Public Events
NCEAS events bring science into the community, fostering understanding and environmental stewardship. Across Santa Barbara, we create opportunities for dialogue that move research beyond our walls and into real-world impact.
Upcoming Events
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Debates on Draft | Tuesday, December 1
6:00 PM • Validation Ale _______________________________________________________ Can we still meet our 2035 climate goals? UC Santa Barbara’s Leah Stokes says yes, and World Wildlife Fund’s Becky Chaplin-Kramer says no. Come hear from both sides, ask your questions, and cast your vote!
Register for the Debate
Reoccurring Events
When: Quarterly on Tuesdays*
Where: Validation Ale in the Funk Zone, Santa Barbara*
Environmental science, spirited discussion, and a chance to change your mind.
NCEAS and UCSB Affiliates host debates where experts take opposing sides on pressing environmental challenges — with the goal of changing minds along the way.
Audience members vote before and after the debate, and whoever sways the most minds wins!
Read about our previous debates under "Recent Events"
When: Annually May - June*
Where: Online
Since 2021, NCEAS has hosted our annual Environmental Data Science seminar. The series, which is recorded and open to the public, typically features three speakers who share their research approaches and findings as they relate to the intersections of ecology, environmental data science, equity, and environmental justice. This seminar series was motivated by conversations about how we at NCEAS can foster diversity and inclusion within our scientific community, while also designing research questions and approaches to promote environmental justice and equity across our broader community.
* Subject to change
Recent Events
The Antarctic Ocean Use Survey: Participatory mapping to engage the Antarctic research community
Peter Menzies
The Antarctic Ocean Use Survey (OUS) is a newly launched participatory mapping initiative developed under project PLAnT in collaboration with SeaSketch. The goal is to engage the Antarctic research community in collectively identifying places of importance and value in the region and mapping marine and coastal areas relevant to scientific research, conservation, tourism, and fisheries. In this webinar, Catarina Frazão Santos (University of Lisbon) and Peter Menzies (NCEAS | University of California, Santa Barbara) present the Antarctic OUS in detail and contextualize it within the most recent developments of project PLAnT.
Santa Barbara County FireSafe Council Presenter Sessions | Six roads to safety: a critical threshold for wildfire survival
Dr. Cat Fong
- Watch the recording of the SBC FireSafe Council Presenter Session with Dr. Cat Fong
- Learn more about the Wildfire Resilience Index
Dr. Cat Fong presented to the Santa Barbara FireSafe Council focusing on one of the papers to be published from the Wildfire Resilience Index Project, titled: Egress thresholds and wildfire fatalities followed by an audience Q&A.
Wildfire Resilience Index Launch
Dr. Cat Fong and Dr. Ben Halpern
- Watch the recording of the Wildfire Resilience Index Launch Webinar
- Learn more about the Wildfire Resilience Index
Following the launch of the website, the index project leads; Dr. Cat Fong and Dr. Ben Halpern hosted an informational webinar introducing new users to the index, how to use it, and how it works.
Wildfire should be embraced as a normal part of life in California.
Ben Halpern v. Max Mortiz
- Have an idea for our next debate topic? Fill out the Debates on Draft Feedback Form
- Want to learn more about ongoing wildfire work at NCEAS? Explore our Wildfire Resilience Index Website
Despite the hot evening, nearly 100 community members gathered at Validation Ale for drinks and a spirited debate over the statement: “Wildfire should be embraced as a normal part of life in California.” NCEAS Director Ben Halpern argued against the statement, while UC Cooperative Extension Wildfire Specialist, Max Moritz, argued in favor. The two explored what “normal” means when living in fire-prone landscapes, how we should approach our relationship with fire in a rapidly warming world, and more! Audience members, ranging from engaged community members to local firefighters, joined the conversation by asking thoughtful questions and voting on whether Californians should embrace the normalcy of fire. At the start of the evening, the audience largely sided with Moritz, with 87% agreeing with the statement and 13% disagreeing. By the end of the debate, however, the margin had narrowed considerably, with 55% agreeing and 45% disagreeing. While the audience ultimately sided with Moritz, Halpern swayed the most minds, earning the win for the evening. More importantly, attendees left with a deeper understanding of wildfire preparedness and what it means to coexist with wildfire.
AI will be a net benefit for the planet.
Ben Halpern v. Lucas Joppa
NCEAS Director Ben Halpern and Haveli Investments’ Chief Sustainability Officer Lucas Joppa debated the statement: "AI will be a net benefit for the planet." Attendees voted before and after the debate on if they agreed, whoever swayed the most minds won the debate. This event was the first installment of Debates on Draft, in partnership with UCSB Affiliates and Validation Ale.
2026 Spring Seminar Series: Environmental Data Science and Its Impacts on Communities and Ecosystems
Abre’ Conner | NAACP: Utilizing a Frontline Community Framework for data center policies
Conner gave an overview of the key principles behind the NAACP’s Frontline Framework, including community-led decision-making, strategies, and playbooks for ways to approach data center policies and research moving forward. She examined how to properly integrate these principles into data center siting, energy sourcing, water usage, and regulatory processes. The NAACP Center for Environmental and Climate Justice Center’s approach is based on real world examples to illustrate both challenges and emerging best practices.
Cesar Estien | Second Nature Ecology and Design: Yesterday’s tomorrow: Exploring how societal inequities shape the ecology of cities
Estien discussed his research on how the legacies of injustice and societal inequity shape urban ecosystem health, biodiversity data, and wildlife ecology. As urbanization increases, human-wildlife interface will shrink, subjecting wildlife to the myriad social-ecological pressures of cities which underscores the need to understand the drivers of biodiversity and wildlife ecology for effective management and conservation initiatives.
Patricia Balvanera | Plural syntheses of knowledge to support more just and sustainable futures
In 2014 IPBES identified the need to recognize and integrate the diverse values of nature into decision-making processes. From 2018 to 2022 Balvanera co-chaired the IPBES Values Assessment, in collaboration with close to 100 people from 50 countries, to identify what values underpin the current environmental crises and how we can navigate towards more just and sustainable futures. In this talk, she shared some of the methodological challenges faced during the undertaking of the assessment. In particular she reflected on the 50 different research protocols used to review more than 50,000 pieces of evidence. She discussed what were the strengths and limitations in the face of integrating diverse knowledge, in consideration of geographical biases and those among types of knowledge. In closing, she discussed how syntheses effort best informs regional and global policy design when they mindfully respect and elevate all voices. This approach is crucial to foster the transformative changes needed toward a more sustainable future.
El Niño: Facts, Myths, & Mysteries
Dr. Erica Ferrer
NCEAS marine scientist Erica M. Ferrer, Ph.D., engaged audience members with the known facts, myths, and mysteries of El Niño within the broader climate phenomenon of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Using case studies from her own research on fisheries ecology and biological oceanography with data from other earth science fields, Dr. Ferrer expanded knowledge of core ENSO concepts, and advanced some predictions regarding the kinds of changes we might expect going forward.
Tuning into Nature
Dr. Rachel King
From satellites taking images from space to your phone recording bird calls, a growing suite of technologies is changing how we study life on Earth. These tools promise faster, more comprehensive ways to understand where species occur and track changes in their populations over time. But how well do these digital tools actually work, and what's standing in the way of their full potential? In this talk, Dr. Rachel King, postdoctoral scientist at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS), explored the current landscape of the digital monitoring of nature, revealed surprising gaps in what these technologies can tell us, and shared how scientists—and the public—are working to build a more complete picture of the natural world. Profs at the Pub is an event hosted by UCSB Affiliates.
Intro to the Wildfire Resilience Index
Dr. Cat Fong
NCEAS Research Associate Dr. Cat Fong previewed Wildfire Resilience Index a free, open-access tool to measure wildfire resilience across both people and ecosystems, for every community and landscape in the U.S. and Canadian West, at 90-meter resolution. She gave the audience background on how and why the Index was built and how it can be used. Science by the Pint is a collaboration with the UCSB Undergraduate Research Symposium Committee highlighting cutting-edge UCSB research.
El Niño in our Backyard: Local Consequences of a Global Climate Pattern
Samantha Stevenson-Karl and Todd Hall
UCSB scientists and local experts to shared how El Niño shapes Santa Barbara’s climate, coastline, and ecosystems. Audience members learned the science behind the causes of the El Niño events and the forecasts of its effects through presentations, expert panel discussion, and a Q&A session. Live African music performance by Fode Sissoko.
This event was hosted by the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis and the Earth Research Institute.
“Parasitic Oscillations and other Reflections on Art and Science”: A Reading and Conversation
Madhur Anand
Parasitic Oscillations, a collection of innovative poems and images by the poet, memoirist, and professor of ecology Madhur Anand, is situated “on the cusp where art and science meet.” The poems, which range in form from intricate lyrics to assemblages of found material, are linked by a throughline concerning the study of birds, specifically the birds of India (some of them extinct). Anand draws on family history and scientific research to elucidate the ways the history of naturalism is interwoven with the history of colonialism, and deftly illustrates something else: no matter how much people insist science is objective and separate from the scientists who practice it, the knower shapes the knowledge.
This event is in collaboration with The Santa Barbara Art Museum, UCSB, and the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis.
Endless Mountains Film Festival: Time and Water Q & A
Ian Nesbitt
As part of the Endless Mountains Film Festival film and conversation series, NCEAS geophysicist and research software engineer, Ian Nesbitt, participated in a post-film discussion about his work in the Arctic.