2012  Sustainability

Year of the Slug: A look back at 2012 at UC Santa Cruz

Higgs boson, condors, pumas, the Grateful Dead Archive … 2012 was yet another year of discoveries, breakthroughs, newsmakers, and honors for UC Santa Cruz. Here’s a look back at a few highlights of the year at UCSC.

ARPA-E grant supports UCSC research on high-power solar energy

UCSC leads research on the development of an innovative optical device for harvesting concentrated sunlight into an optical fiber.

UC Santa Cruz receives Energy Efficiency Best Practice award for lighting design and retrofit

Campus wins best practice honors for a second year in a row.

Three environmental studies grad students win sustainable ag awards

Three UC Santa Cruz environmental studies graduate students are among 16 students nationwide awarded sustainable agriculture scholarships from Annie's Homegrown Inc., a natural foods manufacturer and distributor.

Interdisciplinary conference focuses on development and climate change

Conflicts between development and climate change will bring together researchers and practitioners in both areas for an all-day conference at UC Santa Cruz on Saturday, October 27.

UCSC awarded $4.5 million NSF grant for renewable energy research and education

UCSC leads a cooperative research and education program on renewable energy involving universities in the United States and Denmark.

UCSC students pilot sustainability project to eliminate the use of paper towels at Stevenson College

Initiative encourages the use of washable and reusable “PeopleTowels” on campus.

Farm-to-Fork dinner supports scholarships for farm apprentices

Late summer sunshine bathed rows of corn, pumpkins, salad greens, and strawberries as 125 guests enjoyed the recent Farm-to-Fork Benefit Dinner at the UC Santa Cruz Farm.

UC Santa Cruz receives Best Practice award for water efficiency and site water quality

UC Santa Cruz earned high honors at the tenth annual California Higher Education Sustainability Conference hosted by UC Davis on June 19, recognizing eco-friendly best practices across the UC system.

UCSC Farm & Garden hosts fall harvest festival September 30

Apples, corn, cider, and pumpkins take center stage at the 18th annual Fall Harvest Festival, Sunday, September 30, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at UC Santa Cruz’s 25-acre organic farm.

UCSC plant sale kicks off fall gardening season September 14, 15

The UCSC Farm and Garden’s Fall Plant Sale, one of the largest all-organic events of its kind in the Monterey Bay Area, takes place September 14 and 15.

UC Santa Cruz ranked 12th for Outside readers

UC Santa Cruz has made Outside Magazine’s list of 25 colleges known for their adventurous students and outdoor enthusiasts.

UC Santa Cruz in top 3% of Princeton Review's 2013 'Green Honor Roll'

UC Santa Cruz is one of 21 colleges receiving the Princeton Review's highest score (99) in its fifth annual "Green Ratings."

USDA grant aids organic farming training program at UC Santa Cruz

Training for beginning organic farmers on the Central Coast will get a significant boost from a three-year U.S. Department of Agriculture grant to the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS) at UC Santa Cruz.

In-depth organic gardening course offered at UCSC Farm & Garden

A comprehensive organic gardening course is being offered this summer and fall by the Friends of the UCSC Farm & Garden at the historic Alan Chadwick Garden and UCSC Farm on the UC Santa Cruz campus.

Organic cut flower growing and bouquet making workshop, June 30

A workshop on how to grow and assemble beautiful flower arrangements will take place Saturday, June 30, with Zoe Hitchner and Orin Martin from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the UCSC Farm at UC Santa Cruz.

California sea level projected to rise at higher rate than global average

The sea level off most of California is expected to rise about 36 inches over the next century, an amount slightly higher than projected for global sea levels, according to a new report.

Graduate students offer free lecture on Alaska wilderness and predators

UC Santa Cruz wildlife biologists Yiwei Wang and Rachel Wheat will hold a free public lecture on Alaskan wildlife and the importance of salmon to the Alaskan ecosystem, Monday, June 25th from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the UCSC Arboretum.

Free poetry reading and music at Alan Chadwick Garden, Saturday, June 23

Saturday, June 23, from noon until 2 p.m., a bevy of award-winning poets will read their work at “A Garden of Poetry and Music,” with piano music and vocals by Colin and Sheila Hannon in the historic Alan Chadwick Garden.

UCSC is recognized for exemplary environmental practices

UC Santa Cruz has received a prestigious Acterra 2012 Business Environmental Award for the sustainability of the recently expanded and redesigned Student Health Center.

Daniel Press named executive director of CASFS

Environmental studies professor Daniel Press has been named executive director of the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS) at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

UCSC Farm & Garden market cart opens Tuesday, June 5

UCSC earns new national and statewide honors for sustainability practices

UC Santa Cruz, long renowned for its sustainable energy practices, has earned two prestigious new laudations: a top spot on a national “Green Honor Roll,” and special recognition for recent energy and water-saving retrofits on campus.

Research team investigates biological methods to prevent bat extinction

Motivated by the prospect of conserving bat populations and species diversity, UC Santa Cruz researchers are investigating whether antifungal skin microbes can be used to help fight the deadly fungus that is causing a massive die-off of bats in eastern North America.

Seed library holds its second seed exchange, Saturday, May 26

The UC Santa Cruz Demeter Seed Library invites community members from all over Santa Cruz and the Monterey Bay Area to its second exchange of 2012, happening on Saturday, May 26 from noon to 3 p.m. at the UCSC Farm.

Registration open for spring and summer 3-day 'Garden Cruz' classes

Intensive class will provide a solid foundation to further the lifelong study, enjoyment, and practice of organic gardening. Class instructors include Orin Martin, manager of UCSC's Alan Chadwick Garden, and local organic farmers Zoe Hitchner and Sky DeMuro of Everett Family Farm.

Walking and talking: Learning outside the classroom door

In her essay, UCSC lecturer Candace Calsoyas discusses the Aristotelian method of conversation and learning while on foot, a practice she introduced in Albania and brings to the College Eight core course.

UCSC cycling standouts: See how they ride

UC Santa Cruz is both bike-conscientious and eco-friendly—despite a killer climb from town to class. It’s no coincidence, then, that the university boasts strong participation in annual Bike to Work Week festivities and that a number of Slugs have gone on to make careers out of their biking obsessions.

UCSC Farm & Garden’s annual spring plant sale slated for May 5-6

Why letting salmon escape could benefit bears and humans

Researchers at UC Santa Cruz and in Canada suggest that allowing more Pacific salmon to spawn in coastal streams would mean a long term win-win for ecosystems and humans.

Peregrine falcon chicks hatch on San Francisco high-rise

Four fluffy, white peregrine falcon chicks have hatched in a nest on the San Francisco skyline where they can be viewed via a web cam hosted by UCSC's Predatory Bird Research Group.

UCSC forest research site joins Global Earth Observatory, nearly triples in size

The nearly 15-acre Forest Ecology Research Plot located within the UC Santa Cruz Campus Natural Reserve has been accepted into the global network of the Smithsonian Institution's Center for Tropical Forest Science / Global Earth Observatory.

Nesting eagles highlight success of restoration program

Discovery of a pair of bald eagles building a nest near Watsonville's Pinto Lake highlights the success of a wildlife conservation effort begun 26 years ago, according to Glenn R. Stewart a UC Santa Cruz alumnus and director of the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird (SCPBRG) Research Group at UCSC's Long Marine Lab.

Converting junk to surfboards: polystyrene foam collection project launches at UCSC

Sign-ups now open for Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program

Memberships in the CASFS/UCSC Farm’s 2012 Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program are now available.

Farm apprentice graduate honored in Bronx Black History Month ceremony

Karen Washington, a graduate of the 2008 apprenticeship class at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at UC Santa Cruz, was honored at the annual Black History Month Celebration in the Bronx, N.Y.

New book traces UCSC’s role in organic and sustainable farm movement

A new book published by the UCSC Library’s Regional History Project offers a window into the 40-year history of how UC Santa Cruz--and California’s Central Coast—became leaders in the organic farming and sustainable agriculture movement.

UCSC partners with Hartnell in education program with sustainable energy focus

A partnership between UCSC and Hartnell College strengthens the regional education pipeline for Hispanics and low-income students.

UCSC Cowell Student Health Center LEED Gold Certification Celebration

Conference focuses attention on Labor Across the Food System

A free public conference at UC Santa Cruz February 3 and 4 will address the question of "Labor Across the Food System." Scholars, researchers, and activists from California and beyond will gather to discuss the role of labor and social justice in reshaping the contemporary global food system.