There are many and increasing threats to biodiversity. To protect the plants and animals that share our world, we need to understand what they need to survive – and ideally, thrive – in a warming, more crowded world. And we need to better understand how meeting those needs can align with other societal values.
To do that, our scientists conduct ecological research to elucidate conservation problems, test hypotheses and solutions, and monitor results. We collaborate with the scientific community to inform and review our work, and share our findings with scientists and conservation practitioners around the world.
Science in Action
Terrestrial | Marine | Science
TNC and FEMA
How do we increase climate resilience in ways that work for people and nature?
Freshwater | Terrestrial | Science
Rewilding the San Joaquin Valley
40 years of science sets the course for the largest recovery of species in U.S. history
2026 | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
California’s 30 x 30 Initiative in 2025: A Biodiversity Assessment of the State’s 30x30 Conservation Areas
Carrie Schloss, Jeanette Howard, Rachael Olliff Yang, Nathaniel Roth, Cole Dickison, Alicia Canales, Charlotte K. Stanley, Megan Webb, David Ackerly, Carl Boettiger, Cassie Buhler, Steven Monfort, Gary Bucciarelli, Rachel Meyer, Ariel Levi Simons, Jun Bando, Liz Chamberlin, Sam Veloz, Avery Hill, Rebecca Johnson, Ryan Hill, Amanda Kochanek, Dan Rademacher, Lisa Micheli, Kristeen Penrod, Giovanni Rapacciuolo, Dena Spatz, Daniel Gluesenkamp
2025 marked midpoint in the decade for achieving California’s 30×30 objectives (i.e. the commitment to conserve 30% of California’s lands and coastal waters by the year 2030)…
2026 | Marine | Planning | Technology | Science | Publications & Reports
Scaling Seagrass Restoration: Applying lessons learned from international seed-based restoration efforts to California.
Racine, P., Grime, B., Aarreberg, A., DeAngelis, B. M., Eddy, N., Goodman, B., Govers, L. L., Hughes, A. R., Jackson, E. L., Lee, L., Lefcheck, J. S., Lusk, B., Merkel, K., Stachowicz, J., Teichberg, M., Ward, M. A., Weltz, A., Wilkins, E., van Zummeren, R., Bradley, D.
These proceedings detail the discussion topics and outcomes resulting from a two-day workshop — the Seagrass Seeding Workshop — held on May 23-24, 2024 in San Francisco, CA. Twenty…
2026 | Marine | Planning | Technology | Science | Publications & Reports
Scaling Seagrass Restoration: Key Challenges and Emerging Opportunities
Grime, B.C., Madan, Y., Orofino, S., DeAngelis, B.M., Eddy, N., Bradley, D.
Seagrasses provide the foundation for one of the most biodiverse and ecologically important ecosystems on Earth, but they are being rapidly destroyed by myriad human activities. To combat these…
2026 | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
California’s 30 x 30 Initiative at its Midpoint: A Biodiversity Assessment Snapshot of the State’s Conservation Areas
Jeanette Howard, Carrie Schloss , Rachael Olliff Yang, Alicia Canales, Charlotte K. Stanley, Megan Webb, David Ackerly, Carl Boettiger, Cassie Buhler, Steven Monfort, Gary Bucciarelli, Rachel Meyer, Ariel Levi Simons, Jun Bando, Liz Chamberlin, Sam Veloz, Cole Dickison, Avery Hill, Rebecca Johnson, Ryan Hill, Amanda Kochanek, Dan Rademacher, Lisa Micheli, Kristeen Penrod, Giovanni Rapacciuolo, Nathaniel Roth, Dena Spatz, Daniel Gluesenkamp, and collaborators
2025 marked midpoint in the decade for achieving California’s 30×30 objectives (i.e. the commitment to conserve 30% of California’s lands and coastal waters by the year 2030)…
2026 | Freshwater | Science | Blogs
A Functional Flows approach to implementing Flood-MAR
Bronwen Stanford, Julie Zimmerman, Kris Taniguchi-Quan, Ted Grantham, Sarah Yarnell, Alyssa Obester, Eric Stein, Jessi Ayers, Alex Milward
Groundwater overuse is a serious problem in California, which has resulted in a growing interest in actively working to store surface water underground for later use. However, in much of the state our…
2026 | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
The Pace of Solar Progress: How Preexisting Land Use Shapes Permitting Timelines for Utility-Scale Solar in California
Kelsey Johnson, Sarah Skikne, Marybeth Benton, Erica Brand, Brian Cohen, Marty Marquis, Sam Schroeder, Katharine Nester, Terry Wirkkala
California’s future hinges on its ability to rapidly and responsibly develop significant amounts of utility-scale solar. Yet the pace of deployment is increasingly…
2026 | Terrestrial | Technology | Science | Publications & Reports
Genomic Data Clarify Identities and Origins of Purported Hybrids and Anomalous Oaks on the Channel Islands of California
Ryan Buck, John Knapp, H. Scott Butterfield, Jeanette Howard, Victoria Sork
Hybridization is common among plant taxa and can lead to adaptive introgression, range expansion, and even island colonization. Patterns of hybridization in natural and disturbed populations can…
2026 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Planning | Technology | Science | Publications & Reports
The Future of Floodplains: Restoring Nature, Reducing Risk
Aryeh Cohen, Victoria Salgado, J.D. McLandrich, Nicholas Wellbrock, Deborah Glaser, Piper Wallingford, Charlotte Stanley
Across California, climate change is making floods more frequent, intense, and damaging. Powerful atmospheric rivers now deliver enormous volumes of rainfall over short periods, overwhelming rivers,…
2026 | Terrestrial | Technology | Science | Publications & Reports
Comparison of conservation strategies for California Channel Island Oak (Quercus tomentella) using climate suitability predicted from genomic data
Alayna Mead, Sorel Fitz-Gibbon, John Knapp, Victoria L. Sork
Oaks are a foundational species, supporting thousands of other species including California’s Channel Islands. Climate change threatens the persistence of oak species across the Channel Islands,…
2026 | Terrestrial | Technology | Science | Publications & Reports
Landscape genomic analyses of Quercus agrifolia Née predict patterns of adaptedness to future climate and provide guidance for conservation
Ryan C. Buck, H. Scott Butterfield, Elizabeth Hiroyasu, Jeanette Howard, John Knapp, Zachary Principe, Victoria L. Sork
Coast live oaks serve important foundational roles across California oak woodland ecosystems, including across The Nature Conservancy’s grassland and oak woodland preserves. In the most recent…
2026 | Terrestrial | Technology | Science | Publications & Reports
Applying both landscape genomic and ecological niche model predictions to inform conservation strategies of a California foundational oak species
Ryan C. Buck, H. Scott Butterfield, Elizabeth H. T. Hiroyasu, , Jeanette Howard, Zachary Principe, M. Brooke Rose, Victoria L. Sork
Oaks are a foundational species across the globe, supporting the survival of thousands of plant and animal species. In the last drought in California, there was significant oak dieback and, coupled…
2026 | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
Bridging the Divide: Connecting Climate Resilient Roads and Wildlife Pathways
Cara Lacey, Trish Smith, Charlotte Stanley, Deborah Glaser, Piper Wallingford
California stands at a pivotal crossroads where climate resilience, infrastructure modernization, and habitat connectivity must be advanced together. Bridging the Divide offers a roadmap for how…
2026 | Freshwater | Technology | Science | Publications & Reports
Pairing OpenET remotely sensed evapotranspiration with streamflow data to assess the effectiveness of irrigation curtailment for aquatic conservation
J. Eli Asarian, Bronwen Stanford, Nicholas P. Murphy, Michael M. Pollock
Monitoring water conservation can be challenging in locations without adequate metering. Here the authors use satellite-derived estimates of evapotranspiration (ET) to assess watershed-wide responses…
2026 | Freshwater | Science | Publications & Reports
Safeguarding California’s Streams: How Well Permitting Can Protect Water for People and Wildlife
Monty Schmitt (TNC), Nicholas Murphy, Matthew Clifford, Charlie Schneider, Melissa M. Rohde (TNC alum)
Groundwater management is changing across California. In 2018, a legal decision ruled that counties must address the potential negative impacts on public trust resources, particularly streamflow…
2026 | Freshwater | Technology | Science | Publications & Reports
Lagged streamflow depletion due to pumping-induced stream drying: Incorporation into analytical streamflow depletion estimation methods
Sam Zipper, Ian Gambill, Monty Schmitt (TNC), Claire Kouba, Leland Scantlebury, Thomas Harter, Nicholas Murphy
At regional management scales, streamflow depletion due to groundwater pumping cannot be measured directly. Analytical depletion functions (ADFs) are a low-cost, low-complexity modeling approach to…
2026 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Marine | Science | Publications & Reports
Oren Pollak Memorial Research Fund - 2026 RFP
The Oren Pollak Memorial Research Fund was established in 2000 in memory of Dr. Oren Pollak, a leading grassland ecologist and restoration pioneer, as well as an ardent champion and mentor for…
2025 | Freshwater | Terrestrial | Science | Publications & Reports
There’s a path forward in the San Joaquin Valley to benefit farmers, communities, and nature — but only if we plan . . . and plant
H. Scott Butterfield (TNC), Jeanette K. Howard (TNC), Daniel Toews (TNC), Abigail Hart (TNC), Kathy Wood-McLaughlin
To meet the goals of California's 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), more than 500,000 acres of irrigated agricultural land will need to be retired. TNC and partners…
2025 | Terrestrial | Technology | Science | Publications & Reports
Phylosymbiosis and Elevated Cancer Risk in Genetically Depauperate Channel Island Foxes
Alexandra L. DeCandia, Jasmine Lu, Emily E. Hamblen, Lara J. Brenner, Julie L. King, Calypso N. Gagorik, Juliann T. Schamel, Stacy S. Baker, Francesca J. Ferrara, Melissa Booker, Andrew Bridges, Cesar Carrasco, Bridgett M. vonHoldt, Klaus-Peter Koepfli, Jesús E. Maldonado
Isolated island species may be more susceptible to disease because of their lack of genetic diversity. Santa Catalina Island foxes have the highest rate of cancer ever measured in wildlife - over 50%…
2025 | Terrestrial | Planning | Science | Publications & Reports
The wildlife attitude-acceptability framework’s potential to inform human dimensions of wildlife science and practice
Alexander L. Metcalf, Elizabeth Covelli Metcalf, Lara J. Brenner, Holly K. Nesbitt, Conor N. Phelan, Michael S. Lewis, Justin A. Gude
The long-term survival of large carnivores like wolves, grizzly bears and mountain lions depends not just on ecological factors like habitat, but also on social factors like human acceptance of their…
2025 | Terrestrial | Technology | Science | Publications & Reports
The gut microbiomes of Channel Island foxes and island spotted skunks exhibit fine-scale differentiation across host species and island populations
Samantha Pasciullo Boychuck, Lara J. Brenner, Calypso N. Gagorik, Juliann T. Schamel, Stacy Baker, Elton Tran, Bridgett M. vonHoldt, Klaus-Peter Koepfli, Jesús E. Maldonado, Alexandra L. DeCandia
On California’s Channel Islands, two rare carnivores—the island fox and island spotted skunk—have coexisted for millennia despite competing for similar resources. This study explores…