Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
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Q&A with Malin Pinsky: On ocean warming, moving fish, and why it all matters
Marine ecologist Malin Pinsky explains how record-breaking ocean warming is driving unprecedented shifts in marine life, disrupting ecosystems and economies, and challenging both science and policy to keep pace with rapid environmental change.
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Rethinking climate adaptation: Researchers call for a holistic approach to species on the move
Animals adapt in more ways than one – ignoring that complexity could undermine efforts to help them survive climate change.
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Following Late Pleistocene horse migration toward our sustainable future
Cutting-edge UC Santa Cruz Paleogenomics Lab was key to genetically tracing mass movements long ago
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UCSC alumnus named director of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
William “Monty” Graham (M.S. ’89, marine sciences; Ph.D. ’94, biology) will lead the nation’s premier coastal ecosystem research facility and its mission to understand the vital connections between land and water.
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Acclaimed evolutionary biologist Beth Shapiro elected to National Academy of Sciences
The academy provides science, engineering, and health-policy advice to the federal government and other organizations.
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Inaugural Landesman Lecture features Dr. Terrie M. Williams
How to Live with a Calculating Cat: The Feast of Kings
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Ancient DNA research aids de-extinction efforts and reveals surprising dire wolf ancestry
UC Santa Cruz scientists worked with Colossal Biosciences to help reveal secrets in the dire wolf genome that contributed to what the startup is calling the world’s first de-extinction
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Whale waste helps health of oceans by funneling nutrients to the tropics, new study shows
New research shows that whales move nutrients thousands of miles—in their pee and poop—from as far as Alaska to Hawaii, supporting the health of tropical ecosystems and fish. UC Santa Cruz professors Dan Costa and Ari Friedlaender contributed their marine-mammal expertise to the study, which was published on March 10 in the journal Nature Communications.
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Biologist Erika Zavaleta receives Science Division’s Outstanding Faculty Award
The Science Division has announced that Erika Zavaleta, a professor in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department, has won its 2023-24 Outstanding Faculty Award. The annual prize is the division’s highest honor for faculty achievement, recognizing combined excellence in research, teaching, and service.
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Foraging seals enable scientists to measure fish abundance across the vast Pacific Ocean
A new study led by UC Santa Cruz marine biologist Roxanne Beltran to be published as the February 14 cover story for Science concludes that seals can essentially act as “smart sensors” for monitoring fish populations in the ocean’s eerily dim “twilight zone.”
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New study documents California coyotes eating harbor seal pups
A paper published on February 12 in the journal Ecology details how the researchers used motion-triggered cameras placed at MacKerricher State Beach on California’s North Coast during harbor seal pupping season in the spring of 2023 and 2024.
