Explore the latest research, publications, events, and news from our program and community.
FACULTY
Who should have a say in which species are saved? The California condor offers lessons for a global biodiversity treaty
Environmental Studies professors Shannon Gibson and David Ginsburg use the California condor’s recovery to ask who should have a say in conservation, including which species get funded and who bears the costs.
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.
FACULTY
How climate finance to help poor countries became a global shell game
Environmental Studies professor Shannon Gibson and USC students Nickole Aguilar Cortes and Brandon Kim follow the money behind global climate finance. They show how wealthy countries have counted coal plants, airports and even an ice cream company toward climate aid for vulnerable nations.
FACULTY
Trump’s words aren’t stopping many countries from setting higher climate goals
Environmental Studies professor Shannon Gibson looks at how countries are responding to U.S. pressure to back away from their climate commitments. More than 100 nations, including China and Brazil, have announced new climate goals, though overall progress is still slow.
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.
FACULTY
Trump’s words aren’t stopping many countries from setting higher climate goals
Environmental Studies professor Shannon Gibson looks at how countries are responding to U.S. pressure to back away from their climate commitments. More than 100 nations, including China and Brazil, have announced new climate goals, though overall progress is still slow.