Social Sciences
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We thought these places were useless. They may help save the world.
Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Scott Winton explained how the soggy, anoxic environment of peatlands make them ideal for sequestering carbon from organic matter. “Those organisms that would break down organic matter and decompose it and recycle it back into nutrients and CO2, they can’t work efficiently. And so the organic matter tends to pile up.”
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Debunking myths perpetuated by Donald Trump about undocumented immigrants
Lucinda Pease-Alvarez, a professor emerita of education at UC Santa Cruz who has worked extensively with immigrant children and their families, co-authored this op-ed debunking a variety of myths the current president relies on when targeting undocumented immigrants.
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UC Santa Cruz report details socioeconomic challenges for Black populations in Monterey, San Benito counties
Compared to other racial groups, Black residents of Monterey and San Benito counties face higher rent burdens, higher incarceration rates and lower levels of education, among other findings, according to a report published last month by UC Santa Cruz researchers. The researchers, Professor Chris Benner and Gabriella Alvarez, say this report underlines the need for implementing programs and…
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Pinpointing the origins of people taken from Africa for the slave trade
Anthropology Professor Vicky Oelze explained that, in the past, archaeologists who worked on ‘slave cemeteries’ in the African Diaspora could only use isotope ratios and genetic analysis to identify that an individual must have been born and raised somewhere on the African continent. “Now, with strontium isotopes being mapped for most of sub-Saharan Africa, we…
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An African strontium map sheds light on the origins of enslaved people
Anthropology Professor Vicky Oelze and colleagues spent more than a decade amassing nearly 900 environmental samples from 24 African countries and combined those measurements with other published data to create a strontium map of sub-Saharan Africa and have demonstrated how it can be used to shed light on the transatlantic slave trade.
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Lures that attract seed-dispersing bats could aid tropical reforestation
Environmental Studies Professor Karen Holl commented on new research, saying that reforestation impacts from attracting seed dispersing bats will depend upon whether or not the dispersed seeds actually germinate and contribute a lot to forest regrowth. Instead of bat lures, Holl recommends planting forest islands, which offer habitat and attract seed dispersing animals over time, contributing…
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Union Popularity Hits 70%, But Trump’s NLRB Move Threatens Labor
New evidence suggests younger workers are more attuned to the benefits of unionization. Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz did a deep dive in their January 2025 "Union-Curious Young Workers in Santa Cruz County" — the first in a planned series of reports — which reported 44% of young workers in Santa Cruz…
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AI and jobs in India
Distinguished Professor of Economics Nirvikar Singh wrote an opinion article about how acceleration of advances in AI demonstrates that the range of productive jobs and the skills needed for them in the future is much broader than what has fueled India’s growth so far.
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Inside Trump’s Yearslong War With A Fish
“He’s seen an opportunity to weigh in on an issue where cities, by and large, have one strong opinion, and rural regions have a different one,” said Brent Haddad, a professor of environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. “In California, the cities are mostly Democratic voters. In the rural regions are mostly…
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Should Los Angeles be in such a rush to rebuild after the devastating wildfires?
Miriam Greenberg, sociologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the co-director of the Center for Critical Urban and Environmental Studies at UC Santa Cruz, is currently leading a research project called Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Research for Resilience: Addressing California’s Climate, Conservation and Housing Crises. "What we often see in the aftermath of…
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The perfect storm: why did LA’s wildfires explode out of control?
Sociology Professor Miriam Greenberg explained the housing affordability pressures that are driving people to live in areas with rising fire risk as the climate changes. “Living in dense urban areas – which are safer in relation to fire and many other climate hazards – has become out of reach for many people, so they’re moving…
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As Los Angeles burns, Santa Cruz County officials urge wildfire prep — and not just in the mountains
Santa Cruz Local shared information about an upcoming wildfire preparedness event co-hosted by UC Santa Cruz's Center for Critical Urban and Environmental Studies.