UCSB Bren School

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The Bren School is an interdisciplinary graduate program focused on research, teaching, and communit

09/23/2026

Out of office: Yosemite. 🌄🌲🌊🥾

Every year, Bren PhD students step away from campus for a retreat focused on building community.

This year, Yosemite set the scene for a few days of exploring, connecting across cohorts, and enjoying some much-needed time together outside of Bren Hall.

Not a bad way to start the academic year 👏🎉📚

09/18/2026

Bren goes behind the scenes in LA! 🎥🌇🤝

Four members of our Sport Support Impact Project team recently visited Sony Pictures Studios, Warner Bros. Studios, Dodger Stadium, and Crypto.com Arena to see sustainability in action.

From reusable cups and waste diversion to battery-powered productions, students saw firsthand how sustainability takes shape across sports entertainment and met the professionals making it happen.

As team member Shannon Maher reflected, “Learning opportunities from these site-visits echoed messages from the MESM curriculum such as the importance of finding added business value, the need for communicating across different audiences, and the power of data visualization.”

Experiences like these are at the heart of Bren’s Impact Projects, giving students the opportunity to apply their training to real sustainability challenges while learning directly from people working to solve them.

More to come as their Impact Projects continued this fall! 🌎🍃🎉

06/03/2026

🎬 Big things are happening at Bren this Friday.

Our ESM 449 Communication Capstone students are presenting 15 final projects — from documentary films to story maps to strategic comms plans — all built around real environmental challenges with real clients.

📅 June 5 | 1:30–4:30 PM
📍 Bren Hall 1414 or online (link in bio)
🥂 Reception after at 4:30 — come hang!

Projects cover everything from seafood literacy in Santa Barbara to steelhead recovery, San Pablo Bay sediment dynamics, and post-fire coastal communications. These students put in serious work this quarter and it shows.
Come celebrate with us. All are welcome. 🌊🌱

EnvironmentalScience StudentWork SantaBarbara

05/22/2026

The Bren community showed up in full force for Dave’s retirement party! From former staff, to professors emeritus, to alumni (all the way back to class of 1998!), everyone was here to honor the incredible legacy of Dave Parker.

A theme that kept coming up was the importance of human connection. Dave’s incredible power to create positive change through his signature blend of deep listening, compassion, and timely, actionable advice has left a mark on over 2,000 students.

With the most deep and heartfelt gratitude, thank you Dave for your 30 years of service to , the Bren School, and the environment.

If you were able to make the celebration, thank you for attending! Regardless of attendance, we would love to hear your favorite Dave story in the comments below :)

04/29/2026

MESM student Daniel O’Shea made waves at the Seafood Expo North America in Boston this past March! 🐟🐋

From panels on tackling carbon emissions in seafood to conversations on the economic and trade forces shaping the industry, he explored the work he’s passionate about — sustainability in the seafood sector.

Proud to see Bren students out there learning, connecting, and diving deep. 🌊

04/28/2026

Big congratulations to Bren PhD student Simran Koul! 🎉🏆

Simran received the Jeanne X. Kasperson Student Paper Award at the 2026 American Association of Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting!

Her research examines social vulnerability and its intersection with environmental risks, specifically how these risks are distributed across vulnerable populations in India. Using spatial data and national datasets of coal mine locations, she identified regions where marginalized communities face disproportionate environmental burdens.

Her work highlights clusters of elevated risk in major coal-producing regions and contributes to broader conversations on environmental justice, energy systems, and public health.

So well-deserved, congratulations Simran! 👏

04/24/2026

Tide pools🦀🌊, nature preserves🌿🏞️, hands-on curriculum 🛠️🗒️, and real mentorship🧑‍🔬🧑‍🏫

This spring, Bren PhD students are stepping outside the lab and into the field, mentoring 100+ high school students through hands-on environmental science as part of the Bren Emerging Environmental Scholars (BEES) program! 🌎

When young people connect with nature early, they grow into scientists, advocates, and changemakers our planet needs! We’re tracking every student, every field trip, every moment. Follow along with us!💚

04/07/2026

California’s wildlife through Olly’s lens 🦉📷

We’re featuring whose photography captures the wild spaces of California. While at Bren, Olly has been exploring campus corners and nearby trails, capturing wildlife and scenic moments along the way.

👉 Discover more on his page!

03/18/2026

A few more Bren moments and highlights from GreenBiz 26 🌎🌱

02/24/2026

This past week, a group of our MESM students attended GreenBiz 26 in Phoenix, Arizona. 🌎💡

Over three days, they explored the latest developments in decarbonization, nature-based solutions, and more — learning directly from sustainability leaders shaping the future of business and climate action.

As Dominique Changlee (MESM ’27) shared:

“GreenBiz was incredibly reviving. It was the exact reassurance I needed to see that the momentum for sustainability hasn’t slowed down — it’s actually gotten stronger and more resilient. It’s a powerful reminder that the fight is very much alive.”

We’re proud to see our students engaging in conversations that move climate solutions forward.

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Bren Hall
Santa Barbara, CA
93106

Telephone

+18058937611

Website

https://www.bren.ucsb.edu/

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