Media Coverage

John MacMillan, UC Santa Cruz vice chancellor of research, said that even if the pause is lifted on Feb. 1, rescheduling the meetings takes time and could delay funding decisions for at least two or three months. “Particularly for our younger scientists, pausing their work and the long-term effects of that can be pretty profound.”

The ongoing fire is raising concerns not just for the residents in the area, but also for the endangered sea otters living in the sensitive wetlands near the Vistra plant. "They're a keystone species. They help to protect the kelp beds offshore by consuming sea urchins, and they help to protect the sea beds here…

Miriam Greenberg, a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, says a lot more research is needed before designing managed-retreat programs for wildfire-prone areas. But in some cases it’s much better for people to stay and rely on the knowledge of indigenous people who have kept fires away for centuries. “We need people who…

Research by UC Santa Cruz Associate Professor Juan Pedroza found that giving to immigrant-serving nonprofits increased markedly during the first Trump Administration. "It’s no secret that right out the gate, Trump went after immigrants, early and often and loudly,” said Pedroza. “It’s encouraging and impressive that all these different sources knew where to get the…

Miriam Greenberg, an urban sociologist at UC Santa Cruz has argued that academics and policymakers need to see residential expansion into the state’s most fire-prone areas as yet another reflection of California’s affordability crisis. “People are looking to the (wildland-urban interface) as one of the only places that has capacity for housing,” she said.