Earth Sciences
- December 02, 2024
Magnetic tornadoes create Earth-size spots discovered at Jupiter's poles
While Jupiter’s Great Red Spot has been a constant feature of the planet for centuries, a team of astronomers have discovered equally large spots at the planet’s north and south poles that appear and disappear seemingly at random.
- October 17, 2024
New book California Catastrophes challenges coastal communities to confront reality
It's no secret that Californians live with the reality of earthquakes, landslides, wildfires, and other natural disasters. This confronts those who choose to stay, and the many who move here, with the equally ominous question: What can we do about it?
- October 16, 2024
Understanding landslides: a new model for predicting motion
Along coastal California, the possibility of earthquakes and landslides are commonly prefaced by the phrase, “not if, but when.” This precarious reality is now a bit more predictable thanks to researchers at UC Santa Cruz and The University of Texas at Austin, who found that conditions known to cause slip along fault lines deep underground also lead to landslides above.
- October 15, 2024
Science Division debuts ‘degree-defining experiences’ drawing on UC Santa Cruz’s unique strengths
The Science Division has received a $1 million donation to begin a major new program on “degree-defining experiences.” The program will pilot 17 projects across campus that aim to profoundly inspire undergraduate students and fill them with the kind of optimism that forever changes how they see their time at UC Santa Cruz and their future careers.
- September 18, 2024
Postdoc Will Steinhardt wins early-career award for innovative earthquake-physics research
The American Geophysical Union (AGU) has presented UC Santa Cruz postdoctoral scholar Will Steinhardt with its 2024 Jason P. Morgan Early Career Award honoring outstanding and significant contributions to tectonophysics through a combination of research, education, and outreach activities.
- June 24, 2024
Hydrothermal vents on seafloors of ‘ocean worlds’ could support life, new study says
Many lines of research suggest that some ocean worlds release enough heat internally to drive hydrothermal circulation under their seafloors. This heat is generated by radioactive decay, as occurs deep in the Earth, with additional heat possibly generated by tides.
- June 13, 2024
Ph.D. student leads effort to open Kosovo's first observatory
Earth’s newest observatory will open to the public on June 20, 2024, coinciding with the summer solstice, thanks in large part to a UC Santa Cruz student from Kosovo who discovered her love of astronomy as a child amidst the chaos of the country’s brutal war for independence over 20 years ago.
- May 16, 2024
Francis Nimmo elected to prestigious fellowship of UK's Royal Society
Francis Nimmo, professor of earth and planetary sciences, has been named a fellow of the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of sciences. The society announced today the election of 90 researchers from around the world as new fellows, citing their "invaluable contributions to science."
- April 02, 2024
The Science Division announces recipients of Distinguished Alumni Awards
Dr. José de Jesús González, Dr. Maximiliano Mateo Cuevas, and Dr. Charles A. Lawson are this year’s Distinguished Alumni Award recipients for the Science Division.
- March 27, 2024
UC Santa Cruz joins consortium advancing Earth system science programs
UC Santa Cruz has joined a nonprofit consortium of 126 North American colleges and universities focused on research and training in Earth system science.
- February 23, 2024
Closer water monitoring needed as wildfires increase
UC Santa Cruz researchers warn that wildfires can change the chemistry of nearby streams that people and wildlife depend on for drinking water. But they found that the baseline water-chemistry data needed to detect such changes aren’t always available.
- February 14, 2024
Student Gabriella Goss wins $500 Alumni Leadership Award from Ecology Project International
Her project draws inspiration from her Ecology Project International (EPI) course experience in the Galapagos Islands, where she witnessed the thriving wildlife in an ecosystem largely spared from human interference. This prompted her to explore the negative impact of human activities on animal habitats, specifically focusing on the millions of animals killed annually by vehicles.
- January 24, 2024
Institute of Arts and Sciences announces new interdisciplinary initiative on climate change
A new multi-year initiative will bring together arts and science to start a conversation about marine biology and the effects of climate change. The new exhibit is set to premier in 2025, and the project is already in progress as the Friedlaender lab collaborates with nationally recognized artists.
- January 22, 2024
Institute of the Arts & Sciences announces inaugural artists in the Coha Nowark Art + Science Residency Program