Media Coverage

  • New York Times

    New York Times

    This Diminutive Reptile Plays Rock-Paper-Scissors

    Dr. Sinervo, who later joined the faculty at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and who died in 2021, grew fascinated by the strange mating habits of the lizards. At the start of every breeding season, the males developed one of three colors on their throats: blue, orange or yellow. And depending on their color,…

  • National Geographic logo of yellow rectangle against black background

    National Geographic

    Chewing gum has a mysterious effect on the brain

    In research on fidgeting, UC Santa Cruz Professor of Computational Media Katherine Isbister has found that people engage in fidgeting when they’re trying to pay attention to a task that’s taking a long time, or in a long meeting (even if at the annoyance of those around them).

  • The San Jose Mercury News

    Mercury News

    How a new system of drones and low-cost sensors can protect communities from air pollution

    A project led by Assistant Professor of Applied Mathematics Javier Gonzalez-Rocha is using drone flights and new monitoring technologies to better understand when and where farmworkers are most severely exposed to air pollution.

  • San Francisco Chronicle

    San Francisco Chronicle

    ‘Monster Studies’ is a real thing – and it could help you through holiday anxiety

    Renée Fox, Associate Professor of Literature and Co-Director of the Dickens Project, and Michael Chemers, Professor of Dramatic Literature in the Department of Theater Arts, were interviewed for a feature story about The Center For Monster Studies at UC Santa Cruz.

  • IEEE Spectrum logo

    IEEE Spectrum

    The Top 6 Biomedical Stories of 2025 

    IEEE Spectrum’s most popular biomedical stories of the past year centered both on incorporating new technologies and revamping old ones, featuring work from Professor of Computer Science and Engineering Katia Obraczka’s lab on using Wi-Fi to detect heartbeat.

  • San Francisco Chronicle

    San Francisco Chronicle

    Stunning art and design books that celebrate Bay Area talent

    Acclaimed artist, filmmaker, and Distinguished Professor of The Arts and History of Consciousness Isaac Julien was featured in a story by arts writer Tony Bravo about new books focusing on design and culture.

  • Pop Mech logo

    Popular Mechanics

    A ‘Third State’ Exists Between Life and Death—And That Suggests Your Cells Are Conscious, Some Scientists Say

    “This is nothing new,” University of California, Santa Cruz plant biologist Lincoln Taiz, PhD and co-author of the letter, said in an email.

  • Yahoo News logo

    Yahoo News

    First elephant seal pup of the season born in SLO County.

    Supermoms account for more than half (55%) of the total pups born. Supermoms live longer, breed more frequently and raise bigger pups. Bernie LeBoeuf, now professor emeritus at UC Santa Cruz, led a research team that identified Supermoms in a 2019 scientific paper. Gingerbread’s mother chose a nice dry spot on the south beach.

  • Monterey County Herald "H" logo

    Monterey County Herald

    Residents near Moss Landing fire provide samples to measure health impact

    UC Santa Cruz toxicology professor Donald Smith says hair samples submitted by the Moss Landing community will contribute to a growing body of toxicology research. Smith’s lab will analyze the hair samples for manganese concentrations, but cannot yet interpret those results to connect exposure to symptoms without more long-term data.

  • Discover Magazine logo

    Discover Magazine

    Why Brown Dwarfs May Explain the Main Differences Between Stars and Planets

    The atmospheres of brown dwarfs can be surprisingly similar to those of gas giant planets, too, complete with multi-layered clouds and powerful wind-driven storms. That makes them great windows into the atmospheric processes that shape our own solar system’s giant planets, as well as the super-Jupiter exoplanets discovered outside our stellar neighborhood, according to a…

  • SFGATE logo

    SFGate

    Which fault line do you live on? An earthquake guide for California.

    While both the northern and southern sections of the San Andreas fault are locked, storing up energy that needs to be released, the central part is creeping and less charged.”The true nightmare scenario is that the southern San Andreas has so much extra energy in it because it’s so overdue that it blows through the…

  • National Geographic logo of yellow rectangle against black background

    National Geographic

    Watch orcas and dolphins team up to hunt—a possible scientific first

    “In nature, mutualism—where both parties benefit—is the most likely reason that you would have two disparate groups coming together,” says Ari Friedlaender, professor of ocean sciences at UC Santa Cruz, who wasn’t involved in the study. Additional coverage in Smithsonian magazine.

Last modified: Jan 06, 2026