It doesn’t require a degree in ornithology, a lab test or even an app for most growers to determine whether bird poop near their crops presents a food safety risk. They just need to ask themselves a simple question: How big is it?
The United States generates more food waste than all but two countries. To address this, the federal government set a goal to cut food waste in half by 2030 compared to 2016 levels, to about 164 pounds per person annually. But a new study published in Nature Food and led by University of California, Davis, reveals that current state policies are falling short. Since 2016, per capita food waste has increased instead of decreasing.
Erin Rodriguez, a graduate of the UC Davis Environmental Policy and Management (EPM) program, joined with a clear goal: to deepen her understanding of the science that shapes impactful policy decisions. Today, as director of governmental affairs at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), she’s applying that knowledge to develop policies that benefit California communities.
A ground squirrel with cheeks stuffed with nuts, seeds or grains, is a common sight. But a new study provides the first evidence that California ground squirrels also hunt, kill and eat voles. The study, led by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and the University of California, Davis, is the first to chronicle widespread carnivorous behavior among squirrels.
The social cost of carbon — an important figure that global policymakers use to analyze the benefits of climate and energy policies — is too low, according to a study led by the University of California, Davis.
New research from the University of California, Davis, is shedding light on when and where to plant tree seedlings to help restore forests after high-severity wildfires, and it has a lot to do with shrubs.
In hotter, drier areas where natural regeneration is weaker, well-timed tree planting can boost recovery by up to 200%, but the outcome also depends on competition with shrubs, a paper in the journal Forest Ecology and Management concludes.
Researchers from the University of California, Davis, used cell phone pings from mobile apps to better understand how farmworkers respond to wildfire smoke and other hazards.
At least one-quarter of all nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions in California’s Salton Sea air basin come from soil, according to a study from the University of California, Davis.
As California faces pressure to grow both food and energy while protecting biodiversity — all on a finite amount of land — a trend is emerging in the field of clean energy: multi-use solar projects, or sustainable voltaics.
Using long fruit pickers, a UC Davis research team fans out along Putah Creek, plucking the tiny homes of gall wasps from the branches of oak trees. These small, round growths, created by California oak gall wasps, protect their larvae. In the lab, researchers are raising the insects and searching for clues about this cryptic species that’s all around yet rarely noticed.
