January 2018 News Archive

Alumnus Michael Shipley's Creative Brilliance Continues to Shine

Santa Cruz native and UC Santa Cruz alumnus, Michael Shipley, found Santa Cruz to be an idyllic place to grow up during the 1970s and ‘80s. It was

New feature highlights campus events

In an effort to showcase exciting campus events, UC Santa Cruz has launched "The LineUp," a weekly calendar feature in the GoodTimes.

As tax time approaches, UCSC students volunteer to help low-income filers

As April 15 looms, a team of UC Santa Cruz undergraduate volunteers is getting ready to provide free tax-preparation assistance to low- and moderate-income residents of Santa Cruz

CruzHacks keeps growing

In its fifth year, CruzHacks drew hundreds of collegiate coders from across the

Men's tennis eyes return to championships

Along with a core group of seasoned returners, new talent will help solidify the Banana Slugs as they try to regain their footing in the national

Breakthrough leads to sequencing of a human genome using a pocket-sized device

Nanopore sequencing technology, based on concepts pioneered at UC Santa Cruz, has revealed parts of the genome scientists had been unable to sequence

McHenry Library to celebrate new visualization spaces that enhance digital scholarship

An opening celebration to formally launch the VizWall, a large scale visualization installation, and the VizLab, a Virtual Reality and 360 Lab, will take place on Feb. 7

Field trip of a lifetime

When he transferred to UC Santa Cruz, Ray Gutierrez didn’t foresee he’d soon be in India making a documentary about youths with disabilities at a crossroads between globalization

Karen Yamashita's memoir explores Japanese-American internment

Award-winning author and UC Santa Cruz literature professor Karen Tei Yamashita will read from her new memoir on Thursday, February 1, as part of the 2018 winter installment

Register closes today for open forum events on strategic academic planning

Campus community members need to register by 4 p.m. today to attend one of the open forum events on strategic academic planning schedule for Jan. 24-25.

Simplifying invention disclosure

Jeff Jackson, Director of Intellectual Property Management — In an effort to boost invention disclosure, the Office of Industry Alliances and Technology Commercialization (IATC) redesigned and digitized

Frans Lanting and Chris Eckstrom present 'Into Africa' Jan. 27 at the Rio Theatre

The Seymour Marine Discovery Center presents a new multimedia show by renowned photographer Frans Lanting and his partner, Chris Eckstrom, about the wonders of wild

High surf warning continues through weekend

The National Weather Service's high surf warning remains in effect today. Dangerous surf conditions are expected to continue through the weekend.

Elliott Campbell appointed to chair in water resources and food system sustainability

Elliott Campbell, associate professor of environmental studies, was honored as the inaugural holder of the Stephen R. Gliessman Presidential Chair in Water Resources and Food System

Study finds convergent evolution of gene regulation in humans and mice

Molecular biologists have found evidence of convergent evolution in an important mechanism of gene regulation in humans and

Men's volleyball aiming for championships

Aided in May by the passage of Measure 68, the referendum that will go to support athletics, the Slugs this season are scheduled to play more than 30

Pell Grant, campus resources key in transforming student lives

Roughly 40 percent of UC Santa Cruz students receive Pell Grants, which help to give every student an opportunity for a higher education, regardless of their economic background.

Judge relies heavily on Haney's testimony in case banning solitary confinement

In a landmark court ruling that prohibits solitary confinement in Canada, a Canadian judge relied heavily on expert testimony by Psychology Professor Craig

New book, The Postgenomic Condition: Ethics, Justice, and Knowledge After the Genome, assesses progress since 2000

Sociologist Jenny Reardon evaluates the promise and pitfalls of genomics in her new book The Postgenomic Condition: Ethics, Justice, and Knowledge After the Genome (University of Chicago Press,

In Memoriam: Stuart 'Page' Stegner (1937-2017)

Stuart "Page" Stegner, a member of the pioneer faculty at UC Santa Cruz who taught for over three decades and ran the Creative Writing program, passed away on

New catalyst for hydrogen production is a step toward clean fuel

A novel material developed at UC Santa Cruz has shown impressive performance as a catalyst for the electrochemical splitting of water to produce

New name, enduring vision

Irena Polić, Managing Director, and Nathaniel Deutsch, Director, The Humanities Institute — Since its founding, The Humanities Institute has been committed to cultivating humanities research by supporting hundreds of individual faculty, graduate, and undergraduate fellows, as well as collaborations across campus and with other universities around the world.

2020 Long Range Development Plan update

As we spend 2018 celebrating the Year of Alumni, I’d like to talk to you about what we’re doing to prepare ourselves to teach the next generation of students—our future graduates.

Strategic academic planning update

Through extensive engagement with the campus community, we have worked to identify the major academic themes that make UC Santa Cruz extraordinary.

Questions That Matter public humanities series to explore 'Freedom and Race'

The Humanities Institute at UC Santa Cruz will present "Freedom & Race"--the fourth installment of its signature "Questions That Matter" series--on January 30, at Kuumbwa Jazz Center in

Earliest galaxies in the universe spin like the Milky Way

Astronomers looking back to a time soon after the big bang have discovered swirling gas in some of the earliest galaxies to have formed in the universe.

Clean Dream Act and humane immigration reform

As a public university, UC Santa Cruz has a special mission to serve all Californians through research, teaching, and service.

Trump environmental watchdog group issues third report

The Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI), a grassroots watchdog group monitoring the Trump administration's performance on the environment, today (January 10, 2018) issued its third

Recreational use of marijuana and UC Santa Cruz—what you need to know

Most of you probably already know that recreational use of marijuana became legal in California on Jan. 1, 2018, for those over the age of 21, through the passage of Prop. 64.

Staff Advisory Board sponsors blood drive Tuesday, Jan. 30

How birds' genes influence adaptation to climate change

Biologists involved in the Bird Genoscape Project are racing against time to find out the potential for adaptation in vulnerable populations of

Neutron star merger observations hailed as scientific breakthrough of the year

Both Science and Physics World noted the significance of the findings in which UC Santa Cruz astronomers played a key

The 'Year of Alumni'

Keith Brant, Vice Chancellor, University Relations — As a way to honor all their achievements and the 50th anniversary of the UC Santa Cruz Alumni Association, the campus is marking 2018 as the "Year of Alumni."

State initiative funds UCSC childhood cancer research

A $500,000 grant from the California Initiative to Advance Precision Medicine supports the Treehouse Childhood Cancer Initiative at the UCSC Genomics

Campus appoints new associate vice provost for Academic Affairs

After a campuswide search, UC Santa Cruz has appointed Martin Berger to serve as associate vice provost for Academic Affairs.

David Dunn awarded Rydell Visual Arts Fellowship

UC Santa Cruz assistant professor of music David Dunn has been selected for a Rydell Visual Arts Fellowship for 2019. He is one of four local artists who

Protect yourself as influenza spreads in Santa Cruz

If you have not had your flu shot it is not too late! Please make every effort to get your vaccination.

Welcome to Winter Quarter!

Welcome back for Winter Quarter and best wishes for a healthy and happy 2018! A new year means new beginnings, so I’ll jump right into an exciting initiative launching this week that will run throughout 2018.

NSF I-Corps pushes discoveries to market

Professor Sue Carter testified before congressional leaders on NSF Innovation Corps, which assists scientists and engineers in discovering commercial applications for their

New vendor selected for curriculum management

The Curriculum Management Project, a campuswide initiative to improve the systems used to manage curriculum at UC Santa Cruz, is pleased to announce SmartCatalog has been selected as the vendor for phase one of the project.

Summer session offers unique academic opportunities

When UC Santa Cruz students begin enrolling for spring courses, they will be able to factor in all the additional courses that will also be offered through summer

In Memoriam: Sam Taylor

Sam Taylor, a Stevenson College student, died on Dec. 22, 2017.

Unraveling the mechanisms that control cell growth and size

Scientists studying how cells control their size and growth rate are closing in on fundamental mechanisms that are common to all cells and are disrupted in

Recognizing and applauding Slugs with 'Year of Alumni'

This year will be a time to recognize the burgeoning numbers and oversized impact of Banana Slugs, who are thriving in fields ranging from agroecology to astrophysics to

Supermassive black holes control star formation in large galaxies

Astronomers found a close correlation between the mass of a galaxy's central black hole and its star formation

Axel Alonso: Diversity’s superhero

Axel Alonso was editor-in-chief at Marvel Comics from 2011–2017, where he built a legacy by making comic book characters and their creators reflect the diversity of our world.

John Laird: A trailblazing public servant

John Laird has watched his political capital rise over the years. In 1983, while serving on the Santa Cruz City Council, he became one of the first openly gay mayors in the United States.

Julie Packard: Safeguarding the sea

Julie Packard helped found the Monterey Bay Aquarium and has served as the aquarium's executive director since it opened in 1984.

Kent Nagano: The maestro

Kent Nagano is an internationally acclaimed opera and symphony conductor who is renowned for interpretations of clarity, elegance, and intelligence.

Kathy Sullivan: From the sea to the stars

A scientist, astronaut, and award-winning educator, Kathy Sullivan was the first American woman to walk in space and is the former administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Kevin Beggs: Television visionary

As chairman of the Lionsgate Television Group, Kevin Beggs places a high premium on creativity, risk, and, in his own words, “going where others won’t.”

Kris Perry: Standing for equality

Kris Perry never intended to become a civil rights icon. As an undergraduate at UC Santa Cruz, she explored the themes of social justice that would shape her career as an advocate for children.

M. Sanjayan: The face of conservation

A prominent ecologist and Emmy-nominated television personality, M. Sanjayan is CEO of the nonprofit Conservation International—the first new CEO of the organization in 30 years.

Adilah Barnes: Holding the stage

An award-winning actor with over 50 years of film, television, and stage credits, Adilah Barnes is probably best known to television audiences for her role as Anne Marie on ABC's Roseanne for six seasons.

Martha Mendoza: Writing wrongs

Two-time Pulitzer Prize–winning Associated Press reporter and author Martha Mendoza had a life-changing moment early in her UC Santa Cruz career.

Reyna Grande: Documenting the immigrant experience

Award-winning novelist and memoirist Reyna Grande attended UC Santa Cruz after her junior college English teacher urged her to leave the urban confines of Los Angeles and try living somewhere different.

Sage Weil: Opening doors for open source

As the founder of web hosting company DreamHost, Sage Weil was already a successful entrepreneur when he came to UC Santa Cruz in 2004 to study data storage systems.

Susan Wojcicki: The most powerful woman on the internet

Susan Wojcicki is CEO of YouTube, the ubiquitous video-sharing website that in 2017 was ranked as the second most popular site in the world—only behind its parent company Google.