Sustainability & environment

New rules

05/11/26 — A groundbreaking way of designing polymers could lead to eco-friendly plastics

Man holding up a petri dish, looking at it

Back to the elements

05/11/26 — Researchers have engineered a virus that can extract rare earth elements in a greener, low-cost and recyclable way

Omar Yaghi in a suit, sitting at a desk in front of molecular structures

The making of a Nobel Prize

05/11/26 — Professor Omar Yaghi was awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in creating metal-organic frameworks

From forest to front door

05/10/26 — Understanding how wildfire spreads through communities

Professor Ting Xu shown working in her lab wearing safety goggles and a blue lab coat. She is working at a table full of lab equipment.

UC Berkeley-led biodegradable fabric research awarded $10M from Bezos Earth Fund

04/24/26 — Protein-based spider silk inspires new fibers sourced from compost

Paige Balcom at “Plastic Mountain,” an area at the current Takataka Plastics facility where collected bottles are dumped, then sorted before being processed in the facility’s production lines.

Giving plastic a second life

03/30/26 — UC Berkeley Engineering alum Paige Balcom is turning plastic waste into economic opportunity through her recycling company in Uganda

Record-breaking ‘molecular sponge’ pulls carbon from air faster than ever before

02/09/26 — BIDMaP: Professor Omar Yaghi’s lab achieves a breakthrough in direct air capture technology

An M.D. and Ph.D. candidate at UC San Francisco, Alice Tang speaking at a dais.

Berkeley engineers among innovators featured on Forbes ‘30 Under 30’ list

02/02/26 — UC Newsroom: Many are leading the way across AI, entrepreneurship, science and more

Illustration of proteins as colorful, ribbon-like structures.

Researchers uncover new rules for designing protein-like polymers

01/01/26 — Findings could lead to eco-friendly plastics and other materials

Seung-Wuk Lee, professor of bioengineering, in his lab.

Researchers pioneer greener way to extract rare earth elements

11/12/25 — Sustainable biomining approach uses genetically engineered viruses

Omar Yaghi, UC Berkeley professor of chemistry, in his lab.

UC Berkeley’s Omar Yaghi shares 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

10/08/25 — Created metal-organic frameworks that can harvest water from desert air, capture carbon dioxide, store toxic gases, catalyze chemical reactions

William Tarpeh (M.S.’13, Ph.D.’17 Environmental Eng), 2025 MacArthur Fellow standing in his laboratory.

William Tarpeh awarded MacArthur ‘genius’ fellowship

10/08/25 — Berkeley Engineering alum is pioneering methods to recover resources from wastewater

Suburban houses in Florida surrounded by floodwaters.

Researchers awarded $15 million NSF grant to transform the science of natural hazards

09/05/25 — UC Berkeley civil engineering professor to co-lead the multi-institutional effort

A group of students sits in a large yellow disposal bin that is filled with small twigs and branches. The bin is on a hilly street next to a white house.

UC Berkeley scholars help Bay Area communities prepare for wildfire season

07/09/25 — Professor Michael Gollner and his students are applying advanced wildfire simulation tools to help neighborhoods understand their specific wildfire risks

Graduate students in UC Berkeley’s Indigenous Research Methods seminar.

Native FEWS Alliance trains students to strengthen tribal food, energy, water systems

05/22/25 — This multi-university consortium now faces an uncertain future due to NSF funding cuts

Civil and environmental engineering professor Joshua Apte and postdoc Sam Cliff take air quality measurements aboard diesel trains, which are in the process of being replaced by new electric trains at San Francisco Caltrain Station.

Electric trains quieter, more reliable — and healthier, study finds

04/16/25 — Electrifying SF Bay Area’s Caltrain line was shown to reduce riders’ exposure to carcinogenic black carbon by an average of 89%

Civil and environmental engineering professor Scott Moura demonstrates SlrpEV, a research project developing next-generation intelligent EV charging stations, at UC Berkeley

Batteries, buildings and beyond: Scott Moura combats climate change at scale

01/29/25 — CITRIS: Associate professor of CEE uses modeling and machine learning to optimize systems, develop energy-efficient infrastructure

Image depicting ACCEL-RT: Autonomous Cargo Carriers for Enhanced Logistics in Rural and Tribal Areas.

UC Berkeley PATH awarded $10M USDOT grant

01/27/25 — Funding will facilitate development and deployment of innovative autonomous vehicle technologies to improve freight logistics in rural and tribal communities

Firefighters work to contain a grass fire that broke out in the Oakland Hills on Oct. 18, 2024.

Is the Bay Area prepared for major wildfires?

01/16/25 — Researchers use computer simulations to stress-test region’s disaster preparedness and virtual games to educate the public about wildfire safety

Rendering of solar panels reflecting light from the sun

New research center to develop innovative solar power plant technologies

01/15/25 — UC Berkeley and Nextracker Inc. are partnering to launch the CAL-NEXT Center for Solar Energy Research