News

UC Davis scientists just figured out how to fix peppermint, creating over 250 new genetic variants of the crop that could make it mintier, more resilient, and better equipped to survive the disease threatening peppermint farms worldwide. They used multiple facilities including the Center for Health and the Environment.

Science is already hard. Add wildfires burning study sites, diseases wiping out research subjects, and the government pulling funding overnight, and you've got the reality many UC Davis researchers are dealing with right now. Here's how some of them are managing to push their work forward anyway.

Fish food has been declining in the San Francisco Estuary for decades, leaving species struggling to survive. A new UC Davis study may have just found where all of it has been hiding: the managed wetlands of Suisun Marsh, which produce up to 22 times more zooplankton than surrounding tidal habitats.

The Institute of the Environment has launched its 2026–2031 Strategic Plan. This plan gives new ideas for interdisciplinary research, policy impact, and climate solutions. Through this plan the Institute strives to advance real world environmental change while setting an example for future innovation.

Frogs are changing their mating calls as temperatures rise! Researchers at UC Davis Natural Reserves found that warmer conditions lead to faster mating calls which is helping the male frogs attract more females. But as climate patterns shift, these small changes could have big impacts on breeding and survival.

After more than a decade of research, Carson Jeffres, from the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences shares that their research has shown that flooded rice fields can help young salmon grow faster and survive better. 

Please join us in welcoming Clare Cannon as the new Interim Director of the UC Davis Institute of the Environment.

New research from the University of California, Davis, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Texas A&M University reveals that massive emissions, or burps, of carbon dioxide from natural earth systems led to significant decreases in ocean oxygen concentrations some 300 million years ago.   

Institute of the Environment 2022-2023 Environmental Climate Justice Scholar Anuj Vaidya is excited to share a new podcast series recently launched at Imagining America where Vaidya works as Communications Director. The IA Hubbub, which features stories about art, ecology, and public scholarship from across the IA Network.