News

Reimagining our economy for the benefit of all
October 13, 2021

Faculty members at UC Santa Cruz and the University of Southern California released a new book that offers a road map and conceptual framework for equity-driven economic reform in the United States.

Mellon Foundation award to support UC Santa Cruz’s ‘Visualizing Abolition’ initiative
October 05, 2021

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded a $1,977,000 grant to support ‘Visualizing Abolition,’ the nation’s most ambitious and sustained art and prison abolition initiative.

Rising together for justice and racial equity
October 01, 2021

Five influential UCSC alumni join Rise Together, a socially conscious local philanthropic movement 

Professor’s TED talk on body ideals warns against ‘conflation of appearance with health’
October 01, 2021

UC Santa Cruz professor and medical anthropologist Nancy Chen gave a popular TED Salon talk that has been viewed more than 780,000 times online.

Graduate student studying New Orleans’ Latin American connections
September 30, 2021

Rafael Delgadillo, a UC Santa Cruz doctoral student in Latin American and Latino Studies, is looking at how New Orleans’ colonial foundations set a tone for its distinctiveness within the United States.

Environmental governance expert Sikina Jinnah appointed to Harvard University’s SCoPEx advisory committee
September 29, 2021

Jinnah was appointed to an independent advisory committee that will make governance recommendations for a proposed experiment intended build understanding of the potential efficacy and risks of stratospheric aerosols relevant to solar geoengineering.

Mellon Foundation grant will support national initiative in Latinx studies
September 24, 2021

Through a three-year, $5 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, UC Santa Cruz will be part of a national initiative in Latinx studies called “Crossing Latinidades: Emerging Scholars and New Comparative Directions.”

The writing on the wall: exploring the cultural value of graffiti and street art
September 14, 2021

Doctoral candidate’s research interprets graffiti’s deeper meaning among Latinx and Black urban subcultures in Los Angeles.

Pairing research excellence and status as a Hispanic-Serving Institution, UC Santa Cruz launching new programs advance educational equity
September 14, 2021

Committed to creating educational equity that will help lead to real, transformative change, UC Santa Cruz will launch an array of new programs to support the success of Latinx, low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented students and prepare them for rewarding careers once they graduate.

UCSC wins funding for new programs to support underrepresented doctoral students
September 14, 2021

Grants from the UC Hispanic Serving Institutions Doctoral Diversity Initiative will prepare students for faculty careers in biomedical sciences and Latin American and Latino Studies.

Breaking barriers, helping others up
September 13, 2021

UC Santa Cruz chemistry associate professor Laura Sanchez reflects on what helped her succeed and how she has tried to help others do the same.

UCSC exceeds fundraising goals in effort to bring Afghan visiting scholars to campus
September 07, 2021

A fundraising campaign that kicked off Aug. 27 raised almost $250,000 as part of ongoing efforts to bring Afghan thought leaders and their families to safety on the UC Santa Cruz campus.

Psychologist shares tips for studying smarter this school year
September 02, 2021

Assistant Professor of Psychology Hannah Hausman and colleagues translated findings from more than 100 research papers to offer students and teachers a guiding framework and practical tips for making the most of study time.

Drone technology featured in 2021 CITRIS Campus Seed Funding Awards
August 24, 2021

CITRIS and the Banatao Institute at UC Santa Cruz have selected three winning projects for the 2021 CITRIS Campus Seed Funding program.

Humanities Institute and Bookshop Santa Cruz offer evening with bestselling author Sandra Cisneros
August 24, 2021

UCSC’s Humanities Institute is co-sponsoring a special online event with Bookshop Santa Cruz, featuring Sandra Cisneros, in conversation with Emmy Award-winning journalist Rubén Martínez, to celebrate her new book, “Martita, I Remember You / Martita, te recuerdo.”

Experts weigh in on the future of drought management
August 23, 2021

UC Santa Cruz experts share insights on how technological innovations and long-term policy vision could help protect water supply.

DOE grant funds development of new imaging technology to study roots and soil
August 18, 2021

A multidisciplinary collaboration combines expertise in medical imaging technology and the ecology of plant roots to address questions with global implications.

The legacy is in the soil
August 18, 2021

Acclaimed chef/farmer and CASFS apprenticeship graduate Matthew Raiford will share his heritage-based approach to food and farming during an August 25 event on campus.

Two new grants support faculty diversity and retention
August 10, 2021

UC Santa Cruz was awarded grants from the University of California to support two collaborative multi-campus projects for advancing faculty diversity.

Fostering anti-racism in ecology, evolution, and conservation biology
August 09, 2021

A UCSC team has assembled a toolkit of resources for academic departments to use in addressing issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Doctoral candidate’s award-winning research documents experiences of Latina girls growing up in rural California
August 09, 2021

UC Santa Cruz graduate student Roxanna Villalobos recently won a national dissertation scholarship award from Sociologists for Women in Society that will support her research with Latina girls in rural California.

Switzer Fellowship will help graduate student engage communities in climate planning
August 02, 2021

Coastal Science and Policy Program master’s student Diana Fu won a Switzer Foundation fellowship to support her work advancing environmental justice through climate change adaptation.

Climate change poses threat to ‘tuna dependent’ Pacific Islands economies
July 30, 2021

Shifting distributions of key tuna species could have serious economic impacts for island nations in the Western and Central Pacific, according to a new paper coauthored by Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Katherine Seto.

Oakes Founding Provost J. Herman Blake receives lifetime achievement award
July 29, 2021

Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Founding Provost of Oakes College J. Herman Blake is being recognized by the American Sociology Association for his distinguished career spent advancing access and equity in education.

Racial and colonial histories offer insights on refugee crisis in ‘The Black Mediterranean’
July 22, 2021

Assistant Professor of Sociology and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies Camilla Hawthorne coedited a first-of-its-kind new book called “The Black Mediterranean,” which examines the African diaspora within the region.

UC Santa Cruz admits fall class that reflects excellence, diversity
July 19, 2021

UC Santa Cruz anticipates welcoming about 6,100 new Banana Slugs this fall, concluding an admissions cycle that began with record applications and has yielded a new cohort that reflects the campus commitment to excellence, equity, and opportunity.

History professor wins prize for article on post-Civil War incarceration of African American children
July 16, 2021

Associate professor of history Catherine Jones has been honored with the 2021 Richards Prize for the best article published in The Journal of the Civil War Era in 2020. The journal explores how knowledge of the Civil War era informs our understanding of 21st-century politics and society.

Statistical analysis quantifies how chemistry undergraduates benefit from graduate student diversity
July 15, 2021

A study of chemistry lab courses at UC Santa Cruz suggests that diversity among graduate student teaching assistants may be among the most essential factors in retaining underrepresented minority undergraduates in STEM courses.

‘Precarity & Belonging’ captures insights from global discussion of citizenship, migration, socioeconomic mobility
July 13, 2021

A new book from an interdisciplinary group of UC Santa Cruz scholars culminates more than five years of collaborative research and discussion that positioned the university as a convener of global thought leaders.

Library’s new Community Archiving Program to broaden scope of Regional History Project
July 06, 2021

The University Library has announced the establishment of a new Community Archiving Program that will build on the foundation of its decades-old Regional History Project.

Quantitative ecologist Kai Zhu wins NSF funding for climate change research and education
July 02, 2021

Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Kai Zhu won an NSF CAREER award to support research and education focused on the interconnections between climate change and plant phenology.

New research on aquaculture feed will test alternative ingredients to help minimize water pollution
July 02, 2021

A new grant will support UC Santa Cruz’s ecological aquaculture lab in their efforts to increase the variety and quality of low-polluting aquaculture feed options available to fish farmers.

Graduate student organizing community workshops on the queer Black experience
June 25, 2021

Mia Boykin is expanding her Black.Queer.Alive. project to include four community workshops that will explore fitness, creativity, politics and entrepreneurship.

Tracking data show how the quiet of pandemic-era lockdowns allowed pumas to venture closer to urban areas
June 23, 2021

During regional shelter-in-place orders, declining levels of human mobility emboldened local pumas to use habitats they would normally avoid out of fear of humans.

New study shows how loss of drought-sensitive species could affect health of California grasslands
June 21, 2021

At a grassland site near San Jose, scientists studied experimental research plots to determine what might happen if the plants that ecologists expect to be hit hardest by drought actually disappeared.

Work in social justice pushes recent grad toward career in medicine
June 18, 2021

Isabella Bullock realized she wanted to be a physician assistant after UC Santa Cruz courses began to reveal how socioeconomic status and race factor into one’s health.

Dialogues, collaborations, and the success of ‘slow science’
June 15, 2021

With funding from the Henry Luce Foundation, the new Southeast Asian Coastal Interactions Initiative takes a methodical approach to worldwide social and environmental challenges

Research partnership will highlight STEM learning in local community garden
June 09, 2021

A grant from the Spencer Foundation will help UC Santa Cruz researchers document the many types of STEM learning taking place in a Latinx immigrant-led community garden in Watsonville.

Doctoral student wins Ford Foundation fellowship for work on gender, race, and policing
June 09, 2021

Uriel Serrano recently won a Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship to support his research on how gender ideologies are formed in relation to carceral violence.

Social Sciences Division celebrates outstanding students
June 02, 2021

The Social Sciences Division is recognizing 21 students for excellence in scholarship and research.

Professor Karen Holl wins MacArthur Foundation endowed chair to support work on natural climate solutions
May 26, 2021

Environmental Studies Professor Karen Holl has been awarded the MacArthur Foundation Chair at UC Santa Cruz for her work to increase the effectiveness of forest restoration efforts in combating climate change.

Somalia’s fight for God-given rights
May 26, 2021

The latest book from Politics and Legal Studies Professor Mark Fathi Massoud challenges Western notions of Islam and secular law-making by revealing how Somali Muslims have embraced Sharia as a force for progress and liberation.

Visualizing global representation for Indigenous nations
May 26, 2021

A new book by Professor of Sociology and Legal Studies Hiroshi Fukurai shows how Indigenous “original nations” around the world are fighting for sovereignty and the ecological preservation of their ancestral homelands.

Growing heritage and healing through traditional Asian vegetables
May 25, 2021

Faculty, staff, and alumni are drawing upon and strengthening their cultural heritage and connection to Asian foodways to cultivate traditional vegetables.

UC collaboration launches first online course in the Punjabi language
May 23, 2021

The first online Punjabi language course for University of California students that launched earlier this year is a collaboration of several UC campuses, centered on UC Santa Cruz and UC Davis.

Study shows which North American mammals live most successfully alongside people
May 20, 2021

Researchers analyzed camera trap data from across the continent to better understand how particular species of mammals respond to different types of human disturbance.

UC Santa Cruz names Celine Parreñas Shimizu new dean of Arts Division
May 19, 2021

UC Santa Cruz has appointed award-winning filmmaker and film scholar Celine Parreñas Shimizu as dean of the Arts Division, effective July 1.

Climate change sends tropical species racing to higher elevations while temperate counterparts lag behind
May 17, 2021

A new paper shows that, in mountain habitats, species’ responses to rising temperatures vary by latitude, but researchers fear there may be no clear winners among these strategies.

Student-led mentorship program offers holistic support
May 14, 2021

The Kuya-Ate Mentorship Program is a student-initiated retention project targeted to, but not limited to, Pilipino/x students at UC Santa Cruz. In addition to providing mentorship opportunities, KAMP also offers academic and social and cultural support.

Alumna Reyna Grande wins Latino Spirit Award for Achievement in Literature & Advocacy
May 12, 2021

UC Santa Cruz alumna Reyna Grande (Kresge ’99, B.A. creative writing, film & video) has received a 2021 Latino Spirit Award from the California Latino Legislative Caucus.

Virtual reality warps your sense of time
May 12, 2021

Psychology research demonstrates the unique “time compression” effect of virtual reality.

Creating a soundtrack and adding a heartbeat to the struggle for prison abolition
May 06, 2021

UCSC’s Institute of the Arts and Sciences will present ‘Music for Abolition’–an artist panel featuring three-time Grammy-award winning musician Terri Lyne Carrington with a dozen prominent guest musicians.

Strauss Foundation award recognizes student’s work with families affected by incarceration
May 04, 2021

Legal studies undergraduate Matt Sioson recently won $15,000 in funding from the Donald A. Strauss Public Service Scholarship Foundation.

Preserving the legacy of Watsonville’s first Filipino immigrants
May 04, 2021

In partnership with the university, the community-led Tobera Project will develop an oral history archive and digital exhibition to be housed at McHenry Library.

Fellowship win supports doctoral candidate’s research on national security policy
April 29, 2021

Cesar Estrella, a Ph.D. candidate in Latin American and Latino studies, won an American Council of Learned Societies fellowship to support his study of the ideologies that drive U.S. national security policy.

UC Santa Cruz named No. 3 public university for ‘making an impact’
April 27, 2021

Underscoring a reputation of pushing for positive change, UC Santa Cruz has been named the No. 3 public university in the nation for students focused on making an impact on the world in the Princeton Review’s latest college rankings.

Faculty experts share pandemic-era lessons for the future of K-12 education
April 27, 2021

UC Santa Cruz researchers who have studied the pandemic’s impact on K-12 education share lessons they hope will be remembered for the future.

Three UCSC professors elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
April 23, 2021

Angela Davis, distinguished professor emerita of history of consciousness and feminist studies; James Estes, professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology; and Barbara Rogoff, distinguished professor of psychology, are among the newly elected fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 

New UC Center for Climate Justice launches
April 20, 2021

The University of California is launching a new center just in time for Earth Day: the Center for Climate Justice. Led by management of complex systems professor and UC Presidential Chair Tracey Osborne, the Center for Climate Justice is a system-wide initiative to address climate change as a social justice and equity issue.

Enabling women and girls to achieve their potential
April 20, 2021

Alumna Ann Starrs, director of family planning at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, came to reproductive health work from a steadfast commitment—strengthened by her time at UC Santa Cruz—to feminism, gender equality, and women’s empowerment.

Alumna Terri McCullough, chief of staff to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, will make a virtual campus visit for Alumni Week
April 16, 2021

This year’s Alumni Week will feature a virtual fireside chat with Terri McCullough, an Oakes ’90 politics alumna who is now chief of staff to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Study of U.S. tuna fisheries explores nexus of climate change, sustainable seafood
April 13, 2021

A new study by researchers at UC Santa Cruz and NOAA examines traditional aspects of seafood sustainability alongside greenhouse gas emissions to better understand the carbon footprint of U.S. tuna fisheries.

UCSC’s Van Williams discusses diversity in IT at Stanford event
April 12, 2021

Van Williams was the guest speaker for the virtual event sponsored by Stanford’s People of Color in Technology (POC-IT) and moderated by Stanford Chief Information Officer Steve Gallagher. 

Sharing insights from more than six decades of social psychology research
April 12, 2021

New book by Professor Emeritus Thomas Pettigrew distills themes across his storied career

Inaugural Hayden White lecture to explore the afterlife of slavery with author Saidiya Hartman
April 09, 2021

Award-winning literary scholar and cultural historian Saidiya Hartman will be the featured guest at the inaugural Hayden V. White Distinguished Annual Lecture, a virtual event that takes place on April 19.

UC Santa Cruz and other higher education institutions urge strong 2030 U.S. climate target
April 08, 2021

A group of colleges and universities across the United States sent a letter to the White House today calling on the Biden-Harris administration to adopt a target of at least 50% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030.

UCSC climate change conference focuses on food security issues
April 08, 2021

‘Confronting Climate Change: Food Security in a Changing World’ will be held virtually April 28-29, featuring a panel of experts and a series of short films.

UC Santa Cruz to launch new support center to advance the university’s innovation, industry engagement
April 06, 2021

UC Santa Cruz is launching a new support center to advance innovation, entrepreneurship and business engagement that will leverage the campus’s innovative spirit and be guided by its deep commitment to environmental and social justice.

Proud Slugs making a difference through public service
April 06, 2021

A Superior Court judge. The director of the public art program for Los Angeles. A defense attorney. They all believe in public service, and they all say their time at UC Santa Cruz changed their lives in permanent ways.

Erika Zavaleta honored for diversity efforts by Ecological Society of America
April 06, 2021

The Ecological Society of America (ESA) has chosen Erika Zavaleta, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz, to receive its 2021 Commitment to Human Diversity in Ecology Award.

Research shows physical appearance affects career success in economics
April 06, 2021

Economics Professor and Center for Analytical Finance Co-Director Galina Hale is uncovering how appearance affects career success for economists.

Event to focus on the case for Black reparations
April 02, 2021

“Reparations for Black Americans: The Road to Racial Equality in California and Beyond,” hosted on April 15 by the Institute for Social Transformation, will feature a discussion with leading experts and advocates of reparations.

UCSC awarded three 2021 VOICE grants from UC National Center for Free Speech
April 01, 2021

UC Santa Cruz has received three awards from the UC National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement’s Valuing Open and Inclusive Conversation and Engagement (VOICE) Grant Program.

UC Santa Cruz programs ranked in ‘Best Graduate Schools’ survey
March 30, 2021

The latest survey by U.S. News and World Report released rankings for graduate schools across the country, and UC Santa Cruz programs were evaluated in engineering, economics, history, sociology, education, and political science.

Marking fifth year, Center for Innovations in Teaching and Learning plays vital role in campus mission
March 30, 2021

The center will celebrate its fifth anniversary April 14 with a convocation featuring Estela Bensimon, professor of higher education at the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education and director of the Center for Urban Education, which she founded in 1999.

Teens describe their gender and sexuality in diverse new ways, but some are being left behind
March 29, 2021

Psychology Professor Phil Hammack’s latest research shows how regional differences and other social factors can either hinder or support expression of diversity in sexual and gender identity among teens and young adults.

UCSC ecologist Erika Zavaleta appointed to California Fish and Game Commission
March 25, 2021

Governor Gavin Newsom has appointed Erika Zavaleta, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz, to the California Fish and Game Commission.

UC Santa Cruz faculty recognized for excellence in ecology
March 25, 2021

The Ecological Society of America announced its 2021 Fellow and Early Career Fellow awards, and UC Santa Cruz’s faculty were the most decorated of any university on this year’s list.

Staff member guides students on path to higher education
March 25, 2021

Osiris Ortiz has spent nearly two decades helping the regions high school students pursue four-year degrees through her work at the Educational Partnership Center.

Announcing the 2021 UC Santa Cruz SSRC-DPD Fellows
March 24, 2021

Twelve students received the 2021 UCSC Social Science Research Council-Dissertation Proposal Development program award. Recipients come from a wide-range of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Arts Division departments including Environmental Studies, History, History of Consciousness, Politics, Latin American and Latino Studies, Film and Digital Media, and History of Art and Visual Culture. The program is sponsored by The Humanities Institute, the Division of Graduate Studies, the Social Sciences Division, and the Arts Division to support graduate students through innovative and interdisciplinary approaches to research proposal training.

Three decades of connections, encouragement, and programs
March 24, 2021

UCSC’s African American Resource and Cultural Center, this year celebrating its 30th anniversary, has created meaningful change for students of color and become a key part of the university community.

New analysis shows potential for ‘solar canals’ in California
March 18, 2021

UC Santa Cruz researchers and their partners published a new study that suggests covering California’s water delivery canals with solar panels could be an economically viable means of advancing renewable energy and water conservation.

UCSC professor contributes to new study showing how parts of the US will ‘tropicalize’ as climate changes
March 18, 2021

Environmental Studies Professor Michael Loik is a coauthor on a new paper describing how warming winters are allowing some tropical plants and animals to replace temperate communities in southern portions of the country.

UC Santa Cruz joins new consortium to ensure future of SlaveVoyages database
March 18, 2021

UC Santa Cruz has joined a newly formed consortium of institutions to ensure the preservation, stability, and future development of what has become the single most widely used online resource for anyone interested in slavery across the Atlantic world. 

Campus holds first Sexual Violence Sexual Harassment Research Symposium
March 16, 2021

UC Santa Cruz will hold its first-ever research symposium — and a first for a UC campus — highlighting research by campus scholars on issues of sexual violence and sexual harassment Friday, April 2.

Disrupting harmful food systems to prevent future pandemics
March 11, 2021

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Maywa Montenegro de Wit is exploring how lessons from the abolition movement could help agroecology combat the agro-industrial complex to prevent future pandemics.

Announcing New Undocumented Student Support Initiative
March 08, 2021

Jennifer Baszile, Interim Vice Chancellor, Division of Student Affairs and Success announces the launch of a new initiative, an 18-month campus program to enhance structural supports for undocumented students to thrive on campus and beyond, and to strengthen relationships between undocumented students, staff, and faculty at UC Santa Cruz.

Focused on student success and equity, UC Santa Cruz seeks reapproval to build more housing and child-care facilities
March 05, 2021

In an effort to provide students with more housing security amid an unrelenting housing crisis, UC Santa Cruz will seek reapproval for a project that will significantly increase the number of current students who are able to live on campus.

Diverse Voices 2021: Promoting diversity in STEM education and careers
March 03, 2021

Diverse Voices, a Baskin School of Engineering professional speaker series spotlighting industry leaders and Baskin Engineering alumni, returns April 2021 for its third season.

Girl activists are more visible than ever. Is this progress?
March 03, 2021

In the past decade, there’s been an explosion in media coverage of girl activists. Professor Jessica Taft, a leading expert in youth activism, sees opportunity in this visibility, but her research has also identified many troubling trends in how girl activists are portrayed.

UCSC leads multicampus initiative on coastal resilience and climate adaptation
March 03, 2021

A UC-funded initiative will bring together researchers at the Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, and San Diego campuses to address pressing issues for California’s coastal communities.

How to find truth in today’s partisan world
March 01, 2021

UC Santa Cruz philosophy lecturer Kyle Robertson and associate professor of philosophy Jon Ellis teach a course in Ethics Bowl—a non-confrontational alternative to the traditional competitive form of debate—in collaboration with the Prison University Project (PUP) at San Quentin prison.

Campus launches first Black studies minor
February 26, 2021

UC Santa Cruz’s Black Studies minor offers students grounding in the intellectual histories, political movements, cultural expressions, and critical theories of the Black diaspora.

Forest monitoring efforts contribute to new understanding of climate change impacts
February 25, 2021

Data collected by student interns at UC Santa Cruz’s Forest Ecology Research Plot recently contributed to a breakthrough in understanding how climate change affects forests.

Students help power campus testing program
February 23, 2021

Arcelia Gonzalez Jimenez is one of the many students supporting the health and wellbeing of the campus community by working at the COVID-19 testing sites.

LASER talk to feature research by UCSC deans of the humanities and social sciences
February 22, 2021

The event will feature research presentations by Jasmine Alinder, Dean of the Humanities (“Representing Japanese American Incarceration”), and Katharyne Mitchell, Dean of the Social Sciences (“Sanctuary Space and Insurgent Memory”).

Computer scientist Yang Liu wins $1M grant for research on fairness in AI
February 18, 2021

Liu’s research aims to achieve more equitable outcomes from decision-making tools based on automated machine-learning algorithms.

Hope, mutual aid, and abolition
February 16, 2021

Activist and organizer Mariame Kaba offers a blueprint for mutually supportive communities during the 37th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Convocation

Listening and bringing change
February 11, 2021

Aaron Jones, interim Educational Opportunity Programs director, founded the orientation program Black Academy, which has dramatically increased African Black Caribbean students’ retention rate at UCSC.

Genentech Foundation grants support UCSC STEM diversity programs
February 10, 2021

Three academic support and mentoring programs at UC Santa Cruz have received funding from Genentech’s 2020 Diverse Future of STEM Fund.

Troupe dynamic
February 05, 2021

UC Santa Cruz’s African American Theater Arts Troupe, which is celebrating its 30-year anniversary, has not only staged plays but also taken up works that deal with issues of race, injustice, and discrimination; brought its performances into the community; and awarded more than $100,000 in scholarships.

Rob Fairlie testifies before Congress on inequality in pandemic economic impacts
February 04, 2021

Rob Fairlie testified before the House Committee on Small Business to share his latest research on the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, including the disproportionate hardships faced by minority-owned businesses.

Meteoric success
February 02, 2021

Planetary scientist Myriam Telus, a NASA Planetary Science Early Career Award winner, reflects on her journey to UC Santa Cruz to study meteorites: Discovering her passion, seeking out mentors, and finding inspiration in the courage of civil rights movement leaders.

Anthropologist Savannah Shange wins book award for insights on race and education
February 01, 2021

Anthropology faculty member Savannah Shange received one of the most prestigious honors in the field when she was awarded the 2020 Gregory Bateson Book Prize from the Society for Cultural Anthropology.

Green New Deal architect Rhiana Gunn-Wright will make a virtual campus visit
February 01, 2021

Gunn-Wright previewed some of the insights she’ll share on climate policy and environmental justice during her February 10th event with the Institute for Social Transformation.

Call for Applications: Building Belonging Program Spring/Summer
due January 31, 2021

Designed to increase engagement and build a greater sense of belonging through service-learning and research projects, the Institute for Social Transformation will award up to 50 Building Belonging undergraduate research fellowships of $1,500 per student. Faculty in Social Sciences can apply now for Spring/Summer fellows.

Funding Opportunity: Institute for Social Transformation Call for Proposals
due January 31, 2021

The Institute for Social Transformation is pleased to announce the third annual call for proposals for funding opportunities. The institute’s competitive grant program is designed to spur new ways of thinking about old problems, and to jump-start new initiatives that show promise in advancing theoretical concepts, socially relevant research, community engagement, and research in the public interest.  Faculty in Social Sciences can apply now for Catalyze Awards and Emerging Scholar Awards.

Sociology researcher seeks solutions for Public Safety Power Shutoffs
January 29, 2021

Sociology researcher Les Guliasi’s most recent paper shows how “microgrid” technologies could reduce the impact of outages, if regulatory challenges can be resolved.

UCSC awarded National Endowment for the Humanities grants to support faculty research
January 28, 2021

UC Santa Cruz has received two grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to support faculty research and writing leading to book projects.

With record applications, UC Santa Cruz poised to build exceptional, diverse fall class
January 28, 2021

The competition to earn a spot at UC Santa Cruz will increase this year, with the campus receiving a record number of applications and nearly 200 students approved last year to defer their enrollment to fall 2021.

Digital NEST founder to serve as external adviser to chancellor
January 26, 2021

Jacob Martinez is bringing his insight on economic opportunity, community empowerment and digital innovation to UC Santa Cruz as an external special adviser to Chancellor Cindy Larive.

Italian newspaper ranks sociology professor among top women of the year
January 20, 2021

Camilla Hawthorne is being recognized for shedding light on emergent Afro-Italian identities and activism during a time of racial reckoning in Italy and beyond.

UC Santa Cruz economic impact provides foundation for thriving region
January 19, 2021

When adjusted for the size of the Monterey Bay regional economy, UC Santa Cruz’s economic impact is second only to UC Davis in the Sacramento/Tahoe region and ahead of UC Santa Barbara in what is defined as the Central Coast of California.

Grant funding will advance aquaculture research in UCSC’s new state-of-the-art facility
January 19, 2021

Researchers won a USDA grant in support of their efforts to develop a more ocean-friendly feed formula for farm-raised rainbow trout. This work will take place in the team’s new aquaculture facility at the UCSC Farm.

Graduate student advances university access for Latinx students
January 07, 2021

Valeria Alonso Blanco wants to do anything she can to help Latinx transfer students have a successful experience at UC Santa Cruz.

CITRIS UCSC Tech For Social Good Program funds student teams
January 06, 2021

The program’s Tech Development Track provides up to $5,000 in funding for student-led projects that aim to develop a solution to a significant social challenge. This year’s projects embrace that goal in innovative ways, in response to a wide range of challenges.

Shedding light on one of environmental policy’s most under-the-radar strategies
January 04, 2021

Associate professor of environmental studies Sikina Jinnah studies the environmental provisions contained within trade agreements and wants to help policymakers better navigate this space.

Uncovering the social factors lurking within diabetes risk
January 04, 2021

Assistant professor of sociology James Doucet-Battle’s new book challenges assumptions about race within diabetes research and delves into the issue through the lens of African American experience.

Research partnership explores bonds between mothers and nonspeaking autistic children
December 18, 2020

Researchers at UC Santa Cruz and the University of Virginia have been collaborating to better understand behaviors and beliefs that may strengthen relationships between mothers and children with nonspeaking autism.

Focus on access and equity for students guides changes physical education
December 18, 2020

The UC Santa Cruz Athletics and Recreation Department is committed to offering programs and activities that promote leadership, lifelong wellness, and experiential learning.

UC Santa Cruz continues to meet, exceed community commitments
December 15, 2020

In a new book, Computational Media Professor The campus continues to make advancements in the areas of housing, transportation, and water conservation.

‘How Pac-Man Eats’ explores how games work and how they can create meaning
December 15, 2020

In a new book, Computational Media Professor Noah Wardrip-Fruin shows how the fundamental mechanics of games shape their capacity to address important topics.

UCSC arts professor documents spread of COVID-19 inside prisons, jails, and detention centers
December 11, 2020

A new Interactive web project by film and digital media professor Sharon Daniel creates a cumulative public record and evolving history of the pandemic’s impact on those incarcerated

Delivering Insecurity: E-commerce and the Future of Work in Food Retail
December 09, 2020

A report by led by Chris Benner, professor of sociology and environmental studies, and UC Berkeley Labor Center and Working Partnerships USA explore the growth of e-commerce sales for food that has increased the number of jobs available at a time when unemployment across the U.S. economy has skyrocketed.

Surge in online grocery shopping brings a quantity-over-quality jobs shift
December 09, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated emerging labor market trends associated with e-commerce in the grocery industry, creating mixed implications for jobs, according to a new report led by UCSC professor Chris Benner.

National Academies report on sustainability education features UC Santa Cruz expertise
December 04, 2020

UC Santa Cruz professor Anne Kapuscinski chaired the committee that developed the report, and campus initiatives were highlighted within as examples of innovative sustainability education.

UCSC offers new M.F.A. degree program in Environmental Art and Social Practice
December 02, 2020

The UC Santa Cruz Art Department is now accepting applications for a new M.F.A. degree program in Environmental Art and Social Practice (EASP), set to begin in fall quarter of 2021.

Psychology research shows ‘water cooler talk’ can have big benefits
November 30, 2020

In settings where people are working together on a task, making time for small talk allows for a newly-described behavior called “reciprocity in conversation,” which is associated with higher levels of task enjoyment.

UC Santa Cruz celebrates its first Rhodes Scholar
November 24, 2020

Spring 2020 graduate Garima Desai was named among the top 32 scholars from across the U.S. who will have all of their expenses paid to attend graduate school at Oxford University through a Rhodes Scholarship.

An unflinching look at America’s tragic past
November 24, 2020

Journalist and bestselling novelist Ta-Nehisi Coates drew an audience of 1,200 for a live discussion about his new novel, the legacy of slavery, and the aftermath of the presidential election.

‘Living in a Frayed Democracy’: Ethics lecture to feature noted alumnus Ezra Klein
November 19, 2020

UC Santa Cruz will present “Living in a Frayed Democracy,” a trans-Atlantic public dialogue, featuring noted UCSC alumnus and journalist Ezra Klein and London political economist William Davis, as part of the Humanities Division’s Peggy Downes Baskin Ethics Lecture Series on Dec. 5.

Two UC Santa Cruz programs win funding for public interest technology
November 16, 2020

The Human Rights Investigations Lab and Everett Program at UC Santa Cruz will receive new grant funding through the Public Interest Technology University Network.

Research breakthrough achieves fish-free aquaculture feed that raises key standards
November 12, 2020

A new aquaculture feed formula eliminates conventional fish meal and fish oil ingredients and is the first to demonstrate across-the-board gains in sustainability, performance, economic viability, and human health.

Think local, go global
October, 2020

Ten ambitious UC Santa Cruz research fellows—the first cohort of the new Global and Community Health Wellbeing Awards program—are being trained to recognize essential connections between community issues and worldwide health concerns.

Hidden figures
October, 2020

UC Santa Cruz Economics Professor Rob Fairlie is sounding the alarm about COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on African American/Black-, Latinx-, and other minority-owned businesses, with the aim of addressing the nation’s racial wealth gap.

Veronica Arteaga: Blessed
October, 2020

An article on alumna Veronica Arteaga (Crown ’03, psychology and sociology) chief program officer for Wayfinder Family Services, a nonprofit that provides services from foster care and adoption programs to early intervention care for kids with disabilities.

Barbara Ferrer: Advocating for justice through public health
October, 2020

Alumna Barbara Ferrer (Rachel Carson ’78, community studies), director of Los Angeles County’s Public Health Department, is at the forefront of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, which has slammed the county of 10 million people.

Doctoral candidate wins Switzer Fellowship for environmental justice research in El Salvador
October 19, 2020

James Alejandro Artiga-Purcell, a Ph.D. candidate in Environmental Studies, was recently selected for the 2020 Switzer Environmental Fellowship as part of a cohort of 20 top scholar-activists from around the country.

HSI grant to support graduate students
October 19, 2020

The grant from the U.S. Department of Education will help the campus increase the readiness of Latinx, low-income and students of color from UC Santa Cruz and CSU Monterey Bay to apply and succeed in graduate programs.

UC Santa Cruz study cited in arguments against gig economy proposition
October 15, 2020

Lead researcher Chris Benner, a professor of environmental studies and sociology and the director of the Institute for Social Transformation, was cited in arguments against Proposition 22 in the California Voter Guide.

‘Visualizing Abolition’ series kicks off with conversation featuring Angela Davis and Gina Dent
October 15, 2020

The UCSC Institute of the Arts and Sciences has joined forces with associate feminist studies professor Gina Dent to offer a year-long online series featuring artists, activists, scholars, and lawyers united by their commitment to the struggle for prison abolition.

UC Santa Cruz Human Rights Lab investigates social unrest in Chile
October 13, 2020

Human Rights Investigations Labs at UCSC and UC Berkeley collaborated on open source research focused on the human rights crisis in Chile, which began with massive anti-government demonstrations a year ago that prompted a swift and sometimes brutal government crackdown on protestors.

Challenging how we see the prison-industrial complex
October 13, 2020

An ambitious two-part exhibit, titled Barring Freedom and Visualizing Abolition, organized by the UC Santa Cruz Institute of the Arts and Sciences, combines art and activism to address prison and policing issues.

Tech for Social Good student project funding now open for applications
October 09, 2020

The Tech for Social Good (TSG) program, which funds student research projects and events on the UC Santa Cruz campus, is now accepting applications for 2020-21. Started in 2019 by CITRIS and the Banatao Institute in partnership with the Institute for Social Transformation, the program funded four projects and two events in its first year. The deadline for applications for 2020-21 is November 16.

Fall quarter kicks off with new students, programs
October 01, 2020

UC Santa Cruz students are excited to start their college journey, despite the challenges created by a global pandemic that has reshaped society. Faculty and staff are ready to provide students with the best experience possible and the support to help them succeed.

Joint Statement on Pan-African Research Fellowships
September 29, 2020

UCSC Launches Pan-African Research Fellowships to conduct research in the areas of African, Black and Caribbean (ABC) student learning, engagement and career preparation.

Rising from the ashes
September 29, 2020

Archaeological researchers from UC Santa Cruz are among the volunteers searching through rubble for homeowners who lost their loved ones’ cremains in the fires that ravaged Oregon and California.

Alumna Martha Mendoza wins Emmy for work on child detention documentary
September 25, 2020

‘Kids Caught in the Crackdown’ documentary from PBS Frontline and Associated Press investigates the detention of migrant children in federally-funded shelters.

Hope in the time of dystopia
September 23, 2020

The celebrated author Margaret Atwood offered some words of cautious encouragement and measured hope this week during her virtual dialogue with alumna and author Kate Schatz this week. The event was part of the Humanities Division’s annual Peggy Downes Baskin Ethics Lecture Series.

The global land rush
September 16, 2020

In her new book, ‘Fields of Gold, Financing the Global Land Rush,’ Madeleine Fairbairn looks at forces and players that have transformed farmland into a novel financial asset class.

New federal funding supports student success, equity
September 16, 2020

Five years of federal funding from the Title V Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) Program will support a new project, “Graduating and Advancing New American Scholars (GANAS) – Career Pathways.”

UC Santa Cruz ranks again as a top university for social mobility
September 14, 2020

The ranking (No. 4) speaks to the campus’s success in offering a world-class education to low income and first-generation students.

Outstanding Staff Award honoree is a passionate advocate for STEM diversity
September 14, 2020

Yulianna Ortega, the campus’s STEM Diversity Programs director, has earned the trust and respect of fellow staff members, faculty, and students across divisions. Ortega, this year’s Outstanding Staff Award recipient, is cares deeply about student academic success and well-being.

Election series looks at critical moment in time
September 08, 2020

The four-part series, subtitled “Democracy, Dilemmas and Decisions,” will address how social movements on the left and right have shaped what is at stake in the election, what institutional barriers to democracy exist in America’s political system, and how patterns of civic engagement are influencing the election.

Antiracist efforts must be ongoing, ever-improving
September 08, 2020

University of Pennsylvania Religious Studies Professor Anthea Butler and Kevin Gannon, director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Grandview University, sent out a call for the entire higher education community to participate in a two-day action on Sept. 8 and 9, 2020. Over the course of these two days, they are inviting academics to take action in the struggle for racial justice and against police violence against Black Americans.

New data science institute includes a focus on ethics and algorithms
September 01, 2020

The Institute for Foundations of Data Science is a collaboration between UC Santa Cruz, University of Washington, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and University of Chicago.

Economist’s research cited in bill to strengthen federal minority business agency
August 11, 2020

When the COVID–19 pandemic hit, Professor Rob Fairlie knew he needed to shift his research to the economic impact of the crisis.

Call for Applications: Building Belonging Program
July 30, 2020

Designed to increase engagement and build a greater sense of belonging through service-learning and research projects, the Institute for Social Transformation will award up to 100 Building Belonging undergraduate research fellowships of $1,500 per student each academic year. Faculty in Social Sciences can apply now for Fall/Winter fellows >>

CITRIS UCSC funds new pandemic-related research projects
July 14, 2020

The campus seed funding program is providing $40K grants for three new projects to address the challenges of COVID-19.

New film by Jennifer Taylor portrays Vermont town as microcosm of divided America
July 13, 2020

“For the Love of Rutland,” a new documentary by UCSC film professor Jennifer Taylor, is an exploration of the multiple problems now faced by rural America–most notably the opioid epidemic, income inequality, racism, and xenophobia.

Connecting on campus
July 06, 2020

Social psychologist Rebecca Covarrubias documents the experiences of students who are the first in their family to attend college.

Three interdisciplinary projects receive seed funding from UCSC Foundation
June 30, 2020

Three interdisciplinary projects have received seed funding from the UC Santa Cruz Foundation following a campuswide call for proposals issued by the Office of Research.

Building bridges out of prison walls
June 16, 2020

Student Alyssa Tamboura began a student-run, volunteer program called Walls to Bridges that mediates meetings between those jailed and their families as a way to work their way back to better relationships.

Royal Geographical Society publishes special COVID-19 issue
June 05, 2020

A virtual special issue of Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers features Politics Professor Matt Sparke’s article, “Contextualizing Coronavirus Geographically,” and provides free access to additional articles that provide perspective on the pandemic.

Social Sciences recognizes students amid unprecedented times
June 05, 2020

The Social Sciences Division announced the recipients of its annual student achievement awards.

Campus, Santa Cruz Community Health unite to test underserved community members
June 04, 2020

As news outlets published stories about celebrities and athletes unnecessarily getting tested for COVID-19, UC Santa Cruz scientists and staff saw an opportunity to provide fast testing for the community’s most vulnerable residents who too often do not have access to the same medical services.

Give revolution a chance
June 03, 2020

History of Consciousness Professor Massimiliano Tomba’s prestigious Princeton University fellowship will enable him to spend the next year advancing his reinterpretation of the concept of revolution

Protecting vulnerable children and families during the pandemic
May 27, 2020

In addition to experiencing higher rates of COVID-19 infection and death, the most vulnerable among us are losing ground in schooling, learning, and development, according to the authors of a new policy brief aimed at lawmakers.

Field courses boost STEM diversity, study reveals
May 19, 2020

The challenge of diversifying STEM fields may get a boost from the results of a new study that show field courses help build self-confidence among students—especially those from underrepresented groups.

Outbreak inquiry
May 18, 2020

Faculty have developed two undergraduate classes that are focusing on the effects and experiences of the coronavirus pandemic, even while the pandemic is under way.

Planting trees is no panacea for climate change, says ecologist
May 07, 2020

Restoration ecologist Karen Holl has a simple message for anyone who thinks planting 1 trillion trees will reverse the damage of climate change: “We can’t plant our way out of climate change.”

Already vulnerable, gig economy workers in San Francisco suffer during coronavirus pandemic, survey reveals
May 05, 2020

A new survey of app-based ride-hailing and food and grocery-delivery workers in San Francisco underscores the financial vulnerability of workers in the gig economy—and the coronavirus has made their plight much worse.

Zavella authors new book about reproductive justice
April 29, 2020

Pat Zavella, professor emerita of Latin American and Latino studies, has published a new book about the reproductive justice movement that blends research, history, theory, and memoir.

Economist Nirvikar Singh joins panel of experts
April 27, 2020

Professor of economics Nirvikar Singh has joined a panel of experts convened by the government of Punjab to oversee the revival of the state in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Watch UCSC participants talk about hope during TEDx Santa Cruz
April 23, 2020

Last December, TEDx Santa Cruz hosted a day-long extravaganza of talks curated around the theme of “The Art of Hope.” Those talks, including ones by several UCSC affiliates, are now available for online viewing.

Agroecology major available this fall
April 21, 2020

Beginning this fall, students will have an opportunity to enroll in a new agroecology major, an interdisciplinary program housed in the Environmental Studies Department.

Delivery and ridehailing workers lack critical protections from coronavirus
April 21, 2020

Preliminary data released today (April 21) to the San Francisco Local Agency Formation Commission (SF LAFCo) provides a disturbing snapshot of what app-based delivery and ridehailing workers are confronting with COVID-19, and demonstrates the urgent need for the city and platform companies to take more immediate actions to protect this vulnerable workforce.

New program advances global and community health
April 07, 2020

As countries across the globe fight the coronavirus pandemic, UC Santa Cruz is creating a new program that will prepare students and provide research to solve current and future global health problems. The university’s new global and community health program will offer a multidisciplinary bachelor of arts degree and a bachelor of science degree. The program will also coordinate university-wide community and global health research efforts.

COVID-19: Economist helps build “contact tracing” app for Peru
April 06, 2020

As countries across the globe fight the coronavirus pandemic, UC Santa Cruz is creating a new program that will prepare students and provide research to solve current and future global health problems. The university’s new global and community health program will offer a multidisciplinary bachelor of arts degree and a bachelor of science degree. The program will also coordinate university-wide community and global health research efforts.

Discrimination, governance, and trust in the age of COVID-19
April 02, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic has upended daily life around the world, and is simultaneously triggering challenging questions of discrimination, governance, and trust, says sociologist Jenny Reardon, who calls for higher levels of public oversight and vigilance as the pandemic unfolds.

Two programs will support undergrads in research, service learning, and peer mentoring
March 16, 2020

The “Building Belonging” program, a new five-year effort designed to increase engagement and build a greater sense of belonging through service-learning and research projects. A total of 550 students will participate over the five years, each earning a $1500 fellowship award. “It’s great because the students get faculty mentors, they get paid, and faculty get help with their research,” said Social Sciences Dean Katharyne Mitchell. “It’s a win-win-win.”

Craig Haney testifies before committee charged with revising state’s penal code
February 03, 2020

40 years of mass incarceration must be reversed, says expert on criminal justice system. Craig Haney, distinguished professor of psychology, was the only witness to testify in Sacramento during the first meeting of the newly formed Committee on Revision of the Penal Code.

Public conversation about race and racial reconciliation on Jan. 22
January 10, 2020

Racial reconciliation and the future of race in America will be the subject of a public conversation with scholars Alondra Nelson and Herman Gray on Wednesday, January 22, 2020 at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center. The event will feature a conversation with Nelson and Gray, moderated by Jenny Reardon, professor of sociology at UC Santa Cruz. 

Food and anti-corporate globalization activist Vandana Shiva coming to campus Jan. 25-26
January 06, 2020

Shiva, a proponent of “poison-free” food and a leader of the fight against Monsanto, will be in conversation with Anthropology Professor Nancy Chen on Saturday, January 25, at 7 p.m. in the UCSC Music Recital Hall. In 1993, Shiva received the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize.” 

Guthman’s book named one of the best of 2019
December 19, 2019

Julie Guthman’s book Wilted: Pathogens, Chemicals, and the Fragile Future of the Strawberry Industry, has been named one of the best 2019 books about the U.S. food system, according to U.S. Right to Know, a nonprofit investigative research group focused on the food industry. In the book, Guthman, a professor of social sciences, writes about a confluence of factors unique to the California’s strawberry industry that are making the industry’s future quite uncertain. 

Youth activism is on the rise around the globe, and adults should pay attention, says author
September 17, 2019

Greta and Malala get the headlines, but for every young leader pictured on a magazine cover, thousands more are working tirelessly for causes like climate justice, racial and gender equality, LGBTQ rights, and economic change.

UC Santa Cruz establishes interdisciplinary Southeast Asia research center
July 01, 2019

Home to some of the most diverse and vibrant ecological zones in the world, Southeast Asia is threatened by a daunting array of environmental, economic, cultural, and political forces.

Funded by a $1 million grant from the Henry Luce Foundation, the new Center for Southeast Asian Coastal Interactions (SEACoast) at UC Santa Cruz will bring together scholars from the social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences to address the region’s challenges.

Video highlights cultural differences in collaboration
May 13, 2019

A video by Distinguished Professor of Psychology Barbara Rogoff is featured in the “2019 STEM for All Video Showcase,” a competition hosted by the National Science Foundation (NSF).