tree on fire

Strengthening Climate Resilience

We advance human, infrastructure and ecosystem resilience in the face of potentially devastating climate impacts by developing and implementing leading-edge technologies and engineering approaches.

From droughts to flooding, heatwaves and wildfires, the need to adapt and strengthen community resilience to the impacts of climate change is critical and immediate. By developing solutions such as safer water systems, more robust fire-resistant materials, optimized irrigation, and novel cooling systems, we’re engineering better ways to protect communities.

The House That Doesn’t Burn

More than 2.7 million Californians live in places with a high or extremely high risk of wildfire, as of 2007. Since then, California has only gotten hotter, drier, more populated and experienced its largest and most destructive wildfires in recorded history. How do you make your home where disaster is a given? How do you learn to live with it?

Those questions are at the root of Michele Barbato’s research.

Michele Barbato and 3 students

Research in Action

Sun and water

California Risks Billions in Economic Losses Without Water Supply Action

UC Davis civil and environmental engineering researchers have contributed to a new economic analysis that shows the high cost of inaction on California's perpetual water supply challenges. "We've done the math — and the costs of inaction are high economically and environmentally," says Professor Jay Lund.

An almond bud on an almond tree

New Research Points to Improved Nitrogen Management in Almond Production

Researchers at UC Davis are using drone imagery and advanced modeling to track nitrogen levels in almond orchards — a step toward more efficient farming. This approach could help growers optimize fertilizer use, protect water quality and improve sustainability in California agriculture

An orange flame

Sparking Change in Wildfire Research

From ignition to spread, Jeanette Cobian-Iñiguez is using mechanical engineering to explore the science behind wildfire behavior, helping improve wildfire prediction, management and communication, especially in multilingual communities. Now at UC Davis, she’s building collaborations and inspiring the next generation of engineers.


Read more research in action

Engineering a better world calls for solutions of a different caliber, demanding innovation across disciplines using a design-centric approach.

We employ and develop intelligent systems and automation, tools at the nano-and-micro- scales and engineering for all that will revolutionize energy systems, strengthen climate resilience, advance human health and transform mobility to bring a sustainable, healthier and more resilient world within reach.