Sustainability

Most people probably don’t think about food when considering how to celebrate Earth Day.

Three of UC Merced’s student sustainability stars will share ideas about the future and network with international students and dignitaries at the upcoming session of Clinton Global Initiat

After 10 weeks of competition — including a wild flurry of activity at the end — UC Merced placed second in the University of California’s first-ever Cool Campus Challenge.

Many species of trees and plants have begun migrating as the climate changes, but some, like California’s giant coastal redwoods, can’t just pick up and move.

The proximity of the ocean, which has unique effects on temperature and climate, makes it challenging to predict what the redwoods’ habitat will look like in the future. By using California’s historical climate data, UC Merced researchers have developed near-term predictions about the coastal habitat for the archetypal redwoods.

The trees will need to move north to keep up with the shifting climate.

The University of California aims to lead the way to a sustainable future in the face of global warming, and UC Merced professors have contributed to a report that offers practical steps to help get there.

The University of California has selected its second class of Global Food Initiative (GFI) fellows — including three students from UC Merced — who will work on projects ranging from food access to policy to waste.

Four months into the reporting period for Gov. Jerry Brown’s water-reduction mandate, and UC Merced has so far exceeded the goal.

Now it needs the campus community's help.

The campus, which constructed all of its buildings to be 40 percent more efficient than state requirements, has so far been able to trim another 25 percent of its water consumption from the baseline year of 2013, despite the addition of two new buildings and 1,000 more students since then.

Fedele Bauccio, CEO and co-founder of Bon Appétit Management Company, will speak on campus early next month at an event sponsored by the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Sustainability, Dining Services, the Blum Center and the Karen Merritt Writing Program.

The event is free and open to all, and begins at 1:30 p.m. March 17 in the California Room.

Bauccio is visiting campus as part of the Sustainability Speaker Series. This year’s theme is food, in keeping with UC President Janet Napolitano’s Global Food Initiative.

On Food Day, Oct. 24, the nation will celebrate healthy, affordable and sustainably produced food.