For being so essential, these soil fungi are wildly understudied. SPUN is trying to change that. This trip is part of their effort to document fungal diversity across the globe. Once mapped and monitored, researchers can advocate for protecting these fungal communities or better understand how to restore degraded ecosystems.

Continuously funded and now forty-four years old, the Long-Term Ecological Research Network is a one-of a kind organization in the world of ecology. Our work revolves around long-term inquiry, relying on experiments and monitoring in tandem to answer big questions about natural systems.

Long-term Ecological Research Network data offer an extraordinary level of context for site-based studies. When taken together, they also create a resource for answering questions about how ecosystems work at a larger, more integrated scale. The LTER synthesis working group process is designed to capitalize on the experiments, contextual knowledge, data, and creativity of the LTER Network. By funding small groups of scientists from inside and outside the network to work intensely together on a synthesis project, the process encourages the ecological community to use existing data to probe novel theories, test generality, and search for gaps in our understanding.

There are many benefits to seaweed aquaculture, and this short film explores the science and practical approaches to farming this important resource. This film was created for UCSB's Seaweed Working Group as part of a 2021 communication capstone project, a three-month long intensive communication practicum as part of the Masters of Environmental Data Science program at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management.

A passion project, made to hone directing, shooting, and editing skills while remaining lighthearted and fun.