The Student Environmental Resource Center (SERC) held their annual Earth Week programming from Monday, April 18 to Friday, April 22. This year’s theme was “Wildflowers: Resilience, Resistance, and Growth”. The week was advertised via social media, an email sent by Chancellor Carol Christ, word-of-mouth, and the Environmental Community slack space.
A commonly overlooked consequence of rising sea levels due to the greenhouse gas effect is severe coastal erosion– a growing threat for California as most of our population lives in coastal cities. Studies show that 40% of California’s beaches are experiencing long-term (~120 years) erosion of -0.2m/year, while 66% are experiencing short-term (~25 years) erosion of -0.3m/year.
Over the past few years, land acknowledgements have become commonplace at UC Berkeley. You may see them in email signatures, lecture slides, and introductions to webinars. All too often, once the slide is clicked through or the next guest speaker takes the stage, the land acknowledgment, or any further information regarding Indigenous land and sovereignty, is not brought up again…
With the increase in students on campus, comes an increase in the accumulation of food waste. Not only does food waste greatly contribute to the emittance of greenhouse gasses in landfills, it also loses its purpose as the discarded food can no longer be rerouted to feed those in need…
It has been two years since California overcame its over seven year-long drought, only to digress to an even worse state of drought in 2021. While the state frequently receives low rainfall, this is a cause for concern because of rising temperatures stemming from climate change…
Climate change, and the threat of wildfire that accompanies it, is often equated to a great, existential war between the extreme forces of nature and humanity. Much like wartime commendations of the men and women fighting on the frontlines, wildland firefighters are celebrated as the last line of defense on the wilderness frontier…
Nowhere is the impact of the years-long drought and system of dams seen as intensely on the native salmon populations of California. Rising water temperatures in California have wrought enormous damage on salmon populations; some 14,000 of the 16,000 Chinook salmon eggs died around the Sacramento area this year alone.
It’s a brisk, overcast Autumn morning -- stiff legs peel reluctantly out of their beds, buses lurch to their stops, and Berkeley begins to bustle. Through the cold and cloudy hues, warmth pours out of the Berkeley Organic Market. Smells of baking pita bread and sounds of Yemeni dance music beckon passersby in…
Within 15 minutes, one can move from a loud, chaotic city to a quiet, scenic lake nestled in the Berkeley Hills. Lake Anza is a natural, spring-fed lake with a sandy beach found in Tilden Regional Park. Surrounded by trees that provide shade and excellent climbing opportunities, Lake Anza has a lot to offer…
On October 1st, residents along the Pacific coast down in southern California sensed the faint smell of petroleum. An oil spill was confirmed the following day, 5 miles off the coast of Newport and Huntington Beach. This environmental devastation equates to an estimated 144,000 gallons.
The UC Green New Deal Coalition (UC GND) — a democratically organized, grassroots organization — works to promote environmental justice and limit actions that contribute to the climate crisis on UC campuses. In hopes of actively advocating for the termination of the Cogeneration Plan, the UC GND organized a set of events for Climate Justice Week, including an Anti-Cogen rally on campus.
From Monday, October 25 to Friday, October 29 the Student Environmental Resource Center (SERC) hosted Climate Justice Week to educate students about the intersectionality of social justice and climate change. SERC was founded in 2012 to serve as a center for the UC Berkeley student environmental and sustainability community.
On October 28, 2021, the Berkeley Food Institute brought together a panel of Black farmers, organizers, scholars, and activists to bring awareness to the ongoing struggles of Black agrarians and share their stories of anguish, resilience, and hope. Because the majority of Black farmers reside in the southern United States, their battle is one that is rarely discussed among west coast academic institutions…
At roughly 90,000 pounds, the gray whale roams the shallow coastal waters of the North Pacific Ocean. This marine mammal usually migrates alone or in small pods, and their habitats range from the far western Pacific by east Asia, to the Arctic, and reproduce in the far east by Baja California.
East Bay oyster banks are steeped in history rooted in the precolonial lives of Indigenous communities, and they are witnesses to the rise of what is now the modern day East Bay. Recent development projects and infrastructure have fundamentally altered the ecology of the oyster banks and have destroyed several traditional Ohlone shell mounds, formations composed of shell and soil formed by Indigenous groups once living along the coastal East Bay.
Hiking through the Berkeley Fire Trails always seems like a relaxing experience after a busy day of online classes, meeting, and projects. Coast live oak, deer, and other chaparral wildlife are certainly comforting sights. But during dusk and dawn, it is not uncommon for a crepuscular predator to roam through the hills.
In fall of 2019, UC Berkeley undergraduate students formed “Pour Out Pepsi,” (POP) a campaign dedicated to breaking UC Berkeley’s corporate partnership with PepsiCo, Inc. As UC Berkeley votes to renew their contract with PepsiCo, POP is showing the campus that when universities function like businesses, they betray their commitments to their students.
For five years, two peregrine falcons named Annie and Grinnel have been living peacefully in the Campanile on Cal’s campus. Peregrine falcons usually mate for life, and this couple has had five successful breeding seasons on campus, resulting in thirteen chicks being born. On April 19th, triplets hatched and can be seen on the livestream.
When it comes to consumerism, nearly nothing represents wide scale materialism the way the fashion industry does. The fashion industry emits 10% of the world's carbon emissions, and 85% of all textiles go to landfills each year. In addition, people are buying more clothes and throwing them out at a faster rate…
Go Bears! The chant for Cal’s mascot, the California Golden Bear, embodies passion, excitement, and even sarcasm. Inspired by the California grizzly bear (Ursus arctos v.californicus), the figure was the symbol of the Bear Flag Revolt, when American settler-colonists rebelled against the Mexican and Spanish rule to declare California an independent republic in the summer of 1846.
In the last year, climate activism has become more prominent, especially among young people to make their voices heard seeing that they will be the generation that is highly impacted by global warming and climate change. Youth vs Apocalypse (YVA) is an environmental justice organization started by high school students from Oakland that have fought against inequities perpetuated by environmental issues.
In March 2020, amid campus cries for a cost of living adjustment (COLA) for graduate students and the emergence of COVID-19, UC Berkeley’s College of Natural Resources (CNR) flaunted a 50 million dollar donation from former Dean Gordan Rausser that they would be accepting in exchange for the addition of his name to the College.
In order to share the experiences of women in the technological field, the Women in Tech Symposium selects a tech-related topic each year and holds panels and discussions to dive deeper into the area of focus. This year marked the 5th Annual Women in Tech Symposium titled The New Era in Human-Computer Interaction.
