2020
Sustainability
- December 04, 2020
National Academies report on sustainability education features UC Santa Cruz expertise
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.
- December 01, 2020
AXA Chair at UC Santa Cruz funds efforts to build coastal resilience naturally
Marine scientist Michael Beck was awarded the chair to support his work on natural defenses to enhance coastal resilience to flooding, erosion, and sea level rise.
- November 30, 2020
UCSC iGEM team wins gold, nominated for best environmental project
Thirteen undergraduates were recognized for their research accomplishments at the world’s largest competition in synthetic biology.
- November 12, 2020
Research breakthrough achieves fish-free aquaculture feed that raises key standards
A new aquaculture feed formula eliminates conventional fish meal and fish oil ingredients by combining ingredients derived from two species of marine microalgae.
- October 29, 2020
Spring-run and fall-run Chinook salmon aren’t as different as they seem
Genetic analysis of Klamath River Chinook salmon finds a simple genetic variant determines the timing of migration, and seasonal runs are otherwise the same fish.
- October 23, 2020
UC Santa Cruz iGEM team seeks a solution to plastic waste
Through campus shutdowns, wildfires, and a two-week quarantine, 13 UCSC students have been finding ways to research a solution to agricultural plastic pollution.
- September 29, 2020
Focused on sustainability, UC Santa Cruz among Sierra's top 25 'Cool Schools'
The campus, No. 21 on Sierra's ranking, earned distinction for research, curriculum, and transportation.
- September 15, 2020
UCSC engineers developing all-electric power train for future aircraft
Funding from the Department of Energy for the UCSC team is part of a major effort to develop carbon-neutral hybrid electric aviation.
- September 10, 2020
High-fidelity record of Earth’s climate history puts current changes in context
A continuous record of the past 66 million years shows natural climate variability due to changes in Earth’s orbit around the sun is much smaller than projected future warming due to greenhouse gas emissions.
- September 09, 2020
Cooperative research effort documents northward migration of kelp forests
From Alaska to Mexico, warming waters are driving widespread changes in these highly productive coastal ecosystems.
- August 22, 2020
Research buildings saved as wildfire sweeps across Big Creek Natural Reserve
Fire preparedness and hard work by fast-moving fire crews and UC Santa Cruz staff is being credited for saving research and residential buildings at the Landels-Hill Big Creek Natural Reserve on the Big Sur coast.
- August 19, 2020
Alaska’s salmon are getting smaller, affecting people and ecosystems
A comprehensive study of four salmon species across all regions of Alaska finds salmon are returning to rivers smaller and younger than in the past.
- July 22, 2020
Report exposes rampant illegal fishing in North Korean waters
Ground-breaking study reveals hundreds of vessels fishing illegally in one of the world’s most contested ocean regions, contravening UN sanctions and fueling overfishing.
- July 22, 2020
New study shows retreat of East Antarctic Ice Sheet during previous warm periods
Evidence of glacial retreat in the Wilkes Basin 400,000 years ago suggests ice loss in this region could add 10 to 13 feet (3 to 4 meters) to future global sea level rise.
- July 01, 2020
Researchers honored for work in UCSC-NOAA Fisheries Collaborative Program
Three researchers affiliated with the Institute of Marine Sciences (IMS) at UC Santa Cruz have received awards from the NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center for their outstanding contributions to research in 2019.
- June 03, 2020
NOAA funds new Cooperative Institute for Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Systems
CIMEAS supports the ongoing collaboration between UC Santa Cruz and the National Marine Fisheries Service Southwest Fisheries Science Center.
- June 01, 2020
Two vital buffers against climate change are just offshore
A new study underscores the need to conserve and restore mangroves and coral reefs for coastal protection.
- May 28, 2020
Emerald predators: Ohlone tiger beetles reclaim territory with the help of local scientists
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists released 43 Ohlone tiger beetles to a new home in Santa Cruz County earlier this year with the help of UC Santa Cruz students and reserve managers
- May 07, 2020
Planting trees is no panacea for climate change, says ecologist
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."
- April 28, 2020
Watching the flow of water through oak woodlands at Arbor Creek Experimental Watershed
To understand how California's beloved oak woodlands will fare in a rapidly warming climate, UCSC researchers are putting a headwaters stream in the Diablo Range under a hydrological microscope.
- April 21, 2020
Agroecology major available this fall
Beginning this fall, students will have an opportunity to enroll in a new agroecology major, an interdisciplinary program housed in the Environmental Studies Department.
- March 26, 2020
California Sea Grant funds sustainable aquaculture project
Pallab Sarker, an associate research professor in environmental studies, has received support from the Coastal Sea Grant program to fund his research into the development of sustainable feed for farmed fish.
- March 25, 2020
UCSC grad students win funding for research on salmon and coastal resilience
California Sea Grant has awarded funding to two UC Santa Cruz graduate students for research projects involving restoration of salmon populations and management strategies for resilient coastal communities.
- March 24, 2020
Recruiting raptors for rodent control along the Pajaro River levee
UCSC’s Predatory Bird Research Group is working with the Santa Cruz County Flood Control District to encourage hawks and owls to patrol the levee for rodent control.
- February 20, 2020
Aquaculture to benefit people and the environment
Two graduate students have received a one-year, $150,000 grant to create environmentally sound seaweed and sea cucumber farms on the coasts of Kenya and The Gambia.
- February 18, 2020
Art professor’s exhibition in Spain addresses algae and climate change
UC Santa Cruz art professor Jennifer Parker believes that algae are an “unsung hero of the planet”--noting that these photosynthetic organisms produce one half of the total global oxygen, while absorbing one third of the carbon dioxide produced worldwide...
- February 06, 2020
Proposed hydropower dams pose threat to Gabon’s fishes
Proposed hydropower dams in Gabon pose a substantial threat to the African nation’s most culturally and economically important fishes, according to a new study.
- January 16, 2020
$2.6 million grant funds program to increase diversity of conservation leaders
New funding for the Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program at UC Santa Cruz builds on the program’s successes in training the next generation of diverse conservation leaders.
