Search Results for 'ecology'
ERG Site
About ERG
ERG is a collaborative community of graduate students, core faculty, over 150 affiliated faculty and researchers across the campus, and over 500 alumni across the globe. We award MA, MS, and PhD degrees to students working across disciplines and departments to create potentially transformative knowledge for the planet. ERG is a world-renowned program with a […]
Affiliated Faculty
ERG has a small core faculty but a much larger group (100+) of affiliated faculty. Affiliated faculty are based in other departments on campus or at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and share ERG’s commitment to shared learning and interdisciplinary work. They are advisors, mentors, or employers to ERG students, and serve on master’s project, […]
Courses
Please note: This is a full list of ERG course offerings; not all courses are offered each term. For current course offerings, please refer to the online Schedule of Classes. ENERES 39A – Freshman and Sophomore Seminar: Complex Systems, Information Theory, and “Big Data” John Harte A premise of this seminar is that science, evolving […]
Faculty by Primary Interest
Areas of Interest Climate Change Ecology Energy Governance Water International Climate Change ERG CORE David Anthoff David Anthoff is an environmental economist who studies climate change and environmental policy. He co-develops the integrated assessment model FUND that is used widely in academic research and in policy analysis John Harte John Harte’s research interests span ecological […]
Give to ERG
We ask you to consider pledges to the Energy and Resources Group Annual Discretionary Fund, which was established to provide program support to respond to ERG’s most urgent needs and to build on the excellence of our program. Make a secure credit card gift to ERG online or make a PLEDGE in easy monthly installments. ERG has […]
Harte Lab: Ecology & Global Change
Ecology and global change are the primary topics of research in the Harte Lab. Among the goals are: to characterize ecological feedbacks to climate change, to predict effects of global change on biodiversity, and to develop fundamental theory that predicts the structure of ecosystems across spatial scales.
Master’s Degree Curriculum Requirements (MA or MS)
The purpose of the ERG Master’s program is to educate the next generation of interdisciplinary leaders. Specifically, students are taught the range of methods and subjects they should be able to understand, advance, and critique to address critical issues stemming from the interaction of humans and the environment. To that end, the requirements for the […]
Minor/Certificate in Sustainability — Courses
Summer Curriculum ERG’s minor and certificate require the same 15 total units of coursework, which can be completed in either one or two summers. UC Berkeley undergraduates may elect to take Energy and Society (ENERES C100 or PUBPOL C184) either in the summer or the fall. All other courses will be offered during the summer […]
Programs
ENERGY AND RESOURCES GROUP PROGRAMS Ph.D. – Doctor of Philosophy in Energy and Resources Master’s Degree – Two-year program in Master of Science (M.S.) or Master of Arts (M.A.) in Energy and Resources Concurrent ERG/Public Policy Master’s Degree – Three-year program in Energy and Resources (M.S. or M.A.) and Master’s Degree of Public Policy (M.P.P.) […]
Summer Instructors
The Energy and Resources Group summer instructors understand the complex and interdisciplinary nature of sustainability. All have significant experience teaching and/or professional experience in the subject areas of their courses. For course descriptions and schedule, visit our Summer Curriculum and Schedule page. Unless otherwise stated, office hours take place at 310 Barrows Hall. SAMUEL […]
Summer-Only Minor and Certificate
SUMMER-ONLY MINOR/CERTIFICATE IN SUSTAINABILITY Whatever direction your studies take you in, the Minor or Certificate in Sustainability will equip you with tools to tackle some of the most pressing issues facing the world today. This program offers a practical and relevant interdisciplinary approach at the intersection of environmental, economic, social, political, and cultural issues. ERG’s […]
Support ERG
ERG students and faculty work across disciplines and departments to create transformative knowledge for the planet and its people. Forty years of ERG research has advanced the fields of global change ecology, renewable energy deployment, efficient energy systems, ecological economics, and equitable and affordable access to water and energy. Donate now to support ERG's unique culture of interdisciplinary research and teaching for a sustainable environment and a just society!
Who We Are
A Brief History of ERG For thirty years, the Energy and Resources Group (ERG) at the University of California, Berkeley has provided its outstanding graduate students and exceptional faculty the scholarly conditions in which to: study the environmental sciences, analyze the social causes of our energy and environmental problems, undertake field research in a variety […]
Faculty
John Harte
Professor
John Harte is a physicist turned ecologist. His research interests span ecological field research, the theory of complex systems, and policy analysis. Current interests include applying insights from information theory to the analysis of complex ecosystems and empirical investigation of climate-ecosystem feedback dynamics.
Students
Richard Barnes
PhD
Richard applies computational and mathematical techniques to better understand the complex interface of society and the environment. His work includes developing (a) in silico models to exlore ecoevolutionary interactions over long time scales and (b) high-speed algorithms for understanding landscape use and evolution. A recipient of both the DOE CSGF and the NSF GRFP fellowships, […]
Adam Hanbury-Brown
MS, PhD
Adam is interested in how climate change and biodiversity loss can be mitigated through agriculture, forestry, and conservation strategy. Prior to joining ERG, Adam worked with an early stage agriculture technology company called TerViva where he conducted research and business development to expand the adoption of novel, sustainable crops on marginal land. This work exposed […]
Marshall Worsham
MA, PhD
Marshall’s interests lie in environmental governance and ecology, in particular, the relationships among regulatory structure, conflict, and ecosystem outcomes. Before ERG, Marshall was the content manager for a Taipei-based startup working on the demand side of the energy efficiency and renewable transition equation. At ERG, he hopes to build on his background as a writer […]
Jessica Reilly
MS, PhD
Jess studies the impact of and adaptation to climate change on Latin America’s coasts. Currently, she travels on her 39-foot sailboat, Oleada, down the Pacific coast of Mexico and Central America, through the Panama Canal, and into the Caribbean to document local climate knowledge through GIS mapping and personal narratives. You can follow her journey […]
Hilary Yu
MS
Hilary received her B.A. in Government and Biological Sciences, with a concentration in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in the latter, from Cornell University, where she graduated in 2015. At ERG, Hilary is interested in exploring the science-law nexus and the factors – political, economic, and social – that inform the translation of science into legislation. […]
Alumni
Rebecca Coates-Maldoon
MA, MPP
Assessing Instream Flow Standards Under Climate Change Implications for State-Level Policy in the U.S. (MS/MPP ’17) Rebecca completed a Master’s degree in both the Energy and Resources Group and the Goldman School of Public Policy (MA/MPP). Her research interests focus on the sustainable use of water resources, integrating work in ecology, equity, and climate change […]
Reuben Deumling
MA, PhD
The Industrial Ecology of Household Refrigerators: Product Life and the Demand for Materials and Energy (’99 MA) Public Policies, Private Choices: Consumer Desire and the Practice of Energy Efficiency (’08 PhD)
Nathan Johnson
MS
A Hierarchical Concept of Industrial Ecology: Scale, Values and the Paper Industry (’98 M.S.)
Christopher Jones
MS, PhD
Chris Jones is lead developer at the CoolClimate Network, an applied research consortium at UC Berkeley’s Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory that supports the development of comprehensive, socially integrated carbon footprint management tools and programs for individuals, schools, businesses and communities. His primary research interests intersect the fields of industrial ecology, environmental psychology, and climate […]
Anna Kantenbacher
MS, PhD
Environmental policy making; balancing short-term pressures with long-term needs; climate changes policies; economics; decision analysis; ecology.
Ann Kinzig
PhD
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT Ann Kinzig Ph.D. ’94 Professor in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University Perhaps more than most alumni, Ann Kinzig’s intellectual path has traversed ERG’s interdisciplinary bounds, grappling with the physical, life and social science aspects of the world’s ecological and social problems during, and especially after, her time at ERG. […]
Sharad Lele
PhD
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: SHARAD LÉLÉ Ph.D. 1993 Senior Fellow, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (Bangalore) Sharad Lele never intended to become an academic. And even though his resume is chock-full of scholarly publications, he still believes that applying the interdisciplinary academic knowledge gained at ERG defines ERG’s crucial role. After all, he says, […]
Erica Newman
MS, PhD
Erica’s niche is fire, particularly in the ecologically sensitive region of French Polynesia. She has already been trained as a physicist, but her curiosity draws her to ecology. ERG has become a unique place for Erica to explore her aspirations in the biological sciences alongside those who have successfully trekked through similar transitions. Read in her own words how Erica has fine-tuned her fascinations while at ERG.
Tracey Osborne
PhD
Carbon Capital: The Political Ecology of Carbon Forestry and Development in Chiapas, Mexico (’10 PhD)
Malini Ranganathan
MS, PhD
Can Co-ops become Energy Producers too? Challenges and Prospects for Efficient Co-Generation in India’s Co-Operative Sugar Sector (’05 MS) Fluid Hegemony: A Political Ecology of Water, Market Rule, and Insurgence at Bangalore’s Frontier (’10 PhD)
Adam Smith
PhD
Facets of Biological Conservation: Appropriate Ecology, Policy, and Ethics for Ensuring the Perpetuity of Biodiversity (’09 PhD)
Ida Sognnaes
MA
Ida Sognnaes is a PhD student in the Energy and Resources Group. She is originally from Norway and came to Berkeley for the first time as part of her five year MSc in Applied Mathematics and Physics where she focused on Renewable Energy and Climate Science. She wrote her Master thesis with John Harte in […]
Matthew Turner
PhD
Life on the Margin: Fulsse Herding Practices and the Relationship Between Economy and Ecology in the Inland Niger Delta of Mali (’92 Ph.D.)
Justin West
MS
Justin’s background in botany and agroecology informs his research in perennial crop farming systems and woody biomass coppice. Most recently he has been researching tropical fodder bank systems in South America. Justin previously studied at The Colorado College (BA), and The University of Plymouth (MSc). He worked as a vegetation ecologist in various parts of […]
Cleo Woelfle-Erskine
MS, PhD
In the tradition of Barad and Haraway, I practice Science and Technology Studies (STS) “from the inside”, drawing on my own natural science training to inform the theoretical frameworks I develop. My interdisciplinary outlook is grounded in training, publication, and research in hydrology, aquatic ecology, and fluvial geomorphology, as well as in social science and […]
News
Transportation Emissions in Mexico City – How Big Data is Driving Change
Mexico City is one of the most congested cities in the world, and it’s taking a toll on the health of its citizens and the environment. Sergio Castellanos, a postdoctoral scholar with Energy and Resources Group, along with Dan Kammen and other researchers from UC Berkeley and the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change […]
ERG Summer Courses Available
ERG is offering four of its most popular courses this summer! Enroll Today!
BOOK: Applying Anthropology and Physics to Sustainability
New book by Dove and Kammen released this week.
UC Berkeley Ranks 1st in the World for Environment
Subject-specific rankings from US New & World Report are based on academic research performance in those subjects.
Will Dr. Harte’s MaxEnt lead to a unified theory of ecology?
"MaxEnt breaks everything that we ever thought about communities and species and ecology."
Professor Harte Featured in DOE’s Symmetry
He transitioned from physics to ecology. And at ERG, he's not the only one.
Events
Topic Links
Micah Elias
Micah Elias earned his B.S. in International Agricultural Development from UC Davis in 2012. After graduating he worked with international development organizations and non-profits working to connect small farmers to markets and technical resources. Later, he served in Peace Corps Panama and worked as the National Coffee Coordinator where he trained volunteers and their community […]
Alasdair Cohen
Alasdair Cohen is a Postdoctoral Researcher and Environmental Health Scientist with over 10 years of water and development related work and research experience. He completed his PhD in Environmental Science, Policy & Management and his MPH in Epidemiology at UC Berkeley, and has an MSc in Water Science, Policy, & Management from the University of […]
Jesse Strecker
Jesse is a student in the concurrent Master’s degree program at ERG and the Goldman School of Public Policy. His research focuses on the political economy of energy transition. He graduated from Brown University with a degree in Anthropology focused on Latin American Studies, and spent the next 7 years working as a labor and […]
Nicholas Depsky
Nick earned his BS in Hydrology along with a minor in Environmental Policy from UC Davis in 2013. Since graduating, he spent over three years working for the Stockholm Environment Institute based in their Davis, CA office participating in watershed modeling and management projects for river basins in California, Perú, and Ecuador. He then worked […]
Dianne Quiroz
I’m a first years master’s student and received a B.S. & B.A. from UC Berkeley in Integrative Biology and Molecular Environmental Biology. Prior to coming to ERG, I worked on quantifying rates of nitrogen fixation by bacteria associated with conifer foliage in Western U.S. forests. I’m broadly interested in the dynamics of community-level responses to […]
Lara Kueppers
Lara Kueppers is an Assistant Professor in the Energy and Resources Group, with a Faculty Scientist appointment at Berkeley Lab. She is an interdisciplinary environmental scientist, whose research focuses on ecological responses and feedbacks to climate change.
Hilary Yu
Hilary received her B.A. in Government and Biological Sciences, with a concentration in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in the latter, from Cornell University, where she graduated in 2015. At ERG, Hilary is interested in exploring the science-law nexus and the factors – political, economic, and social – that inform the translation of science into legislation. […]
Esther Shears
Esther is interested in integrated assessment models and the role of tropical forests and land cover in climate change mitigation. She also studies sustainable agroforestry and the environmental governance of global supply chains. Prior to beginning her graduate studies at UC Berkeley, she worked for the U.S. Department of Justice as a statistician in the […]
Adam Hanbury-Brown
Adam is interested in how climate change and biodiversity loss can be mitigated through agriculture, forestry, and conservation strategy. Prior to joining ERG, Adam worked with an early stage agriculture technology company called TerViva where he conducted research and business development to expand the adoption of novel, sustainable crops on marginal land. This work exposed […]
Rebecca Coates-Maldoon
Assessing Instream Flow Standards Under Climate Change Implications for State-Level Policy in the U.S. (MS/MPP ’17) Rebecca completed a Master’s degree in both the Energy and Resources Group and the Goldman School of Public Policy (MA/MPP). Her research interests focus on the sustainable use of water resources, integrating work in ecology, equity, and climate change […]