Dear readers,

As I enter my fourth year at UC Berkeley, I’ve found that these two years with BSR have connected me to our campus scientific community more than I could have anticipated. Working on this magazine as an editor, a writer, and now as Editor in Chief, has exposed me to exciting science going on all over campus, at universities where our community has collaborations, and well outside of my own field of study in inorganic chemistry. Beyond that, I have also had the delight of meeting and working with a team of editors, writers, and designers from all different walks of science, and have been so invigorated with each new draft of every article. To learn about and participate in the communication of what makes this incredible team tick, the science that inspires them, and the ideas that move them, has been the most exciting part of working on this publication. This has been especially true for Issue 45, and I’m excited to share the newest review of science happening at UC Berkeley with you.

The writers for this issue have contributed articles from many scientific fields, yet have seemed to converge on two issues that we face and have deemed worthy of study: how we handle natural disasters and how living creatures have evolved to live in our world today. In “Spreading like wildfire,” Lauren Miller exposes the way that wildfires, one of the most looming disasters for those of us in California, are tied to increased rates of tuberculosis. Both Christopher Ye and Rachel Weinberg have investigated how scientists in Berkeley are handling the prediction and effects of earthquakes in “Tabletop versus Sims: predicting earthquakes is no easy game” and “As above, so below: satellite surveys the Earth's faults,” respectively. On the evolutionary front, Héctor Torres Vera features the way that flies have learned to navigate our world in “Learning on the fly,” while Samvardhini Sridharan looks at the way that foxes in North Africa have evolved to survive the heat of the desert. Overall, these articles demonstrate the investment of UC Berkeley scientists in navigating disasters, often by understanding how other creatures have done it before us.

Our authors have highlighted exciting research beyond these two ideas, too. From innovating battery technology, to pioneering drug discovery, to improving our understanding of the quantum mechanics behind complex chemical systems, our writers have shown that the science at UC Berkeley is making great strides to better our world. This work is largely guided by the faculty at UC Berkeley, and so we have featured profiles on incredible women at two very different career stages: Robin Ball, who has brought her outstanding energy as lecturer in Molecular and Cell Biology since 2012, and Professor Emeritus Darleane Hoffman, who has pioneered heavy element research in the College of Chemistry since 1984. This science and these scientists have left us in awe—a phenomenon that you can learn about in Joseph Brackbill’s book review of Awe by UC Berkeley professor Dacher Keltner.

In addition to our authors, we have many contributors behind the scenes to thank. Our editing team, some returning and some new for this issue, has worked with our authors to shape these stories into the exciting scientific articles that you’ll read here. Every piece has been brought to life by the design team, led by our Art Director, Liya Oster, on her last issue in this role with BSR. We’re grateful for her outstanding leadership and artistic talent over the past three issues. Our Managing Editor, Héctor Torres Vera, has taken on their role with amazing diligence and spunk. Lastly, I’d like to thank the Karmon family for their ongoing support of the BSR, as well as our other donors and subscribers for their generosity.

I hope you enjoy Issue 45 as much as the team enjoyed making it!

Sincerely, Sheridon Kelly

This article is part of the Fall 2023 issue.