Solidarity Economics Series: Power Building and Our Economy
Power is a critical piece of the equation when it comes to making the kind of economic systems change our communities need. Without the powerful voice of social movements demanding change, systems tend to continue benefiting those they always have. Watch this video to learn more.
KSQD Cutting Edge Episode #328: Community Based Climate Justice Learning
May 2025
Many young people today experience a sense of helplessness and despair when learning about climate change, given the enormity of the crisis. But UCSC Education professor Emily Reigh and Regeneración Pajaro Valley Special Project Manager Eloy Ortiz are developing alternatives.
Solidarity Economics Series: Childcare in the Monterey Bay
May 2025
The institute’s joint project, Solidarity Economics, has released a report focused on the intersection between childcare and building a more inclusive economy. The report highlights how inadequate access to affordable, quality childcare undermines economic stability and limits opportunities for working families in the Monterey Bay region.
Research uncovers local labor issues that may be driving increased unionization
May 20, 2025
Surveys show young workers suffer from scheduling instability, and those who are LGBTQ+ are more likely to experience wage theft and workplace injuries. Meanwhile, census data show a harmful pay gap for Latina workers.
Colombia’s peatlands could be a crucial tool to fight climate change. But first we have to find them
April 15, 2025
Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Scott Winton conducted three years of extensive fieldwork to develop the first data-driven map of both newly documented and predicted peatlands across Colombia’s eastern lowlands.
KSQD Cutting Edge Episode #320: Master’s Tools with Mike McCarthy
April 2025
In this episode, institute Faculty Director Chris Benner talks with the new director of UCSC’s Community Studies Program about his latest book, on how finances shape politics. McCarthy argues that transforming financial institutions can not only serve people better but also help us build more economic democracy and curb corporate control.
Global premiere of “Power in the Desert” illuminates the human side of the lithium boom
April 14, 2025
A documentary inspired by institute faculty director Chris Benner’s latest book, Charging Forward, follows communities in Argentina, Chile, and California that are at the forefront of the green energy transition. The film explores the hidden economic and environmental costs of lithium extraction and community-centered solutions for a sustainable future.
Center for Labor and Community partners with regional union leaders on state-funded push to ensure workplace rights, safety, and benefits
April 11, 2025
Through a two-year grant, our institute-embedded center will help build the power of Central Coast workers by supporting and recruiting partners, helping create training materials, and conducting research to guide future support for vulnerable workers in agriculture, hospitality, construction, manufacturing, and more.
Right Livelihood International Conference brings in laureates focused on women’s activism, indigenous rights, and the environment
April 30 – May 1, 2025
The institute-embedded Right Livelihood Center will host its annual conference at UC Santa Cruz on April 30 – May 1, 2025, bringing together activists from India, Japan, and the Philippines to promote peace, justice, and sustainability. Join us for two days of events, including a public talk, centered on grassroots activism, sovereignty, and environmental justice.
New report highlights how to strengthen academic-community partnerships for change
March 2025
Institute Faculty Director Chris Benner and Research and Community Coordinator Darío León developed this report based on extensive interviews as well as insights from our 2022 All-In Conference, which shares promising practices for creating mutually beneficial community partnerships and provides recommendations for universities and foundations to support this work.
Campus + Community spotlight: Using fog harvesting as a water source
March 2025
This case study from the institute-embedded Campus + Community center focuses on FogNet, a research program exploring fog capture as a means for providing coastal communities with a reliable water source. The North Coast County Water District in Pacifica helped get this research off the ground, allowing private and business customers to receive fog collectors. Efforts are intended to help mitigate the effects of climate change.
14 Catalyze grants awarded to UC Santa Cruz Social Sciences faculty pursuing transformative research
March 2025
This month, we welcome our latest cohort of 14 Catalyze Award recipients who received grants up to $18,500 toward projects that contribute to equitable and sustainable social futures. From reshaping K-12 education to understanding economic and social trajectories of minorities, these projects explore and advance new ideas and help communicate the results to the public and key stakeholders.
Forever fighter
February 28, 2025
This profile of Right Livelihood Laureate Rob Bilott details his career litigating corporations that are responsible for creating “forever chemicals,” which harm people and the planet through contamination.
Bilott received the Right Livelihood Award, known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize,” in 2017 making him part of our Right Livelihood Center’s laureate network.
Tools and training combat health impacts on farmworkers that are worsened by climate change
February 25, 2025
Through the institute-supported California Climate Action Grants, a new bilingual app allows the public to monitor and report health risks like extreme heat, poor air quality, drinking-water pollution, and mold and pesticide exposure. With the help of researchers and community partners, this two-year project has trained 50 community health advisers across the Pajaro, Salinas, and San Joaquin Valleys.
Annual impact report: Funding transformative scholarship, empowering student changemakers, and bolstering capacity and public benefit
December 2024
As 2024 draws to a close, we’re looking back over the 2023-2024 academic year and sharing the progress we’ve made, including directly supporting high-impact faculty research, providing life-changing, career-defining undergraduate support, and hosting 80 events geared toward public education and community organizing.
UC Santa Cruz innovators recognized for impact at 2024 Santa Cruz Works Titans Awards
December 4, 2024
Two UC Santa Cruz faculty members, Richard (Ed) Green and Chris Benner, have been selected as awardees for the eighth annual Santa Cruz Works Titans
Declaring the value of ‘undeclared’
November 2024
A new program called Undeclared Scholars is helping students reframe their thinking around the process of selecting a major while also destigmatizing the notion of “undeclared”
Imperial Valley’s lithium reserves could power a global energy transition. But will they also fuel local economies?
November 18, 2024
Professor Chris Benner’s latest book with coauthor Manuel Pastor, a professor at the University of Southern California, explores economic and environmental possibilities for a lithium boom in California’s
Redefining philanthropy: Alumna Carmen Rojas drives change
November 14, 2024
Alumna Carmen Rojas is the president and CEO of the Marguerite Casey Foundation and is a leader in the fight for racial, economic, and social justice.
$4 million NSF grant will fund project to improve K-12 mathematics education in partnership with Black disabled students
November 05, 2024
A grant from the National Science Foundation’s Racial Equity In STEM Education program will support a project led by Assistant Professor of Education Paulo Tan to develop new model for mathematics instructional coaches.
UC Santa Cruz receives NSF grant to transform diversity and inclusion in STEM graduate programs
October 23, 2024
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded nearly $1 million to researchers at UC Santa Cruz to advance equity and inclusion by fostering a more inclusive, culturally rich environment in STEM graduate programs. One of the key programs that will be involved in this study is the New Gen Learning Research Consortium
Sustainability Champion: Chris Benner
October 1, 2024
In this issue, the Sustainability Champion is environmental studies and sociology professor at UC Santa Cruz Chris Benner. Learn more about him and his contributions towards embedding equity into our social systems.
Famed economist and Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz speaks out against right-wing notions of economic freedom
September 19, 2024
During his dialogue with Chris Benner, Professor and Director of the Institute for Social Transformation, Stiglitz blamed the inherent selfishness behind “Free” and unfettered markets for the crisis of inequality in the United States as well as the environmental and opioid crises.
Election forum series to foster dialogue and empower students for active democratic participation
September 16, 2024
This fall, we are hosting the 2024 U.S. Elections Forum Series: Power, Politics, and Our Democracy, a six-part event series designed to foster open dialogue and engage students and the public in critical conversations about democracy, media, and voter participation. The series will provide tools for participants to navigate today’s rapidly shifting political landscape and empower them to take part in shaping the future of the country.
Collaborating for justice: the Institute for Social Transformation’s first five years
June 2024
UCSC Magazine recently highlighted our five-year anniversary, reflecting on our efforts to further student success, support transformative research, and co-create knowledge with our community partners. Since 2018, the institute has provided hundreds of faculty and student grants, offered crucial support for several research centers, and hosted exciting campus-wide events. These days, we continue to deepen our impact in collaboration with our partners and funders.
Spring 2024 academic workers strike and related issues information
May 30, 2024
In May 2024, the UCSC campus, the entire University of California system and Universities across the country are experiencing a level of student activism that hasn’t been seen in decades. Throughout history and continuing through today, student protest has been an important and valuable catalyst for social progress across the country and throughout the world. We have provided a few links to both primary resources and scholarly insights that can help our community learn more about the current labor strike and broader issues at stake.
Global social change leaders gather at UC Santa Cruz for Right Livelihood International Conference
April 09, 2024
From April 23 through 27, UC Santa Cruz will host social change leaders and student activists visiting from around the world for the Right Livelihood International Conference, which includes a series of public events and will launch a new international student network and international research partnerships.
New research reveals steps California must take to capture more jobs from lithium battery boom
March 26, 2024
A new study from the UC Santa Cruz Institute for Social Transformation, New Energy Nexus, and the UC Berkeley Labor Center demonstrates the need for strategic investments and policy approaches to encourage build-out of the lithium supply chain within California in an environmentally friendly and economically inclusive manner.
UCSC student and two time scholarship recipient shares her transformative experiences
February 20, 2024
Lizeth Pena Sanchez, a fourth-year Social Sciences student at UC Santa Cruz, has participated in both Experiential Learning Programs at the Institute for Social Transformation. Learn how Transforming Futures and Building Belonging helped shape her career goals.
Institute for Social Transformation releases five-year impact report
February 02, 2024
UC Santa Cruz’s Institute for Social Transformation is celebrating its five-year anniversary and has released an impact report reflecting on progress made thus far.
2023-24 CITRIS UC Santa Cruz Tech for Social Good Program’s student project teams kick off
January 30, 2024
The UC Santa Cruz CITRIS Tech for Social Good program, running from 2023-24, funds innovative student projects addressing social challenges, such as a mobile app for electric tractors and digital literacy classes for incarcerated individuals. The teams, eligible for up to $5,000, plan to showcase their progress in Spring 2024.
Empowering research
January 19, 2024
The Institute of Social Transformation’s Building Belonging Program funded undergraduate students Elyse Venerable and Eva Middleton to pursue archeological research in Florida in the Summer of 2023
Students get in on ‘hot labor summer’
November, 2023
UC Santa Cruz students took part in Labor Summer, the inaugural project of the UC-wide expansion of labor studies programs that trained student interns on the frontlines of worker organizing
New book shares expertise from UC Santa Cruz and beyond on preparing students to tackle environmental justice issues
November 21, 2023
A new book developed by UC Santa Cruz faculty and staff offers teaching examples, strategies, and classroom tools to help integrate environmental justice into courses in ways that center equity.
True or false? How uncertainty about the accuracy of information affects learning
November 02, 2023
UC Santa Cruz postdoctoral scholar Karen Arcos, Assistant Professor of Psychology Hannah Hausman, and Department Chair of Psychology Benjamin Storm published new research that explores how the process of guessing whether information is true or not might affect learning.
Immigrants targeted by scams are seeking justice. Here’s how to help them get it
November 01, 2023
Assistant Professor of Sociology Juan Manuel Pedroza’s research has identified trends in what types of justice immigrants who have been targeted by scams are seeking and offers recommendations for policymakers and law enforcement agencies on how to expand access to justice.
Donor Funded Scholarship paves the way for UCSC student’s impactful internship
October 16, 2023
UCSC student, Leslie Salgado, was able to participate in her dream internship this summer at Jacob’s Heart Children’s Cancer Support Services, with the help of IST’s Transforming Futures Program.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A career of educating
June 8, 2023
After 38 years of interdisciplinary teaching at UCSC, Professor David Brundage is retiring.
A network for the future
June 7, 2023
UCSC Student Serena Campbell’s senior thesis leads to a comprehensive network between critical environmental researchers.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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: 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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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: 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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
