Global Ecology & Sustainability Lab

website design + brand strategy

the global ecology & sustainability Lab at uc-davis

Reimagining your identity as a lab can be an intimidating prospect.

For years, Dr. Rebecca Hernandez called her group at UC-Davis “the Arid Lab”, as they largely focused on ecological dynamics in arid landscapes. But as Dr. Hernandez’s career progressed, her research interests and vision for her lab grew.

She became more excited about the interface of ecology with sustainability, energy, and infrastructure. She started recruiting students to study cannabis, the impacts of solar farms, and the ecological value of renewable energy, as well as its ecological costs.

Over time, the Arid Lab expanded to systems far beyond arid ecosystems, and the brand began to feel like a shoe that no longer fit.

Our goal with this project was to help Dr. Hernandez reimagine her lab and design a new vision for something bigger. Thus, the Global Ecology & Sustainability Lab was born.

This process wasn’t easy or comfortable. As Rebecca explains,

“Letting {someone else} capture your research program can be a bit of a leap of faith. {Impact Media Lab} did not shirk from getting you out of a comfortable space and into a forward-thinking mindset for what your science is and what it could be. They have a unique process that draws out ideas, aspirations, and stories from those who are wiling to embark on the journey.”

— Dr. Rebecca Hernandez

the brand

bold, technological, global in scale and thinking

The Global Ecology & Sustainability Lab is bold and cross-disciplinary. They take ecology out of its traditional spaces and bring it into modern conversations about global food, energy, and equity systems. One of the biggest inspirations for the brand was Rebecca’s love for arid ecosystems and her lab’s deep commitment to conservation. We wanted the look to feel clean, modern, and technological.