Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration

This poster was presented at the 2024 UCSB EEMB Research symposium.

It has been well studied that light pollution significantly impacts humans and wildlife. When light is in excess, humans are negatively affected through reduced safety from light glare, disrupted circadian rhythms, and decreased exposure to the night sky. We studied UCSB’s residential areas to determine if these were issues on campus. This research was conducted through community engagement surveys about problematic lights and field visits to measure light intensity and color.  We found a consensus among respondents that particularly bright or cold colored lights regularly affect respondent’s ability to sleep and thus their academic performance. Surveys were promoted through 10 versions of attention-grabbing info flyers posted around campus, displayed on digital screens in residential lobbies, and sent out through residential email list servers to make our resources available in numerous forms with 9 responses and the anticipation of more in the spring quarter. We evaluated whether there are problematic lights around 12 residential halls through field surveys. After identifying 40 problematic lights, we identified a number of possible solutions that included adding shields, decreasing light color temperature, or changing the lighting fixture and/or bulb. We also took readings of sky glow into the atmosphere across 4 residential zones and 2 campus adjacent natural area zones to assess whether the school is dark sky compliant. We hope to assess the benefits of reducing night lighting on the school’s energy budget. Overall, we hope to improve campus lighting to benefit students’ safety, reduce light pollution impact on the night sky, and improve the school’s energy budget