On the Front Lines of Climate and Biodiversity Science: Lessons from UC Davis Field Research Stations

Gary Bucciarelli, Edward J. Larson

University of California Press, Dec 22, 2026 - Nature - 205 pages

Relaying the results of cutting-edge biological research on ecosystem responses to global change, On the Front Lines of Climate and Biodiversity Science offers a crucial, multi-angled view of the value and power of long-term studies at field stations. Focusing on research conducted across California, from its coasts to the summits of the Sierra Nevada, this volume uses a cross-disciplinary approach to show how research from ecologically distinct systems can be evaluated together to produce meaningful insight. Taken collectively, these studies reveal new perspectives on the role of field-based science in understanding California biodiversity and advancing global conservation and habitat protection. The book's findings encourage readers to push forward despite pressing challenges and to remain thoughtfully engaged with nature.

About the author

Edward John Larson (born in 1953) is an American historian and legal scholar. He is University Professor of history and holds the Hugh & Hazel Darling Chair in Law at Pepperdine University. He received the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for History for his book Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion. The book argues that Inherit the Wind (both the play and the movie) misrepresented the actual Scopes Trial. Larson was born in Mansfield, Ohio, and attended Mansfield public schools. He graduated from Williams College and received his law degree from Harvard University and his Ph.D. in the history of science from the University of Wisconsin--Madison. In 2004, Larson received an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from The Ohio State University. He held the Fulbright Program's John Adams Chair in American Studies in 2000-2001. In 2015 his biography The Return of George Washington: 1783-1789, became listed on the New York Times bestseller list.

Bibliographic information

• Title: On the Front Lines of Climate and Biodiversity Science: Lessons from UC Davis Field Research Stations
• Editors: Gary Bucciarelli, Edward J. Larson
• Publisher: University of California Press, 2026
• ISBN: 0520405439, 9780520405431
• Length: 205 pages
• Subjects: Nature / Environmental Conservation & Protection; Nature / Regional; Science / Environmental Science; Science / Global Warming & Climate Change; Science / Life Sciences / Ecology