A Letter from the Dean

Rausser College’s commitment to addressing pressing environmental and societal challenges extends far beyond the Bay Area. Our international students and researchers and robust study abroad opportunities create a rich learning environment, and our research initiatives and collaborations transcend boundaries.

This issue of Breakthroughs exemplifies our College’s global reach. We feature scientists developing disease-resistant cacao plants that could safeguard the world’s supply of chocolate. We profile a professor who’s dedicated her career to understanding the people and ecosystems of Indonesia. And we highlight a global network of collaborators who are producing longterm, continuous datasets to help climate scientists assess ecosystem carbon sequestration and evaluate climate solutions like wetland restoration and forest regeneration.

These pages also spotlight students supported by a donor-funded initiative for international students, as well as an alum of the Beahrs Environmental Leadership Program, which has trained more than 814 climate professionals from over 115 countries to date. And we celebrate the California-China Climate Institute’s inaugural five years. The Institute’s emphasis on subnational climate actions between states and Chinese provinces will be more important than ever in coming years.

Closer to home, we were deeply saddened by the destruction from the wildfires in Southern California; they are a sobering reminder of the effects of climate change and the urgent need for effective wildfire management strategies. We know that many in our community have faced tremendous losses and our thoughts are with you.

This academic year we’ve welcomed Rich Lyons—a Berkeley alum, economist, and former dean of the Haas School of Business—as the 12th Chancellor of UC Berkeley. We’re working with him to ensure the continued success of our community and to support our ongoing impact across California, the nation, and the world.

I hope you’ll find these stories inspiring, and I welcome your feedback at dackerly@berkeley.edu.

Breakthroughs magazine is published twice per year by Rausser College of Natural Resources at the University of California, Berkeley.

Masthead

Dean

David D. Ackerly

Editor

Julie Gipple

Associate Editor

Mathew Burciaga

Creative Director

Arnaud Ghelfi

Copy Editor

Laura Deck

Contributing Writers

Mathew Burciaga
Janet Byron
Caroline Champlin
Julie Gipple
Kara Manke
Tomas Weber

Contributing Photographers

Mathew Burciaga

Contributing Illustrator

Valerie Chiang

Design & Production

l’atelier starno
www.starno.com

Online Director

Joseph Bunik

Online Production

Biviana Herrera and
Magaly Santos

Contact us at breakthroughs@berkeley.edu.