Fish that live in the twilight zone region of the ocean are a crucial part of a vastly under-studied ecosystem. When fish are brought up to the surface for study, the change in pressure between their native depth (200-500 feet) and sea level often causes fatal damages to their anatomy. Watch how a team of scientists from the California Academy of Sciences designs and builds a portable chamber that creates a pressure-controlled environment for these animals, so they can safely transport them...

An earthquake generates a series of seismic waves that travel through the interior or near the surface of the Earth. There are 4 types of seismic waves.

California and Arizona share the Mojave Desert, one of the world’s best locations for solar installations. As California rushes to fulfill a mandate to produce on-third of its electricity from renewable energy, the largest solar thermal plant in the world opens, but only after a contentious process that pitted environmentalists against each other.

When the ribbon was cut on the Rocky Branch project, the stream that flowed through the heart of North Carolina State University was restored, but the university was transformed. Thirty years ago, Rocky Branch was given the dubious distinction of being the “most polluted stream” in the state of North Carolina. Today, it’s a model of restoration practices for the region. Before the restoration, the rain that fell during storms was considered a problem. Watch as a university rises to the...

Meet the underwater characters that make a living cycling nutrients through the watershed. Learn how the physical, chemical, and biological systems within watersheds work together to create a continuum of resilient, interconnected ecosystems. Watch the food chains spiral nutrients in and out of the river basin in vast web of interactions.

The oceans cover 70 percent of Earth’s surface, they drive global climate and are critical to life on the continents. And yet they are some of the most mysterious and little known places on our planet. But one of the most ambitious ocean research projects ever undertaken is meant to change that.

In Washington state, a river once known for its abundant salmon run is getting a second chance. The Elwha River dams, which decimated salmon populations and profoundly altered the ecosystem, are coming down and hopes are high that salmon will return.

A recent scientific study shows sea otter activity off the coast of Washington State has removed CO2 from the atmosphere equivalent to taking up to 6 million cars off the road.

We journey to Washington State’s Cascade Mountains, where the return of wolves could have a profound impact on this vast wilderness area. We meet up with biologist Aaron Wirsing to explore why wolves and other top predators are needed for diverse ecosystems to flourish. Using a simple video camera (a “deer-cam”) Wirsing is gaining a unique perspective on predator/prey relationships.

In this short video, we travel with conservation biologist Dee Boersma to the Galapagos Islands where she works to support a population of temperate penguins that are being impacted by climate change.

Pteropods are free-floating marine snails that play a very big part in oceanic ecosystems. Although they are very small, these creatures are extremely important because they make up the base of the oceanic food web. Pteropods are good indicators of the health of an ecosystem. This slideshow is part of our Ocean Acidification Education series.

This lighthearted animation takes us beneath the surface to see groundwater in action. Watch anthropomorphized drops of groundwater travel through this system. A smiling character with a shovel digs us down to the water table, allowing us to flow through the water cycle and thus making the process much easier to understand.

In the search to replace fossil fuels with renewable power, wind energy has proven to be a valuable resource. But as we know, wind doesn’t blow everywhere all the time. To harness reliable, consistent wind energy scientists and engineers are now looking up to harness a new wind resource -- the high altitude jet stream.

Samuel Weatherwax is an insulation and coatings technician for Calpine Corporation’s geothermal power plant, The Geysers, northeast of San Francisco. Weatherwax started as an apprentice and has now worked at The Geysers for four years. He loves spending most of his workday outside, where he paints, pressure washes, sandblasts, and repairs Calpine’s 15 geothermal power plants. After graduating from high school Weatherwax worked several jobs before a friend helped him land a position at Bottle...

Damon Vander Lind is a kite designer for Makani Power, a wind power generation company owned by Google. Vander Lind loved working in his dad’s shop as a kid, tinkering with boats and model gliders, which fueled his passion for design and engineering. After receiving an engineering degree from MIT, he thought he wanted to get a doctorate, but during his post-college internship at Makani he fell in love with the work and decided to stay. He now leads a team that is building high-altitude kites...

Aindrila Mukhopadhyay is a microbiologist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where she investigates the most effective ways to use microbes to convert plants into biofuels. Mukhopadhyay leads a multidisciplinary team studying stress response in bacteria. Her work ranges from hands-on research to grant writing. As a student Mukhopadhyay was always passionate about science, and she went on to earn a doctorate in chemistry. Every day she celebrates “small victories” at work and enjoys...

Leila Madrone is a mechatronics engineer — a combination of electrical and mechanical engineering — who works at Otherlab, a San Francisco start-up company. She leads an engineering team that is trying to improve large solar power fields. By changing the size and materials of heliostats, structures that include large mirrors to reflect sunlight, she can make high-concentration solar systems more energy efficient and less costly. Madrone has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in electrical...

Do sharks live in San Francisco Bay? QUEST heads out on a shark-tagging expedition to unlock the secrets of some of the bay's biggest and least known predators.

QUEST visits with a rescued North American Gray Fox at the Lindsay Wildlife Museum in Walnut Creek. This elusive species is native to the Bay Area and happens to be the only member of the dog family who can climb trees.

Hyenas are mostly scavengers, right? Wrong!

Although not as famous as its bald cousin, Golden Eagles are much easier to find in Northern California – one of the largest breeding populations for Golden Eagles is right here in the Mount Diablo valley. Meet one of the largest birds of prey as QUEST visits the Lindsay Wildlife Museum in Walnut Creek, CA.

Ryan Hernandez is an assistant professor at UC San Francisco in the department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences. Playing sports was his top priority in high school, but encouragement from one of his teachers led him pursue a major in mathematics in college. As an undergraduate, Hernandez's interest in population genetics sprung from his curiosity about how and why his grandmother developed diabetes. He wanted to try to design a model to show the interaction between blood glucose,...

Desai is a bioengineering professor at UC San Francisco who is investigating new treatments for diabetes. Using nanotechnology, she is developing a tiny capsule that contains pancreatic cells that produce insulin. This capsule would be implanted in a patient's body and act as an artificial pancreas. In high school, Desai wasn't sure what career path to pursue. As a freshman, she participated in a National Science Foundation program focused on engaging girls in science where she met a lot of...

Eva LaDow is a post-doctoral fellow at the Gladstone Institutes of Neurological Disease. Her project at Gladstone aims to determine whether any drugs already approved by the FDA may also be used to treat ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. She grows neurons, introduces mutant DNA into the neurons to mimic ALS, and then collects and analyzes the data. LaDow says her job is “full of cool things!” The “coolest” is working with the third generation of the lab’s automated microscope, the Brain Bot. The...