Her research group quantifies the relationship between energy, water, and food and nutrition security, the environmental impacts of food production and consumption, and climate impacts on agriculture and land use. They are particularly interested in the science, technology, and policy of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) and the role that these compounds play in climate, food security and human health. Dr. Burney;s group uses methods from physics, ecology, statistics, remote sensing, economics and policy and work with data in the filed, and in the lab to find points of convergence between climate and development objectives. Her group draws students from across UCSD including the Jacobs School of Engineering, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Divisions of Biological and Physical Sciences, and the School of Global Policy and Strategy.