Jacoba Charles Archives – KneeDeep Times

Sign in a garden surrounded by plants and flowers that reads: 'Don't trim, prune or tidy! This garden is winter pollinator habitat.'

Don’t Tidy, Leave Winter Homes for Insects

Your messy garden might be saving beneficial insects. Before you reach for the rake, learn about how dead leaves and stems help pollinators overwinter.... Read more.

Lighting a Fire Under K-12 Climate Literacy

In a sixth-grade Petaluma classroom, children are exploring how to make wind energy, fulfilling new state mandates to build climate literacy.... Read more.

Heatwave in 2023 sends locals to Crown Beach in Alameda.

When Hot Gets Hotter

Recent research from UC Berkeley’s David Romps explores how extreme heat and humidity push the body to its physiological limits.... Read more.

Crews clear a bank. Photo: Marin Wildfire

Marin Makes Clean Sweep of Forest Floors

After witnessing fire disasters in neighboring counties, Marin formed a unique fire prevention authority and taxpayers funded it. Thirty projects and three year... Read more.

Marshes Could Save Bay Area Half a Billion Dollars in Floods

UCSC scientist Rae Taylor-Burns has assigned marsh restoration projects a dollar value in terms of human assets protected from climate change driven flooding.... Read more.

Working and Playing in the Coastal Zone

KneeDeep profiles Arye Janoff and Bekah Lane. Janoff surfs and manages coastal dredging and restoration projects for the Army Corps; Lane monitors whales for th... Read more.

A recent event inviting community input in Newark, including local activists and planners from the Bay Conservation and Development Commission. Photo: Shira Bezalel.

Layer Cake of Risk Mapped for Five Bay Area Hotspots

Greenbelt Alliance worked with data and communities to identify 18 sites where social vulnerability, climate hazards and conservation priorities overlapped, the... Read more.

Homegrown Go-Tos for Chillin’

A North Bay mom shares tips on how to beat the heat without AC, from wet shirts to wet blankets, and surveys her friends for more.... Read more.

As temperatures heat up and become more variable, the Bay Area’s historically mild climate is becoming a liability.

Living with Climate Swings: Heat 101

The Bay Area’s mild weather is a liability for its residents in the face of growing heat risks from temperature swings to hotter nights. But what exactly make... Read more.

Rain gardens in San Francisco corridor that help manage 1.2 million gallons of stormwater each year. Photo: SFPUC.

Being Human in Big Weather

When it rained this May, it felt unexpected. Based on over 150 years of climate data for San Francisco, May typically gets several days with a light rain. But c... Read more.

Five hikers crossing a green field with mist and hills in the background.

Sonoma Taps Undeveloped Land in Climate Fight

This fall, Sonoma County officially enlisted its abundance of undeveloped lands in the fight to adapt to climate change. Last month, the county approved a “Cl... Read more.

Hairy woodpecker after Sierra Rim Fire. Photo: Ken Etzel.

Burns for the Birds

Scientists examined islands of near-total deforestation after fires and found new landscapes born from the scorched earth. They also found birds hunting for see... Read more.

Bobcat finds a way under Bailey Bridge in Santa Clara County.

Ordering the Path to Wildlife Resilience

Wildlife need wild pathways — corridors of trees, streams, meadows, or other habitat that allows them to move through a landscape increasingly fragmented by h... Read more.

crew clearing fallen trees in San Rafael

Whiplash from Atmospheric Storm Hits San Rafael

Late October’s atmospheric river storm dumped record-breaking amounts of rain across the Bay Area, leading to flooding, fallen trees, mudslides, and other dam... Read more.

Chicks of both the human and feathered variety harvest seeds from drought-fallowed veggie beds. Photo: Jacoba Charles.

North Bay Towns Embrace Drought Gardens

The conundrums of whether or not to spend water on gardening during a drought are many. Growing backyard food is not just enjoyable, it also cuts down on greenh... Read more.

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