Program

Clients

Year

Faculty Advisors

Image
Snowy mountain and forest

Improving Usability of Snow Data Through Web Based Visualizations and Tutorials

Expanding the Snow Today website's spatial domain coverage from the Western United States to all of North America, Greenland, and High Mountain Asia.

Group Members: Ryan Munnikhuis, Julia Parish, Marie Rivers

Faculty Advisors: Samantha Stevenson

Clients: UCSB Earth Research Institute

Image
Underwater photo of coral reef

Visualizing Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Coral Reef Stressors Surrounding Moorea, French Polynesia

Determining how coral reef communities have changed due to anthropogenic and environmental stressors.

Group Members: Ingrid (Allie) Cole, Felicia Cruz, Jake Eisaguirre, Charles Hendrickson

Clients: Moorea Coral Reef Long-Term Ecological Research (National Science Foundation), UCSB Marine Science Institute

Image
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

Faculty Advisors: Frank Davis

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

Image
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

Image
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

Image
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

Image
Rustic fishing boats in a harbor.

Quota Baskets: Exploring Alternative Groupings for Fisheries Management

The main objective of this project is to design a theoretical framework of quota baskets to guide managers and decision-makers in determining whether quota basket approaches are an appropriate management strategy for a fishery.

Group Members: Mauricio Collado, Gabriel De La Rosa, Kat Leigh, Siya Qiu

Faculty Advisors: Christopher Costello

Clients: Environmental Defense Fund

Image
Carrots and artichokes fresh from farm.

Rubbish: Diverting Neglected Organic Waste from Landfills to Create Renewable Energy and High Quality Compost (Eco-E)

BioQuest is a cooperative composed of small-medium businesses and ranchers within the local food ecosystem. This Eco-E group of social entrepreneurs is looking to develop innovative, holistic solutions that incentivize climate action throughout the food supply chain. 

Group Members: Allison Bailey, Anthony Luna, Kazia Mermel

Faculty Advisors: Robert Heilmayr, Emily Cotter

Image
Orange roe of a sea urchin.

Unicado: Protecting Kelp Forests through Purple Sea Urchin Ranching and Urchin Food Products (Eco-E)

Unicado upcycles food waste to ranch purple urchins, whose overpopulation is destroying California’s kelp forests. By creating demand for ranched urchins, the project aims to protect kelp ecosystems and introduce a sustainable seafood option to the market.

Group Members: Wes Newbury, Waldo Felix, Max Diamond, Qusai Bhaijeewala

Faculty Advisors: Emily Cotter

Image
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

Image
A group of people traverse a grassy field through brush

Wild Pig Management at the Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve

This project analyzes data and strategies for feral pig management at the Dangermond Preserve in California to inform The Nature Conservancy's long-term management plan to reduce or eliminate the negative impacts of this invasive species on the preserve's natural and cultural resources.

Group Members: Benson Truong, Shuhan Song, AJ Zekanoski, Peter Omasta

Faculty Advisors: Kelly Caylor, Christopher Costello

Clients: The Nature Conservancy

Image
Close up on head of lettuce

A Sustainable Agrifinance Solution? Lending to Reward Environmental Performance

​Through modeling the effects of lending behavior on groundwater supplies and economic productivity, this project seeks to uncover how an economic incentive can affect agricultural sustainability in the Salinas Valley.

Group Members: Grace Brofman, Haley Grant, Becca Reynolds, Alexandria Wilkins, Janelle Christensen

Clients: Sustainable Conservation

Image
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

Clients: County of Santa Barbara Sustainability Division

Image
Fresh blueberries in a carton.

Reducing Agricultural Plastics’ Environmental Impacts

This project assesses viable alternatives to agricultural plastics as well as their disposal methods. The group aims to to seize the opportunity to lighten the environmental impact of the berry industry. 

Group Members: Lucas Empson, Garrett Eyer, Emma Friedl, Renata Massion, Bobby Miyashiro

Faculty Advisors: Roland Geyer

Clients: Driscoll's, Inc.

Image
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

Image
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