Beth Ferguson

Background

Professor Beth Ferguson is an ecological designer whose work integrates solar engineering, active mobility, digital craft, and sustainable materials to advance climate resilience and reduce carbon emissions. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Design at the University of California Davis, where she directs the Circular Futures Lab. Her projects have been exhibited internationally at Ars Electronica, Dutch Design Week, Otago Museum, and Centre d’Arts Santa Mònica, and nationally at SXSW, the ZERO1 Biennial, TEDxPresidio, and the Exploratorium. Her work has been featured in Fast Company, BBC News, The New York Times, Wired Italy, and Radio New Zealand. Ferguson has held residencies at the Autodesk Technology Center in San Francisco, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and the American Arts Incubator in New Zealand. 

Exhibitions

• Tools for a Warming Planet, Sismógrafo Gallery, Porto, Portugal (2025) (forthcoming)
• Tools for a Warming Planet, Exploratorium, San Francisco, CA (2025) 
• Eco Materials Library, Pioneering Biomaterials Exhibition, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA (2025) 
• Solar Mobility Hub, MacArthur BART Station, Oakland, CA (2025) forthcoming 
• Tools for a Warming Planet, Ars Electronica, Linz, Austria (2022) 
• Tools for a Warming Planet, Centre d’Arts Santa Mònica, Barcelona, Spain (2022) 
• Tools for a Warming Planet, Dutch Design Week, Eindhoven, Netherlands (2022) 
• Solar Fountain, Exploratorium, permanent installation, San Francisco, CA (2018–present)
• Electric Drive Solar Kiosk, City of Austin, permanent installation, Austin, TX (2017–present) 
• SolarPump Charging Station, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA (2015–17)
• Campus Solar Charging Station, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX (2014–23) 
• SolarPhone Booth, ZERO1 Biennial, San Jose, CA, 2012

Awards

• Best Paper Award, Eco Materials Library, International Symposium on Academic Makerspaces, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom (2024)
• Hellman Fellowship, UC Davis (2021)
• Public Sediment for Alameda Creek, The American Society of Landscape Architects Professional National Awards, Honor Award: Analysis and Planning (2019)
• Alameda Creek Atlas, The Environmental Design Research Association, Great Places Award (2019)
• Electric Drive Solar Kiosk, Austin Green Award,  Austin, TX (2017)

Talks

• ATLAS Colloquium, The Atlas Institute, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, 2025 (forthcoming)
• Protocols for Healthy Academic Makerspaces, International Symposium on Academic Makerspaces, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 2025 
• Fab Lab Resident talk, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME, 2025
• Eco Materials Library, International Symposium on Academic Makerspaces, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom, 2024 
• Inclusive Energy Transitions, U21 Early Career Researcher, University of Queensland, Australia, 2024
• Ferguson, B., Sanguinetti, A., Integrating Micromobility with Public Transit: A Case Study of the California Bay Area, World Symposium on Transport and Land Use Research, Bogota, Colombia, 2024  
• Shared Micromobility Vehicle Design and Safety, Transit Research Symposium, UC Davis, 2024
• Critical Design as Tools to Solve Big Problems panel, VentureWell, San Diego, CA, 2024 
• Bicycle and Pedestrian Access at Transit Stations, Sacramento Area Council of Governments, Sacramento, CA, 2024
• Toward an SOS Design Manifesto: Guiding principles for ecology, care, and shelter, workshop, International Association of Societies of Design Research Congress, Milan, Italy, 2023
• Collaborative Ecosystems for a Sustainable World, Curated by the Institut Ramon Llull, The NewArt Foundation, Hac Te, Ars Electronica Gardens exhibition and panel. Linz, Austria, 2022
• Tools for a Warming Planet, International Symposium on Electronic Art Conference, Dean, S., Ferguson, B., Monsonís, M., panel, Canòdrom Center, Barcelona, Spain, 2022
• Resilient by Engagement panel, Sustainable Urban Environments, Environmental Design Research Association Conference, NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, NY, 2019
• Creative partnerships for emergency solar charging stations, IFoU 2018: Reframing Urban Resilience Implementation: Aligning Sustainability and Resilience, Barcelona, Spain, 2018

Publications

• Viloche, O., Ferguson, B. (2025) “Protocols for Healthy Academic Makerspaces”. Proceedings of International Symposium on Academic Makerspaces, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
• Ferguson, B., Sanguinetti, A. (2024) “Extending public transit through micromobility facilities and services in the Bay Area”. National Center for Sustainable Transportation Policy Brief
• Ferguson, B., Sanguinetti, A. (2024) “Micromobility and Public Transit Environmental Design Integration”. UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies Policy Brief
• Ferguson, B., Smith, E., & Lazaro, E. (2024). “Eco Materials Library“. International Journal of Academic Makerspaces and Making (IJAMM)
• Napawan, C., Snyder, B., Ferguson, B. (2023) “Resilient by Youth Engagement”, Chapter 11, Beach, R., Smtih, B., (ed), Youth Media Creation on the Climate Change Crisis: Hear Our Voices, Routledge, New York, NY. 234–250
• Ferguson, B., Dean, S. (2023) “Tools for a Warming Planet”, Proceedings of IASDR 2023: Life-Changing Design, Milan, Italy. 
• Ferguson, B., Sanguinetti, A. (2023) “Integrating Micromobility with Public Transit: A Case Study of the California Bay Area”. UC Davis: National Center for Sustainable Transportation.
• Ferguson, B. (2022) “Designing with the Sun”, Handbook of Best Practices in Sustainable Development at University Level, Chapter 25, Springer, New York, NY
• Ferguson, B. (2022) “Designing with Sunlight, Innovation Magazine, Sustainable Design Leadership”. Industrial Designers Society of America
• Ferguson, B., Sanguinetti, A. (2021). “Facilitating Micromobility for First and Last Mile Connection with Public Transit Through Environmental Design: A Case Study of California Bay Area Rapid Transit Stations”. Proceedings of the Design Society, International Conference on Engineering Design, Gothenburg, Sweden, 2021 Cambridge University Press, 1577–1586.
• Pirmoradi, S., Ferguson, B., Vega, K., Goncu Berk, G. (2021) “CJ-2050: Body Cooling Wearable Technology”. Proceedings of International Symposium on Wearable Computers, 207–210.
• Ferguson, B., Maiorana, T., Vega, K., Cogdell, C. (2020) “The UC Davis Product Design Lab: Sustainability, Inclusivity, and Creative Exploration”. International Journal of Academic Makerspaces and Making 
• Okamoto, T., Brown-Stevens, A., Resilient by Design Teams. (2019) “Public Sediment, Resilient by Design: Bay Area Challenge”, 130–147, Resilient by Design: Bay Area Challenge
• Okamoto, T., Brown-Stevens, A., Resilient by Design Teams, (2018) “Connecting People to Climate Risks, Participation + Action + Education Toolkit”. Bay Area Resilient by Design Bay Area Challenge

Teaching

DES 127A, Introduction to Sustainable Design
This course is intended for students interested in exploring the principles, practice, and materials of sustainable design in the context of the environmental and climate crisis. Through lectures, reading, case studies, field trips, and group projects this course will explore sustainable design in the fields of material science, product design, energy, transportation, the built environment, and visual communication. We will investigate how designers, architects, and engineers use ecological and socially responsible design to address complex systems related to climate change, resource limitations, and ecosystem degradation. The intention is to create a solid understanding of sustainable design methods and their potential to solve some of the world’s biggest problems.

DES 127B, Studio Practice in Sustainable Design
In this studio course, we use inquiry, research, and data to inform work that makes environmental impact visible and known, and that inspires behavioral change. We will further investigate many of the concepts from 127A (Lifecycle Analysis, humanitarian design, material processes, environmental justice, green energy, and more) both locally on the UC Davis campus and beyond. For designers of any medium, this course will ask you to use your voice to make visible and actionable the environmental behaviors of humans.

DES 165, Studio Practices in Industrial Design
This studio course will explore core elements of industrial design through concept ideation, material selection, model making , and fabrication processes. Historic, contemporary, and future developments in industrial design along with industry awareness and sustainability will be covered. Innovation in new material and fabrication technology related to everyday objects, soft goods, portable structures, electronics, furniture, and transportation will be explored in this studio. Applications for common materials such as metals, plastics, wood, ceramics, and composites will be tested. Industrial design processes such as forming, casting, cutting, joining, and finishing will be demonstrated. Practice based course assignments will cover sketching, 3-D form, 3-D rendering, and prototype making. Presentations will highlight social entrepreneurship, environmental responsibility, ethics, and real-world problem solving.