Explore the latest research, publications, events, and news from our program and community.
STUDENTS
Learn More about the Catalina Island Maymester
With support from The Macfarlane Foundation, students venture to USC Dornsife’s Wrigley Marine Science Center to learn from environmental leaders and discover new ways to turn their interests into careers.
ALUMNI
In His Element: Ariel Nehoray ’25 fuses passions for chemistry and the environment
ALUMNI
For Environmental Science Major, Scientific Diving Unlocks New Ambitions
Environmental Studies alum Emerson Damiano (’25) discovered a passion for field research through USC’s scientific diving program. She went on to research fish populations off Catalina and to write a report on bycatch monitoring as an Oceana intern, and now works as a marine science communications consultant at ReAgency.
ALUMNI
Sustainability Entrepreneur
Environmental Studies alum Kaitlin Mogentale (’15) is a sustainability entrepreneur working toward a circular food economy. She founded Pulp Pantry, an upcycled snack brand that turned overlooked produce into veggie chips and won a Shark Tank deal, and now works at Divert building partnerships across California’s Central Valley to turn surplus food into renewable energy.
ALUMNI
‘The forgotten forest’: how smashing 5.6m urchins saved a California kelp paradise
Environmental Studies alum Sean Taylor (’22) is helping bring Santa Monica Bay’s kelp forests back. As an ocean resilience program coordinator with The Bay Foundation, he supports a diver-led restoration effort that has cleared 5.8 million purple urchins across more than 80 acres, allowing the kelp to regrow.
ALUMNI
The Long Flight to Teach an Endangered Ibis Species to Migrate
Environmental Studies alum Tyler Schiffman (’17) is an environmental photographer and filmmaker. He’s directing a documentary about conservationists who use an ultralight aircraft to teach the critically endangered northern bald ibis how to migrate.
ALUMNI
Learner to Leader: USC Experience Inspires Alumna’s Journey as a Professor
USC Environmental Studies alumna, Richelle Tanner ’15, shares how her time in the program and at the Wrigley Marine Science Center on Catalina Island shaped her career path. Now the program director for Chapman University’s Environmental Science and Policy, Tanner works to foster a similar interdisciplinary and supportive space for her students, empowering them to address today’s biggest environmental challenges.