November 2023 News Archive

Life Beyond the Redwoods: Noah Whitley reflects on the value of a UCSC degree one year later

One year after graduating from UCSC, Noah Whitley works as a legislative assistant for a political consulting firm that works closely with the California State Legislature.

Smart microgrids can restore power more efficiently and reliably in an outage

A new AI model that optimizes the use of renewables and other energy sources outperforms traditional power restoration techniques for islanded microgrids, a new paper from Assistant Professor

Philanthropist and advocate Rowland Rebele dies at age 93

Rowland Rebele, a distinguished publisher, philanthropist, homeless advocate, and unwavering supporter of the arts, died Saturday, Nov. 25, at the age of 93. His indomitable spirit and fervent

Funding opportunities to develop UC Santa Cruz innovations

The Innovation & Business Engagement Hub is now accepting applications for two funding opportunities to advance innovations being developed at UC Santa

UCSC’s 2023 iGEM team grabs fourth consecutive gold medal and nomination for best software tool at international competition

A team of UC Santa Cruz students won a gold medal at the 2023 International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Grand Jamboree, marking their fourth consecutive year of bringing

2023/2024 Winter Campus Curtailment Time Reporting in CruzPay

Winter Campus Curtailment occurs this year from Monday, December 25, 2023 through Monday, January 1, 2024.

2023 list of most highly cited researchers includes 18 UC Santa Cruz scientists and engineers

In a notable recognition of scholarly achievement, 18 scientists and engineers from UC Santa Cruz have earned a spot on the 2023 Highly Cited Researchers list, recently unveiled

UCPath Direct Deposit Phishing Alert

There is an ongoing phishing attempt targeting UC employees that aims to gain access to your paycheck and reroute your direct deposit.

New eDNA Explorer provides a powerful new resource for conservation

CALeDNA has launched a prototype of their new eDNA Explorer, an open-source tool that provides a powerful and easily accessible platform for sharing, exploring, and analyzing data from

UCSC Alumni Awards 2023

The Alumni Association at UCSC is proud to celebrate this year’s honorees of the UCSC Alumni

UC Santa Cruz Silicon Valley Professional Education upgrades its Semiconductor and VLSI Engineering Certificate to address skilled professional shortage and industry growth

UC Santa Cruz Silicon Valley Professional Education is proud to announce the upgrade of its Silicon Chip Design & Semiconductor Engineering Certificate program (Formerly known as VLSI and

Dwarf planet Eris is squishier than expected

University of California, Santa Cruz Professor of Planetary Sciences Francis Nimmo recently co-authored a Science Advances paper about the internal structure of the dwarf planet

Visits set for Director of Athletics & Recreation candidates

Beginning Monday, December 11 and continuing through Friday, December 15, campus will conduct final in-person interviews in the search for the director of Athletics & Recreation.

Design begins for new Interdisciplinary Instruction and Research Building (IIRB) on Science Hill

UC Santa Cruz is moving forward with preliminary design for a new building that will accommodate the undergraduate teaching programs currently held in Thimann

Chancellor Larive elected to board of the Association of American Universities

UC Santa Cruz Chancellor Cynthia Larive has been elected to serve on the Board of Directors of the Association of American Universities (AAU).

UCSC Alumnus Leo Merle wins Gold for Team USA at the 2023 Parapan American Games

UC Santa Cruz alumnus Leo Merle (Rachel Carson ’20) won the gold medal in the Men’s T38 1500-meter race at the Parapan American Games on Nov. 21.

NASA’s Webb Identifies Methane In an Exoplanet’s Atmosphere

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope observed the exoplanet WASP-80 b as it passed in front of and behind its host star, revealing spectra indicative of an atmosphere containing

Linda Koval’s three-decade commitment

Alumna Linda Koval understands the challenges students face and wants to help break down barriers. She has supported UCSC through her time and resources for nearly three decades.

Bettina Aptheker honored for lifetime commitment to social justice

UCSC alumna and Distinguished Professor Emerita in Feminist Studies Aptheker was recognized for a lifetime of scholarly work and activism with the UCSC Ethos Award.

New book shares expertise from UC Santa Cruz and beyond on preparing students to tackle environmental justice issues

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

UC Santa Cruz faculty member elected president of Sociologists for Women in Society

Associate Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies (LALS) Sylvanna Falcón was recently elected president of Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS). Falcón’s term in the position will

Environmental toxicologist Don Smith receives Outstanding Faculty Award

Don Smith, distinguished professor of microbiology and environmental toxicology, has been awarded the 2022-2023 Outstanding Faculty Award from the Division of Physical and Biological Sciences. The annual award

Campus to eliminate enrollment adjustment fees effective January

UC Santa Cruz is eliminating three long-standing enrollment adjustment fees, including the $10 Removal of Incomplete Fee.

Notice of open comment, UC policy on the use of university vehicles

The University of California Office of the President invites comments on a proposed Presidential Policy BFB-BUS-46 Use of University Vehicles.

Life Beyond the Redwoods: Seeyade Gizachew shares insights one year after UCSC graduation

A health justice coordinator for RYSE Youth Center in Richmond, California, and a graduate student at UC Berkeley, Seeyade Gizachew (Stevenson ’22, community studies and psychology) is passionate

Life Beyond the Redwoods: Maxwell Ward follows his dreams one year after UCSC graduation

One year after graduating from UCSC, Maxwell Ward (Cowell ’22, history of art and visual culture and anthropology) is pursuing a Ph.D. in anthropology with a focus on

Life Beyond the Redwoods: Benny Mosqueira participates in groundbreaking research one year after graduating from UCSC

One year after graduating from UCSC, Benny Mosqueira is a research assistant for MCD Biology Assistant Professor D’Juan Farmer’s lab at UCLA.

Life Beyond the Redwoods: Teresa Faasolo reflects on her educational journey one year after graduating from UCSC

A year after graduating with a B.S. in computer engineering from UCSC, Teresal Faasolo (Merrill ’22) is a software quality assurance engineer at Digital Dynamics, Inc., based in

François Monard honored with Calderón Prize for inverse problems work

University of California, Santa Cruz professor of mathematics François Monard has received the prestigious Calderón Prize for his work in the field of inverse problems.

Annual Harvest Meal planned for November 23

UC Santa Cruz Dining will be hosting the annual Harvest Meal on Thursday, November 23, 1–4 p.m., at the College Nine/John R. Lewis dining hall.

Fishing chimpanzees found to enjoy termites as a seasonal treat

A UCSC-led research team that copied chimpanzee tools and techniques showed that chimpanzees living in western Tanzania can only reliably fish for termites in the early wet

UCSC doctoral graduate wins prestigious Science & SciLifeLab Prize for Young Scientists

Jessica Kendall-Bar, who received her Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology last year from UC Santa Cruz with co-advisors Terrie Williams and Dan Costa, was named a recipient

UCSC alumnus at the forefront of humanitarian efforts in Ukraine

UC Santa Cruz alumnus Peter Gelpi is at the forefront of efforts to feed Ukrainians displaced by the war against Russia.

Brain-inspired AI code library passes major milestone, new paper offers perspective on future of field

UCSC Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Jason Eshraghian's open source code library for brain-inspired deep learning, called “snnTorch,” has surpassed 100,000 downloads and is used in

World-renowned supernova expert honored for breakthrough contributions to astronomy

Mark Phillips received the Alumni Achievement Award on Oct. 27, 2023, for his pioneering supernova research that led to the reversal of a major scientific theory on the

Campus update: UC president addresses campus climate, Giving Day a resounding success, APEC forum a chance to showcase research

This fall has been a difficult one, as the impact of the escalating Israel-Hamas conflict has rippled outward to our community and so many others. University of California President Michael Drake at Wednesday’s UC Regents meeting addressed the hurt and tensions that many UC students, staff and faculty are experiencing as we collectively process this tragedy.

UC Santa Cruz will lead new systemwide basic needs consortium to bring together researchers and practitioners

UC Santa Cruz’s Blum Center on Poverty, Social Enterprise, and Participatory Governance will become the UC Santa Cruz Center for Economic Justice and Action, taking on a new

bell hooks’s legacy turns a new page

For her remarkable legacy and lifelong contributions in the fields of literature and feminist studies, bell hooks posthumously received the Alumni Achievement Award on Oct. 27, 2023. Her

Worldwide leaders convene to protect, advance global biodiversity

With a focus on sustaining and strengthening global biodiversity in the face of climate change, UC Santa Cruz hosted the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation University Leaders' Forum, bringing together

Open enrollment ends Friday at 5 p.m. UC

New open access course – data-driven animation for science communication

The Teaching & Learning Center at UC Santa Cruz is delighted to announce that Dr. Jessica Kendall-Bar has created an open access version of her Data-Driven Animation for Science Communication course, which is now freely available on the Coursera platform.

UC Santa Cruz students host second annual Student Climate Conference

Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023, at UC Santa Cruz’s Rachel Carson College, the UC Santa Cruz Climate Coalition is hosting a Student Climate Conference, with student panels, academic posters, and art from graduate and undergraduate students from not just UC Santa Cruz but other California colleges and universities.

UCSC’s 2023 United Way Employee Campaign now underway

2023 UCSC United Way campaign has officially launched. The 2023 campaign - United in Purpose - centers the increased impact we can have when we come together, united

Central Coast K-16 Education Collaborative receives $18.1 million grant to revolutionize student pathways and bridge equity gaps

The Central Coast K-16 Regional Collaborative has been awarded an $18.1 million, three-year grant through California’s Community Economic Resilience Fund (CERF) to establish new or expand existing pathways

A major new site expansion at Lick Observatory is on the horizon

Lick Observatory's positioning in the Northern Hemisphere enables observation of a substantial portion of the Milky Way galaxy where there are a multitude of stars, billions of potential

UC Santa Cruz welcomes new director of Audit and Management Advisory Services

Amy Kozak has been named UC Santa Cruz’s new director of Audit and Management Advisory Services. She started her role Monday, November 13.

UCSC Humanities Division welcomes 11 new faculty members

The Humanities Division is proud to announce the recent hires of 11 outstanding new faculty members whose disciplines range from Critical Race & Ethnic Studies (CRES) to the

University Center Bistro now open for weekday lunch service

University Center Bistro has opened its doors for lunch Monday through Friday above the College Nine/John R. Lewis dining hall, giving faculty, staff, and students a new dining

Upholding community responsibilities

As our community members seek to have their voices heard and to engage in protest, it is crucial not to let the overwhelming nature of the pain we feel cause us to abandon our obligations to each other.

Policies regarding academic freedom and political advocacy in the classroom

I write today to draw attention, and provide references, to University of California policy regarding academic freedom and political advocacy in the classroom and other instructional spaces.

Giving Day 2023 breaks records

Giving Day, UC Santa Cruz’s biggest fundraising event of the year, wraps up on a high

Veteran students excel with Bruce Lane Memorial Scholarship

The Bruce Lane Memorial Scholarship was established to support veteran students at UC Santa Cruz. Devin Burkland and Dan Palance are this year's

UCSC Alumnus Jim Lapsley helps build a future for Crown College

Pioneer alumnus Jim Lapsley, who was recognized with the Fiat Lux Award for his contributions to the Crown College Endowment, ruminates on his fundraising efforts and shares highlights

Alumna Lisa Rose celebrates legacy of support for Crown College

Crown College alumna and volunteer Lisa Rose (Crown ’72, literature) receives Fiat Lux Award for her dedication to Crown College.

Alumna Susan Nerton honored for contributions to Crown College

Crown College alumna and volunteer Susan Nerton (Crown ’71, ’87, psychology and computer and information science) receives Fiat Lux Award for her dedication to Crown

Campus Updates

Prescribed burns near campus today and tomorrow

California State Parks has announced that it will be conducting prescribed burns in Wilder Ranch today, November 8, and tomorrow, Nov. 9.

Award winning composer and television producer Ken Corday returns to campus for music recital

UC Santa Cruz alumnus Ken Corday will perform a solo piano recital on Nov. 17 at UCSC’s Music Center.

Celebrating Election Heroes

November 6 was Election Hero Day, a civic holiday honoring the heroes of American democracy. UC Santa Cruz wants to celebrate the tremendous contributions our students have made,

UC Santa Cruz students win three categories at Orange County Sustainability Decathlon

An interdisciplinary team of UC Santa Cruz students, many from the Rachel Carson College Sustainability Minor program, designed and built EcoHus, an innovative, affordable, net-zero house. The EcoHus

Communication, connection and inclusion are priorities for 2023 Outstanding Staff Awardee

Monique Leduc has been a valued member of the UC Santa Cruz community for 34 years, starting as an assistant analyst in the Financial Aid office in 1989.

Alumna Alexis Jackson takes the lessons from the Pacific Coast near UCSC to the environmental policy tables of California

Championing community transformation

For his service to his community and the public, Abel Pineda received the Outstanding Recent Alumni Award on Oct. 27, 2023.

True or false? How uncertainty about the accuracy of information affects learning

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

Emeritus Rex: Tackling the role of King Lear by Professor Emeritus Paul Whitworth

Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Theatre, Paul Whitworth discusses Shakespeare’s ‘retirement’ play, King Lear. Whitworth asks: what happens when you decide to step down and face the last years

Seeing “One Too Many Racist Musicals” is What Led Preston Choi to be a Playwright

Rebecca Wear, professor of Performance, Play and Design, will direct the student production of "You'll Get Used to It" at UC Santa Cruz on Nov. 3-12,

Irene Lusztig’s Film Richland Explores a Town Grappling with its Ties to the Atomic Bomb

Irene Lusztig's latest film, Richland, tells the story of the town of the same name. The film opened at Tribeca and at the prestigious International Documentary Festival Amsterdam,