Sustainability & environment

Illustration of reserchers discussing fire response techniques

Modern technologies needed to prevent wildfires

01/23/19 Daily Californian — In an op-ed, mechanical engineering professor Tarek Zohdi writes about his new Fire Research Group's focus on actions needed to combat fire emergencies in both wildland and urban environments.

Diagram demonstrating recycling carbon dioxide into valuable chemicals through a copper catalyst

Greener days ahead for carbon fuels

12/18/18 Berkeley Lab — Researchers led by Joel Ager, MSE adjunct professor, have discovered copper's potential as a catalyst for turning carbon dioxide into sustainable chemicals and fuels without wasteful byproducts.

Professor Joyashree Roy and project team member Sreeman Mypati tasting water from ECAR plant.

This innovation removes deadly arsenic from India’s water

12/12/18 The Better India — Everyday, tens of millions of people drink water that significantly increases their risk of cancer and other deadly diseases. UC Berkeley professor Ashok Gadgil amd Asian Institute of Technology's Joyashree Roy hope to fix that with an efficient and cost-effective system called Electrochemical Arsenic Remediation (ECAR) for removing arsenic contamination from drinking water.

New group to explore engineering solutions for wildfires

11/16/18 Fung Institute — The newly formed Fire Research Group, led by mechanical engineering professor Tarek Zohdi, brings together scientists from UC Berkeley, the Space Sciences Lab and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to find more effective engineering solutions for uncontrolled wildfires.

Burned stump at the Illilouette Creek Basin in Yosemite National Park.

Fire & water

11/14/18 — Restoring natural fire regimes to California's mountains could be a win-win-win: more water, improved biodiversity and a reduced risk of catastrophic fires.

Can the world change course on climate change?

10/15/18 — In an episode of the Knowledge‌‌@‌Wharton podcast, Berkeley professor of energy Daniel Kammen and Wharton's Brian Berkey discusses a new United Nations report warning that severe impacts of global warming are likely to occur by 2040.

Aerial view of cleanup project at Savannah River Site

Algorithm provides early warning system for groundwater contamination

08/30/18 Berkeley Lab — National laboratory researchers led by Berkeley Lab's Haruko Wainwright, a new associate adjunct professor of nuclear engineering at UC Berkeley, have developed a low-cost method for real-time monitoring of groundwater pollutants using commonly available sensors.

Discarded cup carried to storm drain by runoff water

Engineered sand zaps storm water pollutants

08/30/18 — Berkeley engineers have created a new way to remove contaminants from storm water using mineral-coated sand, potentially addressing the needs of water-stressed communities that are searching for ways to tap the abundant and yet underused source of fresh drinking water.

House and car destroyed by tornado in Texas. Photo by Volkan Yuksel / Wikimedia Commons

NSF funds extreme events reconnaissance network

08/15/18 PEER — The National Science Foundation has awarded a grant to the Structural Extreme Events Reconnaissance (StEER) Network, which aims to improve reporting and coordination by the natural hazards engineering community in the aftermath of earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes and other extreme events. UC Berkeley is one of StEER's three primary nodes.

Scans comparing the Hume Lake Dam before and after drainage

Dam scanning

06/01/18 — CEE professor Robert Kayen used lidar technology to evaluate the health of the Hume Lake Dam.

Diagram of the parts of the new efficient wind turbine: Tower, blades, concentrator and camouflage

Redesigning wind power

06/01/18 — Berkeley Engineering students have designed a wind turbine that is quiet, efficient and protects birds.

Joseph Charbonnet and his Grad Slam presentation

Berkeley water engineer lands 2018 ‘Slammy’

05/04/18 Graduate Division — At the UC-wide Grad Slam competition on May 3, environmental engineering doctoral student Joseph Charbonnet brought home the first-place ‘Slammy' - and $9,000 in prize money - for his three-minute talk on using manganese-coated sand to capture, clean and re-use stormwater.

Reducing air pollution with smart design

02/13/18 CITRIS — Air pollution is a global epidemic that kills more than 3.2 million people prematurely each year. Clarity, an environmental tech startup out of the CITRIS Foundry, produces smart air-quality monitoring systems designed to reduce this number.

A ‘stillsuit’ for cities

11/06/17 — Berkeley water expert David Sedlak, a professor of civil & environmental engineering, says cities may soon have to develop their own version of the science fiction novel Dune's "stillsuit" to recycle wastewater for drinking.

Berkeley student descending a staircase outside the RISE house

Berkeley-Denver team comes in third in Solar Decathlon

10/18/17 Denver Post — A collaboration between UC Berkeley and the University of Denver took third place in the Solar Decathlon 2017, a challenge for student teams to build and operate highly energy-efficient and innovative solar houses. The team's RISE house was designed specifically for the city of Richmond, Calif.

Simple sanitation, a Q&A with Ashley Muspratt

09/12/17 — Over 90 percent of wastewater generated on the planet every day is dumped into the environment without any treatment. CEE alum Ashley Muspratt is working on a solution.

Boot camp participants at California Memorial Stadium.

Fresh ideas for nuclear power

08/24/17 — Two dozen students from all over the world gathered at Berkeley for two weeks over the summer to discuss, plan and help start building a new nuclear energy sector. The students, along with professional mentors and speakers, were part of the 2017 Nuclear Innovation Boot Camp.

David Sedlak by the reflecting pool in front of Hearst Memorial Mining Building

Reduce and reuse: Surprising insights on making cities more water resilient

08/17/17 The Water Blog — In a Q&A, civil and environmental engineering professor David Sedlak, co-director of the Berkeley Water Center, discusses the World Bank's Water Scarce Cities Initiative, which aims to develop integrated and innovative water management solutions.

Photo illustration of baby with plastic bottles

Toxic exposure: Chemicals are in our water, food, air and furniture

07/03/17 UCSF — As director of UCSF's Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, Tracey Woodruff (B.S.'85 EECS, Ph.D.'91 BioE) believes that we need to know more about environmental toxics so we can reduce our exposure to the worst of them and protect ourselves and our children from their harmful effects.

On California, the drought and the ‘yuck factor’

06/23/17 — David Sedlak, professor of civil and environmental engineering, says our aging urban water infrastructure needs a major upgrade in order to keep our cities thriving. He spoke with Berkeley News about technologies being developed to recycle water, capture storm water and use water more efficiently.