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

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.

Lettuce with roots

Rooted in Water, Rooted in Change

Assistant Professor of Biological and Agricultural Engineering Shamim Ahamed leads a technical assistance and educational effort for the soilless approach to agriculture in the Golden State. The method lets farmers get more out of their water and put less pressure on the state water budget.

A large construction site featuring a multi-story building in progress under a clear blue sky. The structure has a glass facade on the lower levels and exposed steel framing on the upper levels. Two tall red cranes tower over the site, and construction equipment, including a crane and other vehicles, is visible on the ground. Surrounding greenery frames the scene, with additional buildings and trees in the background.

Storing Carbon in Buildings Could Help Address Climate Change

Construction materials such as concrete and plastic have the potential to lock away billions of tons of carbon dioxide, according to a new study by civil engineers and earth systems scientists at UC Davis and Stanford University.


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.