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Natural history and evolutionary biology of island terrestrial and freshwater organisms, and of marine organisms in the coral reef and lagoon systems will be studied, and the geomorphology of volcanic islands, coral reefs, and reef islands will be discussed. Features of island biogeography will be illustrated with topics linked to subsequent field studies on the island of Moorea (French Polynesia).

Course focuses on principles and applications of stable isotope chemistry as applied to the broad science of ecology. Lecture topics include principles of isotope behavior and chemistry, and isotope measurements in the context of terrestrial, aquatic, and marine ecological processes and problems. Students participate in a set of laboratory exercises involving preparation of samples of choice for isotopic analyses, the use of the mass spectrometer and optical analysis systems, and the anlaysis of data.

Justin Remais focuses on advancing methods for estimating the dynamics and spread of infectious diseases in changing environments, such as those associated with rapid urbanization, industrialization, changes in water resources, and an increasingly variable climate. His Interests lie in: Environmental dynamics of infectious diseases, Global environmental change and health, Methodological issues in the projection of infectious disease risks in response to environmental change, Optimizing infectious disease surveillance in low- and middle-income countries, Mathematical and statistical modeling of infectious disease transmission, and Dynamics of waterborne and vector-borne infections in rapidly changing environments

His current projects include:
1) Hydroclimatic determinants of waterborne diseases in tropical settings
2) Influence of drought and extreme rainfall on dust-borne infections in California
3) Hydroclimatology’s role in determining the epidemiology and ecology of vector-borne diseases in urban areas.

Charlotte Smith focuses on impact assessment and evaluation of water systems and public health in urban and rural Mexican and Central American communities. She studies microbial ecology of waterborne pathogens and bacterial endosymbionts of free-living protozoa with a focus on microbial and chemical contamination of water.

Her projects include:
1) A joint Universidad Jesuita de Guadalajara (ITESO)/UCB project exploring the environmental, occupational, and behavioral factors that are associated with diarrheal and kidney diseases in rural communities on the bank of Lake Chapala. Three UCB MPH students fulfilled their MPH practicum requirement and launched the project with interdisciplinary ITESO collaborators and local NGOs.
2) A joint project with REACH in Tanzania working on improved water quality and assessing public health relations.

The Center for Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry (CSIB) on the University of California, Berkeley campus, is an analytical facility established as a University education, research, training and service unit beginning in January 2000. Facility operations are overseen by an operations manager and spectroscopist (Wenbo Yang), the faculty director (Todd Dawson), an associate researcher (Stefania Mambelli), and a steering committee. Student assistants help in daily operations and administrative support is provided by the Department of Integrative Biology.

Established in 1951, Sagehen Creek Field Station is a research and teaching facility of the University of California at Berkeley located in the Central Sierra Nevada north of Truckee, California.

The station is embedded within the 9,000-acre Sagehen Experimental Forest, which is cooperatively and collaboratively managed in a partnership between the University of California, the US Forest Service’s Pacific Southwest Research Station and the Tahoe National Forest.

Sagehen serves as the hub of a broader regional network of research areas known as the Central Sierra Field Research Stations. CSFRS also includes the Central Sierra Snow Lab, Onion Creek Experimental Forest, North Fork Association Lands and the Chickering American River Reserve.