Faculty Directory
| Alivisatos, Paul |  | Chemistry, Professor | Physical Chemistry of Semiconductor Nanocrystals. Optical, electrical, and thermodynamic properties of a new class of materials, semiconductor nanocrystals, are investigated. |
| Allen-Diaz, Barbara |  | ESPM, Professor | Barbara Allen-Diaz studies how rangeland ecosystems respond to herbivory, fire, and management. She asks questions about how rangeland plant community distribution is related to physical site variables such as elevation, slope, aspect, soil type, and climate, as well as to biological and management variables such as grazing and fire history, etc. Then she examines whether the patterns in community response are predictable at various scales. She develops plant community models of ecosystem response which are intended to improve land management decision making. |
| Almeida, Rodrigo |  | ESPM, Assistant Professor | Rodrigo Almeida's research focuses on the role of insect vectors in the spread of plant diseases. Approaches range from field work on disease spread and vector ecology to basic molecular interactions between vector and pathogen. The ecology of hemipteran insects and associated bacteria (bacterial symbionts) is another area of interest. |
| Altieri, Miguel |  | ESPM, Professor | Miguel Altieri's research group uses the concepts of agroecology to obtain a deep understanding of the nature of agroecosystems and the principles by which they function. Throughout their research and writings they have aided in the emergence of agroecology as the discipline that provides the basic ecological principles for how to study, design, and manage sustainable agroecosystems that are both productive and natural resource conserving, and that are also culturally-sensitive, socially-just and economically viable. |
| Alvarez-Cohen, Lisa |  | Civil and Environmental Engineering, Professor | Her research interests are on the microbial degradation of environmental contaminants in natural and engineered systems with focuses on emerging contaminants and application of innovative molecular tools. |
| Amundson, Ron |  | ESPM, Professor | The thin veneer of soil that mantles the earth's surface is an active participant in the world's geochemical cycles and can, if buried, act as a store of information about the earth's past. Ron Amundson's laboratory studies these processes and problems using stable and radiogenic isotope geochemistry. |
| Aponte, Greg |  | Nutritional Science and Toxicology, Associate Professor | Regulation of Intestinal Epithelial Cell Differentiation and Proliferation by Release of Bioactive Peptides from the Central nervous system. |
| Arens, Edward |  | Architecture, Professor | Current areas of research activity include thermal comfort; buildings and climate; and building energy conservation. |
| Auffhammer, Maximilian |  | Agricultural and Resource Economics, Professor | Maximilian Auffhammer's research interests involve environmental economics and econometrics. He teaches intermediate microeconomic theory in the International Area Studies Program and graduate econometrics in ARE. |
| Bajcsy, Ruzena |  | Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Professor | Tele-immersive Environments, Computer Vision, AI, Robotics, Sensor Networks |
| Baldocchi, Dennis D. |  | ESPM, Professor | The central focus of Dennis Baldocchi's research is on the physical, biological, and chemical processes that control trace gas and energy exchange between vegetation and the atmosphere. A secondary focus of his research is on micrometeorology of plant canopies. |
| Baldwin, Bruce |  | Integrative Biology, Professor | biology, systematics and evolution of vascular plants, floristics, conservation biology, evolutionary processes, historical biogeography, evolutionary ecology |
| Balmes, John R. |  | Public Health, Professor | Dr. Balmes' laboratory, the Human Exposure Laboratory (HEL), has been studying the respiratory health effects of various air pollutants for the past 15 years. Recently, the HEL has been focusing on the airway inflammatory effects of ozone and fine particles. |
| Banfield, Jill |  | ESPM, Professor | Mineralogy, environmental geochemistry, geomicrobiology, and nanogeoscience. Jill Banfield's research group studies interactions between microorganisms and minerals, especially the impact of microorganisms on mineral weathering and crystal growth, biomineralization, and geochemical cycling. |
| Barnosky, Anthony D. |  | Integrative Biology, Professor | Anthony Barnosky studies how changes in the physical environment (such as climate change and mountain building) contribute to the evolution of mammal species and faunas at varying temporal and geographic scales. Field aspects of the work include collecting fossils from long stratigraphic sequences that can be well-dated by biostratigraphic, paleomagnetic, or radioisotopic techniques. Lab analyses utilize database and GIS systems to identify faunal changes through space and time; the faunal patterns are then compared with independently identified changes in the physical environment to test various evolutionary and biogeographic predictions. |
| Barrett, Reginald |  | ESPM, Professor | The response of terrestrial vertebrates to forest and range management practices, the ecology and management of introduced species, especially feral animals, and the autecology of economically or politically important wildlife, including, fishers, coyotes, pumas, wolverines, deer, elk, wild pigs and wild turkeys. |
| Bartolome, James | ESPM, Professor | Rangeland ecosystems form extensive wildland landscapes visually dominated by grassland, shrubland, and savanna vegetation. Two important natural processes that control the structure and function of these ecosystems are herbivory and fire. Successful restoration, conservation, and use of rangelands usually requires the use of fire and herbivory and an understanding of vegetation response. | |
| Battles, John |  | ESPM, Associate Professor | The goal of John Battles' research program is to know how and why forests change. Specifically, He focuses on the nonequilibrium determinants of forest composition, structure and function. |
| Bea, Robert |  | Civil and Environmental Engineering, Professor | Floating systems, platforms and pipelines, and human and organizational factors in marine systems. |
| Beall, Frank |  | ESPM, Professor | Frank C Beall's research examines performance of wood and wood-based materials in structures. Current focus is on improving durability of structures, including an exploration of how they are affected by decay, fire, and earthquakes. His projects include developing recommendations for reducing fire damage of structures in the urban-wildland interface and evaluating seismic performance of wood shear walls, which are critical to earthquake effects on wood-frame buildings. |
| Beckman, Sara |  | Haas School of Business, Professor | Innovation and design management, new product development, operations strategy, environmental supply chain management |
| Beissinger, Steve |  | ESPM, Professor | Steve Beissinger's research integrates studies of basic processes in behavioral and population ecology, and applied problems in wildlife and conservation biology. A dominant theme that draws his research in conservation biology and ecology together has been to determine the influence of environmental variation on behavior and life histories, to link these processes to population ecology, and to use this knowledge in the management of endangered or commercially valuable wildlife, and threatened ecosystems through the development of quantitative tools. |
| Berck, Peter |  | Agricultural and Resource Economics, Professor | Agricultural & Resource Economics, natural resource economics, agricultural production, environmental economics |
| Berry, William |  | Earth and Planetary Science, Professor | Major research interests presently are in global climate change and paleogeographic, oceanographic and life changes in the Ordovician and Silurian. The primary focus of his research at present is on the major developments before, during and after the Late Ordovician glaciation. |
| Biber, Eric |  | Boalt School of Law, Assistant Professor | Eric Biber is a specialist in conservation biology, land-use planning and public lands law. His principal research interests include environmental and natural resources law, administrative law and property. |
| Biging, Greg |  | ESPM, Professor | Biometrics/ecometrics-forest and ecological measurement and modeling, remote sensing-using satellite and camera imagery to monitor forest ecosystems, and photoecometrics-deriving ecological measurements from high resolution digital imagery acquired with aircraft. |
| Boering, Kristie |  | Chemistry, Associate Professor Earth and Planetary Science, Associate Professor | We study through atmospheric observations, computer modeling, and laboratory experiments interesting couplings between atmospheric chemistry and climate and their implications for life on earth – from billions of years ago to the near future. We currently have two main foci: Measurements from NASA U2 spyplanes and high altitude balloons, coupled with modeling and analysis, allow us to better quantify the sources and sinks of important direct or indirect greenhouse gases such as CO2, N2O, CH4, and H2 in today's atmosphere. Laboratory experiments simulating the atmospheres of early Earth and Mars allow us to probe whether or not hydrocarbon ("soot") hazes may have provided an additional greenhouse effect or an "antigreenhouse" effect and thereby affected the surface temperatures and the stability of liquid water in the first 2 billion years of these planets' histories. |
| Boering, Kristie | | Chemistry, Associate Professor Earth and Planetary Science, Associate Professor | We study through atmospheric observations, computer modeling, and laboratory experiments interesting couplings between atmospheric chemistry and climate and their implications for life on earth – from billions of years ago to the near future. We currently have two main foci: Measurements from NASA U2 spyplanes and high altitude balloons, coupled with modeling and analysis, allow us to better quantify the sources and sinks of important direct or indirect greenhouse gases such as CO2, N2O, CH4, and H2 in today's atmosphere. Laboratory experiments simulating the atmospheres of early Earth and Mars allow us to probe whether or not hydrocarbon ("soot") hazes may have provided an additional greenhouse effect or an "antigreenhouse" effect and thereby affected the surface temperatures and the stability of liquid water in the first 2 billion years of these planets' histories. |
| Borenstein, Severin |  | Haas School of Business, Professor | Electricity deregulation, market formation and competition, US and international airline competition, oil and gasoline market pricing and competition, efficiency and cost-cutting in firms. |
| Boyer, Elizabeth W. |  | ESPM, Assistant Professor | Watershed biogeochemistry, eco-hydrology, watershed management, water quality modeling. Research focuses on coupled hydrological and ecological processes that affect water quality (e.g., nutrients, sediments) and water quantity (e.g., streamflow and water yield) issuing from watersheds. Understanding factors affecting conditions and trends in surface waters is increasingly important, providing a scientific basis for design and implementation of policies and land management programs to mitigate the effects of pollution, and to protect, conserve, and restore surface waters. |