Science
-
Teaching students scientific-storytelling skills to inspire change
The senior capstone course ESCI 191 equips environmental-science majors with digital-storytelling skills to translate complex climate data into compelling narratives to immerse and engage the public.
-
New detection technique advances early warnings for toxic algal blooms
UC Santa Cruz researchers use passive resin samplers to track chemical cues, extending predictive lead time for harmful algal blooms in Monterey Bay by up to seven weeks.
-
How the visual cortex wires itself: targeted from the start, refined over time
A UC Santa Cruz study tracks how the visual cortex builds its long-range connections, finding that they target specific areas from early on, and offers a reference for studying how wiring may go awry in conditions such as autism.
-
UC Santa Cruz pediatric cancer lab earns prestigious CAP accreditation
The accreditation is widely regarded as the gold standard for clinical laboratory quality, and cements the credibility of the lab’s unique analyses for pediatric cancer tumors.
-
Astrophysicists win AI grant for ‘Holy Grail’ project to automate laborious calibration process
Anthropic’s AI for Science Program has awarded the UC Santa Cruz team nearly $50,000 in API credits to fund the development of an automated wavelength-calibration algorithm for astronomical spectra.
-
Jonathan Fortney, Dan Costa honored by American Geophysical Union
Astronomy and astrophysics professor Jonathan Fortney receives 2026 Whipple Award and ecology and evolutionary biology professor Dan Costa named 2026 AGU Union Fellow
-
Bruce Stein: Lasting leadership in conservation
Alumnus Bruce Stein (Rachel Carson ’78, biology and environmental studies) became a leading voice in the conservation field over the course of his 35-year career ultimately serving as the chief scientist and associate vice president at the National Wildlife Federation before retiring in 2024.
-
Unveiling the unevenness of global warming: Regional accelerations, key temperature shifts, and extreme events
As record-breaking global temperatures and extreme weather events spark intense debate over global warming speed-up, a new study led by UC Santa Cruz reveals how warming is accelerating differently across distinct regions.
-
UC Santa Cruz ranks among top 50 public universities in U.S. News Best Colleges rankings
Among U.S. universities, the campus ranks No.1 for marine and freshwater biology and No. 7 for space science.
-
UC Santa Cruz researchers launch real-time study on kelp resilience as a super El Niño unfolds
The sweltering seas expected this winter could threaten California’s kelp forests. UC Santa Cruz researchers are mobilizing to track the impacts and seek public support to sustain student engagement in the research.
-
Is dark matter ‘natural?’ A UC Santa Cruz physicist puts the question to the test
A quantitative study of different dark-matter scenarios finds that primordial black holes can be just as ‘natural’ as traditional particle theories.
-
Understanding how jellyfish eyes first form and regenerate to reveal paths for new human therapies
National Institutes of Health awards just over $2 million to UC Santa Cruz evolutionary biologist Aide Macias-Muñoz for a five-year study of the genetic mechanisms that lead to complex traits like eye regeneration