Andrew Gray

Perfect storm: megafires set the stage for debris flows

Tracie Ventimiglia — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 21:22:15 +0000

Perfect storm: megafires set the stage for debris flows Tracie Ventimiglia Fri, 02/14/2025 - 13:22 More News Jules Bernstein February 13, 2025

Storms now pounding Southern California are raising the specter of more danger for residents -- debris flows in areas already reeling from devastating fires. Debris flows are like mudslides, except much faster and more destructive, as they contain a mix of rock, plants and even boulders or trees in addition to mud.

Andrew Gray, an associate professor of watershed hydrology at UC Riverside, is an expert on the way water and sediment move through landscapes after wildfires. He weighs in here on the threats to life and infrastructure posed by these fast-moving flows, and how residents can best respond.

Not such small things: microplastics in our streams

Tracie Ventimiglia — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 17:16:41 +0000

Not such small things: microplastics in our streams Tracie Ventimiglia Mon, 11/13/2023 - 09:16 More News Jules Bernstein April 18, 2023

UC Riverside scientists are taking a modern approach to studying a murky subject — the quantity, quality, and sources of microplastics in Los Angeles County’s urban streams.

Microplastics are particles with a maximum diameter of 5 millimeters, roughly the size of a pencil eraser. The category can include nanoplastics, which are far smaller than the width of an average human hair.

Prof pours cold water on coffee pod controversy

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 16:49:51 +0000

Prof pours cold water on coffee pod controversy Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 02/09/2023 - 08:49 More News Jules Bernstein January 25, 2023

New research from the University of Quebec in Canada has led to recent headlines like this one from the BBC, declaring coffee pods are “better for the planet than filtered brew.”