Monica Palta discusses and analyzes nature-based solutions for urban water challenges at Water UCI's first #SpeakingofWater event of 2025. Dr. Palta is the assistant cooperative extension specialist in urban water quality, health and justice at UC Irvine.
Dr. Palta joined University of California Agriculture & Natural Resources (UC ANR) on Sept. 1, 2024, as a UC Cooperative Extension specialist in urban water quality, health and justice. She is the first UCCE specialist to be based at UC Irvine. An urban ecosystem ecologist and environmental scientist, Dr. Palta has conducted applied research in aquatic and coastal ecosystems throughout the U.S. Before taking the position with UC ANR, she was an associate professor in the Department of Environmental Studies and Science at Pace University in New York City.
The main goal of Palta's research is to develop sustainable and mutually beneficial relationships between natural ecosystems and human populations in urban watersheds. A central focus of her work is on interactions between infrastructure, ecosystem functions and associated environmental benefits to humans in urban waterfronts, and how these interactions may be altered by global change. Her research investigates sources and mitigation strategies for water pollution, as well as develops green infrastructure and environmental management strategies to facilitate greater environmental benefit, equity, access and resilience in marginalized waterfront communities.
In 2023, she co-founded Participatory Science Solutions, LLC. This organization has provided research, training, and evaluation on the social impact of urban environmental restoration projects (e.g., restoration of urban forests, wetlands and oyster reefs) conducted by nonprofit organizations and government agencies.
Palta earned a Ph.D. in ecology and evolution from Rutgers University and conducted postdoctoral work at Arizona State University. She earned a master's in ecology from the University of Georgia and a bachelor's degree in biology from Grinnell College.
In her position with UC ANR, she is excited to collaborate with UC faculty and UC ANR colleagues from diverse disciplines as well as local communities and water managers. Her work will inform management for long-term resilience and reliability of water resources in Southern California under climate change, with a strong focus on strategies that sustain health and social equity within local populations.
Palta is jointly based at UC Irvine's Department of Civil Engineering (School of Engineering) and the Department of Urban Planning and Public Policy (School of Social Ecology) and can be reached at mpalta@uci.edu and @MonicaMPalta on X, formerly known as Twitter.
