Research Areas

Research in the Environmental Studies Department centers around the four areas below. Learn more about our approach to research and see our latest publications and research news on our Research overview page.

Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems 

Our faculty addresses issues of food sovereignty, pesticide reduction, and sustainable food systems globally. Research on soil fertility management, disease control, and urban garden biodiversity and inclusivity maximizes agricultural productivity and reduces adverse environmental impacts while ensuring farm-worker safety.

We utilize the Center for Agroecology as an important research and teaching testing ground for developing new approaches to sustainable aquaculture, reducing losses to pests and pathogens, and examining no-till organic agriculture. 

Jeffrey T Bury

• Title
  • Department Chair and Professor
• Campus Email
  • jbury@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Google Scholar
  • Center for Integrated Spatial Research
  • GISTAR M.A. Program

Madeleine P Fairbairn

• Title
  • Associate Professor
• Campus Email
  • mfairbai@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • UC AFTeR Project

Gregory S Gilbert

• Title
  • Professor
• Campus Email
  • ggilbert@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Gilbert Lab page
  • UCSC Forest Ecology Research Plot
  • SCWIBLES GK-12 Graduate Training Program

Anne R Kapuscinski

• Title
  • Professor of Environmental Studies
• Campus Email
  • akapusci@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Kapuscinski – Sarker Lab Group
  • Coastal Science and Policy website
  • Kapuscinski Office Hours Sign Up

Flora E Lu

• Title
  • Professor, Environmental Studies
• Campus Email
  • floralu@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Flora’s ENVS website

Maywa Montenegro

• Title
  • Assistant Professor of Agroecology and Critical Technology Studies
• Campus Email
  • mamonten@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Academia page

Joji Muramoto

• Title
  • Associte Professor of Cooperative Extension
• Campus Email
  • joji@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • UCANR webpage

Stacy M Philpott

• Title
  • Professor
• Campus Email
  • sphilpot@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Philpott / ANTS Lab Website
  • Urban Garden Research
  • Center for Agroecology
  • Office Hours Sign-up

S Ravi Rajan

• Title
  • Professor
• Campus Email
  • srrajan@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Ravi Rajan’s Home Page

Pallab Kumer Sarker

• Title
  • Assistant Professor
• Campus Email
  • psarker@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • LinkedIn
  • Kapuscinski/Sarker Lab

Katherine Li Seto

• Title
  • Assistant Professor
• Campus Email
  • klseto@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Website
  • Office hours sign up

Hannah Waterhouse

• Title
  • Assistant Professor of Agroecology and Watershed Ecology
• Campus Email
  • hawaterh@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • CV

Darryl G Wong

• Title
  • Executive Director
• Campus Email
  • dgwong@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • UCSC Center for Agroecology

Conservation Science and Policy 

Faculty research integrates an understanding of threats to biodiversity and natural resources with their institutional and cultural underpinnings to inform the design and implementation of feasible, effective interventions. 

We work on issues from balancing water supply for human and ecological needs to scaling up conservation, governance, and restoration actions to confront the biodiversity loss crisis. Additionally, we explore the ecologically transformative effects of invasive pests, pathogens, and weeds, and we focus on the sustainable management of aquaculture and fisheries, contributing to our campus’s strength in Coastal Science and Policy.  

Jeffrey T Bury

• Title
  • Department Chair and Professor
• Campus Email
  • jbury@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Google Scholar
  • Center for Integrated Spatial Research
  • GISTAR M.A. Program

Elliott Elliot Campbell

• Title
  • Gliessman Presidential Chair in Water Resources and Food Sustainability
• Campus Email
  • jojcampb@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Elliott Campbell Faculty Website
  • Office hours sign-up

Gregory S Gilbert

• Title
  • Professor
• Campus Email
  • ggilbert@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Gilbert Lab page
  • UCSC Forest Ecology Research Plot
  • SCWIBLES GK-12 Graduate Training Program

Brent M Haddad

• Title
  • Professor of Environmental Studies
• Campus Email
  • bhaddad@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Center for Integrated Water Research

Karen D Holl

• Title
  • Distinguished Professor
• Campus Email
  • kholl@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Karen Holl’s lab web page
  • Off Hours sign up

Anne R Kapuscinski

• Title
  • Professor of Environmental Studies
• Campus Email
  • akapusci@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Kapuscinski – Sarker Lab Group
  • Coastal Science and Policy website
  • Kapuscinski Office Hours Sign Up

Michael E Loik

• Title
  • Professor
• Campus Email
  • mloik@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • The Loik Lab
  • Sign up for Office Hours here

Flora E Lu

• Title
  • Professor, Environmental Studies
• Campus Email
  • floralu@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Flora’s ENVS website

Natalia Ocampo-Penuela

• Title
  • Assistant Professor
• Campus Email
  • nocampop@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Personal website
  • Google Scholar
  • Twitter
  • BlueSky

Stacy M Philpott

• Title
  • Professor
• Campus Email
  • sphilpot@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Philpott / ANTS Lab Website
  • Urban Garden Research
  • Center for Agroecology
  • Office Hours Sign-up

Katherine Li Seto

• Title
  • Assistant Professor
• Campus Email
  • klseto@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Website
  • Office hours sign up

Christopher C Wilmers

• Title
  • Professor
• Campus Email
  • cwilmers@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Lab Web Page
  • Santa Cruz Puma Project

Bo Yang

• Title
  • Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies
• Campus Email
  • byang85@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Geofly Lab

Global Change Science and Policy

This area of research seeks to understand, mitigate, and adapt to climate change, land-use change, nitrogen deposition, and a host of other human-induced environmental impacts that affect ecosystems, biodiversity, and human livelihoods. By studying human vulnerability, resilience, and community engagement, faculty research informs responses to ongoing and catastrophic environmental changes.

We use experiments, models, and remotely sensed data to study how ecosystems respond to changing temperature and precipitation patterns. Our work includes collaborating on cutting-edge projects about the social and ecological implications of new technologies, like solar geoengineering and solar greenhouses, to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions. 

Jeffrey T Bury

• Title
  • Department Chair and Professor
• Campus Email
  • jbury@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Google Scholar
  • Center for Integrated Spatial Research
  • GISTAR M.A. Program

Elliott Elliot Campbell

• Title
  • Gliessman Presidential Chair in Water Resources and Food Sustainability
• Campus Email
  • jojcampb@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Elliott Campbell Faculty Website
  • Office hours sign-up

Weixin Cheng

• Title
  • Professor
• Campus Email
  • wxcheng@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Cheng’s Web page at UCSC
  • Rhizosphere Image Gallery

Brent M Haddad

• Title
  • Professor of Environmental Studies
• Campus Email
  • bhaddad@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Center for Integrated Water Research

Sikina A Jinnah

• Title
  • Professor of Environmental Studies and Associate Director, Center for Reimagining Leadership
• Campus Email
  • sjinnah@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Personal Website

Michael E Loik

• Title
  • Professor
• Campus Email
  • mloik@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • The Loik Lab
  • Sign up for Office Hours here

Flora E Lu

• Title
  • Professor, Environmental Studies
• Campus Email
  • floralu@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Flora’s ENVS website

S Ravi Rajan

• Title
  • Professor
• Campus Email
  • srrajan@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Ravi Rajan’s Home Page

Katherine Li Seto

• Title
  • Assistant Professor
• Campus Email
  • klseto@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Website
  • Office hours sign up

Scott Winton

• Title
  • Assistant Professor
• Campus Email
  • scwinton@ucsc.edu
• Website

Bo Yang

• Title
  • Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies
• Campus Email
  • byang85@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Geofly Lab

Global Environmental Justice

We seek to address inequities by understanding the impact of economic inequality, food insecurity, housing shortages, and the disproportionate impacts of toxins, pollution, land dispossession, and climate change on populations of color. Through transdisciplinary research projects with departments across the university, we are also uncovering how access to the California coast impacts communities, including vulnerable Indigenous and rural people. 

Abroad, faculty participate in international efforts supported by major scientific funders to leverage participatory governance in sustainable groundwater management, bringing together interdisciplinary teams from the Central Coast, India, Egypt, Tanzania, Morocco, Algeria, Peru, and Europe. 

Christopher Benner

• Title
  • Professor
• Campus Email
  • cbenner@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Chris Benner’s Web-site
  • Everett Program for Technology and Social Change
  • Institute for Social Transformation
  • Global and Community Health
  • Solidarity Economics

Jeffrey T Bury

• Title
  • Department Chair and Professor
• Campus Email
  • jbury@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Google Scholar
  • Center for Integrated Spatial Research
  • GISTAR M.A. Program

Mijin Cha

• Title
  • Assistant Professor
• Campus Email
  • mcha63@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • personal website

Madeleine P Fairbairn

• Title
  • Associate Professor
• Campus Email
  • mfairbai@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • UC AFTeR Project

Brent M Haddad

• Title
  • Professor of Environmental Studies
• Campus Email
  • bhaddad@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Center for Integrated Water Research

Sikina A Jinnah

• Title
  • Professor of Environmental Studies and Associate Director, Center for Reimagining Leadership
• Campus Email
  • sjinnah@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Personal Website

Flora E Lu

• Title
  • Professor, Environmental Studies
• Campus Email
  • floralu@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Flora’s ENVS website

Maywa Montenegro

• Title
  • Assistant Professor of Agroecology and Critical Technology Studies
• Campus Email
  • mamonten@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Academia page

Stacy M Philpott

• Title
  • Professor
• Campus Email
  • sphilpot@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Philpott / ANTS Lab Website
  • Urban Garden Research
  • Center for Agroecology
  • Office Hours Sign-up

S Ravi Rajan

• Title
  • Professor
• Campus Email
  • srrajan@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Ravi Rajan’s Home Page

Katherine Li Seto

• Title
  • Assistant Professor
• Campus Email
  • klseto@ucsc.edu
• Website
  • Website
  • Office hours sign up