2023  Social Sciences

Pulitzer Prize-winning climate journalist Elizabeth Kolbert warns of the complications, perils, and potentials of environmental interventions at Deep Read talk on campus

In her on on-stage discussion with New York Times columnist, podcaster and UCSC alumna Ezra Klein, Elizabeth Kolbert spoke about the efforts to roll back the effects of climate change. The talk was part of The Humanities Institute's fourth annual Deep Read series.

Huerta Center naming inspires full-circle gift

The naming of the Dolores Huerta Research Center for the Americas hits close to home for a UCSC staff member with a family connection

Advancing Student Food Security

The university’s multi-pronged approach—including field-to-plate food security, expanded access and food pantry resources, holistic CalFresh support, student-centered basic needs research and assessment, and Slug Support program—works to ensure a safety net for UCSC students.

Empowering communities through partnership

In partnership with Habitat for Humanity Monterey Bay, UC Santa Cruz’s Blum Center is working to compile data and stories on the impact of affordable housing in Santa Cruz.

Excellence in Action: Celebrating UCSC’s 2023 Distinguished Graduate Alumni Award Recipients

Now in its seventh year, the Distinguished Graduate Alumni Award welcomes its 2023 cohort.

Mark Fathi Massoud awarded Berlin Prize

Massoud's Berlin Prize fellowship will allow him to focus on research about perceptions and experiences of shari‘a in the United States.

UCSC prepares alumna for Peace Corps path

Alyssa Scarsciotti (Stevenson ’20, Sociology and Linguistics) dreamed of joining the Peace Corps since she was a child. After graduating from UCSC, Scarsciotti is making her dream a reality.

Center for Agroecology will support new USDA Regional Food Business Center

The University of California, Santa Cruz will support the establishment of a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Regional Food Business Center to support resilient food systems.

UC Santa Cruz and United Way invest in youth perspective in researching mental health throughout local communities

Beginning in early 2021, UC Santa Cruz partnered with the United Way of Santa Cruz County’s Youth Action Network, seeking to support youth empowerment and leadership. As part of that vital work, the partners were recognized as the United Way Partner of the Year.

UCSC environmental governance expert named to NASEM committee addressing methane gas emissions

Environmental Studies Professor Sikina Jinnah has been appointed as a member of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Committee for Atmospheric Methane Removal to assess viable technological options for reducing a powerful greenhouse gas.

Peter Bratt announced as 2023 Social Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award recipient

Rockefeller Fellow, Peabody Award winner, Emmy-nominated film producer, writer, director, community organizer, and social justice activist Peter Bratt is UC Santa Cruz’s 2023 Social Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award recipient.

New stable isotope map of Angola helps archaeologists trace individual life histories across the African Diaspora

UCSC researchers' methods could provide significantly more detail and certainty in identifying first-generation enslaved individuals in the Americas and tracing back their origins within Africa than was previously possible through strontium isotope analysis work or genetic analysis.

Indirect cost recovery changes for fiscal year 2024

Attention Principal Investigators: UC Santa Cruz recently updated its federal Facilities and Administration (F&A) agreement approving indirect cost recovery rates for sponsored contracts and grants.

In Memoriam: Margaret I. Fitzsimmons

Annual climate change event takes aim at heat and human health for 2023

The ninth annual Confronting Climate Change event gathered top scholars to discuss the health impacts of climate change and the social and economic transformations needed to address them.

Rebecca London testifies in support of bill that would guarantee recess for California students

Associate Professor of Sociology Rebecca London testified before the California State Senate Education Committee on April 12 in support of SB 291, which would guarantee at least 30 minutes of recess per day for California students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Coming to Fruition

UCSC alumni Tallula Preston and David Purgason founded Watsonville based Fruition Brewing in 2019. Four years later, the duo’s establishment is a staple in the Santa Cruz and Watsonville communities.

Representing her community

A daughter of a Vietnamese refugee and a Mexican immigrant, Kim Bernice Nguyen advocates for her community as the youngest person to hold a seat on the Garden Grove City Council. In Jan. 2023, Nguyen announced her run for Congress.

Colombian all-female team uncovers naturalist Elizabeth Kerr’s long-forgotten legacy

Many fields of study have long been dominated by men but a team of eight female Colombian researchers are committed to uncovering the story of naturalist pioneer Elizabeth Kerr, whose legacy had remained invisible despite her vast contributions to ornithology.

Challenging the costs

While at UCSC, Marisol Ornelas (Stevenson ‘24, politics and legal studies) is working to remedy the many obstacles on the road to higher education.

Food system researcher Julie Guthman wins distinguished career award

Professor of sociology and community studies Julie Guthman was recognized with the Distinguished Career Award by the Cultural and Political Ecology speciality group of the American Association of Geographers. 

White House cites Rob Fairlie’s research in annual economic report

Economics Professor Rob Fairlie’s research on race and ethnicity in higher education was cited in the 2023 Economic Report of the President.

Spring 2023 Emeriti Lecture: Peace Teachers In and From Soledad Prison

John Brown Childs began offering courses on transcommunality at Soledad Correctional Facility eighteen years ago. Almost two decades later, his teachings continue to transform the lives of incarcerated men in Soledad.

Humans and housing density are the leading cause of death for local pumas

Two new studies involving UC Santa Cruz researchers are shedding light on the challenges facing local pumas where humans are encroaching on their natural habitats.

Grant funds Sarker's aquaculture sustainability research

Pallab Sarker received a foundation grant fund from the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation, amounting to $170,947 over three years to strengthen his lab’s ecological aquaculture work.

Pedroza received Russell Sage Foundation Pipeline Grant

Assistant Professor Juan Manuel Pedroza aims to learn more about these challenges and speak to them, with the help of a recently awarded grant from the Russell Sage Foundation.

Center for Labor and Community opens on UC Santa Cruz campus

Scholars studying the economic and social impacts of a variety of labor and employment issues facing workers in Santa Cruz and the Monterey Bay Area just announced the opening of a new center on campus that will provide timely and policy-relevant labor research, will educate the next generation of labor and community leaders and will advance labor, community, and occupational health initiatives.

Cultivating equitable communications

Elise Duffau was awarded the Frederico and Rena Perlino Memorial Scholarship in 2022. Learn more about how scholarships support students at UC Santa Cruz.

Local educators shared expertise at the first STEM Education Central Coast Conference

The conference, which was organized by California State University Monterey Bay in collaboration with UC Santa Cruz, was designed by and for local educators in science, technology, engineering and math. The goal was to share expertise.

Where is your squid coming from? Most likely unregulated waters, according to a new international study

Scientists and policymakers have voiced growing concerns about the decline of global squid stocks, but little has been done to date to target squid fishing activities that are expanding into unregulated spaces, according to a new international study.

Alumni Councilor April Yee

April Yee joined the UCSC Alumni Council in 2017.

UCSC wins prestigious Highly Established Action Plan Seal for voter engagement

UC Santa Cruz has become one of only three University of California campuses awarded a Highly Established Action Plan Seal as part of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge (ALL IN) for its voter engagement efforts.

Indigenous land management focus of this year’s Conversations on Climate Justice

Wildfires. Flooding. Drought. The nation has faced these climate issues for centuries. Yet, there’s still a lot that can be learned from pre-colonial indigenous food and land management techniques to combat our current climate problems, according to Dr. Lyla June Johnston, the keynote speaker for UC Santa Cruz’s third annual Conversations on Climate Justice event, coming up this Monday, March 13.

Continuing an Academic Legacy

The Dr. Aaronette White Scholarship was awarded to Guneet Hora in 2022.

Leaf wetness sensor will enable better plant disease forecasting and management

An interdisciplinary team of researchers created a new type of sensor for more accurately measuring leaf wetness which will enable better plant disease forecasting and management.

Leading and learning to save the world

CalEPA Secretary Yana Garcia heads California’s fight against the ongoing climate crisis with her UCSC education as her foundation.

Speaking his soul: John Rickford to speak at Distinguished Alumni Lecture

Stevenson College Distinguished alumnus John Rickford returns to UC Santa Cruz for a reading of a chapter of his memoir, “Speaking my Soul: Race, Life, and Language.”

UCSC professor building collaborations to shape future minds through ethnic studies

Many believe we are at a pivotal moment in this country regarding anti-racist reforms, police abolition, and restorative justice. And according to Rekia Jibrin, an assistant professor in critical studies of education within UC Santa Cruz’s Education Department, engaging local communities is vital to bringing about transformative change.

Legal Studies Program, Santa Cruz County Public Defender’s Office partner for National Public Defense Summit

Interested in learning about the importance of public defense and criminal law? The UC Santa Cruz Legal Studies Program, in partnership with the Santa Cruz County Office of the Public Defender, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), and the National Association for Public Defense, will host its first-ever National Public Defense Summit on February 24-25 at the Stevenson Event Center.

Funding opportunity to develop university innovations

The Innovation & Business Engagement Hub is now accepting applications for its new Innovation Catalyst Grant; a proof-of-concept program focused on providing targeted gap funding, training, mentorship, and support to UC Santa Cruz researchers in order to help de-risk and/or validate the implementation and adoption potential of early-stage technology innovations.

UCSC receives NEH awards that will further research in anthropology and musicology

On January 10, the NEH announced $28.1 million in grants toward 204 humanities projects nationwide. Two of this year’s recipients are part of the Slug family themselves, and their new grants will help to further their research in both anthropology and musicology at UC Santa Cruz.

Three UCSC faculty named 2022 AAAS fellows

Three UC Santa Cruz professors received the distinction of 2022 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the association announced today.

University launches new center, Campus + Community, to facilitate engaged scholarship

After more than 50 years of engagement in the region, UC Santa Cruz is launching a new center to coordinate campus and community connections for action-oriented scholarship that advances social justice.

Disclosing foreign collaborations in research projects

In order to comply with evolving federal regulations related to disclosing foreign collaborations and other support, the Office of Research has updated Cayuse to include screening questions. These questions are meant to trigger information that needs to be disclosed on all applications and progress reports for projects with federal funding.

Sanya Cowal: Resilience and agency

Sanya Cowal was awarded the Jessica Roy Memorial Scholarship in 2022. Learn more about how scholarships support students at UC Santa Cruz.

Five student teams embark on tech for social good projects

Five student teams will take on tech for social good projects with funding from the UCSC CITRIS and the Banatao Institute and the UCSC Institute for Social Transformation.

Zahirah Suhaimi: Exploring ecological states

Zahirah Suhaimi was awarded the Dr. Midori Arima Scholarship in Anthropology in 2022.