UC Santa Cruz Science

three people standing around machinery in discussion

two people in a lab smile in discussion

two people in the lab smile at the camera amongst machinery

🔬Our 8-foot-tall cryoEM microscope is one of only 232 in the world—helping researchers fight influenza, RSV & more. Through global partnerships, we’re breaking down cost + distance barriers so scientists everywhere can accelerate discovery. 🌍✨ bit.ly/4nz9ml4

@ucsantacruz.bsky.social

portrait of Ciara Bolt in gown sitting at a microscope and smiling at the camera

portrait of Ciara Bolt in gown standing outside of the UCSC sign holding a diploma

Just one year after graduating from UC Santa Cruz, Ciara Bolt (Kresge ’24, MCD biology) is thriving as a research associate at Natera, a global leader in cell-free DNA testing.

“UCSC greatly prepared me for my career path,” Bolt said.

Read the full article: news.ucsc.edu/2025/09/ciar...

two people with AR goggles

group of people engaging at a table indoors

fog catchers art installation outdoors with blue sky

four people gather in a field and fly a drone

A powerful gathering at the Communicating Climate Solutions Symposium in mid-September, hosted by UCSC's Science Communication Program and the Center for Coastal Climate Resilience, focused on how we share and shape solutions to climate challenges. 🌍

Read more: news.ucsc.edu/2025/09/crea...

Graphic flyer with whale butterflies and shoreline with text that describes event details.

portrait of Andrew Fisher smiling at the camera with a forest in the background.

🌊🌍 This Friday, Oct 3, at the Seymour Center, the NEXTies: Earth + Sea honors the environmental pioneers who’ve made Santa Cruz a leader in climate resilience, including amazing UC Santa Cruz faculty and staff. Don’t miss it!

🎟️ seymourcenter.ucsc.edu/calendar_eve...

fog rolling low in the redwoods with a pink sunset sky

🌫️ UC Santa Cruz researchers Peter Weiss-Penzias and Eyal Rahav have recently been awarded a $737k grant from the Heising-Simons Foundation to find out what’s really in the fog that rolls across California’s coast and how a warming climate might affect it.

Learn more: bit.ly/42cycyu

New students in UC Santa Cruz's Science Division

UC Santa Cruz Science Division Dean Bryan Gaensler casually chatting with a new student.

Students holding t-shirts up to their chest to see if they will fit.

When the new year starts, we come out as one to greet new first-year and transfer students. A warm hello helps them feel seen, supported and stoked about their young journey in the sciences.

The chats b/w the students and folks across our division was a true warm-up for the start of classes today!

Drone pilot on a boat at sea

Student holding a drone while on a boat.

Sign for University of Washington Friday Harbor Labs.

Aerial view of the rocky intertidal.

Out @ Friday Harbor Labs with our drone team conducting intertidal habitat surveys for colleagues from @ucscscience.bsky.social as part of an @waseagrant.bsky.social project. Back to Seattle tomorrow. #drone #drones #dronesforconservation

Congratulations to Valery Ortiz, currently a graduate student at the Scripps Research Institute (@scripps.edu) and former undergraduate in my lab @ucscscience.bsky.social @ucsantacruz.bsky.social, funded through the ACCESS and MARC programs run by the STEM Diversity Program!🥳🎉🎊

Population Genomics, Local Adaptation and Cryptic Speciation in a Temperate Reef Fish, the Black Surfperch, Embiotoca jacksoni, Using Genome‐Wide Resequencing The black surfperch, Embiotoca jacksoni , exhibits limited dispersal due to its lack of a pelagic larval stage and offers a unique model for studying local adaptation and potential cryptic speciation...

Our new paper on population genomics of black surfperch. I am incredibly happy, decades in the making....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Digital collage graphic featuring a woman surfing, monarch butterflies, and a whale tail. Text reads "The NEXTies Earth and Sea" with additional text below Seymour Marine Discovery Center October 3, 2025 6:00pm

On Oct. 3, the Seymour Marine Discovery Center and Event Santa Cruz will host "The NEXTies: Earth and Sea," an evening celebrating the environmental pioneers who’ve made Santa Cruz a leader in climate resilience. Submit your nominations by Aug. 3 & get tickets: seymourcenter.ucsc.edu/calendar_eve...

Weather and the Whale — Institute of the Arts and Sciences Weather and the Whale is a major exhibition project featuring immersive displays of original science research and newly commissioned contemporary

Weather and the Whale is a major exhibition project featuring immersive displays of original science research and newly commissioned contemporary artworks at UC Santa Cruz @ucscscience.bsky.social #sciart

Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz named president of Astronomical Society of the Pacific UC Santa Cruz astrophysicist is the first Latino president in society's 135-year history

Just saw the exciting news that Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz (prof at @ucscscience.bsky.social and my PhD advisor) was named the president of the @astrosociety.org!! 🎉🔭 news.ucsc.edu/2025/06/enri...

A new UC Santa Cruz study found that horizontal "living levees" - gently sloped, planted barriers - can protect against rising seas and storm surge when added in front of existing levees. @ucscscience.bsky.social

#naturebasedsolutions #sanmateo #sealevelrise

Illustration: Punto Aparte
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Here’s a pic for @ucscscience.bsky.social

underwater photo of a wild juvenile Chinook salmon in the Sacramento River

Member of the UC Santa Cruz Fisheries Collaborative Program holds a live adult Chinook salmon from the Sacramento River.

94% of California's Chinook salmon die on their way to sea. A UCSC-led team has created a playbook to help water managers adjust flows—timing, temp, volume—to boost survival and restore balance in human-managed waterways. #salmon #conservation

Read more: news.ucsc.edu/2025/07/faci...

purple and pink abstract background with overlayed text that it titled "Neurobiology of Brain Disorders Award" and below that reads "For scientists translating laboratory discoveries about the brain and nervous system into diagnoses and therapies to improve human health."

portrait of Upasna Sharma smiling at the camera with greenery in the background

Upasna Sharma, professor of molecular, cell, & developmental biology at UCSC, has received the 2025 McKnight Foundation neurobiology award, which will advance her research on how a father’s life experiences & environment can influence the health of his future children. news.ucsc.edu/2025/07/upas...

Genome of a 28-eyed jellyfish could provide insight on evolution of vision Researchers have sequenced the genome of a unique species of jellyfish with 28 eyes to help us understand the wild evolution of vision.

What can a 28-eyed jellyfish teach us about the ~wild~ evolution of vision? 👀🧬

Genomics Institute affiliate @aidemm.bsky.social and collaborators have sequenced the genome of a rare 28-eyed jellyfish to find out!

news.ucsc.edu/2025/06/jell...

Genome BC is expanding environmental DNA monitoring across British Columbia—particularly in remote and Indigenous communities. One of the tools they're investing in is eDNA Explorer—a genomics platform that began as a research project at UC Santa Cruz and is led by ecology professor Rachel Meyer.

Congrats Carli and Jason on your #ASMS2025 awards!! 🥳😎🤩 @ucscscience.bsky.social

Genome June - Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History Join us for Genomic June! The Museum is thrilled to be partnering with the UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute for a month of molecular marvels! Meet the scientists behind cutting edge discoveries, rangi...

It’s Genome June at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History— in partnership with the UCSC Genomics Institute! Check out the line up of events throughout the month, most of which feature UC Santa Cruz scientists, researchers, and genomics experts. 🦣🧬🐺🌲 santacruzmuseum.org/series/genom...

Check us out at #ASMS2025 at our posters, Carli is also speaking during the Tuesday Night Young Mass Spectrometrist workshop @ucscscience.bsky.social
Find me if you want a sweet Sanchez Lab logo sticker

group of people stand in front of art installation outdoors

group of people stand in front of 500-gallon rainwater tank

A team of scientists, artists, engineers, and students have joined forces at UC Santa Cruz to help promote the use of stored rainwater as a resource for growing food close to home.

news.ucsc.edu/2025/05/inno...

Congrats to Dr. Anne Dattilo, a @ucscscience.bsky.social student with Prof. Natalie Batalha, who got her PhD this afternoon! She is an expert in exoplanet demographics, with a focus on sub-Neptunes.

@ucscscience.bsky.social at #CBBADay2025 #Sluglife #noknownpredators thanks for hosting Cal, great day of chemical biology and professional presentations!

Congratulations to this year’s UCSC Science Distinguished Alumni! Enjoy these “then and now” photos spanning back as far as 1989, and read more about the winners and their accomplishments here: news.ucsc.edu/2025/04/the-...

Keystone interdependence: Sea otter responses to a prey surplus following the collapse of a rocky intertidal predator Keystone interdependence occurs when shifts in one keystone species affect another, linking ecosystems across boundaries.

One of my favorite papers of my career is out in @science.org Science Advances, and we're on the cover! In this study, we introduce a new ecological process called keystone interdependence, where the loss of one keystone species can extend across ecosystems to indirectly affect another... (1/8)

@marmamsci-ncf.bsky.social

Sensorimotor synchronization to rhythm in an experienced sea lion rivals that of humans - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - Sensorimotor synchronization to rhythm in an experienced sea lion rivals that of humans

First study from my new grad lab in marine mammal brain and behavior @marmamsci-ncf.bsky.social : www.nature.com/articles/s41.... They said our beat keeping sea lion (UC Santa Cruz Pinniped Lab's Ronan) wasn't as good as humans. Oh realllly? Master's student Carson Hood did the hard work on this one

The new study is led by Peter Cook pfcooklab.bsky.social, a longtime researcher with UC Santa Cruz’s Institute of Marine Sciences.

portrait of Ronan the sea lion standing on two legs looking at the camera. She is on a deck with a pool in the background

In a literal head-to-hand competition that explores the fascinating field of “biomusicality,” the smart and playful California sea lion at UC Santa Cruz named Ronan has proven her rhythm is just as precise—if not better—than us humans. Read more: news.ucsc.edu/2025/05/rona... (Photo permits #23554)