University of California Audio Podcasts (Audio)

Eva Cisneros is a fourth-year student at UC Merced and seeks to improve campus life by offering the community a space to access nature and by providing a site for academic education and research through a UC Merced arboretum. Modeled on the UC Davis arboretum, Merced’s site would follow the existing canal, cover five acres, and be focused on the unique climate, drought-tolerant plants and sustainable landscaping. Series: "Sustainable California" [Show ID: 33863]

Yolanda Medrano is a third-year student at UC Merced and is looking to make every step we take count for energy production. She proposes adding energy-producing floor panels to entrances to the library and other high-traffic areas to power doors, increasing building efficiency for the University’s triple zero commitment. Though a costly investment, UC Merced would be the first university to invest in this technology, producing clean energy through walking, and effectively reduce the energy footprint of campus.

Series: "Sustainable California" [Show ID: 33864]

Today, we need to make intelligent management decisions about how we are going to manage our planet. Fortunately, powerful computing technologies now allows us to see with clarity what lies ahead, and to make informed choices about what path to take. We forecast a 20 percent decline in global income by the end of the century. And the most intense economic losses will be experienced in places where it is already hot and economies are already stressed. The vast brunt of the global economic burden will be borne by the poorest 60 percent of people around the world, widening global economic inequality. Our challenge is to use our unprecedented access to data analysis and information technologies to make truly informed decisions about the world we want to live in and leave for Series: "Climate Change Playlist" [Show ID: 33084]

Though acknowledging connections between World War II and his "Symphony in 3 Movements," which premiered in 1946, Igor Stravinsky stated the piece was not program music based on extra-musical events, insisting that "the Symphony is not programmatic. Composers combine notes. That is all." In truth the 3 sections were each written for different purposes, then combined into a whole that, while very appealing, is not quite unified in the sense of a traditional symphony. Stravinsky himself suggested that a more accurate title might be "Three Symphonic Movements." No matter its genesis or stated ambitions, this piece is driven by the same exuberant, triumphal spirit as contemporaneous pieces written during the War. Series: "La Jolla Symphony & Chorus" [Show ID: 33854]

William Fernandez is a third-year student at UC Merced who is an avid bike rider. He develops bike-friendly improvements to the two main roads to campus, Bellevue and Lake Roads. With his research, he details simple solutions while indicating that the alternatives are more taxing on the environment. His call to action to improve transit for many of the 8,000 students is titled BUSC: Balance, Update, Solar and Core. William hopes that the repairs to the bike lanes will help students feel safe to ride their bikes, supporting an environmentally friendly commute option to campus and around the city. Series: "Sustainable California" [Show ID: 33862]

In the Santa Cruz mountains, UC Berkeley archaeologists and anthropologists have joined with the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and California State Parks to uncover ancient tribal practices to help bring their history to light and find more sustainable approaches to land management. Series: "UC Berkeley News" [Show ID: 33979]

Since we don’t yet know how fast and how high sea levels are going to rise, Berkeley urban designer Kristina Hill stresses that our strategies must be ready and be adaptive as conditions change. Rising seas pose multiple dangers. Groundwater rises on top of sea level causing inland flooding. What can we do to prepare? Kristina Hill says a fundamental principle of landscape architecture -- "dig a hole, make a mound” -- offers a time-tested strategy. Series: "Climate Solutions " [Show ID: 33070]

Bending the threatening trajectory of global climate change surely seems daunting. Max Auffhammer argues that a single powerful tool can generate major change worldwide: price incentives. His focus is the social cost of carbon -- an estimate, expressed in dollars and cents, of the damage that one ton of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere has on the entire globe. This is a number that governments should use to evaluate the benefits and costs of new regulations that affect greenhouse gas emissions. Series: "Cal Future Forum: Our Changing World" [Show ID: 33073]

Geriatrician Dr. John Newman looks at therapies that target mechanisms of aging to prevent, delay, or treat a wide range of age-related diseases and conditions. Series: "Mini Medical School for the Public" [Show ID: 33743]

As of May, 2017, about 90 percent of all countries around the world have committed to the ambitious Paris Agreement to combat global climate change. But how to confirm that countries are maintaining their pledges, and how can they be encouraged to do better than their pledges? Berkeley climate modeler Inez Fung is part of an international scientific team refining the detection skills of the new Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2, launched in 2014. Series: "Cal Future Forum: Our Changing World" [Show ID: 33069]