UCLA Sustainability

FAC Fest!
2026-01-09 17:00 - 20:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Sunset Village, 330 De Neve Drive, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, United States
IT’S TIMEEEE… FOR FAC FEST! In honor of the start of Winter quarter, the USAC Facilities Commission (FAC) is putting together a night of fun, activities, games, and more with a focus on our core principles: accessibility, sustainability, transportation, and environmentalism!
Come check out BruinDine and Swipe Out Hunger’s food recovery efforts, what UCLA Transportation and ITE are cooking up this year, and even what the Center for Accessible Education, Autism Advocacy, and Disabled Student Union have to offer! Peruse through our booths and fun games as you are serenaded by the performers of UCLA Radio and treated to some pumpkin spice chai (you are encouraged to bring your own mug)!
So come join FAC and so many more partners this Winter quarter to ring in the new year (sustainably and accessibly)!

"Why Narrative Matters in the Fight Against Climate Change" - A conversation and live LENS podcast recording with Sammy Roth
2026-01-09 10:00 - 11:30 | Kaplan Hall 193, 415 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Please join the Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies (LENS), in collaboration with the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, for a conversation with Sammy Roth and live recording of a new episode of the LENS podcast “Changing Stories for a Changing Planet.”
REGISTER HERE
Presented by LENS, the Emmett Institute at UCLA Law, and the Liberty Hill Environment + Justice Donor Circle.

WEBINAR - Policymaking Under Uncertainty: Zone 0 and Vegetation Clearance
2025-12-12 12:00 - 13:30 | Online
The Sustainable LA Grand Challenge invites you to join Living with Future Fire: Getting to Research-Informed Policymaking for Fire-Resilience, a series of three webinars featuring experts unpacking the complicated natural and institutional dynamics at play as we work toward a more fire resilient Southern California.
The first webinar is titled “Policymaking Under Uncertainty: Zone 0 and Vegetation Clearance.”
Moderated by Nurit Katz, UCLA Chief Sustainability Officer
Featuring:

Edith de Guzman, Water Equity and Adaptation Specialist, UC Cooperative Extension
Travis Longcore, Senior Associate Director, UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability
Max Moritz, Statewide Wildfire Specialist, UC Cooperative Extension
Alessandro Ossola, Associate Professor, UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences

This series is made possible by a generous gift from the Anthony Pritzker Family Foundation.
REGISTER HERE

Evidence-Based Ecological Medicine: From Where We Are to Where We Must Go
2025-12-09 16:00 - 17:00 | HYBRID: Semel B8-225 and Online, 760 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
In this talk, Dr. Barbara Natterson-Horowitz brings together the evidence for mechanisms underlying the influence of temperature, light, barometric pressure, social proximity, and other ecological factors on our bodies and minds.
REGISTER HERE

Guided Botanical Garden Drop-in Tour – December 6
2025-12-06 10:00 - 11:00 | UCLA Mildred E Mathias Botanical Garden, La Kretz Garden Pavilion, 707 Tiverton Dr, Los Angeles, CA, 90095
Join a Garden Guide for a tour of a living museum featuring collections of plants from around the globe!
You’ll hear the stories of selected plants in the Garden and their relevance to human society. All ages are welcome. Tours meet at the La Kretz Garden Pavilion at the northern end of the Garden and are given a grace period of 5 minutes.
Tours are free.

Free Food from UCLA Dining Halls!
2025-12-04 12:00 - 13:00, 2025-12-03 22:00, 2025-11-20 22:00, 2025-11-19 22:00, 2025-11-13 22:00, 2025-10-09 22:00, 2025-10-08 22:00, 2025-10-07 22:00 | Conference Room 1 in the Student Activities Center Basement, 220 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Join Bruin Dine for food recovery events every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 10PM in the SAC Basement (unless otherwise announced)! Please bring your own tupperware and utensils!
Follow https://www.instagram.com/uclabruindine/ for additional updates!

Botany of the Holidays
2025-12-04 12:00 - 13:00 | La Kretz Garden Pavilion, 707 Tiverton Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
‘Tis the season for Botany of the Holidays! Join the UCLA Mathias Botanical Garden for its annual event exploring the botanical origins of holiday traditions. Delight in the Garden’s very own holiday tradition as you explore the fascinating stories of poinsettias, maize, and persimmons with speakers Jesse Gomez, Heidi Yang, and Sara Pedraza.
This event is free and open to the public, no RSVP required.

Double Feature: RISE and PAPA BUKA Film Screening
2025-11-25 19:00 - 21:30 | James Bridges Theater, 235 Charles E Young Dr E, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Join UCLA Theater, Film & Television (TFT) Professional Programs in James Bridges Theater for screenings of two Oscar qualifying films from two different TFT Professional Programs alumni: the short film RISE—the first Zimbabwean film to qualify for the Oscars, written and directed by Screenwriting and Writing for Television alum Jessica Rowlands; followed by a screening of the feature PAPA BUKA—the official submission for the Oscars from Papua New Guinea in the Best International Feature Film category, starring Acting for the Camera alum Ritabhari Chakraborty.
The evening’s screenings are for the Academy members, as well as friends and alum of TFT, and will be followed by a Q&A with actors and the creative teams.
REGISTER HERE
Please arrive early to this event. The screenings will begin promptly at 7pm.
Parking is located in Parking Structure 3 right next to the James Bridges Theater at UCLA.
PLEASE NOTE that although the screening is free, parking at UCLA is never free, even for TFT staff and faculty, so make sure to follow the parking payment instructions in Parking Structure 3 to avoid getting a ticket (make sure to park in visitor parking and pay at the pay station).
Contact professionalprograms@tft.ucla.edu with any questions.

Livestream Panel: AI and the Politics and Extraction
2025-11-20 14:00 - 15:30 | Online
This is an external event, not hosted by UCLA, which may be of interest to our community
The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence has brought renewed urgency to questions of climate justice. The massive resource extraction required to build and power data center infrastructure is having profound impacts on local communities and ecosystems. At the same time, the large-scale monetization of data raises complex political and ethical issues, with far-reaching consequences for democracy, human rights, and the environment.
In this public discussion, Professors Naomi Klein (University of British Columbia – Vancouver, UBC-V), Stephanie Dick (Simon Fraser University), Wendy Wong (UBC-Okanagan) and Hamish van der Ven (UBC-V) will explore questions around the implications of AI for climate justice, the governance of AI and protection of users, and which beneficial models of AI could and should be explored. Moderated by Professor Carol Liao (UBC-V)
REGISTER HERE – Zoom link will be sent to registrants closer to event date

Animal Law Society presents: A Conversation with Damien Mander
2025-11-20 12:15 - 13:15 | UCLA Law School, Room 2448, 385 Charles E Young Dr E, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
The Animal Law Society at UCLA is proud to welcome Damien Mander to kick off their 2025/2026 conversation series. After serving as a diver in the Royal Australian Navy and a special operations sniper, Damien founded the International Anti-Poaching Foundation where he works with communities in Africa to fight poaching. View his TED Talk here.
Damien is a fierce and dedicated activist focused on ending poaching, committed to animal conservation and combatting climate change through community centered activism. He will be delivering a lecture on his experience and ethics in these spaces, and then having a discussion with attendees.
This event is open to the public. A vegan lunch will be provided.
REGISTER HERE

Reading and Reception, Claire McEachern – Coyotes and Culture: Essays from Old Malibu
2025-11-13 17:00 - 19:00 | Kaplan Hall 193, 415 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Join UCLA English for a reading and reception to celebrate Claire McEachern’s new book, Coyotes and Culture: Essays from Old Malibu. This unique collection of essays offers a gripping exploration of the precarious beauty and peril of California’s iconic coastline. Through essays blending personal narrative, cultural analysis, and history, author Claire McEachern takes us behind the scenes of surf and celebrities to paint a vivid portrait of life on the edge —both literally and metaphorically. From the rugged Santa Monica Mountains to the shimmering Pacific, this work captures the paradoxes of Old Malibu: a place of luxury and risk, natural splendor and ecological vulnerability.
Light refreshments will follow the event.
REGISTER HERE

Panel Discussion: Fire, Land Stewardship, and Indigenous Conservancy
2025-11-01 14:00 - 16:00 | Fowler Museum
Presented in conjunction with the Fire Kinship exhibition at the Fowler Museum at UCLA, this panel will bring together Indigenous scholars, fire practitioners, and land trust leaders to explore the role of land conservancy in the broader Land Back movement.
Focusing on fire as both a cultural practice and an ecological tool, the discussion will examine how Indigenous-led conservancies are reclaiming stewardship through legal frameworks that support the return of land and the revitalization of ancestral care practices. Panelists will share case studies, community-led strategies, and the challenges of putting fire back on the ground in landscapes where cultural burns were once suppressed.
REGISTER HERE

Día de los Muertos - Mourning & Remembering through Ecological Change.
2025-11-01 11:00 - 13:00 | Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden (North Entrance)
Día de los Muertos is a time to mourn, remember and celebrate those who have passed. This year’s gathering focuses on the intersections of memory, ecology and community, creating space to honor traditions while reflecting on environmental change.
Learn more at https://www.ioes.ucla.edu/event/dia-de-los-muertos-mourning-and-remembering-through-ecological-change/.
This event is co-sponsored by the Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies, the Radical Imagination Coalition, the Center for Developing Leadership in Science, the Environmental Humanities Reading Group, the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, and the UCLA Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden.

Guided Botanical Garden Drop-in Tour – November 1
2025-11-01 10:00 - 11:00 | UCLA Mildred E Mathias Botanical Garden, La Kretz Garden Pavilion, 707 Tiverton Dr, Los Angeles, CA, 90095

Botany Brown Bag with Dr. Pam Soltis
2025-10-30 12:00 - 13:00 | UCLA Mildred E Mathias Botanical Garden, La Kretz Garden Pavilion, 707 Tiverton Dr, Los Angeles, CA, 90095
Join a new Botany Brown Bag Public Lecture Series!
This Botany Brown Bag series is continued by Dr. Pam Soltis, who will give a talk titled “Using Natural History Collections to Address 21st Century Societal Problems.”
Make sure to bring your lunch!
This event is free and open to the public, no RSVP required!
Pamela Soltis is a Distinguished Professor and Curator at the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida. She is also Director of the UF Biodiversity Institute and Director of Research for iDigBio, the NSF-sponsored National Coordinating Center for Biodiversity Collections. Her research addresses patterns and processes of plant evolution, including phylogeny and polyploidy. This work spans genomic to landscape scales, with applications for biodiversity assessment, conservation, and agriculture. She is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the US National Academy of Sciences, where she recently served as Secretary of Biological Sciences.

The Aftermath of the Eaton Fire: Foster Care and Education Disrupted
2025-10-29 13:30 - 16:00 | Altadena Community Center, 730 E Altadena Dr, Altadena, CA, 91001, United States
At this event, the UCLA Pritzker Center will present a new brief outlining the impact of the Eaton Fire on children in foster care and their education.
Speakers include Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) Director Brandon Nichols and impacted community members. Refreshments from impacted Altadena restaurants will be served. Resources from Baby2Baby and the Book Foundation will be offered.
1:30pm Doors Open + Light Lunch from Altadena Restaurants
2-3pm Speakers + Report Briefing
3-4pm Resources
Please RSVP by October 15. For any questions, please email Taylor Dudley at dudley@gseis.ucla.edu.
REGISTER HERE

Plant It and They Will Come: Supporting California's 1,600 Native Bees
2025-10-21 19:30 - 21:30 | Hammer Museum
Join National Geographic Explorer Krystle Hickman for a captivating talk on California’s native bee species and the plants they thrive on. In her new book, The ABCs of California’s Native Bees, Hickman describes 26 bee species—from the Agile Longhorn Bee to the Zone-tailed Banded-Mining Bee—through stunning photography and expert insights on identification, habitats, and conservation. Through stunning photography and expert insights, Hickman will introduce you to remarkable bee species from California. California is home to over 1,600 native bee species—one of the most biodiverse regions on Earth—but these vital pollinators face extinction from climate change and habitat loss. Learn how you can support them in your own backyard.
Following the talk, enjoy a conversation between Hickman and naturalist Michelle Fullner, host of the top-ranked podcast Golden State Naturalist. Stay after for complimentary coffee, tea, and cookies while you chat with fellow nature enthusiasts! Hickman will also sign copies of her new book.
This program is perfect for conservationists, citizen scientists, gardeners, photographers, entomologists, and anyone curious about California’s natural world.
Admission is free. Seating is first-come, first-served.
If you have questions or require accessibility accommodations, please don’t hesitate to reach out at info@hammer.ucla.edu or call (310) 443-7912.

UCLA Mathias Botanical Garden’s annual Fall Fest
2025-10-18 12:00 - 16:00 | UCLA Mildred E Mathias Botanical Garden, La Kretz Garden Pavilion, 707 Tiverton Dr, Los Angeles, CA, 90095
This event is completely free to attend, no RSVP required!
Spend an afternoon at the Garden with friends and family enjoying arts and crafts like weaving, button making, botanical illustration and more. Enjoy a talk from Assistant Director Allison Keeney about succulents and stick around to learn about basket weaving.
Learn more at https://www.botgard.ucla.edu/event/fall-fest-2025/.

Closing the Circle 2025: From Excess to Access
2025-10-17 08:00 - 19:00 | Hershey Hall, 801 Hilgard Ave, Los Angeles, CA, 90095
Join the Food Recovery Conference, part of Los Angeles Good Food Week. Presented in association with the UCLA Rothman Family Institute for Food Studies, FoodCycle, End Hunger LA, the Los Angeles Food Policy Council, and supported by the USDA SARE program, this gathering will bring together national speakers, local experts, and food recovery leaders to explore how surplus food can transform our food system. Learn innovative strategies to reduce waste, strengthen local food networks, and promote equitable access to nutritious food—while building the partnerships needed for a more sustainable, resilient future.
REGISTER HERE

Environmental Graduate Student Networking Reception 2025
2025-10-14 17:00 - 19:00 | Luskin School of Public Affairs, Third Floor Commons and Patio
All UCLA graduate students interested in environmental justice, sustainability, and climate resilience are invited to this free, cross-campus mixer!
What to Expect:

Discover student funding opportunities, jobs, internships, and campus resources
Connect with peers who share your passion for the environment
Enjoy appetizers and drinks in a relaxed setting
Meet professionals and experts offering insights to support your academic and career journey

RSVP: Eventbrite registration is required to attend. This event is free and open to UCLA-affiliated students, staff, and faculty.
REGISTER HERE
Hosted by: UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation in collaboration with partners across campus
Campus Partners:
UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability
Center for Impact (UCLA Anderson School of Management)
Graduate Student Water Resources Group (IOES)
Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment (UCLA School of Law)
UCLA Campus Sustainability

The 14th Annual La Kretz Center Public Lecture: Biotechnology for Conservation Success
2025-10-11 15:00 - 17:00 | Boyer Hall (Room 159), 611 Charles E Young Dr., Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
The UCLA La Kretz Center of California Conservation Science is excited to be hosting the 14th Annual La Kretz Center Public Lecture on Saturday, October 11th, 2025, at Boyer Hall on the UCLA main campus. This year’s topic is Biotechnology for Conservation. For its 14th Public Lecture, the Center is honored to have Ben Novak to speak about the work he does as a lead scientist at the revolutionary wildlife conservation organization: Revive and Restore.
Conservation science and the biotech industry have had a sometimes-fraught, but ultimately powerful partnership for decades. Since 2012, the conservation non-profit Revive & Restore has been building the “Genetic Rescue Toolkit”, a suite of biotechnologies from genomics to gene-editing that enable new opportunities to save species. Although many biotechnology tools and applications are in nascent phases of development, they are no longer science fiction. Work to clone the endangered black-footed ferret has achieved a feat never accomplished before – the restoration of lost genetic diversity in an endangered species. Research is now underway to ensure that such options are possible for some of the world’s most endangered organisms, including amphibians and coral reefs. More ambitious yet, passenger pigeon de-extinction is on the horizon, bringing with it a revolution for avian conservation. Can biotechnologies save any species and ecosystem in the face of human-induced threats? Join to hear from Ben Novak and participate in the conversation.
Following the lecture, attendees will have the chance to enjoy refreshments while meeting La Kretz-funded student researchers and learning about their research in California conservation science.
This free event is open to all ages and is sponsored by the UCLA Institute of the Environment & Sustainability. Metered parking can be found at numerous parking facilities around campus, with Parking Structure 2 being the closest to the venue.
The La Kretz Center for California Conservation, managed by UCLA, connects a diverse network of UCLA faculty, postdoctoral scientists, and students with various conservation groups that work to protect and restore California’s biodiversity.
Please direct any questions related to the Public Lecture to lakretz@ioes.ucla.edu.
REGISTER HERE

The 2025 Pritzker Lunch & Learn - A conversation with this year’s Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award finalists
2025-10-08 12:00 - 14:00 | UCLA Faculty Club, 480 Charles E. Young Drive E, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
Join a special Lunch & Learn with the finalists of the Ninth Annual Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award. This event offers a rare opportunity to hear directly from three innovators reshaping how the world approaches conservation, sustainability and human–wildlife coexistence.
A complimentary lunch will be provided.
REGISTER HERE

Affinity Talk Series: Dr. Mindy Fullilove, "Exploring the Relationship Between Disaster, Nature and Restoration"
2025-09-30 16:00 - 17:00 | HYBRID: Online and UCLA Semel Institute B8-225, 760 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, United States
Speaker: Dr. Mindy Fullilove, MD, DLFAPA, Hon AIA
Professor of Community Health and Co-Founder, University of Orange
Professor Emeritus, Urban Policy and Health, The New School
From the rebuilding of the South Bronx burned in the 1970s to the fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, societies face disaster and rebuild. The elapsed time can be agonizingly slow and painful or it can be thrillingly fast and thorough. The Cities Research Group, led by Dr. Mindy Fullilove and Dr. Robert Fullilove, has followed the process of urban restoration in many places. This talk will describe the elements and timelines of restoration and the factors at work.
REGISTER HERE
Dr. Mindy Fullilove is a pioneering social psychiatrist whose interdisciplinary work bridges public health, urban policy, and community development. Her scientific contributions include early identification of the link between the crack and AIDS epidemics, research on trauma among women in recovery, and the development of key concepts such as “root shock” and “serial forced displacement.” She also identified nine essential elements of urban restoration. Dr. Fullilove has led innovative social interventions, including adapting educational and family support models to urban settings, co-founding the University of Orange, and proposing the CLIMB trail to connect Manhattan’s cliffside parks. Her work has been featured in major publications like The New York Times, and she has authored over 100 scientific papers and eight books. She is the recipient of numerous honors, including two honorary degrees, honorary membership in the American Institute of Architects, and Distinguished Life Fellow at the American Psychiatric Association.
