Research
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Tracking pumas
UCSC students get first-hand scientific experience while monitoring the elusive big cats as part of the Puma Project.
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Virtual anthropology uses digital copies to increase access for students
The trouble with working with bone fragments in an anthropology lab is they’re often fragile and always one of a kind. What if you could create identical copies, enough for each student?
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UCSC study shows how urchin-loving otters can help fight global warming
A new study by two UC Santa Cruz researchers suggest that a thriving sea otter population that keeps sea urchins in check will in turn allow kelp forests to prosper and help reverse a principal cause of global warming.
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Apple’s software brings attention to mountain lion research
Apple’s release of its “Mountain Lion” operating system is drawing attention to the real thing prowling just a few miles from the company’s headquarters. Since 2008, UCSC researchers have captured 36 mountain lions as part of the UCSC Puma Project to better understand the cats’ physiology, behavior, and ecology.
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Researchers find increase in Lyme disease mirrors drop in red fox numbers
A continued increase of Lyme disease in the United States, once linked to a recovering deer population, may instead be explained by a decline of the red fox, UC Santa Cruz researchers suggest in a new study.
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Lemur extinctions and ecological retreat followed arrival of humans in Madagascar
A study of lemurs in Madagascar suggests that factors driving lemur extinctions have also sparked an ongoing “ecological retreat” by surviving species.
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Why letting salmon escape could benefit bears and humans
Researchers at UC Santa Cruz and in Canada suggest that allowing more Pacific salmon to spawn in coastal streams would mean a long term win-win for ecosystems and humans.
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Big cats on campus: mountain lion sightings prompt UCSC expert forum
Excited by two recent mountain lion spottings on and near campus, a large crowd attended a UCSC forum on these powerful but shy and elusive predators.