High-quality agricultural index insurance has shown promise in promoting resilience among small-scale farmers who face a constant risk of drought and other weather-related shocks. However, despite decades of investments this tool has yet to achieve its broadest impact in part because of low-quality contracts that don’t reliably pay farmers for losses and that sometimes pay when there are none.
As increasingly hot and severe wildfires scorch the West, some lichen communities integral to conifer forests aren’t returning, even years after the flames have been extinguished, according to a study from scientists at the University of California, Davis.
Susan Harrison, a professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors a scientist can receive. As an ecologist, Harrison studies the processes that shape and maintain plant species diversity at the landscape scale.
Student volunteers serve the community in Monterey County
A group of dedicated CA&ES students spent their spring break helping others and learning about community challenges in Monterey County. Sponsored by the CA&ES Dean’s Office, the weeklong trip included serving meals to the homeless, planting trees as part of a native plant restoration project and pulling weeds on an organic farm.
Researchers seek solutions that benefit agriculture and the environment
Researchers from the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CA&ES) are working with farmers and ranchers, environmentalists, industry, and public agencies to find practical, science-based solutions to the world’s most pressing problems, including managing nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from farmland.
The Department of Environmental Science and Policy plays a unique role in bringing together the natural sciences and social sciences, the two essential components of sustainable solutions to these challenges.
Slashing emissions to Paris Climate Agreement targets could reduce impacts 20-30 percent
Current levels of greenhouse gas emissions are putting nearly half of California’s natural vegetation at risk from climate stress, with transformative implications for the state’s landscape and the people and animals that depend on it, according to a study led by the University of California, Davis.
