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Research

December 18, 2024
A ‘remelting’ of lunar surface adds a wrinkle to mystery of Moon’s true age
In an "idea paper" published on December 18 in Nature, UC Santa Cruz Professor Francis Nimmo and his co-authors propose a "remelting" of the Moon's surface 4.35 billion years ago due to the tidal pull of Earth causing widespread geological upheaval and intense heating.
December 17, 2024
Scientists collaborate on immersive technology to address climate challenges
The UC Santa Cruz Center for Coastal Climate Resilience (CCCR) and a team of scientists and science communicators at UC San Diego have developed an initiative focused on immersive technology that uses advanced hardware and software to simulate environments and experiences.
December 17, 2024
Campus secures funding for innovative research projects addressing climate action and linguistic diversity
Two cutting-edge research projects led by the University of California, Santa Cruz have been awarded funding through the University of California’s Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives (MRPI). This underscores the university's leadership in advancing creative and impactful solutions to global challenges.
December 05, 2024
Mangroves save $855 billion in flood protection globally, new study shows
Mangroves have been shown to provide $855 billion in flood protection services worldwide, according to a new study from the Center for Coastal Climate Resilience at UC Santa Cruz. The research is featured in the World Bank's 2024 edition of The Changing Wealth of Nations.
December 02, 2024
Physics experiment proves patterns in chaos in peculiar quantum realm
Where do you see patterns in chaos? It has been proven, in the incredibly tiny quantum realm, by an international team co-led by UC Santa Cruz physicist Jairo Velasco, Jr. In the journal Nature, the researchers detail an experiment that confirms a theory first put forth 40 years ago stating that electrons confined in quantum space would move along common paths rather than producing a chaotic jumble of trajectories.
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.
November 26, 2024
UC Santa Cruz, Monterey Bay Aquarium lead collaboration on kelp conservation
In May 2024, UC Santa Cruz and the Monterey Bay Aquarium convened a workshop aimed at bridging the gap between scientific research and the practical application of evolutionary resilience concepts for kelp.
November 25, 2024
Professor J. Xavier Prochaska to deliver December 4 Kraw Lecture
The Kraw Lecture Series aims to help audiences better understand the big picture behind scientific research at UC Santa Cruz and the broader trends at play. This tradition continues with the December 4 talk on how artificial intelligence (AI) is accelerating the scientific pursuit.
November 21, 2024
Fewer than 7% of global hotspots for whale-ship collisions have protection measures in place
A UC Santa Cruz scientist who specializes in research at the intersection of big data and marine-life conservation has contributed to a new study that shows the vast majority of “hotspots” where ships collide with whales in the world’s oceans lack protections for the majestic giants.
November 13, 2024
$7.5 million awarded to UC Santa Cruz to support leadership in salmon-recovery science
UC Santa Cruz has received nearly $7.5 million from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) to vault scientific research on imperiled Pacific salmon populations into one of the nation’s most powerful collaborations between the agency and academia to save the vital species.
November 13, 2024
Team discovers ultra-massive galaxies in early Universe that challenge standard cosmology
An international team of astronomers has identified three ultra-massive galaxies—each nearly as massive as the Milky Way—already in place within the first billion years after the Big Bang. The discovery is surprising because it indicates that the formation of stars in the early Universe was far more efficient than previously thought, challenging current models of galaxy formation.
November 08, 2024
New chemical process makes biodiesel production easier, less energy intensive
UC Santa Cruz chemists have discovered a new way to produce biodiesel from waste oil that both simplifies the process and requires relatively mild heat. This discovery has the potential to make the alternative fuel source much more appealing to the massive industrial sectors that are the backbone of the nation’s economy.
November 01, 2024
Legacy of helping minoritized students thrive in STEM careers faces uncertain future
If ultimately fully funded, the MPC2SC Program will start by identifying 10 students at the community college during their freshman year. They will then be guided through a targeted curriculum that will prepare them to transfer to UC Santa Cruz the fall of their junior year.
October 30, 2024
How researchers can maximize biological insights using animal-tracking devices
Biologgers allow us to see with unprecedented precision how animals move and behave in the wild. But that's only part of the picture, according to a UC Santa Cruz ecologist renowned for using biologging data to tell the deeper story about the lives of marine mammals in a changing world.
October 30, 2024
UC Santa Cruz named a U.S. National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps Hub for the Northwest Region
UC Santa Cruz has been selected as one of eight partner institutions in the newly established U.S. National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Hub for the Northwest Region.
October 28, 2024
Engineers awarded CDC contract to build pathogen-tracing public health tools
The CDC has awarded Corbett-Detig and his team at the UCSC Genomics Institute a two-year, $2.52 million contract to continue their work tracking the COVID-19 virus’s evolution and expand their software tools to track other pathogens.
October 23, 2024
Dolphins sense military sonar at much lower levels than regulators predict
For the first time ever, a team including several UC Santa Cruz scientists have directly measured the behavioral responses of some of the most common marine mammals to military sonar. And the finding that surprised them most was that these animals were sensitive to the sounds at much lower levels than previously predicted.
October 23, 2024
Ultra-small spectrometer yields the power of a 1,000 times bigger device
UC Santa Cruz researchers are designing new ways to make spectrometers that are ultra-small but still very powerful, to be used for anything from detecting disease to observing stars in distant galaxies
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 17, 2024
California Academy of Sciences Honors Dan Costa with Fellows Medal
The California Academy of Sciences presented UC Santa Cruz’s Dan Costa, distinguished professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, with its highest honor at an awards ceremony on October 15.
October 17, 2024
Former UC Santa Cruz physicist Michael Riordan honored for historical narratives of his field
The American Physical Society awarded former UC Santa Cruz physicist Michael Riordan on October 15 with its Abraham Pais Prize for History of Physics.
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.
October 15, 2024
Genomics Institute provides seed funds for six multidisciplinary projects
The Genomics Institute has awarded grants of up to $50,000 to six multidisciplinary research projects in the inaugural year of its seed funding program
October 15, 2024
Astronomy postdoc to develop technologies that mold starlight to better detect exoplanets
The Astronomy & Astrophysics Department welcomes postdoctoral scientist Emiel Por, who invents technologies that mold the starlight captured by ground- and space-based telescopes to improve imaging of planetary companions. His work will be supported by the Heising-Simons Foundation's 51 Pegasi b Fellowship program.
October 14, 2024
Global warming is happening, but not statistically ‘surging,’ new study finds
The new study, published on October 14 in the journal Nature Communications Earth & Environment, confirms the broad consensus that the planet is getting warmer, but at a statistically steady rate—not at a sufficiently accelerated rate that could be statistically defined as a surge.
October 08, 2024
New apps will enable safer indoor navigation for blind people
Two new apps will enable blind people to navigate indoor buildings with spoken directions from a smartphone app, providing a safe method of wayfinding where GPS doesn’t work.
October 03, 2024
New policy essay: subsidies’ hidden costs for the environment
Government subsidies for business practices and processes should be approached with caution, even when they seem to be environmentally friendly, a team that includes a UC Santa Cruz researcher concludes in this week’s “Policy Forum” in the journal Science.
September 30, 2024
UC Santa Cruz neuroscientist to provide rapid-response expertise for AI policymaking
Assistant Professor Dan Turner-Evans will spend the 2024-25 academic year in Washington, D.C., providing expertise to lawmakers as they develop federal policies on artificial intelligence (AI) as part of the rapid-response cohort of Science & Technology Policy Fellows chosen by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
September 19, 2024
Center for Archival Research and Training celebrates 10 years of success
This October, the University Library at UC Santa Cruz Elisabeth Remak-Honnef Center for Archival Research and Training (CART) marks its 10th anniversary, celebrating a decade of shaping graduate students’ careers through hands-on archival experience.
September 18, 2024
UC Santa Cruz astronomer delivers keynote speech for Mexico's National Council of Humanities, Sciences and Technologies
The council chose Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz as the final speaker in the series, which leads up to the inauguration of Mexico's new president on October 1, in honor of his distinguished career and accomplishments that followed his public education and training in Mexico.
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.
September 17, 2024
A wobble from Mars could be sign of dark matter, new study finds
New simulations suggest that there are enough primordial black holes—potential dark matter candidates—in the universe for one to pass through the inner solar system every decade. The work builds upon an astrophysical theory that has growing popularity.
September 17, 2024
UC Santa Cruz celebrates National Postdoc Appreciation Week
Postdoctoral scholars at UC Santa Cruz participate in cutting-edge research while in this ultimate phase of their academic training. Many are preparing to enter the academy, while some are preparing for non-academic careers or professions that merge the two domains.
September 12, 2024
National Academy of Education awarded Josephine H. Pham the Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship
Josephine H. Pham, Assistant Professor of Critical Studies in Education at the University of California, Santa Cruz, has been awarded the prestigious National Academy of Education Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship.
September 05, 2024
Learn how to protect our oceans at Blue Innovation Day on Oct. 6
UC Santa Cruz’s Innovation & Business Engagement Hub is partnering with Santa Cruz Works on Blue Innovation Day 2024, an event featuring activities and exhibits from companies, artists, small businesses, non-profits, and researchers who are committed to combating the water and ocean challenges exacerbated by climate change.
September 03, 2024
UC Santa Cruz research will harness advanced AI to better measure, predict climate-change impacts
Two UC Santa Cruz research projects designed to leverage advanced forms of artificial intelligence to improve how scientists measure and predict the effects of climate change have won funding from a $20 million investment by the National Science Foundation.
August 29, 2024
Scientists to study nearby galaxies for galactic-formation history, dark matter
At approximately 100,000 light years in diameter, the Milky Way's vastness and the broader, ever-changing dynamics of the cosmos defy any attempt to fully understand our home galaxy and its history. UC Santa Cruz astronomer Puragra "Raja" GuhaThakurta sums up this dilemma in more familiar and figurative terms: "We simply don’t have a selfie stick long enough to take those kinds of photos."
August 27, 2024
UC Santa Cruz professor honored by American Chemical Society for natural-products discovery
Phil Crews, distinguished research professor of chemistry and biochemistry, is being honored by the American Chemical Society for outstanding work in the analysis, structural elucidation, and chemical synthesis of natural products.
August 20, 2024
Bear DNA study to measure impact of conservation actions on genetic diversity
The National Science Foundation will fund research at UC Santa Cruz that will examine the DNA of brown bears in the lower 48 states, where the iconic beast’s numbers have seen catastrophic declines over the last century.
August 14, 2024
Dan Costa to accept Monterey Bay marine sanctuary award with lecture on September 25
The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary will present its Ed Ricketts Memorial Award to Dan Costa, distinguished professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, and former director of UC Santa Cruz's Institute of Marine Sciences. As part of the honor, Costa will deliver a free lecture at the sanctuary's Exploration Center starting at 6:30 p.m.
August 09, 2024
Endangered Santa Cruz salamander featured in National Geographic photo project
National Geographic Explorer and photographer Joel Sartore visited the Coastal Science Campus to take pictures of the Santa Cruz long-toed salamander, one of many endangered species that UC Santa Cruz researchers are working hard to save.
August 07, 2024
Preparing California’s agricultural lands for climate change
Two UC Santa Cruz researchers won a total of more than $1.5 million in federal funding for their research that's helping to create sustainable "agroecosystems" in response to climate change and other increased environmental pressures.
August 05, 2024
Fisheries Collaborative staff honored for excellence and impactful work
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is honoring multiple employees of UC Santa Cruz's Fisheries Collaborative Program for their contributions as members of NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) community.
August 01, 2024
New research led by UC Santa Cruz fellow outlines framework for mainstreaming nature in U.S. federal policy
Our communities must combat climate change and nature loss, and prepare more for changing climates. A groundbreaking research paper led by Heather Tallis (M.S. '99, marine sciences), a Senior Fellow with the university’s Center for Coastal Climate Resilience (CCCR), presents a comprehensive framework for integrating nature into policy-making to help make that happen.
July 29, 2024
An overlooked side-effect of the housing crisis may be putting Californians at increased risk from climate disasters
In a new article for the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, UC Santa Cruz researchers laid out the foundation for their highly-anticipated upcoming study of how lack of affordable housing in urban areas of California may be driving increased development in and near wildlands, leading to more severe climate change impacts.
July 23, 2024
Biochemist Carrie Partch selected as Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator
Carrie Partch, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UC Santa Cruz, is among 26 top scientists chosen by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) to be HHMI investigators and receive the support needed to move their research in creative new directions and make groundbreaking discoveries.
July 22, 2024
International body honors UC Santa Cruz physicists with Frontiers of Science Award
UC Santa Cruz physicists Stefania Gori and Wolfgang Altmannshofer were honored by the International Congress of Basic Science (ICBS) at a July 14 ceremony in Beijing with a Frontiers of Science Award in the category of particle-physics phenomenology.
July 18, 2024
U.S. ATLAS collaboration names UC Santa Cruz alum ‘Outstanding Graduate Student’
The organization representing the U.S. contingent of the international ATLAS experiment conducted with the world's most powerful particle accelerator has presented its 2024 Outstanding Graduate Student Award to Yuzhan Zhao, who graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a Ph.D. in physics this year.
July 17, 2024
The Humanities Institute receives Global Public Humanities Award
The Humanities Institute at UC Santa Cruz was honored as one of the two inaugural winners of the “Public Humanities Award for Leadership in Practice and Community” at the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes annual meeting in May 2024.
July 16, 2024
Scientists find that small regions of the brain can take micro-naps while the rest of the brain is awake and vice versa
For the first time, scientists have found that sleep can be detected by patterns of neuronal activity just milliseconds long
July 15, 2024
Loss of oxygen in lakes and oceans another sign of Earth systems under strain
New essay co-authored by UC Santa Cruz researcher says aquatic deoxygenation is intertwined with climate change and other 'planetary boundary' processes
July 12, 2024
Researchers win best paper award for introducing new AI method for minimum-effort materials engineering
UC Santa Cruz researchers devised a new method for materials engineering that incorporates novel mathematical and deep learning techniques which won them the prestigious 2024 O. Hugo Schuck Best Application Paper Award from the American Automatic Control Council.
July 12, 2024
Students across the region invited to help shape the future of semiconductors
As AI weaves itself into more areas of life, scientists and engineers at UC Santa Cruz have come together to develop a better component that serves as the "neuron" in brain-inspired computing. The imperative to make such processing much more energy efficient, and faster, means that those who can design and build these next-generation devices will be in high demand on the job market.
July 11, 2024
Environmental toxicologist wins funding to use feathers to test for lead exposure in birds
Myra Finkelstein, adjunct professor in microbiology and environmental toxicology, was one of nine researchers nationwide honored on July 8 by the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) for developing humane solutions to human-wildlife conflicts. Each researcher will receive a grant of up to $15,000 as part of the Christine Stevens Wildlife Award, which honors AWI's late founder and longtime president.
July 09, 2024
UC Santa Cruz astrophysicists honored for advancing research on the mysterious FRB
Fast radio bursts are sudden flashes of radio waves coming from random parts of the sky. Each one is on only for a few milliseconds, but they are extraordinarily bright: In those few milliseconds, they put out more energy than our sun does in an entire year. We also know that they come from objects in distant galaxies, sometimes billions of light years away.
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 20, 2024
Researchers run high-performing large language model on the energy needed to power a lightbulb
UC Santa Cruz researchers show that it is possible to eliminate the most computationally expensive element of running large language models, called matrix multiplication, while maintaining performance.
June 19, 2024
UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Coastal Climate Resilience partners with BIMS to incorporate perspectives from Black marine scientists
Today, UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Coastal Climate Resilience (CCCR) and Black in Marine Science (BIMS) announce a formal partnership to meet shared aims to expand opportunities for Black scholars, particularly for understanding risks to coastal communities from climate change and identifying solutions that reduce these risks.
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.
June 07, 2024
Study offers guidance on state-of-the-art long-read RNA sequencing techniques
A new study evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the two leading long-read RNA sequencing platforms and offers guidance for the field.
May 30, 2024
Earliest, most distant galaxy discovered with James Webb Space Telescope
An international team of astronomers today announced the discovery using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) of the two earliest and most distant galaxies yet confirmed, dating back to only 300 million years after the Big Bang.
May 29, 2024
Researchers explain social media’s role in rapidly shifting social norms on gender and sexuality
A new paper by UC Santa Cruz psychologists describes how social media has supported an explosion of diversity in gender and sexuality in America by empowering authentic self-expression. However, these technologies have also equally enabled a cultural backlash.
May 24, 2024
New study discovers tiny target on RNA to short-circuit inflammation
UC Santa Cruz researchers have discovered a peptide in human RNA that regulates inflammation and may provide a new path for treating diseases such as arthritis and lupus. The team used a screening process based on the powerful gene-editing tool CRISPR to shed light on one of the biggest mysteries about our RNA.
May 23, 2024
New exoplanets catalog showcases diverse, exotic worlds
Our understanding of exoplanets, those strange worlds that orbit stars beyond our solar system, is now broader and deeper thanks to separate studies published this week featuring the work of researchers at UC Santa Cruz.
May 17, 2024
Ukraine blackouts caused by malware attacks warn against evolving cybersecurity threats to the physical world
A new paper presents the first study of how two major malware attacks in Ukraine operated and interacted with the physical power system equipment to cause blackouts.
May 16, 2024
Sea otters use tools when feeding to survive a changing world
Sea otters are one of the few animals that use rocks and other objects to access their food, and a new study has found that individual sea otters that use tools—most of whom are female—can eat larger prey and reduce tooth damage when their preferred prey becomes depleted.
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."
May 16, 2024
UC Santa Cruz biologist tapped to contribute to national report on nature's role in society
For America's first-ever report on nature’s inherent worth, and its contributions to the economy, our health and well-being, UC Santa Cruz's Malin Pinsky will co-author a chapter on nature and climate change. He is a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and one of 10 authors contributing to the chapter.
May 14, 2024
Stem cell study reveals distinct population of ‘troublemaker’ platelet cells that appear with aging and lead to blood clotting, disease
Professor of Biomolecular Engineering Camilla Forsberg and her research group have discovered a distinct, secondary population of platelets that appears with aging and have hyperreactive behavior and unique molecular properties, which could make them easier to target with medication.
May 10, 2024
New study discovers cellular activity that hints recycling is in our DNA
Introns are perhaps one of our genome’s biggest mysteries. They are DNA sequences that interrupt the sensible protein-coding information in your genes, and need to be "spliced out.”
May 07, 2024
California State Board of Food and Agriculture visits campus
On April 30, California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Secretary Karen Ross and members of the California State Board of Food and Agriculture held their April Board meeting at the Hay Barn on the University of California, Santa Cruz campus.
May 06, 2024
Improved nutrition, sanitation linked to beneficial changes in child stress and epigenetic programming
A new study led by a global-health researcher at UC Santa Cruz provides some of the clearest and most comprehensive evidence to date on what is known about stress physiology and “epigenetic programming.”
April 26, 2024
Three UC Santa Cruz faculty members elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Three professors at the University of California, Santa Cruz were elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honorary societies.
April 22, 2024
UC Santa Cruz researchers’ tool creates ‘synthetic’ images of cells for enhanced microscopy analysis
UC Santa Cruz researchers have developed a method to use an image generation AI model to create realistic images of single cells, which are then used as “synthetic data” to train an AI model to better carry out single cell-segmentation.
April 19, 2024
UC Santa Cruz scientists reveal new path to increasing lactation for nursing mothers
Scientists at UC Santa Cruz have discovered a cellular process in the breast that can increase milk production by pregnant women, revealing a potential path to addressing lactation insufficiency syndrome—the inability of a nursing mother to produce sufficient milk to meet their infant’s nutritional needs.
April 18, 2024
UC Santa Cruz researchers receive grants for early-stage technology innovations and climate action solutions
Eight UC Santa Cruz research teams focusing on some of the most pressing issues of our time, such as cancer detection, data encryption, and climate change, received more than $350,000 in awards as part of this year’s Innovation Catalyst Grant program, administered by the university’s Innovation & Business Engagement Hub.
April 17, 2024
New grant supports UC Santa Cruz-led multi-UC campus effort to build network of open source program offices
A $1.85 million grant from the Sloan Foundation will serve to institutionalize the OSPO approach in the UC system by creating coordinated activities that support local campus OSPOs and building a network that can leverage multi-campus efforts.
April 16, 2024
Humanities program provides rewarding research experience—and also crucial career prep
Employing Humanities–funded undergraduate students have begun working with faculty in paid research opportunities that connect their classroom curriculum with hands-on training.
April 11, 2024
New study finds potential targets at chromosome ends for degenerative disease prevention
Published online today in Science, a new study finds that telomere lengths follow a different pattern than has thus far been understood. Instead of telomere lengths falling under one general range of shortest to longest across all chromosomes, this study finds that different chromosomes have separate end-specific telomere-length distributions.
April 11, 2024
UC Santa Cruz researchers value salt marsh restoration as a crucial tool in flood risk reduction and climate resilience in the San Francisco Bay
Salt marsh restoration can mitigate flood risk and bolster community resilience to climate change in our local waterways, according to a recent study published in Nature by a postdoctoral fellow with UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Coastal Climate Resilience (CCCR).
April 11, 2024
Scientists discover first nitrogen-fixing organelle
In two recent papers, an international team led by UC Santa Cruz scientists describe the first known nitrogen-fixing organelle within a eukaryotic cell. The organelle is the fourth example in history of primary endosymbiosis — the process by which a prokaryotic cell is engulfed by a eukaryotic cell and evolves beyond symbiosis into an organelle.
April 10, 2024
New diagnostic tool achieves accuracy of PCR tests with faster and simpler nanopore system
A new diagnostic tool developed by UCSC's Holger Schmidt and his collaborators can test for SARS-CoV-2 and Zika virus with the same or better accuracy as high-precision PCR tests in a matter of hours.
April 05, 2024
Ph.D. student takes gut-wrenching research to the stage
Natalie Pedicino, a Ph.D. student in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, will bolt up to San Francisco on May 3 to distill her past three years of research into a three-minute lightning talk that will test her stage presence and science-communication skills.
April 04, 2024
First results from DESI make the most precise measurement of our expanding universe
We now have the largest 3-D map of our cosmos ever created, thanks to DESI—a powerful instrument mounted atop a telescope in Arizona with a robotic array of 5,000 fiber-optic “eyes” that look into the night sky.
March 26, 2024
New research reveals steps California must take to capture more jobs from lithium battery boom
A new study from the UC Santa Cruz Institute for Social Transformation, New Energy Nexus, and the UC Berkeley Labor Center demonstrates the need for strategic investments and policy approaches to encourage build-out of the lithium supply chain within California in an environmentally friendly and economically inclusive manner.
March 21, 2024
Research on understudied lung cancer drivers may improve treatments
Angela Brooks has been awarded a $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health’s prestigious R01 program to study how gene isoforms impact cancer progression and what treatments might be most effective or lead to drug resistance.
March 21, 2024
Kat Gutierrez wins LEAD California's 2024 Richard E. Cone Award for Emerging Leaders in Community Engagement
In acknowledgment of her dedication to community engagement, LEAD California awarded Kat Gutierrez, assistant professor of history at the University of California, Santa Cruz, the prestigious 2024 Richard E. Cone Award for Emerging Leaders in Community Engagement.
March 20, 2024
UC Santa Cruz names new, rare succulent species from Orange County
A new, rare species of succulent plant from Orange County has been named by Stephen McCabe, a researcher with the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum, with Kristen Hasenstab-Lehman and Matt Guiliams of the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. The naming of new species is part of an effort by multiple entities to help conserve the many threatened species in the genus Dudleya, which are also known, ironically, as liveforevers.
March 08, 2024
Scientists find unexpected proteins in bacteria motors
A team of scientists, co-led by Karen Ottemann, a professor of Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology, recently found three unexpected proteins while studying the motors that power the flagella of a species called Helicobacter pylori. The proteins, which are normally found in another type of appendage on a separate group of bacteria, seem to exert control over the motion of the flagella. These proteins, known as PilN, PilO, and PilM, had never been found associated with a flagella before.
March 06, 2024
‘Digital twins’ project will help clean up space junk, repair and decommission spacecrafts
Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Ricardo Sanfelice and a team of researchers have been awarded $2.5M to model complex aerospace engineering problems.
March 04, 2024
Center for Coastal Climate Resilience signs 4-year, $2.75 million agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for work on nature-based solutions
Coastal communities face escalating risks from climate change, natural disasters, and the loss of coastal habitats, such as salt marshes, mangroves, and coral reefs, and the outlook is particularly dire for many of our most vulnerable communities. In response to these pressing issues, the UC Santa Cruz Center for Coastal Climate Resilience (CCCR) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineering With Nature program recently signed a 4-year, $2.75 million cooperative agreement. They aim to address these challenges with equitable, nature-based solutions.
February 20, 2024
Chemists use peptides from Alzheimer’s and Type II diabetes to describe five new rippled beta-sheets
Scientists from the University of California, Santa Cruz, synthesized peptides from proteins associated with Alzheimer’s and Type II Diabetes and described five new rippled beta-sheet structures.
February 20, 2024
Two UC Santa Cruz scientists named 2024 Sloan Research Fellows
Assistant Professors Roxanne Beltran and Jacqueline Kimmey have been awarded Sloan Research Fellowships, one of the most prestigious honors bestowed on early-career scientists, each receiving $75,000 to delve into new areas of research in their respective fields of marine ecology and microbiology.
February 13, 2024
UC Santa Cruz Physicist Joel Primack wins 2024 AAAS Abelson Prize
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has awarded the prestigious 2024 Philip Hauge Abelson Prize to Joel R. Primack, distinguished professor of physics emeritus at the University of California, Santa Cruz and a key architect of the Cold Dark Matter theory.
February 12, 2024
Widespread machine learning methods behind ‘link prediction’ are performing very poorly, study shows
New research from UC Santa Cruz Professor of Computer Science and Engineering C. “Sesh” Seshadhri published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences establishes that the metric used to measure link prediction performance is missing crucial information, and link prediction tasks are performing significantly worse than popular literature indicates.
February 07, 2024
Bioelectronics enable precise control of organoids for better understanding of neuro diseases, neuron circuits
UC Santa Cruz researchers have developed a new plug-and-play bioelectronics system that enables researchers to precisely control neuronal activity in cortical organoids, which will help unlock new discoveries on how brains form neural circuits and the underpinnings of neurodevelopmental and degenerative diseases.
February 06, 2024
Undergraduate Public Fellows Program connects humanities studies with real-world impact
The Humanities Institute's Public Fellows Program offers a mutually enriching opportunity for students to bring the humanities skills and knowledge they acquire in their university courses to diverse roles at non-profit organizations, museums, cultural institutions, and publishing venues.
January 30, 2024
A new cohort of drone pilot students start in the 2024 CIDER Drone Pilot Training Program
The CITRIS Initiative for Drone Education and Research (CIDER) welcomed its 2024 Drone Pilot Training Program cohort in an orientation session on January 8.
January 30, 2024
2023-24 CITRIS UC Santa Cruz Tech for Social Good Program's student project teams kick off
The 2023-24 CITRIS Tech for Social Good program at UC Santa Cruz started in January with kick-off meetings with the winning technology development track teams.
January 22, 2024
Innovative PET technology will enable precise multitracer imaging of the brain
UC Santa Cruz Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Shiva Abbaszadeh is developing technology that will enable precise multitracer positron emission tomography imaging of the human body’s most complex organ with the support of a $4 million NIH grant.
January 22, 2024
Terrie Williams honored with 2024 National Academy of Sciences Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal
The National Academy of Sciences will honor 20 individuals with awards recognizing their extraordinary scientific achievements in a wide range of fields spanning the physical, biological, social, and medical sciences. Among the esteemed awardees is Terrie M. Williams, a comparative ecophysiologist from the University of California, Santa Cruz, who will be honored with the 2024 NAS Award in the Evolution of Earth and Life - Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal.
January 18, 2024
UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Coastal Climate Resilience partnering with EY on Open Science Data Challenge on Coastal Resilience for students
Climate change is here, and so are its impacts on our communities. Globally, coastal hazards produce increasing costs, often to the most vulnerable populations. That’s why UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Coastal Climate Resilience (CCCR) and the University of California Disaster Resilience Network (UCDRN) are partnering with EY on its 2024 Open Science Data Challenge, focused on coastal resilience. CCCR will be hosting an event on campus on Jan. 25 for interested undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty to learn more about this significant opportunity.
January 18, 2024
UC Santa Cruz will lead development of next-generation telescope alignment system
The National Science Foundation recently awarded $3.9 million to researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz as the lead institution for the development of a next-gen telescope alignment system. The researchers will work with an international team to build and test systems in Santa Cruz and eventually install the final designs in seven telescopes at three ground-based observatory sites around the world.
January 18, 2024
Students search for hidden black hole activity
When stars get too close to the supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies, the black holes shred them apart in a process called a tidal disruption event (TDE). These TDEs cause bright flashes, but recent models suggest that scientists should see more of them than have been observed.
January 17, 2024
Insights from UCSC-made COVID-19 tracking tool will guide the future of studying pathogens in real time
A new paper by a team of UCSC pathogen genomicists offers guidance for the future of web tools for tracking pathogen evolution.
January 17, 2024
Smarter Balanced Unveils Initiative with IBM Consulting to Promote Responsible Use of AI in Educational Measurement
Today, Smarter Balanced announced a new initiative to develop measurement-focused principles and guidelines for the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in educational assessments. With experience creating scalable, trustworthy AI strategies, IBM Consulting will collaborate with Smarter Balanced to build a foundational AI framework that can help accelerate enhancements in accessibility, accuracy, and fairness while minimizing bias.
January 16, 2024
UC Santa Cruz Humanities Division secures $1 million grant for Employing Humanities initiative
Investment from the Mellon Foundation will propel new program focused on experiential learning and career readiness for humanities students.
January 11, 2024
Training program helps prevent harassment in fieldwork environments
Fieldwork often puts researchers and students in remote environments that have unique challenges. The unusual setting of fieldwork can make sexual harassment and assault more likely, and it also calls for distinct approaches to prevent and respond to it. To address this systemic problem, University of Santa Cruz scientists developed a sexual harassment prevention and awareness training program specifically tailored to fieldwork environments.