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Rausser College of Natural Resources - UC Berkeley

Rausser College of Natural Resources - UC Berkeley

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UC Berkeley Rausser College of Natural Resources. See the bigger picture. Make a better world.

At Rausser College, we study natural and human systems from biological, ecological, economic, and social science perspectives. With more than 120 faculty and approximately 1,800 undergraduate and 300 graduate students, we engage the issues that shape the complex, interconnected world of the 21st century, from sustainable food systems to obesity, from water policy to energy policy, and from the far

02/27/2026

Earlier this month, graduate advisors Ryann Madden and Zarah Ersoff, undergraduate Sanya Sitlani, and Professor Daniel Portnoy were honored with UC Berkeley's 2025 Excellence in Advising and Student Services Award.

The awards recognize Berkeley students, faculty, and staff who have a positive, innovative impact on learning, engagement, and belonging across campus. Learn more about their contributions: https://nature.berkeley.edu/news/four-rausser-college-recognized-advising-awards

01/06/2026

Join us next Wednesday, January 14, for a special Albright Lecture in Conservation celebrating the western monarch butterfly and native pollinators that help sustain California’s ecosystems.

Filmmaker Ian A. Nelson will bring his lifelong passion for wildlife and conservation to the David Brower Center with a screening of his documentary "Western Monarch Butterflies: Protecting Our Pollinators." The film weaves together stunning natural imagery and human stories to show why monarchs and all native pollinators are vital to ecosystem health, food systems, and cultural heritage.

Following the screening, we invite you to stay for a Q&A between Nelson, Rausser College dean David Ackerly, and Peter Oboyski, PhD, distinguished senior museum scientist at the Essig Museum of Entomology.

12/03/2025

“I was four years old in this picture,” says Lenya Quinn-Davidson. “I grew up in a town called Hayfork, which is surrounded by the Shasta Trinity National Forest and just very, very fire prone. I was actually pretty scared of fire.”

After arriving at UC Berkeley’s Rausser College of Natural Resources, Quinn-Davidson (BS ’04, Conservation and Resource Studies) started to see fire differently.

Family stories and Berkeley professors shaped her path to fire ecology. “I’m third generation at UC Berkeley. Cal was a big part of our childhood.”

Today she’s the Director of the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Fire Network — but it was at Berkeley where it first clicked for her that fire is a natural and needed process.

She found mentors like the late Professor Don Dahlsten, an entomologist known for his field-trip classes, and Scott Stephens, a fire scientist who “shaped how I thought about fire” and remains a close collaborator. She built an interdisciplinary major and mentality that “started at Berkeley” and serves her well today.

Her work now is about people and policy as much as it is science. “Our fire problems are really at their heart social problems,” she says. The fix? “Engagement. Reconnecting people with place. It’s always been a human practice.”

She’s created a social movement around prescribed fire, connecting local burn associations, tribes, agencies, and legislators. Her work has resulted in the state’s first Prescribed Burn Associations, two senate bills that ease liability for cultural burners and prescribed fire practitioners, and an expansion of the Women's Prescribed Fire Training Exchange, a global training program that brings more voices and perspectives into the field.

“At the end of the day, it’s about joy and connection. Fire is part of California. Every place we love has a fire story, and we can help shape what that looks like.”

Her advice for the next generation of changemakers? “Always question the things you think you know. Don’t believe everything you think.”

12/01/2025

There’s a famous quote attributed to the eminent scientist Richard Feynman: “What I cannot create, I do not understand.”

Those eight words are a driving force for Patrick Shih, an associate professor of Plant and Microbial Biology at UC Berkeley. Shih’s work is primarily in synthetic plant biology, which is striving to create therapeutic compounds, better nutrition and even new forms of fuel through new biological understanding.

Shih sees a future where agriculture can become a factory, making critical compounds at scale for humanity’s needs.

For more 101-second explainers from UC Berkeley experts, visit our YouTube https://bit.ly/4bMwNlL��

11/24/2025

Our Fall issue of Breakthroughs looks inland to California’s rural and agricultural areas and their people, ecosystems, and biodiversity. From forests to farmland, Rausser College researchers are advancing science and solutions to support communities and ecosystems across the Golden State.

Read the full issue at nature.berkeley.edu/breakthroughs.

Opinion | The Reality of Living With Wolves, Bears and Mountain Lions (Gift Article) 11/03/2025

California wildlife officials recently announced that they had taken the unprecedented step of euthanizing four gray wolves—a species listed as endangered under the California Endangered Species Act—that had killed dozens of cattle and ranged near homes and people.

Professors Arthur Middleton and Justin Brashares, and California Wolf Project Director Kaggie Orrick write in the New York Times that these recent conflicts expose major shortcomings of America’s efforts to bring back predators.

"Decades after deciding to help wolf, grizzly bear and mountain lion populations recover, America still lacks the policy, management tools and funding to support their coexistence with people."

Read their full op-ed:

Opinion | The Reality of Living With Wolves, Bears and Mountain Lions (Gift Article) Recent conflicts between wolves and people expose major shortcomings of America’s efforts to bring back predators.

10/27/2025

Earlier this month, Rausser College had the opportunity to host Ayana Elizabeth Johnson—a renowned marine biologist, policy expert, and co-founder of the Urban Ocean Lab—for the Fall 2025 Horace M. Albright Lecture in Conservation.

Johnson spoke about her New York Times bestselling book, “What If We Get It Right?: Visions of Climate Futures,” with Rausser College Dean David Ackerly and ASUC Eco Senator Bella Santos. Their conversation explored solutions-oriented approaches to the climate crisis and highlighted the importance of leveraging community and creative problem-solving to envision new climate futures.

Watch their full conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAYj7ukLFNY

ESPM Professor Rodrigo Almeida named California Academy of Sciences Fellow | Environmental Science, Policy & Management 10/24/2025

Congratulations to Environmental Science, Policy, & Management (ESPM) - UC Berkeley Professor Rodrigo Almeida, who was named a California Academy of Sciences fellow in recognition of his experimental and modeling work on the ecology, evolution, and management of insect-transmitted plant pathogens.

ESPM Professor Rodrigo Almeida named California Academy of Sciences Fellow | Environmental Science, Policy & Management October 23, 2025Congratulations to Environmental Science, Policy, and Management (ESPM) Professor Rodrigo Almeida on being named a California Academy of Sciences Fellow. Nominated by peers and elected by the Academy’s Board of Trustees, Academy Fellows are chosen for their notable contributions to...

Everything In Life, From Water 06/12/2025

Ali Odeh oversees nearly 300 water service providers operating across Palestine. Since the latest war began in Palestine, water has become potently infused with politics.

As executive director of the Union of Palestinian Water Service Providers, Odeh has earned international funding for local infrastructure improvements and conducted capacity-building programs for service providers, all amid ongoing geopolitical turmoil. He’s now drawing on lessons from the Beahrs Environmental Leadership Program to help people and water service providers navigate this urgent humanitarian crisis.

Everything In Life, From Water 2024 Bearhs Environmental Leadership Program participant Ali Odeh leads water service providers in Palestine.

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