Donor News
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Psychology research shows ‘water cooler talk’ can have big benefits
In settings where people are working together on a task, making time for small talk allows for a newly-described behavior called “reciprocity in conversation,” which is associated with higher levels of task enjoyment.
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Materials theorist Yuan Ping wins grant from Air Force Young Investigator Program
Ping’s research on spin dynamics in two-dimensional materials has applications for spintronics and quantum information technologies.
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UC Santa Cruz leads interdisciplinary consortium for astrobiology research
With funding from NASA, the UCSC-led team will lay the foundation for detecting the signatures of life in the atmospheres of other planets.
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Humanities Institute to host acclaimed writer Ta-Nehisi Coates in special post-election event
Coates will be in conversation with Adam Serwer, staff writer at The Atlantic magazine, to discuss his acclaimed novel “The Water Dancer”—as well as the state of the country after the election
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Research breakthrough achieves fish-free aquaculture feed that raises key standards
A new aquaculture feed formula eliminates conventional fish meal and fish oil ingredients by combining ingredients derived from two species of marine microalgae.
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Computer scientist Lise Getoor receives research funding from Google
A new project on recommender dialogue systems led by Getoor and her collaborators at UC Santa Barbara and USC will receive $1 million in funding over three years.
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The 2020 new Slug reality: Handling adversity and transitioning to a virtual learning experience
Remote learning has its challenges, but the newest class of Banana Slugs is making the most out of this uncharted experience.
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Computer science grad student wins LaunchPad Fellowship for startup
Fatemeh Mirzaei, a graduate student in computer science and engineering in the Baskin School of Engineering, is one of 40 student entrepreneurs selected for the Fall 2020 LaunchPad Fellowship program.
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Expanding the lines of communication
Muratcan Cicek, a Ph.D. candidate in computer engineering who won a prestigious 2020 Google Ph.D. fellowship, is working to improve head-based pointing methods for those who cannot use a mouse or trackpad.
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Quantitative ecologist wins Tansley Medal for plant science contributions
Environmental studies assistant professor Kai Zhu was recently chosen from a global field as one of two recipients of the Tansley Medal for Excellence in Plant Science, presented by the journal New Phytologist.
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Wildfire brings destruction and opportunity to researcher’s field site
Hydrologist Margaret Zimmer has received NSF funding to study the impact of wildfire on the site where she has been studying how water moves through the landscape.
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Doctoral candidate wins Switzer Fellowship for environmental justice research in El Salvador
James Alejandro Artiga-Purcell, a Ph.D. candidate in Environmental Studies, was recently selected for the 2020 Switzer Environmental Fellowship as part of a cohort of 20 top scholar-activists from around the country.