The UC Davis Institute of the Environment has named four Environmental Faculty Fellows for 2023: Michele Barbato and Jasquelin Pena of the College of Engineering, and Jamie Hansen-Lewis and Emily Schlickman of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

The fellowship program, for early and mid-career faculty members, provides $10,000 in unrestricted funding to each fellow to advance their research and/or to use for professional development.

Fellows are encouraged to build teams with graduate Earth Scholars and/or undergraduate Sustainability Scholars to provide immersive, hands-on experiences in cutting-edge sustainability and environmental justice issues while developing leadership, team-building and communication skills. 

Here are the new Environmental Faculty Fellows and their fellowship projects:

• Michele Barbato, professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering — The House of the Future: Affordable and Sustainable Technologies for Wildfire-Resilient Housing. Institute pillars: Building Resilience and Sequestering Carbon.
• Jamie Hansen-Lewis, assistant professor, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics — Fighting Fire With Fire: Does Clean Air Policy Abate Prescribed Fires? Institute pillar: Building Resilience.
• Jasquelin Pena, associate professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering — A Community-Engaged, Rapid-Response Study on the Impacts of the Caldor Fire on Water and Soil Resources in the Cosumnes River Watershed. Institute pillars: Managing Water and Building Resilience.
• Emily Schlickman, assistant professor, Landscape Architecture + Environmental Design, Department of Human Ecology — Two projects on the theme of Communicating Climate Change: Design by Fire and the California Climate Art Trail. Institute pillars: Building Resilience and Taking Action. 

Read more about their projects here.