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    • About Us
    • What is Social Transformation?
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Featured News


Right Livelihood Center logo

UC Santa Cruz’s global impact grows as campus becomes next leader of Right Livelihood College network

As the Global Secretariat of the Right Livelihood College, UCSC students and faculty to work directly with some of the world’s leading advocates in social justice and sustainability on education, scientific research, and practical activities that spread and upscale their work. UCSC has been a member of the Right Livelihood College since 2013 through the Right Livelihood Center, which is supported by the Division of Social Sciences’ Institute for Social Transformation.



The opportunity to transform futures

September 15, 2023

With the generous support of donors, UCSC’s Institute for Social Transformation funded 12 students to pursue internships over the summer through the Transforming Futures program.


Five UC Santa Cruz projects win California Climate Action Grant funding

August 31, 2023

Millions of dollars in new funding will support UC Santa Cruz and partners in tackling some of California’s toughest climate change challenges through innovative research and community engagement.


Ted Malpass poses with his insulin pen in his pocket after attending a U.S. Senate hearing. Malpass said his work on the new research paper connected well with his goals of improving access to essential medicines. Photo: Courtesy of Ted Malpass

Student-supported global research compares regional relationships with Big Pharma

August 03, 2023

Recent UC Santa Cruz graduates helped to author a study on the strategies governments use to attract and manage the biopharmaceutical industry, focusing in particular on the different types of economic value and health value that these efforts provide, or fail to provide, to citizens.


Machu Picchu, Peru. UNESCO World Heritage Site. One of the New Seven Wonders of the World

First DNA analysis of Machu Picchu residents offers insight into Inca society

July 26, 2023

DNA analysis, conducted largely at UC Santa Cruz’s Paleogenomics Lab and led by Anthropology Professor Lars Fehren-Schmitz, suggests that servants at Machu Picchu were a uniquely diverse group, and the geographic extent of ancestral origins may even challenge historical narratives about how and when the Inca Empire expanded.


Anthropology Professor Nancy Chen (left) interviews 1993 Right Livelihood Laureate Vandana Shiva (right), a counter-development activist from India, during a January 2020 public workshop on sustainable agriculture at UC Santa Cruz. Photo: Steve Kurtz

UC Santa Cruz’s global impact grows as campus becomes next leader of Right Livelihood College network

July 6, 2023

As the Global Secretariat of the Right Livelihood College, UC Santa Cruz students and faculty to work directly with some of the world’s leading advocates in social justice and sustainability on education, scientific research, and practical activities that spread and upscale their work.


“Restoring Chinook Salmon on the Klamath River to Rebuild Resilient Tribal Fisheries and Increase Food Security for Tribal Members” is one of the new CCCR implementation grants.

UCSC’s Center for Coastal Climate Resilience awards over $4.6 million to support California coastal projects

June 28, 2023

The UCSC Center for Coastal Climate Resilience has awarded over $4.6 million in funding to 23 UC Santa Cruz research groups for pilot projects and implementation projects supporting efforts to fight climate change in coastal communities across California and beyond. Funds for these grant programs came from the California State Budget Act of 2022-23.


Rob Fairlie

White House cites economist Rob Fairlie’s research on Native American entrepreneurship

June 27, 2023

The Biden-⁠Harris Administration cited research by UC Santa Cruz Economics Professor Rob Fairlie on the coronavirus pandemic’s impact for Native American-owned businesses.



UC Santa Cruz receives $10 million grant to cultivate diverse food and agriculture professionals

June 22, 2023

In a momentous stride toward fostering a sustainable and equitable future in food and agriculture, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) awarded the University of California, Santa Cruz a $10 million grant to lead a transformative five-year project entitled “From Learning to Leading: Cultivating the Next Generation of Diverse Food and Agriculture Professionals.”



Katia Obraczka appointed director of CITRIS at UC Santa Cruz

June 15, 2023

Katia Obraczka, professor of computer science and engineering, has been appointed director of the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) and the Banatao Institute at UC Santa Cruz. 


The UCSC Farm Robotics Challenge team. From left to right: row 1 Darryl Wong; row 2 Joshua Gamlen, Mauricio Chavez, and Katherine Rogacheva; row 3 Oliver Fuchs, Dejan Milutinovic.

Interdisciplinary team wins Small Farm prize in first-ever Farm Robotics Challenge

June 15, 2023

An interdisciplinary team of students and researchers created an autonomous weeder which was recently recognized with the Small Farm prize at the inaugural Farm Robotics Challenge.


Professor David Brundage

A career of educating

June 8, 2023

After 38 years of interdisciplinary teaching at UCSC, Professor David Brundage is retiring.


Serena Campbell

A network for the future

June 7, 2023

UCSC Student Serena Campbell’s senior thesis leads to a comprehensive network between critical environmental researchers.


Amanda Safi, center, receives the Gabriel Zimmerman Memorial Scholarship from Acting Dean Heather Bullock (right) and Politics Professor Daniel Wirls (left).

Annual awards recognize outstanding students in the Social Sciences Division

June 6, 2023

The Division of Social Sciences’ annual Student Awards Luncheon was held on June 2 at College Nine’s Namaste Lounge.


Innovation Impact Awards

UC Santa Cruz announces recipients of Chancellor’s Innovation Impact Awards

June 2, 2023

The Chancellor’s Innovation Impact Awards celebrate the university’s talented faculty, researchers, staff, students, and community partners for their outstanding contributions to innovation and creativity.


Patricia Lazicki preparing organic amendments for a field trial on nitrogen mineralization.

Crucial organic farming issue addressed by UC workshops, collaborations

May 31, 2023

UC Santa Cruz-based organic production specialist Joji Muramoto collaborated on a UC Cooperative Extension workshop series for organic vegetable and fruit growers on how to manage nitrogen.


Professor Judit Moschkovich

Judit Moschkovich joins two national leadership programs for mathematics education

May 31, 2023

Moschkovich is now a member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s U.S. National Commission on Mathematics Instruction and a co chair of the National Academy of Education’s Equity in Math Education Research Grants (EMERG) Program.


Building Belonging Student Showcase on May 17, 2023, at Merrill Cultural Center. (Photo by Nick Gonzales/UC Santa Cruz)

Building Belonging Student Showcase 2023

May 2023

The Building Belonging program is designed to increase engagement and build a greater sense of belonging for under-represented students through faculty mentored service-learning and research projects. This showcase provides Building Belonging Fellows an opportunity to share their research with the community.


Lyou at the California Clean Air kickoff press conference

Joseph K. Lyou: Environmental justice for all

May 2023

President and CEO of Coalition for Clean Air Joe Lyou (M.S. ’86; Ph.D. ’90, psychology) began his decades-long fight for environmental protection and civil rights during his student years at UCSC.


Langan with Smith senior fellow Cheryl Perazzo, who introduced Langan to the Smith Society, in 2006.

Supporting others and giving back

May 2023

Colleen Langan (Porter ’06, anthropology) overcame much personal hardship to attend UCSC. Now as the vice president of treasury at JPMorgan Chase & Co., Langan gives back to the Smith Society, which supported her during her student years.


Elizabeth Kolbert addresses the crowd at the Quarry Amphitheater.

Pulitzer Prize-winning climate journalist Elizabeth Kolbert warns of the complications, perils, and potentials of environmental interventions at Deep Read talk on campus

May 23, 2023

In her on on-stage discussion with New York Times columnist, podcaster and UCSC alumna Ezra Klein, Elizabeth Kolbert spoke about the efforts to roll back the effects of the climate crisis.


Student picks up groceries at the Redwood Free Market.

Advancing Student Food Security

May 19, 2023

The university’s multi-pronged approach—including field-to-plate food security, expanded access and food pantry resources, holistic CalFresh support, student-centered basic needs research and assessment, and Slug Support program—works to ensure a safety net for UCSC students.


Blum Center Associate Director Eva Bertram (middle) and Blum Center students gather in Live Oak to volunteer at a Habitat for Humanity build site.

Empowering communities through partnership

May 17, 2023

In partnership with Habitat for Humanity Monterey Bay, UC Santa Cruz’s Blum Center is working to compile data and stories on the impact of affordable housing in Santa Cruz.


Politics and Legal Studies Professor Mark Fathi Massoud

Mark Fathi Massoud awarded Berlin Prize

May 16, 2023

Massoud’s Berlin Prize fellowship will allow him to focus on research about perceptions and experiences of shari‘a in the United States.


From left to right: Benjamín Schultz-Figueroa, Jake Kendall, Jennifer Bevan

Excellence in Action: Celebrating UCSC’s 2023 Distinguished Graduate Alumni Award Recipients

May 16, 2023

Now in its seventh year, the Distinguished Graduate Alumni Award welcomes its 2023 cohort.


By strengthening connections between rural and urban areas, the Regional Food Business Centers will drive economic opportunities across the region, creating a more diversified and resilient food system.

Center for Agroecology will support new USDA Regional Food Business Center

May 4, 2023

The University of California, Santa Cruz will support the establishment of a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Regional Food Business Center to support resilient food systems.


Rebecca London, associate professor of sociology, is the project lead at UC Santa Cruz.

UC Santa Cruz and United Way invest in youth perspective in researching mental health throughout local communities

May 2, 2023

Beginning in early 2021, UC Santa Cruz partnered with the United Way of Santa Cruz County’s Youth Action Network, seeking to support youth empowerment and leadership. As part of that vital work, the partners were recognized as the United Way Partner of the Year.


Environmental Studies Professor Sikina Jinnah.

UCSC environmental governance expert named to NASEM committee addressing methane gas emissions

May 1, 2023

Environmental Studies Professor Sikina Jinnah has been appointed as a member of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Committee for Atmospheric Methane Removal to assess viable technological options for reducing a powerful greenhouse gas.


Rockefeller Fellow, Peabody Award winner, Emmy-nominated film producer, writer, director, community organizer, and social justice activist Peter Bratt is UC Santa Cruz’s 2023 Social Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award recipient.

Peter Bratt announced as 2023 Social Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award recipient

April 24, 2023

Rockefeller Fellow, Peabody Award winner, Emmy-nominated film producer, writer, director, community organizer, and social justice activist Peter Bratt is UC Santa Cruz’s 2023 Social Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award recipient.


Associate Professor of Anthropology Vicky Oelze sorts ashed plant samples in preparation for strontium separation in the clean labs at UCSC's W. M. Keck Isotope Laboratory.

New stable isotope map of Angola helps archaeologists trace individual life histories across the African Diaspora

April 21, 2023

UCSC researchers’ methods could provide significantly more detail and certainty in identifying first-generation enslaved individuals in the Americas and tracing back their origins within Africa than was previously possible through strontium isotope analysis work.


Meleia Simon-Reynolds, WIITH Digital Archive Co-Director, with Anastacio Asuncion, WIITH Digital Archive contributor, at Special Collections in McHenry Library.

National Endowment for the Humanities honors Watsonville Is In The Heart with a prestigious $75,000 project grant

April 18, 2023

The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded a prestigious $75,000 Public Humanities Projects: Exhibitions Planning grant to Watsonville Is In The Heart (WIITH), a community-driven public history initiative to preserve and uplift stories of Filipino migration and labor in the city of Watsonville and the greater Pajaro Valley. 


Associate Professor Rebecca London testified in support of SB 291.

Rebecca London testifies in support of bill that would guarantee recess for California students

April 14, 2023

Associate Professor of Sociology Rebecca London testified before the California State Senate Education Committee on April 12 in support of SB 291, which would guarantee at least 30 minutes of recess per day for California students in kindergarten through eighth grade.



Food system researcher Julie Guthman wins distinguished career award

April 5, 2023

Professor of sociology and community studies Julie Guthman was recently recognized with the Distinguished Career Award by the Cultural and Political Ecology speciality group of the American Association of Geographers (AAG).  



Challenging the costs

April 5, 2023

As a first-generation and low-income student, Marisol Ornelas knows the need for equity and accessibility in higher education—and now that vision is supported by the 2022 Valerie Fuette Scholarship in Politics.



Milestone land acknowledgement event brings campus, local tribe and community members together

April 4, 2023

On Wednesday, April 12, the campus will host its first Land Acknowledgment event, recognizing the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and its place in the local history of the land and the creation of UC Santa Cruz.



White House cites Rob Fairlie’s research in annual economic report

April 4, 2023

Economics Professor Rob Fairlie’s research was cited in the 2023 Economic Report of the President, transmitted to Congress from the White House in March. 


Samantha Hamilton counsels New York Times reporters on the federal Freedom of Information Act and various states’ public records laws.

Samantha Hamilton: First Amendment advocate

March 2023

Award-winning journalist and civil rights lawyer Samantha Hamilton (Kresge ’16, economics) finds herself using skills learned at City on a Hill Press during her fellowship as a newsroom attorney for the New York Times.


Gateways team members Isabelle Aguirre, Mo Dick, Tina Bullington, and Phoenix Woodall

Raising the bars

March 2023

UC Santa Cruz’s Gateways Project provides tech-training programs in Santa Cruz jails and San Quentin State Prison, supporting incarcerated voices and aiming to reduce recidivism


Michael W. Beck, marine sciences professor, AXA Chairholder in Coastal Resilience, and director of the Center for Coastal Climate Resilience

Waves of resilience

March 2023

UCSC’s emerging Center for Coastal Climate Resilience is applying scientific research to develop policy around climate change and coastal sustainability, while incorporating the campus’s ideals of social justice and collaboration.



Grad student Huazhi Ge wins postdoctoral fellowship for planetary science research

March 30, 2023

Huazhi Ge, a doctoral candidate in planetary science at UC Santa Cruz, has won a prestigious 51 Pegasi b Fellowship from the Heising-Simons Foundation to support his postdoctoral research to be conducted at the California Institute of Technology.



New program advises UCSC Ph.D. students on their path to entrepreneurship and venture capital

March 30, 2023

Many student-led innovations never make it out of the lab. A new program at UC Santa Cruz aims to change that by mentoring Ph.D. students in the life sciences on alternative career pathways outside academia: entrepreneurship and venture capital.   



Spring 2023 Emeriti Lecture: Peace Teachers In and From Soledad Prison

March 28, 2023

Professor Emeritus John Brown Childs “Transcommunal Peacemaking and Cooperation” class has become a necessary part of dozens of incarcerated men’s rehabilitation at Soledad Prison.


puma

Humans and housing density are the leading cause of death for local pumas

March 27, 2023

Anna Nisi, a former graduate researcher for the Santa Cruz Puma Project, examined 11 years of research regarding the movement, mortality, and reproductive data for 67 pumas in the Santa Cruz mountains for a paper that recently appeared in Ecological Applications.


Juan Pedroza

Pedroza received Russell Sage Foundation Pipeline Grant

March 25, 2023

The Foundation, in partnership with the Economic Mobility and Opportunity program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, seeks to increase innovative research advancements on economic mobility and access to opportunity nationally.


Pallab Sarker

Grant funds Sarker’s aquaculture sustainability research

March 25, 2023

Sarker received a foundation grant fund from the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation, amounting to $170,947 over three years to strengthen his lab’s ecological aquaculture work. 


UC Santa Cruz students doing research on regional labor and employment issues as part of the new Center for Labor and Community. (Photo credit: Steve McKay)

Center for Labor and Community opens on UC Santa Cruz campus

March 21, 2023

The Center for Labor and Community will build upon previous efforts on campus dedicated to studying low-wage work, the affordable housing crisis, and the challenges of the rapidly-changing economy. 


Symposium participants included (left to right) Jeff King and Stephen Hill from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and UCSC’s Michael Beck and Megan Kelso.

Scientists, policy leaders, and insurance experts meet to address climate risks

March 21, 2023

Coastal scientists, insurance industry experts, and representatives of state and federal agencies came together at the meeting to address challenges and opportunities for building coastal resilience to climate change.


Elise Duffau

Cultivating equitable communications

March 20, 2023

Duffau was awarded the Frederico and Rena Perlino Memorial Scholarship in 2022 for her research centered around artificial agents and human communication. 


fahime fe associate professor of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies (CRES), teaching "CRES 113 Music + Performance," a newly created course in Black Studies. Last July, ife and Sophia Azeb, assistant professor of CRES, started at UCSC. Both are designated faculty members for the Black Studies program. Photos by Carolyn Lagattuta.

Black Studies minor builds momentum 

March 17, 2023

The Black Studies minor at the University of California, Santa Cruz has grown in size and influence at a time when the United States continues to grapple with its long history of racism.


STEM Conference

Local educators shared expertise at the first STEM Education Central Coast Conference

March 14, 2023

The STEM Education Central Coast Conference, which was organized by California State University Monterey Bay in collaboration with UC Santa Cruz, was designed by and for local educators in science, technology, engineering and math. The goal was to share expertise. 


Nicole Britton

Advocating for human rights

March 13, 2023

With the help of the Weiss Family Scholarship, Nicole Britton is entering her third year with the Human Rights Investigation Lab, and is currently working on a thesis looking into human rights abuse cases with a focus on the Americas. 


Squid

Where is your squid coming from? Most likely unregulated waters, according to a new international study

March 10, 2023

Scientists and policymakers have voiced growing concerns about the decline of global squid stocks, but little has been done to date to target squid fishing activities that are expanding into unregulated spaces, according to a new international study.


Distinguished Professor Emerita Angela Y. Davis

Imagining Freedom: Dr. Angela Davis and Dr. Gina Dent Participate in Panel Highlighting UCSC’s Visualizing Abolition Curriculum

March 9, 2023

On the recent panel “Imagining Freedom,” presented by the Mellon Foundation, UC Santa Cruz Associate Professor Dr. Gina Dent and Distinguished Professor Emerita Angela Y. Davis participated in a live streamed conversation on mass incarceration, the toll it takes on society, and ways the arts and humanities drive opportunities for civic, scholarly, and creative engagement across the criminal-legal system.


Lyla June

Indigenous land management focus of this year’s Conversations on Climate Justice

March 7, 2023

Johnston, who is known in the music world as Lyla June, is an Indigenous musician, scholar, and community organizer of Diné (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne), and European lineages. The focus of her upcoming discussion, “Architects of Abundance: Indigenous Regenerative Food Systems and the Excavation of Hidden History,” is centered on the findings from Johnston’s Ph.D. dissertation exploring how Indigenous Americans gardened the land on bio-regional scales to produce abundant food systems.


All In Highly Established Action Plan Seal

UCSC wins prestigious Highly Established Action Plan Seal for voter engagement

March 7, 2023

UC Santa Cruz has become one of only three University of California campuses awarded a Highly Established Action Plan Seal as part of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge (ALL IN) for its voter engagement efforts. This seal is awarded to campuses that have worked to increase nonpartisan democratic engagement and graduate engaged voters by building a strong nonpartisan action plan as part of the 2022 election cycle.


Guneet Hora

Continuing an Academic Legacy

March 6, 2023

By pursuing an education in Intensive Psychology and Legal Studies, Guneet Hora aims to raise the mental health of marginalized communities in the face of the impact left by the immigration and justice systems.



New leaf wetness sensor will enable better plant disease forecasting and management

March 2, 2023

Commercial leaf wetness sensors exist, but are not able to provide an estimate that is specific to any particular type of plant, and so are often inaccurate. But through a collaborative effort, Professor Marco Rolandi, Professor Gregory Gilbert, and former graduate student Brian Nguyen have found a solution to this problem.


Yana Garcia (Stevenson ’08, politics)

Leading and learning to save the world

February 21, 2023

Yana Garcia’s extensive career in policy and environmentalism began in the classrooms of UCSC. As Garcia leads CalEPA in tackling the climate crisis, she credits her UCSC education in assessing the big-picture priorities of droughts, flooding, and water management, and understanding how these key issues intersect in both their causes and impacts.


Poster for Resettlement: Chicago Story

First In-Person Night at the Museum Since Pandemic Returns With “Resettlement: Chicago Story”

February 16, 2023

The Humanities Institute’s Signature Event, UCSC Night at the Museum, is returning to the MAH for a screening and panel conversation, featuring “Resettlement: Chicago Story,” a short fictional film and accompanying website about people of Japanese ancestry remaking their lives in the Midwest following their wrongful incarceration during World War II.



UCSC professor building collaborations to shape future minds through ethnic studies

February 15, 2023

Many believe we are at a pivotal moment in this country regarding anti-racist reforms, police abolition, and restorative justice. And according to Rekia Jibrin, an assistant professor in critical studies of education within UC Santa Cruz’s Education Department, engaging local communities is vital to bringing about transformative change.


Elena Losada

Pursuing social justice

February 13, 2023

Elena Losada was awarded the Jessica Roy Memorial Award in 2022. The award is intended to provide its winners with stipends to support fieldwork, travel, and research. 



Legal Studies Program, Santa Cruz County Public Defender’s Office partner for National Public Defense Summit

February 9, 2023

Interested in learning about the importance of public defense and criminal law? The summit, titled Strengthening the Sixth in Santa Cruz: Building Cases and Community Through Holistic Defense, will feature a variety of nationally-recognized public defenders, including attorneys, social workers, and investigators, who are doing cutting-edge work in public defense, focusing on early representation, vertical representation, holistic representation, and participatory defense. 


Gabriel Ephraim Kaplan Wall (Porter ’23, anthropology and history of art and visual culture)

Pursuing cultural anthropology

February 6, 2023

Gabriel Ephraim Kaplan Wall was awarded the Jeremy Demian Marx Award for Cultural Anthropology in 2022. The endowment provides funding for an annual award for an outstanding undergraduate paper in cultural anthropology.


Innovation Catalyst Grants will support UC Santa Cruz researchers with early-stage technology innovations.

Funding opportunity to develop university innovations

February 3, 2023

The Innovation & Business Engagement Hub is now accepting applications for its new Innovation Catalyst Grant; a proof-of-concept program focused on providing targeted gap funding, training, mentorship, and support to UC Santa Cruz researchers in order to help de-risk and/or validate the implementation and adoption potential of early-stage technology innovations.


Dard Neuman is an Associate Professor of Music and Hasan Endowed Chair in Classical Indian Music.

UCSC receives NEH awards that will further research in anthropology and musicology

February 3, 2023

The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded over $5.6 billion toward humanities projects across the United States since its inception in 1965 — and this year, Santa Cruz-based educators joins this historic group of awardees.


Professor of Psychology Jean Fox Tree

Three UCSC faculty named 2022 AAAS fellows

January 31, 2023

Professor of Psychology Jean Fox Tree, Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and Engineering Lise Getoor, and Dean of the Baskin School of Engineering (BE) and Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and Engineering Alexander Wolf received the distinction of 2022 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).


Panelists discussing community-engaged scholarship at the All-In Conference in October 2022.

University launches new center, Campus + Community, to facilitate engaged scholarship

January 31, 2023

Campus + Community (C + C) builds on previous efforts by the university to build meaningful local partnerships, such as the longstanding work of the Community Studies program, Santa Cruz Commons, and the UCSC Community Engagement Collaborative.


Sanya Cowal

Sanya Cowal: Resilience and Agency

January 30, 2023

Cowal was awarded the Jessica Roy Memorial Award in 2022. Cowal says the scholarship has contributed to a research project investigating the role of gender-based differences in coffee producer adaptive management through the lens of female producer agency.


Created by the Visualizing Wildfire Impact team, this image was generated using artificial intelligence techniques for the purpose of testing their immersive virtual reality visualization.

Five student teams embark on tech for social good projects

January 23, 2023

Teams of at least two undergraduate, graduate, and/or postdoctoral students were tasked with addressing domestic and global poverty, sustainability, government responsiveness and civic engagement, or enhancing education. Five student projects were chosen for funding this year and will show their work at the Tech for Social Good Showcase event this June. 


Erika Zavaleta (Photo by Carolyn Lagattuta)

UCSC leads new multicampus initiatives on climate change and bilingualism

January 23, 2023

UC Santa Cruz faculty are leading two new collaborative programs funded by grants from UC’s Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives (MRPI) program. Ecologist Erika Zavaleta leads an effort focused on biodiversity conservation, and linguist Mark Amengual leads an initiative to study Spanish-English bilingualism in California.


Galdamez worked as the Chief Operating Officer for a nonprofit organization based out of Los Angeles for many years, serving individuals with disabilities.

Alumni Councilor Mario Galdamez

January 19, 2023

Mario Galdamez (Merrill ’06, politics and Latin American & Latino Studies) has joined the UCSC Alumni Council for his second year and has made it his personal goal to increase the number of students that receive the alumni association scholarship each year.


Institute of Art and Science (IAS)

UC Santa Cruz’s Institute of the Arts and Sciences to open new, off campus galleries

January 17, 2023

The state-of-the-art facility will showcase the Institute of the Arts and Sciences’ groundbreaking exhibitions and programs, highlighting the work of major national and international artists working to address the most pressing issues of our day at the intersection of the arts and social justice


Students on a Bench

Leading the Change survey launching today

January 17, 2023

The strategic plan is our opportunity to chart a path for progress on our campus goals of advancing student success, amplifying our research profile, fostering an inclusive campus climate, and becoming more sustainable and resilient. The strategic planning process will include establishing metrics by which success will be measured over the next decade.


Zahirah Suhaimi

Zahirah Suhaimi: Exploring ecological states

January 16, 2023

Working alongside marine scientists and coastal communities, Suhaimi explores how local knowledge and experience of changes to seagrass meadows, microbial ecologies, mangrove forests, and engineered hydrologies can enrich academic understanding of drastic changes in ecological states.


Photo credit: AlloSphere Research Team

Sensorium, a new project of UC Santa Cruz’s Center for the Study of the Force Majeure, to be an unprecedented experience of the world ocean

January 12, 2023

A new project in development by UC Santa Cruz’s Center for the Study of the Force Majeure will give the public a transformative opportunity to interact with the world’s ocean ecosystem in a fully immersive work of environmental art entitled Sensorium. 


Students on a bridge

Alumni Weekend re-envisioned

January 12, 2023

A decades-long tradition, Alumni Weekend was created to welcome alumni back to UC Santa Cruz to reconnect with peers, Santa Cruz, and the campus community. In April, UCSC will host Alumni Reunion Weekend celebrating alumni who graduated 50+ years ago. Then, in August, the University will offer “Return to the Redwoods,” a first-of-its-kind residential campus experience where alumni will be able to stay overnight in the residence halls.


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Institute for Social Transformation
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