The Longcore Lab @ UCLA is located within the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. Our focus is on issues of urban nature and sustainability, and applied conservation science. Major themes include:
- measurement and assessment of impacts of light pollution at multiple scales and on wildlife, ecosystems, and humans;
- applied conservation planning using spatial tools to gain insight on and guide conservation action; and
- harnessing emerging or underexploited spatial data sources to leverage against complex conservation or sustainability challenges.
Our current and recent projects include:
- Coast Light (Sea Grant)
- LEDs and Terrestrial Wildlife (Caltrans)
- Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve STEM Network (Boise State Univ./NASA)
- Heat Resilient LA (Sustainable LA Grand Challenge)
- Los Angeles Landscape History (Haynes Foundation)
- Conservation Planning for Rare Plants on San Clemente Island (US Navy)
Team
Postodctoral Scholar
Sahar Derakhshan joined the lab in January 2022 to work on the Heat Resilient LA project.
Undergraduates
Jules De La Cruz – UCLA Grand Challenges University Research Scholar, NASA Light Pollution Ambassador
Mahliya Purificacion – NASA Light Pollution Ambassador
Ahalya Sabaratnam – UCLA Grand Challenges University Research Scholar
Collaborators
Nina Noujdina. Geospatial Analyst. (Google Scholar Publications).
Beau MacDonald. Applied Biogeographer and GIS Analyst at USC Spatial Sciences Institute.
Alumni
Maria Carias, Shawn Fujioka, Jacob Phaneuf, Megan Potter, Ieva Vaiciunas, Lynn Wilder, Cassidy Wood, and Jacqueline Yu — Preserving the night sky: Monitoring light pollution affecting the Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve
Ashley Fernando – UCLA Grand Challenges University Research Scholar
Eliza Gutierrez-Dewar – Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Illuminated Boats at Night
Levi Simons, Benjamin Banet, Harrison Knapp, Yu Chuan Shan, Kiana Kerr, Cameron Levine, and Camille Verendia – Coast Light and Park Light
Hannah Aldern, John Eggers, Steve Flores, Lesly Franco, Eric Hirshfield-Yamanishi, Laina Petrinec, and Wilson Yan – Tuning the white light spectrum of residential lamps for reducing nocturnal insect attraction
Jennifer M. Chan, Terry H. Chen, Yuxin Jin, Nicole M. Tachiki, Sara L. Vetter, Megan L. Vyenielo, Gina Y. Zheng – Evaluating Certified Wildlife Habitats and the minds behind them
Lindsay Almaleh, Brittany Chetty, Kathryn Francis, Ching-Sheng Huang, Brooke Pickett, Mike Wright, Robert Freidin, Diane Schreck, Brooke Scruggs, Elise Shulman, Alissa Swauger, and Allison Tashnek – Wildlife Underpass Use and Environmental Impact Assessment: A Southern California Case Study
Tatiana Briones, Wendy Chao, Joshua Cox, Thomas Lau, Alizah Mooman, Amy Sen, and Isabel Sepkowitz – Development of citizen science protocols to measure sound and light levels for bird ecology
Gabriel Albano, Tanya Bitcon, Maanya Condamoor, Sirena Lao, Greg Lopez, Ryan Sokolovsky – Large mammal movement in the eastern Santa Monica Mountains
Brett Bova, Misa Downey, Natalie Marte, Justin Penn, Kirstie Ruppert, Karen Vu, and Shotaro Yamada – Climate change vulnerability assessments for terrestrial and freshwater vertebrates in the Mediterranean Coast Network of National Parks
Margarita Armendariz, Allison Davison, Alessandro Maganuco, and Aaron Whitby – Crow density and anthropogenic subsidies near the Venice, California Least Tern colony
Monica Bartos, Stephanie Falzone, Kaitlin Kelly-Reif, Cassandra Vasquez, Jennifer Ward, Sylvie Dao, Dale Douk, Eric Gumerlock, Stephanie Hoekstra, David Mori, Chay Tang, and Sarah Young – Use of Anticoagulant Rodenticides in Single-Family Neighborhoods Along an Urban-Wildland Interface in California
Travis Longcore 