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Amato Evan was in the desert when the dust storm arrived.

Evan was near Ocotillo Wells, in the western foothills of the Imperial Valley. The winds approached from the West as the sun was setting, stirring up the powdery soil. Suddenly, the dust was all around them. Evan tried to keep an eye on the ground, but he could barely see where he was going. His heart raced.

For nearly a month, hundreds of thousands of Iowans have not been allowed to water their lawns — even though there’s no drought.

Local authorities previously asked the public to refrain from washing cars and filling pools. And some cities turned off splash pads in the height of summer heat.

Ofelia Lichtenheld shared her recipe for brewing organic compost ‘tea’ out of bat guano, kelp, molasses and vermicompost. Photo by Rob Padilla

We’re living in a modern gold rush. That's according to Samuel Sandoval Solis, a University of California Cooperative Extension specialist and UC Davis professor in the Department of Land, Air and Water Resources. But don’t get your pickaxe yet, he’s not talking about minerals. He’s interested in the latest must-have crop.

As most of the U.S. sweltered in mid-July 2022 − when temperatures in many major cities reached the high 90s and even triple digits − a national weather map showed San Francisco topping out at 65 degrees.

It was just a typical foggy summer day in the city by the bay, which averaged 62 degrees that month, about the same as the next two Julys.

Atmospheric science senior undergraduate Cameron Schmitt was recently announced as a recipient of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences “Dean’s Circle Award” which is given annually to up to three outstanding seniors from across the college.  Mr. Schmitt excelled academically and philanthropically in his time at UC Davis.  He will graduate with a 4.0 GPA while having completed the bulk of his degree in just three years.  Mr.

From a small California winery to a large-scale energy project in China, floating photovoltaics — or “floatovoltaics”— are gaining in popularity. Commonly installed over artificial water bodies, from irrigation ponds and reservoirs to wastewater treatment plants, floating solar projects can maximize space for producing clean energy while sparing natural lands.

We’re excited to share highlights from the National Collegiate Soil Judging Contest, held last week in Stevens Point, Wisconsin!

In Fairfield, on the northeast edge of California’s Bay Area, there is a spot where the land drops below a gravel parking lot and into a ravine. Ledgewood Creek flows through an underpass, just out of sight from passing traffic and across from a Home Depot. On a hot day in early September 2024, researchers from UC Davis are in the creek, setting up transects to measure its size and shape.

In their third year of competing at regionals, the UC Davis Collegiate Soil Judging Team placed third, earning their first-ever qualification for the prestigious National Collegiate Soils Contest. UC Davis will face off against ~25 other top teams from across the nation in April 2025 at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point.

It’s not your average solar farm.

The glassy panels stand in a meadow. Wildflowers sway in the breeze, bursts of purple, pink, yellow, orange and white among native grasses. A monarch butterfly flits from one blossom to the next. Dragonflies zip, bees hum and goldfinches trill.