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February 2021 News Archive

February 26, 2021
Campus launches first Black studies minor
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.
February 26, 2021
Massive debris flow swamps Big Creek Reserve as heavy rains follow summer wildfire
Boulders the size of vehicles and decades-old redwoods were ripped from the banks of the Big Creek drainage when an atmospheric river inundated the Landels-Hill Big Creek Natural
February 26, 2021
Deep Read to present Tommy Orange in conversation with literature professor Micah Perks
Award-winning novelist Tommy Orange will be featured in conversation with literature professor Micah Perks, director of UCSC’s Creative Writing Program, in a free virtual event on Wednesday, March
February 26, 2021
Sandra Faber and Kathryn Sullivan to discuss their trailblazing careers in fireside chat
Two of UC Santa Cruz’s most prominent trailblazers in science, astronomer Sandra Faber and alumna and former astronaut Kathryn Sullivan, will discuss their careers in a virtual “fireside
February 26, 2021
Update on campuswide anti-racist efforts and recent reports of racist acts on campus
Over the past few weeks, there have been reported incidents of racist and harmful behavior, particularly the continued defacing of Black Lives Matter posters in Sinsheimer Labs and instances of racist “Zoom bombing” in remote classes and community events.
February 25, 2021
Forest monitoring efforts contribute to new understanding of climate change impacts
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
February 25, 2021
Detailed update on fall planning
We write to follow up last week’s message with more details on our planning process for fall quarter instruction.
February 24, 2021
Notes of resistance
History Professor Eric Porter delves deeply into jazz improvisation as a means for "resistance, survival, and promoting one’s own
February 23, 2021
COVID and the road ahead
UC Santa Cruz infectious disease expert A. Marm Kilpatrick looked toward the future during his immersive Kraw Lecture about COVID vaccines, variants and the road
February 23, 2021
Bay Tree Bookstore undergoing refresh
The UC Santa Cruz campus community can expect to see a number of changes at the Bay Tree Bookstore over the coming months, including a broader embrace of
February 23, 2021
Students help power campus testing program
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.
February 23, 2021
Campus accepting applications for the 2021-2023 Faculty Director of Honors
The Division of Undergraduate Education is undertaking a search for the 2021–23 Faculty Director of Honors.
February 22, 2021
LASER talk to feature research by UCSC deans of the humanities and social sciences
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
February 21, 2021
Bringing physical engagement into the online teaching and learning environment
A new series of videos is now available to UCSC students, faculty, and staff to help offset the increasingly sedentary lifestyle generated by the Covid-19
February 18, 2021
Computer scientist Yang Liu wins $1M grant for research on fairness in AI
Liu’s research aims to achieve more equitable outcomes from decision-making tools based on automated machine-learning
February 18, 2021
Representative Lofgren named 2021 ‘Champion of Science’
UC Santa Cruz and the UC system nominated Rep. Lofgren for the award, which recognizes her commitment to fundamental science
February 18, 2021
Update on COVID-19 vaccination distribution
COVID-19 vaccine planning continues to be a concentrated focus for our campus. This message updates where we are with campus vaccinations and also provides the latest information we
February 17, 2021
Oldest DNA sequences reveal how mammoths evolved
Analysis of ancient DNA sequences recovered from mammoth teeth reveal North American mammoths were descended from two earlier mammoth
February 17, 2021
Preliminary update on fall planning
Last month the Office of the President shared a message that all UC campuses planned to return to primarily in-person instruction in the fall and that early decision-making has given us a long planning runway to prepare and incorporate feedback.
February 16, 2021
Congratulations on 30 years of excellence
We are proud to offer our congratulations to AATAT, our African American Theater Arts Troupe, as it marks 30 years of community building, artistic excellence, and public service. It is a grand achievement for a small theater group willed into existence by a visionary staff member and a dozen students to be thriving three decades later.
February 16, 2021
Hope, mutual aid, and abolition
Activist and organizer Mariame Kaba offers a blueprint for mutually supportive communities during the 37th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial
February 16, 2021
UCSC experts in human-computer interaction featured at Women in Tech Symposium
Leila Takayama will be a keynote speaker and Katherine Isbister will lead a panel on human-computer interaction and games at the annual event on March 12,
February 12, 2021
Reserve study space in Science & Engineering Library
Beginning Feb. 16, 2021, the University Library will offer currently registered students who live on or off campus reservable individual quiet study spaces with access to power/wifi in the Science & Engineering Library.
February 11, 2021
Annual Jewish Studies Diller Lecture to feature award-winning author Sarah Stein
This year’s Helen Diller Distinguished Lecture in Jewish Studies will feature guest author and scholar Sarah Abrevaya Stein—in conversation with UCSC’s Neufeld-Levin Chair of Holocaust Studies, Alma Heckman—on
February 11, 2021
Listening and bringing change
Aaron Jones, interim Educational Opportunity Programs director, founded the orientation program Black Academy, which has dramatically increased African Black Caribbean students' retention rate at
February 11, 2021
What Hollywood gets wrong (and right!) about protecting the Earth from asteroids
Meet alumna Kirsten Howley, the real-life astrophysicist working to prevent
February 10, 2021
Genentech Foundation grants support UCSC STEM diversity programs
Three academic support and mentoring programs at UC Santa Cruz have received funding from Genentech’s 2020 Diverse Future of STEM
February 9, 2021
Astronomer J. Xavier Prochaska honored for top research paper in Science
J. Xavier Prochaska, distinguished professor of astronomy and astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz, and his coauthors of a landmark paper describing a fast radio burst from a massive
February 8, 2021
Pandemics expert urges vigilance as COVID-19 variants spread
Alumna and Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Laurie Garrett sounds urgency about the need for an all-out race to stay ahead of highly contagious COVID variants in the U.S.
February 8, 2021
Carla Morrison, Irene Diaz to perform live on Feb. 19
The Quarry Amphitheater and Womxn’s Center are pleased to invite you to the Winter Live! from the (virtual) Quarry live stream concert on Friday, Feb. 19 at 6 pm.
February 8, 2021
Webinar for students to focus on off-campus housing
The webinar is filled with helpful resources, information about the housing process and connections with school and city officials.
February 7, 2021
Chancellor op-ed: LRDP a blueprint for future of campus
UC Santa Cruz has always pursued excellence and aspired to distinction — in teaching, in research, in access to education, in public service. The incredible achievements we have seen in our relatively short history have not happened by chance. Our campus sustains a clear vision for its future, shaped partly through intensive planning efforts undertaken regularly over the span of our 55 years.
February 5, 2021
Troupe dynamic
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
February 5, 2021
Student Affairs and Success launches new podcast
After nearly a full year of operating remotely due to the impacts of Covid-19, it's easy to feel disconnected from our campus culture, as well as from each other.
February 5, 2021
COVID-19 information forum planned for Feb. 12
UC Santa Cruz will hold its next COVID-19 information forum from 9:30–11 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 12.
February 4, 2021
Healthy oceans need healthy soundscapes, say marine scientists
A global team of researchers has documented the pervasive impacts of noise on marine animals and ecosystems and identified actions to return to the soundtrack of the healthy
February 4, 2021
Three UCSC film alumni recognized by International Documentary Association
Three alumni from UCSC’s Film and Digital Media Department received nominations for this year's prestigious International Documentary Association Awards
February 4, 2021
Rob Fairlie testifies before Congress on inequality in pandemic economic impacts
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
February 3, 2021
Sad news regarding former Chancellor Robert Stevens
It is with a heavy heart that I share the news of the passing of former UC Santa Cruz Chancellor Robert B. Stevens, a British born legal scholar who led our campus in the difficult days after 1989’s Loma Prieta earthquake. He died at his home in Oxford, England, on Jan. 30, at the age of 87.
February 2, 2021
Robert Bocking Stevens, fifth UCSC chancellor, dies at age 87
Robert Bocking Stevens, a legal scholar in England and the United States who served as the fifth chancellor of UC Santa Cruz, died Jan. 30 in Oxford, England,
February 2, 2021
Seawater intake replacement, bike path improvement projects win public works awards
A $1.1 million project to replace the seawater intake structure at the UC Santa Cruz Long Marine Lab was selected as environmental project of the year by the
February 2, 2021
Meteoric success
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
February 2, 2021
Two UCSC astronomers elected Fellows of the American Astronomical Society
Astronomers Raja GuhaThakurta and Garth Illingworth were honored as 2021 AAS Fellows for their extraordinary achievement and
February 2, 2021
COVID-19 information forum scheduled for Friday, Feb. 12
The COVID-19 information forums provide an opportunity to give an update on campus COVID-19 recovery and resiliency efforts and address questions from our campus community.
February 2, 2021
Honoring Black excellence
Since its inception, Black History Month has been a celebration of excellence and a reclamation of a purposefully distorted and mythologized history. This month, we celebrate our community
February 1, 2021
Reform, abolition, and vision
Organizer and prison industrial complex abolitionist Mariame Kaba to address Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation, which will be held virtually for the first
February 1, 2021
Alum inspires kids to create a personal relationship with nature
John Sanders's fascination with the ocean began when he moved with his parents to Venice, Calif. Now he heads a hands-on, science education program in San Luis
February 1, 2021
Noncoding RNA has surprising effects on immune response and sepsis, study finds
A long noncoding RNA regulates the expression of inflammatory genes and has a surprising effect on vulnerability to septic shock in
February 1, 2021
Green New Deal architect Rhiana Gunn-Wright will make a virtual campus visit
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
November 20, 2020
Telecommuting workshop materials
Materials from a campus roundtable discussion on telecommuting
October 23, 2020
Information forum materials
The video, slide deck and Q-and-As from the October 2020 information forum.