Winter cover crops increase the sustainability of agricultural lands and the health of surrounding watersheds through erosion control and nutrient retention. The Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) incentivizes the planting of winter cover crops in the Chesapeake Bay area via a cost-sharing program that offers...

Native plant species in the Colorado River Basin are currently threatened by non-native species that are changing resource competition dynamics. Monitoring native species is essential for understanding changes in plant health throughout the year as well as how species’ distributions...

The California grunion (Leuresthes tenuis) is a species of fish endemic to the California coastline that plays an important role in the marine food chain as a consumer of zooplankton and a food source for larger marine creatures. Grunion spawning events, commonly referred to as...

Human-wildlife conflict is increasingly more common due to human population growth, habitat fragmentation, and changing climatic conditions. This conflict is particularly evident in the Kavango-Zambezi area, where over three million people share the landscape with an abundant megafauna population. As...

In the Kavango-Zambezi area of southern Africa, three million people live within areas frequently traveled by free-ranging elephants. As the region continues to develop rapidly, urban and agricultural settlements further encroach upon the land that these elephants use. As elephants come...

In the Puget Sound region of Washington, high levels of air pollutants put residents’ health at risk by increasing their likelihood of developing critical respiratory conditions. This project used remotely-sensed data to investigate aerosol optical depth (AOD) from NASA satellite...

The combined effects of increasing urbanization and climate change have exacerbated the urban heat island (UHI) effect and heat-related risks for city dwellers. Vulnerability to heat-related illnesses is further compounded by risk factors such as demographics, socioeconomic status, and pre-existing...

The urban heat island (UHI) effect occurs when urban areas have temperatures that are warmer on average than the surrounding suburban and rural regions. Low albedo surfaces traditionally found in urban landscapes, such as dark asphalt and rooftops, absorb solar irradiance...

With the aim of improving air quality and mitigating increases in land surface temperature (LST), the city of Richmond, California, and partnering organizations have planted 35,000 trees over the past decade. Groundwork Richmond (GR) a local partner, has approximately 22,000 tree planting opportunities to further...

Cover crops enrich soils, limit erosion, and reduce nutrient runoff from agricultural land. To promote their usage, the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) subsidizes farmers who plant winter cover crops. In order to maximize environmental benefits, cover crops must be...