Fall 2024
September 23
"Navigating the Cascade of Sociohydrological Tipping Points: Reflections on the Intersectionality of Policy, Technology, & Nature"
Joshua Viers – Professor and Associate Vice Chancellor of Interdisciplinary Research and Strategic Initiatives, UC Merced
October 9
"Pursuing Wild Microbes: How Microbiome Interactions and Ecophysiological Traits Shape the Persistence of Soil Carbon"
Jennifer Pett-Ridge, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Nominator: Carolin Frank
October 21
Hannah Waterhouse, UC Santa Cruz
Nominator: Becca Ryals
November 18 - Online
"Agri-voltaic system for PV generation and crop production from a single land unit"
Priyabrata Santra, Central Arid Zone Research Institute
Nominator: Safeeq Khan
December 2
"Building climate resilience in post-fire landscapes through geochemical observations and community engagement"
Jackie Pena, UC Davis
Nominator: Peggy O'Day
Spring 2024
January 22
"The Practice of Ecological Engineering with Water in Two Case Studies"
Paul Frank, Flow West
Nominator: Marc Beutel
February 5
"Sensors for Detecting Biotic and Abiotic Stress in Plants"
Reza Ehsani, UC Merced
Nominator: Gerardo Diaz
March 4
Kendra Baumgartner, USDA
Nominator: Josh Viers
March 18
"Wildland Fuels: Questions that need answering"
Jonathan Greenberg, University of Nevada, Reno
Nominator: Erin Hestir
April 1
"Exploring mosquito-pathogen interactions within the framework of microbial control and the implications of a changing climate"
Jose Luis Ramirez, USDA
Nominator: Andrea Joyce
April 15
"Regional precipitation changes under global warming"
Akintomide Akinsanola, University of Illinois Chicago
Nominator: Adeyemi Adebiyi
April 29
"Bridging the Gap between Fabrication Methods and Microstructure of Porous Electrodes in Electrochemical Devices”
Jay Sui, University of Victoria
Nominator: Abel Chuang
Fall 2023
August 28
"Introduction to DELTA Science Program"
Aaron Angel, Delta Stewardship Council
Nominator: Josue Medellin-Azuara
September 11
"Moving the Needle: Why do Mercury Interventions Take So Long to Reduce Mercury in Fish?"
Kahlil Abusaba, WSP USA Corp.
Nominator: Marc Beutel
September 25
"Progress Toward Sustainable Energy and Opportunities for You to Help"
Sarah Kurtz, UC Merced
Nominator: Gerardo Diaz
October 9
"The Deep History of People and Ecosystem Change in Eastern Africa: Evolutionary to Contemporary Views"
Kendra Chritz, University of British Columbia
Nominator: Emily Moran
October 16
"The Role of Dairy Manure Management and Land Application in Greenhouse Gas and Ammonia Emissions in California"
Michael Rodriguez
Nominator: Rebecca Ryals
October 23 - in ADMIN 350
"Scaling Up and Skilling Up at the ABPDU"
James Gardner, Lawrence Berkeley Lab
Nominator: Gerardo Diaz
November 6
“Pliocene climate of the northern tropical Andes”
Lina C. Pérez-Angel, Brown University
Nominator: Sora Kim
December 4
Plamen Atanassov, UC Irvine
Nominator: Abel Chuang
Spring 2023
January 20: Organizational - syllabi review
January 27: Russell Callahan, UC Santa Cruz, Faculty Host: Claire Lukens
February 3: David Dralle USFS, (Davis office), Faculty Host: Claire Lukens
February 10: Hannah Palmer, GSA-USGS Congressional Fellow, Faculty Hosts: Claire Lukens/Sora Kim
February 17: Darshan Karwat, Arizona State, Faculty Host: Sam Markolf
February 24: Rebecca Lybrand, UC Davis, Faculty Host: Claire Lukens
March 3: Sharon Bywater-Reyes, University of Northern Colorado, Faculty Host: Claire Lukens
March 10: Dana Chadwick, NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, Faculty Host: Claire Lukens (Zoom link)
March 17: Matt Hutchinson, UC Merced, Host: Claire Lukens
March 24: Marilia Gaiarsa, UC Merced, Host: Claire Lukens
April 7: Aditi Mukherji, IWMI-Delhi, Faculty Host: Safeeq Khan
April 14: Lejo Flores Boise State, Faculty Host: Safeeq Khan -POSTPONED
April 21: Sarah Aarons Scripps/UCSD, Faculty Host: Claire Lukens
April 28: Jennifer Pett-Ridge, LLNL, Faculty Host: Claire Lukens -- POSTPONED
Fall 2022
January 19, 2022: Organizational - syllabi review
January 26, 2022: Marta Berbe-Blazquez - ASU - Faculty host: Sam Markolf
February 2, 2022: Mojtaba Sadegh - Boise State Univ - Faculty host: John Abatzoglou
February 9, 2022: Jose Pablo Ortiz Partida - UCS - Faculty host: Angel Santiago Fernandez Bou
February 16, 2022: Jennifer Adam - Washington State University - Faculty host: Martha Conklin
February 23, 2022: Oriana Chegwidden - Carbon Plan - Faculty host: John Abatzoglou
March 2, 2022: Daniel Eisenberg - Naval Postgrad School - Faculty host: Sam Markolf
March 9, 2022: Rebecca Ryals - UC Merced - Faculty host: Martha Conklin
March 16, 2022: Kristina Dahl - UCS, San Francisco - Faculty host: John Abatzoglou
March 23, 2022: Spring break
March 30, 2022: Laurel Larsen - UC Berkeley - Faculty host: Josué MedellÍn-Azaura
April 6, 2022: Lauren McPhillips - Penn State - Faculty host: Sam Markolf
April 13, 2022: Yuval Burstyn - The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel) - Faculty host: Claire Lukens
April 20, 2022: Daniel Kammen - UC Berkeley
April 27, 2022: Adjo Amekudzi-Kennedy - Georgia Institute of Technology
May 4, 2022: Bryan Pivovar - National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
May 11, 2022: Jason Kelley - US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (USDA ARS)
Fall 2021
August 25, 2021: Cancelled
September 1, 2021: Introduction - syllabi review
September 8, 2021: ES Faculty presentations - part 1
September 15, 2021: ES Faculty presentations - part 2
September 22, 2021: Sam Markolf - UC Merced - Faculty host: Martha Conklin
September 29, 2021: Clair Lukens - UC Merced - Faculty host: Martha Conklin
October 6, 2021: Xuan Zhang - UC Merced - Faculty host: Martha Conklin
October 13, 2021: Adeyemi Adebiyi - UC Merced - Faculty host: Martha Conklin
October 20, 2021: Scott Bradford - USDA Davis, ARS, Sustainable Agricultural Water Systems Unit, Davis - Faculty host: Teamrat Ghezzehei
October 27, 2021: Bart Nijssen - University of Washington - Faculty host: Martha Conklin
November 3, 2021: Nathalie Voisin - Pacific Northwest National Laboratory - Faculty host: Safeeq Khan
November 10, 2021: Arthur Chan - University of Toronto - Faculty host: Xuan Zhang
November 17, 2021: Kristy Kroeker - UC Santa Cruz - Faculty host: Mike Dawson
November 24, 2021: Thanksgiving break - no seminars
December 1, 2021: Yeowon Kim - Carlton University - Carleton University - Faculty host: Sam Markolf
December 8, 2021: Malcolm North - USDA-PSW Davis - Faculty host: Emily Moran
Spring 2021
January 20, 2021: Syllabus Review and Course introduction - NO PUBLIC SEMINAR
January 27, 2021: Matto Mildenberger - UC Santa Barbara - "Will the effects of climate change reshape the politics of climate policy?" - Faculty host: Roger Bales
February 3, 2021: Kyle Davis - University of Delaware - "Large-scale land investments and their socio-environmental effects in the tropics" - Faculty host: Roger Bales
February 10, 2021: Fonna Forman - UC San Diego - "Climate Justice Here and Now: Practical Ethics for Urgent Times" - Faculty host: Roger Bales
February 17, 2021: Benis Egoh - UC Irvine - "Moving beyond ecosystem services as an argument for biodiversity conservation: lessons from IPBES" - Faculty host: Roger Bales
February 24, 2021: Asa Bradman - UC Merced - "20 Years and Strong: The CHAMACOS Community-University Partnership" - Faculty host: Roger Bales
March 3, 2021: Lauren Parker - UC Davis - "Saving Eden: What climate change could mean for California agriculture and what we can do about it." - Faculty host: John Abatzoglou
March 10, 2021: Julie Sze - UC Davis - "Situating Climate Justice and Sustainability: Connections, Convergence, and Confounding." - Faculty host: Roger Bales
March 17, 2021: Beth Rose Middleton - UC Davis - "Addressing Indigenous Environmental Injustice in California Water Policy" - Faculty host: Roger Bales
March 24, 2021: Spring Break - NO PUBLIC SEMINAR
March 31, 2021: Thirtha Banerjee - UC Irvine - "A micrometeorological perspective into wildland fire dynamics" - Faculty host: Martha Conklin
April 7, 2021: Deepti Singh - Washington State University - "Influence of climate variability and change on concurrent regional droughts" - Faculty host: John Abatzoglou
April 14, 2021: Melissa Kenney - University of Minnesota - "Human-Environmental Decision Support Systems" - Faculty host: John Abatzoglou
April 21, 2021: Jim Mihelcic - University of South Florida - "Getting the Lead (Pb) Out: Health and Economic Benefits of Reducing Lead Exposure in Sub-Saharan Africa" - Faculty host: Joshua Viers
April 28, 2021: Tina Cannon Leahy - State Water Resource Control Board (Attorney IV) - "Never let a good crisis go to waste: lessons from SGMA on the art of the possible" - Faculty host: Josué Medellín-Azuara
May 5, 2021: David Pellow - UC Santa Barbara - " 'The Water was Black': Theorizing and Confronting Environmental Injustices in Carceral Institutions" - Faculty host: Roger Bales
Fall 2020
August 26, 2020: Syllabus Review and Course introduction - NO PUBLIC SEMINAR
September 2, 2020: ES faculty presentations, part 1
September 9, 2020: ES faculty presentations, part 2
September 16, 2020: John Foran, UC Santa Barbara, “The Future of Revolutions: Intersectional Global Climate Justice as Humanity’s Best Hope” – Host: Roger Bales
September 23, 2020: Karletta Chief, University of Arizona, "Community Driven University Partnerships to Assess Exposures and Risk Perceptions of Diné Communities following the Gold King Mine Spill" - Host: Colleen Naughton
September 30, 2020: Clare Cannon, UC Davis, "Community-engaged environmental health disparities research in California's San Joaquin Valley" - Host: Roger Bales
October 7, 2020: Nicole Athearn, NPS, "Using Decision Science to Strengthen the Conservation Impact of Research" - Host: Jessica Blois
October 14, 2020: Camila Alvarez, UC Merced, “Military, Race, and Air Toxics: Exploring the Military’s Role in Producing Environmental Inequality in the United States” – Host: Roger Bales
October 21, 2020: Colleen Reid, CU Boulder, "Using machine learning to estimate population exposure to air pollution during wildfires and its associated health impacts" - Host: Xuan Zhang
October 28, 2020: Lemir Teron, State University of New York, “Environmental Justice in the Aftermath of COVID-19” – Host: Marie-Odile Fortier
November 4, 2020: Kevin Cromar, NYU, "Environmental Justice Indicator for Managing Local Air Pollution" – Host: Xuan Zhang
November 11, 2020: Veterans Day - NO PUBLIC SEMINAR
November 18, 2020: Michael Mascarenhas, UC Berkeley, " Thirsty for Environmental Justice. Racialized Austerity and Michigan’s War over Urban Water" – Host: Roger Bales
November 25, 2020: Fall Break - NO PUBLIC SEMINAR
December 2, 2020: Jesse Jenkins, Princeton University, "Clean electricity: the linchpin in a net-zero economy" - Host: Sarah Kurtz
December 9, 2020: AGU week - NO PUBLIC SEMINAR
Spring 2020
January 22, 2020: Syllabus Review - NO PUBLIC SEMINAR
January 29, 2020: Dr. Stu Weiss, Creekside Center for Earth Observation. Smog is Fertilizer: The Long and Winding Road from the Pages of Conservation Biology to a Regional Habitat Conservation Plan. (Read Abstract and Bio). Host: Dr. Rebecca Ryals
February 5, 2020: Dr. Judy Drexler, USGS California Water Science Center. Soils as a Key to Understanding Wetland Formation, Disturbance, and Sustainability. (Read Abstract and Bio). Host: Dr. Erin Hestir and Christiana Ade (PhD Student).
February 12, 2020: Dr. Manuela Girotto, UC Berkeley. Data Assimilation of Terrestrial Water Storage, Snow, and Soil Moisture: Challenges and Opportunities. (Read Abstract and Bio). Host: Dr. Roger Bales
February 19, 2020: Dr. Angel Fernandez Bou, UC Merced. How leaf-cutter ant nests change soil CO2 dynamics in Neotropical rainforests
& Dr. Jing Yan, UC Merced. What lies beneath? Towards an integrative understanding plant feedbacks to the mismatched distribution of soil resources.
February 26, 2020: Dr. Alexander Petersen, Management of Complex Systems, UC Merced. Discrepancy in scientific authority and media visibility of climate change scientists and contrarians. Host: Dr. Mike Dawson
March 4, 2020: Dr. Thomas Kirchstetter, Energy Analysis & Environmental Impacts Division, Berkeley Lab. Quantifying in-use performance of diesel truck pollutant emission controls, and Community-wide black carbon air pollution sensor networks to support AB617 efforts in California. Host: Dr. Marc Beutel.
March 11, 2020: Dr. Paul Selmants, USGS Western Geographic Physical Scientist. Ecosystem carbon balance in the Hawaiian Islands under different scenarios of land use and climate change. Host: Dr. Stephen C. Hart.
March 18, 2020: Speaker canceled. No public seminar.
March 25, 2020: SPRING RECESS - NO SEMINAR
April 1, 2020: Speaker canceled. No public seminar.
April 8, 2020: No public seminar. Speaker rescheduled for Fall 2020
April 15, 2020: No public seminar. Speaker rescheduled for Fall 2020
April 22, 2020: No public seminar. Speaker rescheduled for Fall 2020
April 29, 2020: No public seminar. Speaker rescheduled for Fall 2020
May 6, 2020: No public seminar. Speaker rescheduled for Fall 2020
Fall 2019
August 28, 2019: Dr. Maria J. Santos, University of Zurich. Biodiversity and Social-ecological Co-evolution in the Context of Global Change. (Read Abstract and Bio) Host: Dr. Erin Hestir.
September 4, 2019: Syllabus Review - NO PUBLIC SEMINAR
September 11, 2019: Dr. Kevin Orner, UC Berkley. Addressing Multiple Sustainable Development Goals and Grand Challenges through Nutrient Management. (Read Abstract and Bio). Host: Dr. Colleen Naughton.
September 18, 2019: Jon Reiter, Cavalrei. Water in the Agricultural Sector. (Read Abstract and Bio) Host: Dr. Josué Medellin-Azuara.
September 25, 2019: Dr. John Callaway, Delta Science Program and Delta Stewardship Council. Applying Science to Management in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Estuary. (Read Abstract and Bio). Host: Dr. Josué Medellin-Azuara.
October 2, 2019: Dr. Aradnha Tripati, UC Los Angeles. Glacial Climate from Clumped Isotope Thermometry. (Read Abstract and Bio). Host: Dr. Asmeret Berhe.
October 9, 2019: Mid-semester reflection & evaluation - NO PUBLIC SEMINAR
October 16, 2019: Dr. Nancy Love, University of Michigan. Environmental Engineering and Science Academic Scholarship in Service to Society: Our Role and Responsibility. (Read Abstract and Bio). Host: Colleen Naughton.
October 23, 2019: Dr. Ryan Peek, UC Davis. Bridging Troubled Waters: Merging Disciplines for Conservation in Freshwater Ecosystems. (Read Abstract and Bio). Host: Dr. Joshua Viers.
October 30, 2019: Dr. Samantha Ying, UC Riverside. The Many Faces of Manganese: an Under-recognized Contaminant & Driver of Biogeochemical Cycles. (Read Abstract and Bio). Host: Rebecca Ryals.
November 6, 2019: Dr. Marie-Odile Fortier. From Bioenergy to Ocean Energy, Location Affects the Life Cycle Climate Change Impacts of Emerging Energy Systems. (Read Abstract and Bio)
November 13, 2019: SEMINAR CANCELED
November 20, 2019: Dr. Max J. Krause, US EPA. Five Days in EPA’s Office of Research and Development. (Read Abstract and Bio). Host: Dr. Marie-Odile Fortier.
November 27, 2019: THANKSGIVING - NO SEMINAR
December 4, 2019: Dr. Chelsea Carey, Point Blue Conservation Science. Restoration and sustainability of California's Rangelands. (Read Abstract and Bio). Host: Dr. Stephen C. Hart.
December 11, 2019: Dr. Ralf Zimmermann, Professor of Analytical Chemistry, University of Rostock, Germany and Helmholtz Zentrum München, Germany, New methods and instruments for accessing the composition, sources and health-relevance of aerosols: From lung cell exposure-based biological effects analysis to single-particle laser mass spectrometry (Read Abstract and Bio). Hosts: Dr. Fabian V. Filipp & Dr. Wolfgang F. Rogge.
Dr. Zimmermann's talk will be followed by the End of Semester Discussion for students taking the class.
Spring 2019
January 23, 2019: No speaker (introduction to the course).
January 30, 2019: Dr. Emily Moran and Dr. Jay Sexton, UC Merced. Plant Ecology and Evolution Research at UC Merced (read Abstract and Bio ò). Host: ES Lead Group.
February 6, 2019: Dr. Catherine Keske, UC Merced. Sustainable Biomass and Waste Management in Canada's Semi-Arctic and Boreal Ecosystems (read Abstract and Bio). Host: ES Lead Group.
February 13, 2019: Dr. Jay Lund, UC Davis. California's water future and the mission of scholarship and the university (read Abstract and Bio). Host: Josue Medellín-Azuara.
February 20, 2019: Dr. Ross Vander Vorste, UC Berkeley. Extreme drought impacts California’s endangered coho salmon: Is there a silver lining? (read Abstract and Bio). Host: Josh Viers.
February 27, 2019: Dr. Paolo D'Odorico, UC Berkeley. Water controls on food and energy security (read Abstract and Bio). Host: Martha Conklin.
March 6, 2019: No speaker (mid-semester discussion).
March 13, 2019: Closed session for enrolled students.
March 20, 2019: Dr. Eion Brodie, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Microbial life in soil: Signatures of niche adaptation and their application (read Abstract and Bio). Host: Sam Traina.
March 27, 2019: No class (Spring Break).
April 3, 2019: Dr. Susan Zimmerman (LLNL). Bad Droughts, Big Flood: How well do we know the Medieval period in California? (read Abstract and Bio) Host: Sora Kim. Luncheon at SE2 102, 11:00 am.
April 10, 2019: Dr. Renata Brillinger (CalCAN). Climate Smart Agriculture in California (read Abstract and Bio). Host: Rebecca Ryals.
April 17, 2019: no speaker.
April 24, 2019: Dr. Christine Lee (JPL). Of microscopes and satellites: engineering innovations to improve water quality and ecosystem monitoring for sustainable water and coastal resource management (read Abstract and Bio). Host: Erin Hestir.
May 1, 2019: Dr. Kingsley Odigie (UC Riverside). Pyrogenic Remobilization and Fate of Toxic Trace Elements (read Abstract and Bio). Host: ES Lead Group.
May 8, 2019: no speaker (end of the semester discussion).
Fall 2018
August 29, 2018: Dr. Alex Hall, UCLA. Projections of climate change in California's Sierra Nevada (read Abstract and Bio). Host: Asmeret Berhe.
September 5, 2018: Dr. Leopoldo Mendoza-Espinosa, UABC-Ensenada. Achieving reclaimed water reuse in a drought-prone city in northern Mexico (read Abstract and Bio). Host: Josue Medellín-Azuara.
September 12, 2018: UC Merced Postdoc Showcase: Dr. Bennett Widyolar, Dr. Lauren Schiebehut and Dr. Fernanda Santos (read Abstract and Bio). Host: ES Lead Group.
September 19, 2018: Dr. Richard Luthy, Stanford. Sustainable Urban Water Supply for Semi-arid Cities (read Abstract and Bio). Host: Tom Harmon.
September 26, 2018: Dr. Maya Almaraz. Nitrogen and sustainable food systems (read Abstract and Bio). Host: Rebecca Ryals.
October 3, 2018: No seminar.
October 10, 2018: Dr. Natasha Stavros. Host: Erin Hestir.
October 17, 2018: Dr. Akula Venkatram. Methane emissions from California agriculture. Host: Mark Matsumoto.
October 24, 2018: Dr. Sarah Kurtz. Innovations in solar research. Host: ES Lead Group.
October 31, 2018: Dr. Aric Mine. The role of microbes in Earth’s biogeochemical cycles. Host: Sora Kim.
November 7, 2018: Dr. LeRoy Westerling. Wildfire in California. Host: ES Lead Group.
November 14, 2018: Dr. Van Butsic. Environmental impacts of illegal cannabis. Host: Sam Traina.
November 21, 2018: No seminar.
November 28, 2018: Dr. Nigel Quinn. Cyberinfrastructure for real-time water quality decision support in the San Joaquin River Basin.
Spring 2018
The seminar organizer during this semester was Josué Medellín-Azuara (jmedellin-azuara@ucmerced.edu).
January 24: Kevin Simonin (SFSU) Genome downsizing drove physiological novelty and the rise of the flowering plants (Host: Stephen Hart)
January 31: Jeremy Wimpey (Applied Trails Research) Outdoor recreation management on Public Lands, balancing resource protection with recreation access (Host: Jeffrey Jenkins)
February 7: Susan Harrison (UC Davis) Winter Drought and Community Change in Californian Grasslands (Host: Jason Sexton)
February 14: Park Williams (Columbia University) The impact of human-caused warming on drought and forest fire in the western US (Host: Leroy Westerling)
February 21: Arnold Dekker (Australian National University) Design Considerations for An Aquatic Ecosystem Earth Observing System (Host: Erin Hestir)
February 28: Barbara Cade-Menun (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada) Phosphorus Forms and Cycling in Soils and Other Environmental Samples (Host: Student Nomination/Stephen Hart)
March 7: Erin Hestir (UC Merced) Remote Sensing for Aquatic Ecosystem Sustainability (Host: ES Seminar Lead Group)
March 14: Jennifer Martiny (UC Irvine) The role of microbial communities in mediating ecosystem to environmental change (Host: Student Nomination/Mike Dawson)
March 21: Mark Rains (USF) Connecting the Dots: Hydrological Connectivity between Vernal Pools and Downgradient Waters (Host: Joshua Viers) – NOTICE: Held in Student Services Building (SSB) 170
March 28: No Seminar (Spring Break)
April 4: Jeffrey Mount (Public Policy Institute of California) Consequences of Groundwater Sustainability in California (Host: Joshua Viers) – NOTICE: Held in Student Services Building (SSB) 170
April 11: Nicola Ulibarri (UC Irvine) Collaborative Governance and Modeling for Managing Water Infrastructure (Host: Marc Beutel)
April 18: David Sandino (CA Department of Water Resources) Understanding the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta: Ecosystem and Water Supply. (Host Marc Beutel)
April 25: John Harte (UC Berkeley) Predicting the Fate of Ecosystems in the Anthropocene (Host: Asmeret Berhe)
May 2: Kurt Schwabe (UC Irvine) (Host: Roger Bales)
Fall 2017
The ES/ESS Seminar Series occurs weekly each semester during the academic year. Unless otherwise noted, all talks are from 12:30 to 2:00 pm in SSB 120. For questions about the seminar series, please contact Josué Medellín-Azuara (jmedellin-azuara@ucmerced.edu).
September 6: Katie Ferris (UC Davis) Of Mice and Mimulus: the genetic and phenotypic basis of adaptation to harsh environments (Host: Jay Sexton)
September 13: Fernanda Santos (UC Merced) Impacts of fire on soils and rivers (Host Asmeret Berhe); Dannise Ruiz-Ramos, and Lauren Schiebelhut (UC Merced) Tracking a mass mortality event along the California coast: tracing the genetic consequences of sea star wasting disease. (Host: Michael Dawson).
September 20: William Cooper (UC Irvine) Recent studies of NOM excited states in the photochemical (sunlight) fate of organic compounds and application in the design and optimization of constructed wetlands (Host: Thomas Harmon).
September 27: Ate Visser (Lawrence Livermore National Lab) Tracking Water through the Critical Zone using Isotopic Tracers (Host: Martha Conklin)
October 4: Alvar Escriva-Bou (Public Policy Institute California) Policy Priorities for California's Water Management (Host: Josué Medellín).
October 11: Benjamin Sullivan (University of Nevada, Reno) Biogeochemistry of Tropical Forests (Host: Steve Hart)
October 18: John Battles (UC Berkeley) Consequences of 100+ million dead trees: Has the Sierran conifer forest reached a tipping point? (Host: Emily Moran)
October 25: Shazeen Attari (Indiana University) Misperceptions of water use and water systems (Host: Jessica Blois)
November 1: Neslihan Taş (Lawrence Berkeley National Lab) Deep look into deep permafrost: Impact of warming on microbial functions. (Host: Teamraat Ghezzahei)
November 8: Anne Hansen (Instituto Mexicano de Tecnología del Agua) Development of strategies to evaluate methods of controlling eutrophication in water bodies (Host: Marc Beutel)
November 15: Fernando Rosario-Ortiz (University of Colorado Boulder) Assessing the Impact of Wildfires on Water Quality (Host: Asmeret Asefaw Berhe)
November 22: No seminar (Thanksgiving break)
November 29: Mark Marvin-DiPasquale (USGS) Mercury Cycling in a West Coast Watershed: Historic and Contemporary Tales from the San Francisco Bay-Delta (Host: Student nomination/Peggy O’Day)
Spring 2017
January 25: Mengqiang (Mike) Zhu (University of Wyoming) Phosphorus Biogeochemical Transformation and Effects of Aeolian Dust Deposition during Long-term Soil Development in Semi-arid Ecosystems (Host: Stephen Hart)
February 1: Benjamin Sullivan (University of Nevada, Reno) Biogeochemistry of Tropical Forests (Host: Stephen Hart)
February 8: Jeremy Wimpey (Penn State University and Applied Trails Research) Outdoor recreation management on Public Lands, balancing resource protection with recreation access (Host: Jeffrey Jenkins).
February 15: Binayak Mohanty (Texas A&M) Soil Moisture Remote Sensing Across Space and Time – Scale Up and Scale Down (Host: Teamrat Ghezzehei)
February 22: Steven Sadro (UC Davis) Title: Exploring the climate sensitivity of Sierra Nevada lakes and the consequences of warming for ecosystem function (Host: Marc Beutel).
March 1: Jon Keeley (U.S. Geological Survey) Different future fire regimes in climate-limited vs. ignition-limited ecosystems (Host: Emily Moran)
March 8: Javier Ceja-Navarro (Lawrence Berkeley Lab) Arthropod-Microbiome Interactions and their Role in the Host's Success to Environmental Adaptation (Host: LeRoy Westerling)
March 15: Hoori Ajami (UC Riverside) Towards Improved Hydrologic Prediction using Integrated Land Surface-Groundwater Models (Host: UC Water)
March 22: Joe Wagenbrenner (U.S. Forest Service) Watershed impacts of wildfire and post-fire management (Host: Roger Bales)
April 5: Gara Villalba (UC Merced) Simulation of Carbonyl Sulfide (COS) to better understand the urban biosphere signal (Host: Elliott Campbell)
April 12: Scott Anderson (Northern Arizona University) Vegetation transitions along coastal California, from the last glaciation to the Euro-American period (Host: Stephen Hart)
April 19: Seema Sheth (UC Berkeley) Title TBD (Host: Jason Sexton)
April 26: Kurt Schwabe (UC Riverside) Title TBD (Host: UC Water)
Fall 2016
August 31: Rosemary Gillespie (UC Berkeley) Evolution of ecological communities through the lens of an island chronosequence. (Host: Dan Edwards/Jessica Blois)
September 7: Anne Kelly (UC Merced) Ecohydrological drivers of western US ecosystems. (Host: Martha Conklin)
September 14: Adrian Harpold (University of Nevada, Reno) Variable and unexpected hydrological response to changing snowpack dynamics: determining future winners and losers. (Host: UC Water and Roger Bales)
September 21: Josh Schimel (UC Santa Barbara) The biogeochemistry of drought. (Host: ES Graduate Students)
September 28: Cascade Sorte (UC Irvine) Will climate change increase the success and impacts of invasive species? (Host: Jessica Blois)
October 5: Open seminar slot
October 12: Amanda Zellmer (Occidental College) Applications of species distribution modeling to problems in conservation biology. (Host: Dan Edwards)
October 19: Satish Myneni (Princeton) Title TBD. (Host: Asmeret Asefaw Berhe)
October 26: Markus Kleber (Oregon State University) Beyond recalcitrance. (Host: Asemeret Asefaw Berhe)
November 2: Harry Beller (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) Title TBD. (Host: Peggy O’Day)
November 9: Kathleen Kay (UC Santa Cruz) Title TBD. (Host: Jay Sexton)
November 16: Jennifer Pett-Ridge (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) Title TBD. (Host: Carolin Frank)
November 30: Wil Burns (Forum for Climate Engineering Assessment) Into the great wide open: The promise, and potential perils, of climate geoengineering. (Host: LeRoy Westerling)
December 7: Jenni Dungait (Rothamsted Research North Wyke) Title TBD. (Host: Asmeret Asefaw Berhe)
Spring 2016
January 20: Sam Traina (UC Merced) Fracking in California: what do we know and what do we not know . (Host: Environmental Systems)
January 27: John Perlin (UC Santa Barbara) Let It Shine: the 6000-Year Story of Solar Energy (Host: UC Water and Roland Winston)
February 3: Carol Kendall (U.S. Geological Survey) Goldilocks and the Three Blooms: Using isotopes to quantify nutrient sources to algae in ecosystems experiencing HABs, hypoxia, or foodweb collapse (Host: Marilyn Fogel)
February 10: Cliff Dahm (University of New Mexico) Catastrophic forest fires and degraded water quality: using continuous sensors to assess impacts (Host: Martha Conklin)
February 17: George Salvaggio (WRA Consultants) Vernal pool restoration (Host: Marc Beutel)
February 24: Amelia Wolf (Columbia University) Species interactions and global change: how interactions affect plant trait plasticity, community dynamics, and ecosystem function (Host: Jessica Blois)
March 2: Dimitri Vlassopoulos (Anchor QEA) Biogeochemical Controls on Mercury Methylation and In Situ Management Strategies in Estuarine Sediments (Host: Peggy O’Day)
March 9: Jay Famiglietti (UC Irvine) Towards A High-Resolution Hydrological Modeling and Data Integration Platform for the Western United States (Host: SNRI)
March 16: David Sandino (California Department of Water Resources) Restoring the San Joaquin River - Understanding the legal framework (Host: UC Solar)
March 30: Ryoko Oono (UC Santa Barbara) Community patterns in foliar fungal endophytes -from landscapes to individual leaves (Host: Carolin Frank)
April 8 (Friday): Sudeep Chandra (University of Nevada, Reno) Limnology and aquatic ecology (Time and location TBA) (Host: CITRIS)
April 13: Suzanne Alonzo (UC Santa Cruz) Sexual selection and social plasticity: theory and data (Host: Dan Edwards)
April 20: Jirka Simunek (UC Riverside) Modeling Water Flow and Solute Transport in Soils Using the HYDRUS Software Packages (Host: Tom Harmon)
April 27: Hugh Stafford (UC Davis) Past, present, and future in the forests of the Sierra Nevada: elevational variability in forest response to environmental change, and management strategies to promote ecosystem resilience (Host: Stephen Hart)
Fall 2015
August 26: Introduction; Environmental Systems Faculty Research Summaries, Part 1
September 2: Environmental Systems Faculty Research Summaries, Part 2
September 9: Dr. Susan Mazer (UC Santa Barbara) Plant Adaptation - Host: Jay Sexton The evolution of mating system, life history, and physiological performance in annual wildflowers: genetic correlations and the evolution of risky mating behavior in a changing climate.
September 16: Dr. Mike Beman (UC Merced) Aquatic Microbial Ecology 'Oceans of Ocean Data'
September 23: Dr. Sarah Bisbing (California Polytechic State University) Forest Ecology and Genetics - Host: Steve Hart Shaping a species: landscape influence on range-wide patterns of genetic structure
September 30: Dr. Calla Schmidt (University of San Francisco) Hydrology, N-cycling, Groundwater - Host: Nate Bogie Isotopes to the rescue: understanding nitrogen cycling in surface water and groundwater
October 7: Dr. Robert Graham (UC Riverside) Soil Weathering and Origins - Host: Roger Bales A soil climosequence in the White Mountains, eastern California
October 14: Dr. William Walton (UC Riverside) Wetlands and Mosquito Biology - Host: Andrea Joyce Do Top-Down Effects Bottom-Out in Constructed Wetlands?
October 21: Dr. Michael Dettinger (UC San Diego/US Geological Survey) Hydroclimatology - Host: Leroy Westerling Large Storms, Drought, and the Sierra Nevada Environment
October 28: Emilio Camacho (CA Energy Commission) - Host: Robyn Lukens Climate, Energy, Innovation and the Future of California
November 4: Dr. Susan Hubbard (Director of Earth Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab) Geophysics - Host: Teamrat Ghezzehei Identification and quantification of ecosystem functional zones using geophysical methods.
November 11: Veterans Day – no seminar
November 18: Dr. Carolin Frank (UC Merced) Endosymbiotic Bacteria From cells to ecosystems: above ground bacterial endophytes in conifers
November 25: Day before Thanksgiving – no seminar
December 2: Dr. Andrew Latimer (UC Davis) Plant Ecology and Evolution - Host: Erin Babich "Responses of plant populations to climate gradients in Mediteranean-climate regions"
December 9: Dr. Alex Sessions (California Institute of Technology) Stable Isotopes - Host: Marilyn Fogel Isotope 'clumps' help unravel the sources of arctic methane
Spring 2015
January 21: UC Merced Faculty Seminars
January 28: UC Merced Faculty Seminars: Dr. Jason Sexton, Dr. Emily Moran, Dr. Mike Behman, Dr. Jessicca Blois
February 4: Dr. Stephen Kaffka (UC Davis) Bio-Energy in California, with an emphasis on Ag-derived bio-mass
February 11 : Rebecca Milczarek, PhD (USDA) Microwave Research in Food Processing: Commodities, Co-Products, and Consumer Products
February 18: Sarah Brown, PhD. (UC Merced) Reconstructing the evolutionary history of the domestic dog: From village dogs to ancient DNA - Faculty Host: Jessica Blois
February 25: Frank Davis (UC Santa Barbara) Changing windows of opportunity for tree seedling establishment under 21st Century climate change - Faculty Host: Emily Moran
March 4: Steve Shackleton (UC Merced Parks and Protected Area Management) - Parks and universities: A global community of practice for a flourishing and peaceful planet Faculty Host: Roland Winston
March 11: Dr. Michael Isaacson (UC Santa Cruz) The US-Denmark Program on Renewable Energy: In Practice - Faculty Host: Roland Winston
March 18: Steve Horne, Consultant - Concentrating Photovoltaics Faculty Host: Roland Winston
March 25: SPRING BREAK
April 1: David Sandino (CA. Dept. of Water Resources) Understanding California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014: Will It Keep the Well from Running Dry? Faculty Host: Jessica Blois
April 8: Joe Hereford, PhD (UC Davis) Climatic adaptation among California populations of the C3-C4 intermediate Mollugo verticillata. Faculty Host: Jason Sexton
April 15: Heather Poiry, Kim McFarlane, P.E., Helen Tan (Gallo) Water Reduction Efforts at E. & J. Gallo Winery - Faculty Host: Roland Winston
April 22: Jacob Fleck, (US Geological Survey) Mercury in California: A look at the past and hope for the future
Faculty Host: Peggy O'Day
April 29: Caroline Masiello, Ph.D. (Rice University) Biochar, water, and microbes: Tracking the mechanisms behind biochar's environmental effects - Faculty Host: Asmeret Asefaw Berhe
May 6: Adam Moule (UC Davis) Probing the morphology of bulk heterojunction films using electron microscopy Faculty Host: Roland Winston
