East Bay Professor Tackles Climate Change in Google-Backed Project

Decades of development have erased roughly 85% of San Francisco Bay's tidal wetlands-weakening natural flood protection, degrading water quality and diminishing one of the region's most effective systems for storing carbon. Now, a major South Bay restoration effort aims to reverse that loss.

Cal State East Bay professor Patty Oikawa, whose research focuses on how wetlands store carbon and respond to environmental change, is leading the scientific work behind the project. Her research also explores how rebuilding these ecosystems can protect communities and mitigate climate impacts.

Oikawa, a professor in the Department of Earth, Environmental and Sustainability Sciences, is part of a multi-institutional team restoring 275 acres of tidal marsh near Mountain View's Shoreline Regional Park. Supported by Google and a coalition of public and nonprofit partners, the project will return tidal flow to a former industrial salt pond known as Pond A1, allowing wetlands to reestablish naturally.

"If we can quantify all the ways these wetlands sequester carbon in soils and the coastal ocean, we can build greater support for this important nature-based climate solution and pave the way for more wetland restoration in San Francisco Bay and beyond," Oikawa said.

Part of the larger South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project-one of the largest wetland restoration efforts in the country-the effort combines habitat restoration with long-term scientific research. Oikawa's research will track carbon sequestration, water quality, and ecosystem recovery over time, while her students gain hands-on, real-world experience in the field.

Construction is expected to begin in late 2026 or 2027, with monitoring continuing for years after.