Environment

California’s San Joaquin Valley produces an enormous share of the nation’s fruits, nuts and vegetables. But it takes an unsustainable amount of groundwater to do it. New state rules aimed at reducing groundwater use are expected to force up to 20 percent of the valley’s irrigated fields out of production – a blow to farmers and communities.

Worker bees are the first line of defense when it comes to removing contamination in honeybee colonies, but a queen has her ways, too.

A honeybee queen facing chronic exposure to pesticides will take up that contamination and pass it along to her eggs, a process researchers call maternal offloading. 

The findings, which document for the first time the extent a queen will go to survive, are published in the journal Current Biology. Research was led by the University of California, Davis.

Scientists are detecting nanoplastics nearly everywhere, from Antarctica to the human brain, but lack established methods for understanding how they affect human health. University of California, Davis, researchers have received a nearly $4 million grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to develop the world’s first standardized method for measuring and describing the neurotoxicity of airborne nanoplastics.

Ice that doesn’t melt. Technology that restores voices. An AI chatbot that can improve your health. Forecasting tools that can protect neighborhoods, people and ecosystems from extreme weather. 

These are just a handful of research advancements supported by federal funding highlighted by UCDavisDelivers, a yearlong online and social media campaign meant to show the impact of research on everyday lives.

Ordering a hamburger might soon come with more than a calorie count. Food systems account for about one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, and some foods have larger environmental footprints than others. Some restaurants are beginning to display the environmental impact of food items on their menus. A new study led by researchers at the University of California, Davis, shows that climate labels can nudge people toward more environmentally friendly food choices.

Staring into the depths of Lake Tahoe, you might think the view goes on forever. But researchers at the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center have been tracking precisely how far a person can see through the famed lake’s waters for nearly 60 years and sharing the results in the annual Lake Tahoe Clarity Report. 

The UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, or CA&ES, is celebrating two outstanding graduate students recognized for their research, leadership and service in advancing regenerative agriculture, wildlife ecology and conservation and environmental sustainability.

A wind-driven brush fire in Simi Valley could push east sending flames and smoke plumes into parts of Los Angeles, less than 18 months after catastrophic wildfires hit the communities of Altadena and Pacific Palisades. 

The lessons from those twin 2025 fires are still being learned as researchers from University of California, Davis, other institutions in the state and the country are working to understand the effect on air quality, human health and the environment. 

After the sun sets and darkness falls over the vineyards near Lodi, American barn owls start to glide above the grapevines in search of rodents below. As the birds hunt, researchers at the University of California, Davis, and California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, and San Luis Obispo, are paying attention to how noises echoing through the fields influence these nocturnal raptors.

Even if you haven’t heard of Botrytis cinerea, you’ve likely seen it — slowly growing in your store-bought blueberries, tomatoes or even on your beautiful orchids. Commonly known as gray mold, the fungus attacks hundreds of plants. For years, scientists have unsuccessfully tried to breed crops that could resist the fungus. New research from the University of California, Davis, suggests decades of crop breeding strategies may have overlooked a crucial piece of the puzzle: the pathogen itself.