Mark Hoddle, director of the Center for Invasive Species Research at UC Riverside, is looking for a way to save the state's oak trees from an invasive threat: the goldspotted oak borer beetle, which has killed up to 80,000 trees in Southern California.

Nalo Hopkinson, author and UC Riverside professor, says science fiction and fantasy helps us envision possibilities before they happen.

Series follows Scripps scientist's trailblazing path in climate change research.