquaculture industry, with the goal to help eliminate barriers to offshore aquaculture expansion on the West Coast.

Group Members: Madeline McEwen, Laurel Wee, Janelle Gaun, Annie Lovell, Karla Garibay Garcia

Faculty Advisors: Lisa Leombruni

Clients: Ocean Rainforest

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Oak tree on hillside overlooking ocean

Exploring Mountain Lion Habitat Connectivity in Central and Southern California

Generating a multi-scale model of habitat connectivity for mountain lions in a California coastal preserve, with the intent to inform future wildlife corridor designs for conservation.

Group Members: Alyssa Broberg Kibbe, Meghan Fletcher, Grace Kumaishi

Faculty Advisors: Kelly Caylor

Clients: The Nature Conservancy