Welcome to the ES 196 Home Page!

The Senior Research Seminar in Environmental Sciences is the culmination of your work in the ES Group Major (UGIS homepage, CNR homepage). It is a demanding but rewarding opportunity for you to make use of the skills and knowledge you have gained in previous coursework, applying them to a real environmental problem in which you may have a significant role in furthering public understanding and determining future policy. You will gain experience in designing and executing independent research, and in presenting research results effectively in oral and written form. A good thesis can be a persuasive demonstration of your capabilities in applications for employment or graduate school, and for many students this project fundamentally determines their professional directions after graduation.

Class meetings, assignments, and individual conferences are designed to provide students with extensive guidance and feedback in all phases of the projects, including constructive criticism on written assignments and formalized oral presentations, student discussion groups, conferences with instructors, and consultations with environmental practitioners.
The work is generally carried out over two semesters. The first semester is spent generating and refining a research proposal, designing methods, gathering and analyzing preliminary data. The second semester is spent completing data collection and analysis, and writing MANY thesis drafts. Two semesters of work with extensive input will allow you to produce a thesis of publishable quality. Some past projects have been submitted to professional journals.

INSTRUCTORS e-mail, office location and phone	Office hours - drop in unless otherwise indicated	Background and interests
Shelly Cole - Lecturer cole@nature.berkeley.edu 229 Mulford	Mondays 4:30 - 6:30 Wednesdays 11 - 1	I am a physiological plant ecologist interested in plant behavior, particularly responses to dynamic environmental factors such as seasonal drought, floods, fog and fire. For my dissertation work, I considered how plants access and respond to resources that are limiting yet heterogeneously distributed in the environment. I conducted analyses of root and plant growth, photosynthetic activity, water relations and root foraging behavior (e.g. root hydrotropism) in response to patchy distributions of soil nutrients and water. Stemming from my dissertation field work, I am continuing to investigate the role of fog in the water relations and behavior of coastal dune shrubs. In a larger long-term effort to identify the factors contributing to a population "bottleneck" in some of California's oaks, I am also part of a collaborative study examining the physiological responses of oak seedlings to summer drought stress. Although not part of my formal research, I am also interested in how human activities affect ecological processes, for example, the ecological significance of water use in the West. I have experience designing and conducting lab, greenhouse and field research and have given many professional presentations. My teaching and research experience has been in academic environments spanning from small liberal arts colleges (teaching Ecology/Environmental Studies for 5 years) to large research institutions; therefore, students considering academic research and/or teaching professions may find my input helpful.
Shannon May - GSI shannon.k.may@gmail.com 241 Mulford	Monday 4:15 - 6:15 Wednesday 11-1	I am a PhD candidate in Anthropology, where my current research focuses on the rise of sustainable development as a political platform and building principle in China, and how this interfaces with rising US environmentalism and fears of an industrializing China to foster transnational projects seeking to address the needs of 800,000,000 rural residents who are still on the outside of this great world revolution-and want in. My primary case study is the village of Huangbaiyu, which was chosen as the location for the experimental building of a new model sustainable development village, and served as my home for 18 months. In addition to studying the interconnections of household economies, buildings and energy systems, and their impact on the environment, the details and dynamics of the project to transform an existing village into a showcase eco-village allow me to pursue broader questions into the role of experts in knowledge production, issues of scale in development models, organizational behavior and the effect of capital sources, principles of urban planning and city-rural interfaces. I am currently launching a new initiative to test modifications to existing house designs endemic to NE China that will increase thermal insulation and thereby conserve energy sources (both wood and coal). Once testing is complete, building modifications will be detailed in a villager-friendly pamphlet to be distributed for use throughout the region.
Gabrielle Wong-Parodi- GSI GWong-Parodi@lbl.gov 241 Mulford	Wednesday 4 - 6 Thursday 10 - 12	I am a PhD student in the Energy and Resources Group (ERG). My current research interests lie in understanding risk perceptions of large-scale climate change mitigation technologies and how advocacy organizations and the public dynamically interact to shape those perceptions. More broadly, my academic interests include risk analysis, institutional dynamics, energy efficiency, and social equity. Before coming to ERG, I worked as a staff research associate with the Energy Efficiency Standards Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. There I worked developing efficiency standards for furnaces and boilers. In addition, I worked with the United States Postal Service to develop an energy consumption database that tracked gas and electricity consumption for retrofitted offices and facilities in the Pacific area. I have experience working on life-cycle costs analysis, statistical analysis, and social science research methods (e.g., developing and conducting interviews). I can help students develop contacts at national and local non-governmental organizations and national labs. You can find out more about me at: http://erg.berkeley.edu/people/students.shtml#vx
Peter Oboyski - Lecturer poboyski@nature.berkeley.edu 220 Wellman	Tuesday 10 - 12 Thursday 10 - 12	I am an entomologist and evolutionary biologist. My interests include evolution, ecology (particularly food webs), systematics, invasive species, and conservation. My current research is on the phylogeography and evolution of host-plant preferences in Hawaiian moths. I have experience advising undergraduates on project design, statistics, and field techniques in the "Moorea class" (IB158/ESPM107) and ES 196 (200-2007). You can find out more about me at my website: http://nature.berkeley.edu/~poboyski/

INSTRUCTORS
e-mail, office location
and phone

Office hours -
drop in unless
otherwise indicated

Background and interests

Shelly Cole - Lecturer
cole@nature.berkeley.edu
229 Mulford

Mondays 4:30 - 6:30 Wednesdays 11 - 1

I am a physiological plant ecologist interested in plant behavior, particularly responses to dynamic environmental factors such as seasonal drought, floods, fog and fire. For my dissertation work, I considered how plants access and respond to resources that are limiting yet heterogeneously distributed in the environment. I conducted analyses of root and plant growth, photosynthetic activity, water relations and root foraging behavior (e.g. root hydrotropism) in response to patchy distributions of soil nutrients and water. Stemming from my dissertation field work, I am continuing to investigate the role of fog in the water relations and behavior of coastal dune shrubs. In a larger long-term effort to identify the factors contributing to a population "bottleneck" in some of California's oaks, I am also part of a collaborative study examining the physiological responses of oak seedlings to summer drought stress. Although not part of my formal research, I am also interested in how human activities affect ecological processes, for example, the ecological significance of water use in the West. I have experience designing and conducting lab, greenhouse and field research and have given many professional presentations. My teaching and research experience has been in academic environments spanning from small liberal arts colleges (teaching Ecology/Environmental Studies for 5 years) to large research institutions; therefore, students considering academic research and/or teaching professions may find my input helpful.

Shannon May - GSI
shannon.k.may@gmail.com
241 Mulford

Monday 4:15 - 6:15
Wednesday 11-1

I am a PhD candidate in Anthropology, where my current research focuses on the rise of sustainable development as a political platform and building principle in China, and how this interfaces with rising US environmentalism and fears of an industrializing China to foster transnational projects seeking to address the needs of 800,000,000 rural residents who are still on the outside of this great world revolution-and want in. My primary case study is the village of Huangbaiyu, which was chosen as the location for the experimental building of a new model sustainable development village, and served as my home for 18 months. In addition to studying the interconnections of household economies, buildings and energy systems, and their impact on the environment, the details and dynamics of the project to transform an existing village into a showcase eco-village allow me to pursue broader questions into the role of experts in knowledge production, issues of scale in development models, organizational behavior and the effect of capital sources, principles of urban planning and city-rural interfaces. I am currently launching a new initiative to test modifications to existing house designs endemic to NE China that will increase thermal insulation and thereby conserve energy sources (both wood and coal). Once testing is complete, building modifications will be detailed in a villager-friendly pamphlet to be distributed for use throughout the region.

Gabrielle Wong-Parodi- GSI
GWong-Parodi@lbl.gov
241 Mulford

Wednesday 4 - 6
Thursday 10 - 12

I am a PhD student in the Energy and Resources Group (ERG). My current research interests lie in understanding risk perceptions of large-scale climate change mitigation technologies and how advocacy organizations and the public dynamically interact to shape those perceptions. More broadly, my academic interests include risk analysis, institutional dynamics, energy efficiency, and social equity. Before coming to ERG, I worked as a staff research associate with the Energy Efficiency Standards Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. There I worked developing efficiency standards for furnaces and boilers. In addition, I worked with the United States Postal Service to develop an energy consumption database that tracked gas and electricity consumption for retrofitted offices and facilities in the Pacific area. I have experience working on life-cycle costs analysis, statistical analysis, and social science research methods (e.g., developing and conducting interviews). I can help students develop contacts at national and local non-governmental organizations and national labs. You can find out more about me at: http://erg.berkeley.edu/people/students.shtml#vx

Peter Oboyski - Lecturer
poboyski@nature.berkeley.edu
220 Wellman

Tuesday 10 - 12
Thursday 10 - 12

I am an entomologist and evolutionary biologist. My interests include evolution, ecology (particularly food webs), systematics, invasive species, and conservation. My current research is on the phylogeography and evolution of host-plant preferences in Hawaiian moths. I have experience advising undergraduates on project design, statistics, and field techniques in the "Moorea class" (IB158/ESPM107) and ES 196 (200-2007). You can find out more about me at my website: http://nature.berkeley.edu/~poboyski/

The Past (previous years)	The Present (this page - the current cohort)	The Future (es100 students - start here)
Past Student Projects including: Titles for last thirty years Full project PDFs since 2000 Projects selected by lecturers and gsi's as being of high quality	An overview of the course Contact details for the instructors Schedules for both ES196a and ES196b Assessment details for ES196a (fall 2007) Assessment details for ES196b (spr 2008) Assessment criteria for your final project. Proper formatting for assignments Policy for late work. Publishing your work	Advice on how to find a project Contact lists: advisors on campus External organizations who have provided support for projects A list of funding sources What is a mentor?