As UC research moves forward on the environmental cleanup of Mare Island Naval Shipyard near Vallejo, participants are considering a new approach to assessing ecological risk. The U.S. Navy has proposed to identify areas for accelerated remediation, identify data gaps and provide recommendations for future related work. The new approach was discussed at a recent public workshop presented by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the UC Davis Superfund Basic Research Program and the UC Davis-based Toxic Substances Research and Teaching Program. The workshop also provided an update on remediation work under way at the base. Several years ago, UC and the shipyard formed a partnership to develop innovative approaches for environmental cleanup and restoration. The UC-funded project to assess the wetlands and estuarine ecosystems in the shipyard area is a multidisciplinary effort involving many UC researchers from nearly all the nine campuses.