Highlights

Sustainability stories from the greater USC community in Los Angeles, the media and other organizations.

Doris Sung, principal at DOSU Architecture and chief technology officer at her startup, TBM Designs

High-tech architect: Doris Sung’s research and inventions focus on how buildings can improve life

Architects are not typically inventors working in high-tech. But Doris Sung is.

Illustration of how building facades can enhance human health by functioning as air purifiers

Doris Sung and Research Team Representing 4 USC Schools Receive 2025 AIA Latrobe Prize

The AIA Latrobe Prize — a $150,000 grant to support a two-year program of research — is the largest grant for architecture in the nation.

2 iconic coral species are now functionally extinct off Florida, study finds – we witnessed the reef’s bleaching and devastation

A recent marine heat wave had a calamitous effect on two of Florida’s most important coral species.

2025 Wrigley Institute Graduate Fellow Jenna Blyler spent this summer working on two distinct projects.

Familiar harms, familiar terms

Since visiting the Georgia Aquarium this summer, I’ve wanted to call something in my line of work orange cup coral. The acidic orange animal is considered invasive, which means it spreads more than it should, and if permitted, overruns native plants and animals.

Photo of Majuro, the main atoll of the Marshall Islands.

Trump’s words aren’t stopping China, Brazil and many other countries from setting higher climate goals, but progress is slow

The Trump administration has been pressuring countries to back away from their climate commitments, but many are still pressing ahead.

Geoff Boeing sits and poses for a photo in front of a red background.

USC Price professor wins Nobel Sustainability Trust award

A global research initiative co-led by Geoff Boeing, Associate Professor at the USC Price School of Public Policy, has won a prestigious Nobel Sustainability Trust (NST) Sustainability Award.

a researcher holds a small, wild, gray fox that has been caught for a health assessment

Collaboration is the lifeblood of island fox research

It’s no understatement to say that collaboration is the lifeblood of research and survival for the island fox—for genetics researchers like myself, this is especially true.

2025 Wrigley Institute Graduate Fellow Madison Fette conducts research on how we can recycle thermoset polymer resin, a strong material used in wind blades that is difficult to break down. She’s holding novel thermoset set resin before (in solid form) and after (in liquid form) degradation (Nick Neumann/USC Wrigley Institute).

Closed-loop recycling of wind turbine blades: Designing materials that are made to be recycled

As the number one contributor to global climate change, it’s no secret that fossil fuels are bad for the environment.

Air pollution and other environmental exposures play a major role in community health, but they’re often left out of healthcare data (Matthew Parsanian/Unsplash).

Why Environmental Data Belongs in Healthcare

Over the past 20 years, healthcare organizations have become exceedingly good at collecting, storing, and organizing information for each patient.

USC Dornsife’s Equity Research Institute received a landmark grant from the Waverly Street Foundation. (Composite: Letty Avila. Image source: iStock.)

$5M grant strengthens USC Equity Research Institute’s mission for climate and economic justice

The Waverly Street Foundation grant — the largest in ERI’s history — will help the institute shape public understanding, support frontline advocates, and train scholars to advance climate and economic justice.

Researchers commonly use the domestic dog genome as a reference for studying gray fox genetics. (Composite: Letty Avila. Image sources: iStock; Wikimedia Commons.)

Want to save an endangered species? Start with the right DNA blueprint

Most species still lack their own sequenced genome. New research led by USC Dornsife shows that when studies rely on similar but different species, findings from genetic data can be distorted by up to 60% — putting vulnerable species at greater risk.

David Galaviz, who earned an MPA from USC Price, is passionate about improving access to the state’s parks. (Photo courtesy of Galaviz)

Price alum appointed to California Parks and Recreation Commission

David Galaviz didn’t grow up playing in parks. When he and his friends got together for baseball or football games, they usually played in the streets of Boyle Heights, a Los Angeles neighborhood where there were few parks nearby.

Bria Jamison (BS ’18, MS ’19), AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

From Drought to DOE: Alumna Bria Jamison is Shaping National Environmental Policy

USC Viterbi alumna Bria Jamison (BS ’18, MS ’19) has dedicated her career to advancing water and energy sustainability – now, she’s influencing public policy decisions at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

Alex Robinson continues LA River revitalization with a new contract

He shared the work he and his team have been contracted to do there as part of his ongoing efforts to encourage implementation of the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan and United States Army Corps of Engineer’s LA River Ecosystem Restoration Project.

Subsurface energy data science, image courtesy of Behnam Jafarpour.

Energi Simulation Renews Research Chair in Subsurface Energy Data Science at USC Viterbi

Data science and AI-driven research optimizes the development and management of subsurface fluids and energy.

2025 Wrigley Institute Graduate Fellow Bernadeth Tolentino, a PhD student in the USC Dornsife Department of Biological Sciences, studies how well giant kelp can survive different temperatures when it’s introduced to certain helpful bacteria (Anya Jiménez/USC Wrigley Institute).

The Giant and the Bug: Kelp Restoration with Applied Microbiology

“What do you do for a living?” a woman asked, sitting across from me at a local bar.

“I’m a marine biologist,” I replied, watching her apathetic expression transform into wonder.

2025 Wrigley Institute Graduate Fellow Josh Beckelhimer, a PhD candidate in the USC Dornsife Department of English, studies the fictional works of writers who narrate possibilities of climate change futures (Nick Neumann/USC Wrigley Institute).

Symbiosis: Merging science, narrative, and cosmology to tell new stories about the environment

As a reader, a literary scholar, and a lover of history, I love following in the footsteps of my idols. Even after five years as a transplant, my eyes still twinkle when I traverse Los Angeles, home to many beloved writers and artists.

2025 Wrigley Institute Graduate Fellow Priyanka Soni holds an endangered abalone specimen collected from Southern California in the 1900s. The specimen is currently part of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County’s special collection for educational purposes. Abalones have persisted for over 20 million years, but some species—such as the black and white abalone—are now critically endangered, according to the IUCN Red List (Nick Neumann/USC Wrigley Institute).

Ancient Invasions, Modern Warnings: What Fossils Tell Us About Migration in Response to Climate Change Before Human Arrival

Growing up near the ocean, I was fascinated by the small creatures I found in tide pools—slow-moving snails, tiny bivalves, and the colorful shells used by hermit crabs.