Tue, Jul 7 2026

San Francisco Rain Gardens Filter Microplastic Tire Particles and Dozens of Chemicals from Stormwater

A new study shows that rain gardens substantially reduce levels of 21 contaminants in stormwater before that water ends up in San Francisco Bay.

Mon, Jun 29 2026

Mountain View’s New Plan for a Thriving Urban Ecosystem

Mountain View’s newly adopted Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan pioneers an approach to managing the city’s trees, parks, facilities, and open spaces as one connected, functioning landscape.

Fri, Feb 27 2026

Nature-Based Approaches for a Resilient San Francisco

A new report details tangible lessons for urban greening gleaned from The Sunset Natural Resilience Project, which explores how to make San Francisco’s Sunset neighborhood greener and more resilient.

Mon, Nov 18 2024 - Sat, Jan 25 2025

Changing Course on San Francisco’s Great Highway

A fixture of Western San Francisco, the Great Highway is home to a diverse ecosystem of sand dunes, native plants, and wildlife.

Tue, Mar 12 2024

ASLA-NCC Lunch with Leaders Connecting Biodiversity and Health

Join us for a lunch webinar on March 20th, 2024, where Vanessa Lee (Associate Environmental Scientist), Karen Verpeet (Resilient Landscapes Program Managing Director), and Kelly Iknayan (Senior Scientist) will speak to members of the ASLA Norther

Fri, Mar 1 2024

New publication from the Urban Nature team uncovers local and landscape scale influences on urban bird and pollinator occupancy

SFEI's Resilient Landscapes Program is excited to share a new publication in Ecology and Evolution from our Urban Nature team, Patterns in bird and pollinator occupancy and richness in a mosaic of urban office parks a

Fri, Nov 17 2023

New Ecology for Health report forges tighter connections between human and ecological health

In KneeDeep Times, Nate Seltenrich reflects on the release of SFEI's latest report:
The same features in urban parks that support biodiversity can also benefit human health. Even biodiversity itself may help us — and the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) wants to see more of it. To that end, the nonprofit released an innovative report in September called Ecology for Health.

Mon, Oct 10 2022

Introducing the Making Nature’s City Toolkit

In partnership with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Urban Alliance, the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) has developed the Making Nature’s City Toolkit (makingnaturescity.org), an interactive, beautifully designed webs

Mon, Nov 1 2021

Newly published research sheds light on the future of the California quail

The Journal of Applied Ecology has just published research by Kelly Iknayan of the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) and co-authors from the Presidio Trust and SFEI that will help to guide a joint study on the feasibility of bringing back the native California quail to San Francisco

Mon, Oct 11 2021

New article published in Nature Sustainability linking COVID-19 to nature equity, showing communities of color face starkest burden

Erica Spotswood and a team of scientists published pioneering research in Nature Sustainability, finding that COVID-19 tracks neighborhood greenness in the US, exacerbating existing inequity.

Tue, Sep 21 - Fri, Dec 31 2021

Big updates from Hidden Nature SF, including new interactive content!

Hidden Nature SF seeks to uncover the natural history of San Francisco’s past landscape.

Fri, Apr 2 2021

Trees, Hydrology, Urban-Greening, and Nature-Based Solutions

Two key reports support nature-based solutions. Green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) and enhancements to the urban tree canopy offer benefits to stormwater management, urban ecological improvements, and complementary urban greening activities.

On KGO TV, these projects were featured on July 1, 2021.

Wed, Feb 24 2021

Hidden Nature San Francisco: A conversation about the past, present, and future of nature in San Francisco

SFEI and our partners from the Exploratorium, the San Francisco Department of the Environment, and the Presidio Trust were joined live by over 400 participants for a conversation around the nature, both past and present, that is hidden in plain sight in San Francisco.

Wed, Feb 17 2021

New article published in BioScience: Cities contribute more than we think to regional biodiversity

Erica Spotswood and a team of scientists published a peer-reviewed scientific paper, just released in the journal BioScience. In this perspective piece, we identify ways cities may contribute to regional biodiversity conservation. 

Tue, Jul 7 2020

United Nations Global Urban Lecture Released on Making Nature's City

SFEI's Urban Nature Lab and the UN-Habitat Global Urban Lectures series have produced a video on SFEI's Making Nature's City report. The lecture demonstrates why urban conservation planning is an essential component of urban design...