News & Events
Constitution Day 2016
April 28, 2024
Student Resources
April 28, 2024
Three UC Santa Cruz faculty members elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
April 26, 2024
Three professors at the University of California, Santa Cruz were elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honorary societies.
UC Santa Cruz physics department honored for improving undergraduate experience
April 23, 2024
The Physics Department has been honored by the American Physical Society (APS) for improving undergraduate physics education. At its April meeting, APS announced UC Santa Cruz as one of just three universities nationwide whose physics departments share in this year’s award.
UC Santa Cruz scientists reveal new path to increasing lactation for nursing mothers
April 19, 2024
Scientists at UC Santa Cruz have discovered a cellular process in the breast that can increase milk production by pregnant women, revealing a potential path to addressing lactation insufficiency syndrome—the inability of a nursing mother to produce sufficient milk to meet their infant’s nutritional needs.
Three UC Santa Cruz faculty members named 2023 AAAS fellows
April 18, 2024
Three UC Santa Cruz faculty members have been named 2023 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science: Diane Gifford-Gonzalez, emerita distinguished research professor of anthropology; longtime journalist Robert Irion, emeritus director of UC Santa Cruz’s science communication master’s degree program; and acclaimed paleo-geneticist Beth Shapiro, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology.
UC Santa Cruz researchers receive grants for early-stage technology innovations and climate action solutions
April 18, 2024
Eight UC Santa Cruz research teams focusing on some of the most pressing issues of our time, such as cancer detection, data encryption, and climate change, received more than $350,000 in awards as part of this year’s Innovation Catalyst Grant program, administered by the university’s Innovation & Business Engagement Hub.
UC Santa Cruz ‘Shadow the Scientists’ program honored for astronomical DEI efforts
April 17, 2024
A science-inclusion program based at UC Santa Cruz that has allowed thousands of school-age children, educators, and inquisitive individuals to look through world-class telescopes alongside trained astronomers has been honored for opening up scientific exploration to those from underrepresented backgrounds around the world.
Humanities program provides rewarding research experience—and also crucial career prep
April 16, 2024
Employing Humanities–funded undergraduate students have begun working with faculty in paid research opportunities that connect their classroom curriculum with hands-on training.
New study finds potential targets at chromosome ends for degenerative disease prevention
April 11, 2024
Published online today in Science, a new study finds that telomere lengths follow a different pattern than has thus far been understood. Instead of telomere lengths falling under one general range of shortest to longest across all chromosomes, this study finds that different chromosomes have separate end-specific telomere-length distributions.
Scientists discover first nitrogen-fixing organelle
April 11, 2024
In two recent papers, an international team led by UC Santa Cruz scientists describe the first known nitrogen-fixing organelle within a eukaryotic cell. The organelle is the fourth example in history of primary endosymbiosis — the process by which a prokaryotic cell is engulfed by a eukaryotic cell and evolves beyond symbiosis into an organelle.
UC Santa Cruz researchers value salt marsh restoration as a crucial tool in flood risk reduction and climate resilience in the San Francisco Bay
April 11, 2024
Salt marsh restoration can mitigate flood risk and bolster community resilience to climate change in our local waterways, according to a recent study published in Nature by a postdoctoral fellow with UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Coastal Climate Resilience (CCCR).
Ph.D. student takes gut-wrenching research to the stage
April 5, 2024
Natalie Pedicino, a Ph.D. student in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, will bolt up to San Francisco on May 3 to distill her past three years of research into a three-minute lightning talk that will test her stage presence and science-communication skills.
First results from DESI make the most precise measurement of our expanding universe
April 4, 2024
We now have the largest 3-D map of our cosmos ever created, thanks to DESI—a powerful instrument mounted atop a telescope in Arizona with a robotic array of 5,000 fiber-optic “eyes” that look into the night sky.
The Science Division announces recipients of Distinguished Alumni Awards
April 2, 2024
Dr. José de Jesús González, Dr. Maximiliano Mateo Cuevas, and Dr. Charles A. Lawson are this year’s Distinguished Alumni Award recipients for the Science Division.
Championing inclusion: Nancy Kim’s leadership in UCSC’s resource centers
March 27, 2024
Nancy Kim graduated from UCSC in 1994, became the university’s founding Director of the Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center, and currently serves as the Executive Director of Resource Centers.
UC Santa Cruz joins consortium advancing Earth system science programs
March 27, 2024
UC Santa Cruz has joined a nonprofit consortium of 126 North American colleges and universities focused on research and training in Earth system science.
STEM Diversity Programs grows team to support graduate student success
March 26, 2024
STEM Diversity Programs welcomes two new team members, including a graduate advisor and program coordinator.
Diana Hernandez: From Hartnell College to UC Santa Cruz
March 20, 2024
Meet Diana Hernandez, a student parent who transferred to UC Santa Cruz from Hartnell College. Diana is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in literature, psychology, and Latin American and Latino Studies. In this Q&A, she discusses how she balances academics and parenting while staying involved in research and the Student Parent Organization on campus.
Shaping tomorrow: Earth Futures Institute’s Frontier Fellows program amplifies student-led innovation
March 15, 2024
UCSC’s Earth Futures Institute's Frontier Fellows Program, wrapping up its second year, supported six undergraduate students engaging in groundbreaking interdisciplinary research aimed at improving the planet's future. The program is made possible through the generosity of multiple donors.
Frontier Fellows Program propels student's research, paving the way for sustainable solutions to carbon emissions
March 15, 2024
UCSC student Jennifer Valadez spearheads pioneering research on carbon sequestration in California coastal prairies, exploring the crucial role of restoration in recovering soil carbon stocks with the help of the Frontier Fellows Program.
Balancing carbon sequestration and community benefits
March 15, 2024
UCSC student Cole Seither addresses the delicate balance between agroforestry, carbon sequestration, and community benefits in combating climate change. His research is supported by the Earth Futures Institute’s Frontier Fellows program.
Equity, civic-mindedness drive UC Santa Cruz’s Global and Community Health Program
March 14, 2024
Many of UC Santa Cruz’s core values are embodied in the Global and Community Health Program, which draws students who seek to study real-world problems encountered locally and worldwide, preparing them for a career in health care, policy, research or advocacy.
Deep Read 2024 gears up
March 13, 2024
With book giveaways, email explorations, salons, community conversations, and more, The Humanities Institute is preparing an immersive experience with its latest Deep Read selection, the bestselling and Pulitzer Prize–winning novel Trust.
UCSC Alumna Carolina Ixta debuts first novel
March 13, 2024
UCSC alumna Carolina Ixta debuts her powerful novel, Shut Up, This Is Serious: a coming-of-age story following two Latina teens in East Oakland.
Industrial fishing poses greater risk to marine life due to untracked activity, UC Santa Cruz researchers find
March 8, 2024
A new study led by a scientist at UC Santa Cruz's Institute of Marine Sciences finds that blue whales, tunas, and other top predators in the northeast Pacific Ocean face greater risk of harm from industrial fishing than previously thought.
Scientists find unexpected proteins in bacteria motors
March 8, 2024
A team of scientists, co-led by Karen Ottemann, a professor of Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology, recently found three unexpected proteins while studying the motors that power the flagella of a species called Helicobacter pylori. The proteins, which are normally found in another type of appendage on a separate group of bacteria, seem to exert control over the motion of the flagella. These proteins, known as PilN, PilO, and PilM, had never been found associated with a flagella before.
Center for Coastal Climate Resilience signs 4-year, $2.75 million agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for work on nature-based solutions
March 4, 2024
Coastal communities face escalating risks from climate change, natural disasters, and the loss of coastal habitats, such as salt marshes, mangroves, and coral reefs, and the outlook is particularly dire for many of our most vulnerable communities. In response to these pressing issues, the UC Santa Cruz Center for Coastal Climate Resilience (CCCR) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineering With Nature program recently signed a 4-year, $2.75 million cooperative agreement. They aim to address these challenges with equitable, nature-based solutions.
Dean Celine Parreñas Shimizu launches her new book: "The Movies of Racial Childhoods"
February 29, 2024
To celebrate, Shimizu will be hosting a book launch on the University of California, Santa Cruz Campus at the Sesnon Gallery, where the book will be available for purchase from Two Birds Books. The book will be discussed in conversation with Shimizu and the Sesnon Gallery director Valeria Miranda.
Planned gift bolsters Año Nuevo's perpetual impact
February 26, 2024
Año Nuevo is part of the University of California Natural Reserves System and one of the five reserves overseen by UC Santa Cruz. John Fox is including UC Santa Cruz in his estate plans to benefit the reserve far into the future.
Two History of Consciousness professors named to lead prestigious political journal
February 26, 2024
University of California, Santa Cruz History of Consciousness Professors Banu Bargu and Massimiliano Tomba have been named co-editors of the influential scholarly journal Political Theory.
The UCSC Music Department presents "The World Making Aura of Sonic Blackness" with Moor Mother & James Gordon Williams
February 26, 2024
On Wednesday, March 6, 2024, the University of California, Santa Cruz Music Department presents a very special performance by guest artist Moor Mother (Camae Ayewa) and James Gordon Williams, assistant professor of music composition at UC Santa Cruz in the Recital Hall of the Music Center.
The Center for Creative Ecologies presents "Nuclear Nows: Contemporary Art, Radiation, and Militarized Ecologies”
February 26, 2024
This two-part symposium is the work of Zoe Weldon-Yochim, a Ph.D. Candidate in Visual Studies, in collaboration with T.J. Demos, Professor in the Department of the History of Art and Visual Culture and Director of the Center for Creative Ecologies, and will discuss the intersection of contemporary art, militarized ecologies, and nuclear nationalism.
Scientists begin to crack open climate-change riddles hiding in ancient coral
February 23, 2024
An international team of researchers on an expedition co-led by UC Santa Cruz Professor Christina Ravelo collected cores of fossil coral off the coast of Hawai'i to look for signs of climate and sea-level change over the past half million years.
Closer water monitoring needed as wildfires increase
February 23, 2024
UC Santa Cruz researchers warn that wildfires can change the chemistry of nearby streams that people and wildlife depend on for drinking water. But they found that the baseline water-chemistry data needed to detect such changes aren’t always available.
Two UC Santa Cruz scientists named 2024 Sloan Research Fellows
February 20, 2024
Assistant Professors Roxanne Beltran and Jacqueline Kimmey have been awarded Sloan Research Fellowships, one of the most prestigious honors bestowed on early-career scientists, each receiving $75,000 to delve into new areas of research in their respective fields of marine ecology and microbiology.
Chemists use peptides from Alzheimer’s and Type II diabetes to describe five new rippled beta-sheets
February 20, 2024
Scientists from the University of California, Santa Cruz, synthesized peptides from proteins associated with Alzheimer’s and Type II Diabetes and described five new rippled beta-sheet structures.
Alumna and award-winning author empowers the next generation
February 14, 2024
Renowned author and UCSC alumna Reyna Grande, recipient of multiple literary awards, traces her extraordinary journey to becoming a bestseller. Grande, now giving back to her alma mater through the Reyna Grande Scholarship, hopes to inspire Latinx students to pursue creative projects and amplify their cultural heritage.
Student Gabriella Goss wins $500 Alumni Leadership Award from Ecology Project International
February 14, 2024
Her project draws inspiration from her Ecology Project International (EPI) course experience in the Galapagos Islands, where she witnessed the thriving wildlife in an ecosystem largely spared from human interference. This prompted her to explore the negative impact of human activities on animal habitats, specifically focusing on the millions of animals killed annually by vehicles.
Distinguished Emerita Professor Angela Davis receives the Ada Louise Huxtable Prize for her contributions to architecture
February 13, 2024
University of California, Santa Cruz Distinguished Professor Emerita Angela Davis has been honored with the Ada Louise Huxtable Prize for her influence on architectural culture.
UC Santa Cruz Physicist Joel Primack wins 2024 AAAS Abelson Prize
February 13, 2024
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has awarded the prestigious 2024 Philip Hauge Abelson Prize to Joel R. Primack, distinguished professor of physics emeritus at the University of California, Santa Cruz and a key architect of the Cold Dark Matter theory.
In Memoriam: Frank Andrews, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry
February 13, 2024
With enormous gratitude, we celebrate the life of UC Santa Cruz Professor Emeritus Frank Andrews, who died of cancer on January 31, 2024, at age 91.
Undergraduate Public Fellows Program connects humanities studies with real-world impact
February 6, 2024
The Humanities Institute's Public Fellows Program offers a mutually enriching opportunity for students to bring the humanities skills and knowledge they acquire in their university courses to diverse roles at non-profit organizations, museums, cultural institutions, and publishing venues.
Crafting smiles and setting records on the track: An alumnus’s unique dual-pursuit
January 31, 2024
Alumnus Leo Merle is juggling two major life goals: graduate from the University of Michigan with a doctorate in dentistry, and be the first American with cerebral palsy to run the 1,500 meter race in less than four minutes at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
Music Professor Russell Rodriguez wins the Américo Paredes Prize
January 30, 2024
The American Folklore Society awarded UC Santa Cruz professor Russell Rodriguez the annual Paredes prize in recognition of his work in the arts with the local community and his contributions to folklore and tradition.
Teri Greeves, Oakes '95
January 25, 2016
Craft becomes art for celebrated Kiowa artist and alumna
Lasting friendship, enduring inspiration: J. Herman Blake and Don Rothman move crowd at forum
April 30, 2012
Blake, founding provost of Oakes College, and Rothman, emeritus writing lecturer, spoke of interdisciplinary learning, empathy and the value of listening
Lasting friendship, enduring inspiration: J. Herman Blake and Don Rothman move crowd at forum
April 30, 2012
Blake, founding provost of Oakes College, and Rothman, emeritus writing lecturer, spoke of interdisciplinary learning, empathy and the value of listening