Warm weather and severe drought could make even high mountain areas, normally too wet to burn, susceptible to flame, according to a study authored by Abatzoglou and a team of fire and climate scientists and engineers.

“High-elevation fires have implications for natural and human systems,” according to the article. “High mountains are natural water towers that normally provide a sustained source of water to millions of people in dry summer months. The scars that wildfires leave behind … affect how much snow can accumulate at high elevations. This can influence the timing, quality and quantity of water that reaches reservoirs and rivers downstream.”

It will gather researchers, educators, activists, policymakers, philanthropists, indigenous community leaders and people from the private sector to fight for climate justice in California and beyond.

“While economic concerns and technology are important, we need a different approach guided by equity and justice,” Osborne said. “This is important because it brings a larger and more diverse group of people to the table who can relate to climate change from a justice perspective.”

Academic Senate is the group through which faculty members share in the governance, operation and management of the university. Members determine academic policy; set conditions for admission and degree-granting; and advise the administration on various issues.

Said developmental psychology Professor Jenny Howell, who received the Distinguished Early Career Research Award: “Science is a team sport, and I know I wouldn’t have received this distinction without the help of my incredible colleagues, collaborators, graduate students and undergraduates.”