Environment 12-24

Environmentalists-and two “bag monsters” representing the 500 plastic bags the average American uses annually-protested the use of such bags outside Santa Barbara City Hall on 12/18. Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of Jacques Cousteau and founder of Santa Barbara’s Ocean Futures Society, advocated educating people out of wasteful habits, while Santa Barbara Channelkeeper director Kira Redmond said a city ordinance banning plastic bags would help the cause considerably. (/banbags1224)

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Previously pricey software used for tracking ocean fish populations is now available to the public for free at admb-project.org, courtesy of the Santa Barbara-based, UCSB-affiliated National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS). The group was able to purchase the copyright for the AD Model Builder with grant money from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. NCEAS hopes the program will help in forecasting national marketing trends and, in general, sharing otherwise hard-to-get data. (/fisheries)