Environment
Mussels as Canaries of the Pacific Ocean ‘Coal Mine’
Maria Christina Vasquez, who teaches biology, says that collaborating with students as she conducts her research is one of the most rewarding parts of her job.
Climate Chaos
Extreme California weather may bring chaos, but do we resist, mitigate or adapt to preserve the climate, our common good? David L. Ulin explores the path head and our responsibilities.
Nature Nurture
Wendy Butts MBA ’00, CEO of the LA Conservation Corps, talks about the role of nature in nurturing work ethic, confidence and community.
Deluge and Drought
During the past several months, California’s skies have unexpectedly opened up and drenched the state with rainfall. Prof. Joseph Reichenberger discusses whether the state’s multi-year drought finally is over.
The Accidental Sea
Formed when the Colorado River flooded in 1905, the Salton Sea now poses an environmental dilemma that some describe as an unsolvable problem. Prof. Traci Voyles says simplistic solutions probably won’t help.
Melissa McCabe Navaroli ’05
Melissa McCabe Navaroli is co-owner of McCabe’s Nursery & Landscape Construction in Temecula, Calif. We asked her to tell us about her favorite hardy, low-water and easy-to-maintain garden plants especially suited to Southern California.
Climate Change May Worsen California’s Water Issues
A projected increase of 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit in the Southwest U.S. could cause an increase in the frequency and intensity of floods and droughts in coming decades.
Mojave Stress
Thirty years ago, Philippa Drennan joined her colleague John Waggoner in a study of Joshua trees in the Mojave Desert. His initial research that concerned the distribution of Joshua trees within a range of altitudes in the remote desert became long-term monitoring of new growth and flowering of specific trees. Changes in climate and environment have affected the trees, and Drennan describes here what they have observed through their research in the Mojave National Preserve.
Tracking Fracking in L.A.
If a map of promising U.S. fracking sites were drawn, a second map depicting sites of heated controversy over the practice would almost be identical to the first. Prominent on both would be wells in states like North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Texas and Kentucky, where Catholic nuns have refused permission to oil companies to build on their property a pipeline carrying liquid byproducts of fracking. Add LMU’s backyard to those maps, specifically the Inglewood Oil Field in the nearby Baldwin Hills. Here’s why.—The Editor