Earth & Planetary Sciences
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As the California sea lion population got bigger, so did male sea lions
Unlike other marine mammals, male California sea lions have gotten bigger over the past 50 years as their population has grown.
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Elephant seals drift off to sleep while diving far below the ocean surface
Brainwave patterns show elephant seals take short naps while holding their breath on deep dives, averaging just 2 hours of sleep per day while at sea.
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Grad student Huazhi Ge wins postdoctoral fellowship for planetary science research
Huazhi Ge, a doctoral candidate in planetary science at UC Santa Cruz, has won a prestigious 51 Pegasi b Fellowship from the Heising-Simons Foundation to support his postdoctoral research.
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Planetary scientist Myriam Telus wins NSF CAREER Award
Myriam Telus, assistant professor of Earth and planetary sciences at UC Santa Cruz, has received a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support her research on the atmospheres of rocky exoplanets.
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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.
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Earth scientist James Zachos honored for climate change research
The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Climate Change category recognizes Zachos and fellow paleoclimatologist Ellen Thomas of Yale University.
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Bering Land Bridge formed surprisingly late during last ice age, study finds
By reconstructing the sea level history of the Bering Strait, scientists found that the strait remained flooded until around 35,700 years ago, not long before humans began migrating into the Americas.
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Breaking up is hard to do: Separation of Fiji and Vanuatu tied to Samoan seamounts
New analyses of volcanic rock samples collected in the 1980s link the geologic histories of these South Pacific islands to explain their current locations and character.
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Report outlines plans for major research effort on subduction zone geologic hazards
An ambitious interdisciplinary initiative aims to advance understanding of the processes that trigger earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, and volcanic eruptions where tectonic plates converge.
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Research on shear strength of rock has implications for carbon sequestration
With a $1.1 million grant from the Department of Energy, seismologist Emily Brodsky will address seismic challenges involved in carbon sequestration, geothermal energy, and other areas.
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Frontier Fellows: Peter Nguyen
The Earth Futures Institute’s Frontier Fellows program offers undergraduate research opportunities and funding at UC Santa Cruz. UCSC student Peter Nguyen studies a federally listed endangered flowering plant—Lupinus nipomensis.
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Saturn’s rings and tilt could be the product of an ancient, missing moon
A “grazing encounter” may have smashed the moon to bits to form Saturn’s rings, a new study suggests.