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  • UCSC physicist receives award to develop technology for neuroscience

    Alan Litke, an adjunct professor of physics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, has received an award from the McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience to support an interdisciplinary research project with neurobiologist E. J. Chichilnisky of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego. The McKnight Technological Innovations in Neuroscience Award will provide…

  • UCSC seismologist Karen McNally receives University Medal from the National University of Costa Rica

    Karen McNally, professor emerita of Earth sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz, has received the University Medal from the National University of Costa Rica. McNally was honored in a ceremony on July 2 for her contributions in helping to establish a modern geophysical observatory in Costa Rica–the Observatorio Vulcanológico y Sismológico de Costa…

  • Growth study of wild chimpanzees challenges assumptions about early humans, anthropologists say

    A new study of wild chimpanzee growth rates, published in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that early human evolution may have taken a different course than is widely believed. The results challenge the assumption that human evolution followed a path from a chimplike ancestor to a transitionary…

  • Current problems of U.S. Senate rooted in history, says author

    The electoral college isn’t the only outdated political system that should be overhauled, according to a political scientist who says the antiquated ways of the United States Senate contribute to Congressional gridlock and thwart American democracy. Expert on U.S. politics available to discuss the U.S. Senate, electoral politics, and the presidency; see contact information below.…

  • UCSC scientist leads expedition to establish seafloor observatories

    UCSC scientist leads expedition to establish seafloor observatories

    An international team of scientists will investigate how water flows through rock formations beneath the seafloor during an eight-week expedition this summer to the eastern flank of the Juan de Fuca Ridge off the coast of British Columbia. It will be the first expedition of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP), an ambitious new international…

  • Six faculty members named to provost positions at UC Santa Cruz

    Six faculty members are being either appointed or reappointed to positions as college provosts, Lynda J. Goff, vice provost and dean of undergraduate education at UC Santa Cruz, has announced. “These college provosts are fundamental to the character of UCSC,” Goff said, “A provost is the academic head of the college and is an important…

  • Alumnus Kent Nagano selects new transcription by UC Santa Cruz arts dean to open annual Ojai Music Festival

    The San Francisco-based choral group Chanticleer gave the premiere performance of UCSC Arts Division dean and professor of music Edward Houghton’s new transcription of Johannes Ockeghem’s, Missa Ecce ancilla domini, at the opening concert of the Ojai Music Festival on June 3. Renowned conductor and UC Santa Cruz alum Kent Nagano–the music director of the…

  • From joy to heartache: New book explores the sister relationship

    Sisters treat each other like best friends–and worst enemies. In the new book The Perfect Sister: What Draws Us Together, What Drives Us Apart (New York, NY: Harcourt, Inc., 2004) sociologist Marcia Millman explores the complicated sister relationship and the familial forces that shape it. From the adult sisters who make secret trips to the…

  • Russians get the blues: new book chronicles rise of the blues in postcommunist Russia

    Like jilted lovers easing their heartache, Muscovites in the postcommunist era flocked to nightclubs to hear the blues. The soulful music spoke to their struggles following the breakup of the Soviet Union. The blues has a unique power to ease suffering and give hope to the downtrodden, says political scientist–and lifelong blues fan–Michael Urban, author…

  • Grateful Dead foundations help preserve UC Santa Cruz archive of renowned composer Lou Harrison

    Two foundations established by members of the Grateful Dead have contributed funds to help preserve the archive of the late composer Lou Harrison at UC Santa Cruz. The Rex Foundation, founded by the Grateful Dead and friends in 1984, and the Unbroken Chain Foundation, established in 1997 by Phil and Jill Lesh, have each donated…

  • Surprising ‘ultra-conserved’ regions discovered in human genome

    Researchers comparing the human genome with the genomes of other species have discovered a surprising number of matching DNA sequences in a variety of vertebrate species, including the mouse, rat, dog, and chicken. The fact that these sequences have remained unchanged over long periods of evolutionary history indicates that they are biologically important, but for…

  • Biologist Terrie Williams will read from her book, The Hunter’s Breath, at the Seymour Center on Thursday, May 13

    The Seymour Marine Discovery Center will host a celebration of the new book by Terrie Williams, The Hunter’s Breath: On Expedition with the Weddell Seals of the Antarctic, on Thursday, May 13, starting at 6 p.m. Williams, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz, will read from the book, talk about…

Last modified: Mar 18, 2025