UC Santa Barbara

Electroacoustic composer Deniz Çağlarcan wins prestigious residency Known for his media-blending esoteric artwork, UCSB composer Deniz Çağlarcan has won the PRIX CIME 2025 International Electroacoustic Music Competition.

#UCSB graduate student Deniz Çağlarcan has won the PRIX CIME 2025 International Electroacoustic Music Competition for "Shadows," an audiovisual transdisciplinary artwork 🎶

Next month, he will premiere his master's project at UCSB's AlloSphere.

Full story: https://ow.ly/U8CI50XuTwv

Go for the gold! UC Santa Barbara will serve as the host for ParalympicsGB's athlete training and preparation camp during the summer of 2028, leading up to the Paralympic Games in Los Angeles 🚴🥇

Full story: https://ow.ly/gA7Y50XwWYt

$1.5 million grant advances UCSB leadership in the study of modern spirituality Professor Joseph Blankholm has received $1.55 million from the John Templeton Foundation to lead a three-year study exploring how spirituality is evolving outside traditional religious institutions.

UCSB religious studies professor Joseph Blankholm received a $1.55 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation to fund his three-year study that gives insight into how modern spirituality is shaping ethics, community and meaning in everyday life 🌿

Full story https://ow.ly/SuSm50Xup3t

A two-minute fix for procrastination Focusing on “the starting line problem,” a new large-scale study tackled that tiny psychological pause between intention and action, finding that a brief two-minute reflection exercise can reduce emotional resistance and help people take the crucial first step toward action.

Procrastination happens to all of us. New research from #UCSB offers a science-backed way to break the cycle

The team found that a brief reflection exercise can help people take the first step toward action, inspiring new app Dawdle AI, which features a guided exercise: https://ow.ly/tqGz50XtaIs

At the 2026 Venice Biennale, Iman Djouini gives language a new form Djouini has been selected to present a solo exhibition with Personal Structures at the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia — the renowned Venice Biennale, often described as the Olympics of the art world.

UCSB's Iman Djouini will present her artwork in the 2026 Venice Biennale—the Olympics of the art world 🎨

Djouini teaches print media, book arts, & typography, helping students think critically about culture & public space.

Her installation explores how languages evolve: https://ow.ly/gflV50XrOw5

Room to Grow Securing a prestigious fellowship, doctoral student Jesse Landesman cultivates a career where academia meets avocados

For #UCSB's Jesse Landesman, avocados—one of California's favorite crops—are the main focus.

In studying how elevated soil salinity impacts avocados, her goal is to use science to help solve the real-world problems farmers face.

Full story: https://ow.ly/ByUq50XtNpU

#SpeakUp4Science

Free trade, moral panic and the politics of belonging In her new book “Queer Traffic: Sex, Panic, Free Trade” (Duke University Press, 2025), feminist studies scholar Jennifer Tyburczy traces the intersections of global economics and social regulation from the 1980s to the present.

in "Queer Traffic," #UCSB's Jennifer Tyburczy traces the intersections of global economics & social regulation, arguing that the rise of “trafficking” discourse reveals how economic & moral anxieties reinforce each other, shaping who is criminalized and who is protected: https://ow.ly/yqij50XqN4i

#UCSB's professor David Valentine's discovery of widespread DDT dumping off the California coast is featured in "Out of Plain Sight," an L.A. Times documentary making its L.A. theatrical debut: https://ow.ly/1rbN50Xuhqn

More about Valentine's discovery: https://ow.ly/cNgj50Xuhpf

A ‘magic bullet’ for polycystic kidney disease in the making Researchers at UCSB develop and test therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of polycystic kidney disease

#UCSB researchers have proposed a target therapy could interrupt the growth of fluid-filled cysts caused by polycystic kidney disease 🔬

"The cysts just keep growing endlessly,” said UCSB's Thomas Weimbs. "And we want to stop them."

Full story https://ow.ly/8TLu50XuccZ

A two-minute fix for procrastination Focusing on “the starting line problem,” a new large-scale study tackled that tiny psychological pause between intention and action, finding that a brief two-minute reflection exercise can reduce emotional resistance and help people take the crucial first step toward action.

Procrastination happens to all of us. New research from #UCSB offers a science-backed way to break the cycle

The team found that a brief reflection exercise can help people take the first step toward action, inspiring new app Dawdle AI, which features a guided exercise: https://ow.ly/tqGz50XtaIs

More on @ucsantabarbara.bsky.social's collaboration with the Dust-To-Digital Foundation to make rare historical recordings available for free online through DAHR. Reporting from @npr.org affiliate KPCC/@laist.com in Los Angeles.

laist.com/news/arts-an...

#UCSB professor Daniel Blumenthal's lab joins the National Science Foundation's National Quantum Virtual Laboratory 🔬 With MIT, UCLA, Harvard & University of Maryland, the lab is working on high-tech infrastructure to accelerate the development of quantum technologies.

https://ow.ly/N6O850XrUFZ

Vast collection of historic American music released via UCSB Library partnership with Dust-to-Digital Foundation Thousands of rare and uniquely American songs from the Jazz Age and the Great Depression are available for free listening thanks to a partnership between UCSB and the Dust-to-Digital Foundation.

A treasure trove of rare and historic American music—including songs by Memphis Minnie, the Carter Family, Blind Willie Johnson, and more—is now freely available to the public thanks to a new collaboration between the UC Santa Barbara Library and Dust-to-Digital Foundation https://ow.ly/J8Bg50Xpuf2

Hotter than your average spa: Rising temps in Amazon lakes sound alarm over climate change A drought in the central Amazon cooked region's lakes. Water reached 104º F in Lake Tefé, killing river dolphins. UCSB scientists contributed to an international study of the causes and consequences.

With two species of endangered river dolphins turning up dead, a team including #UCSB researchers has been documenting the unprecedented high water temps in the Amazon's freshwater lakes.

The extreme droughts there in recent years are a warning: https://ow.ly/Yq3A50XqAlf

Big Bang Beat L.A.: Environmental Communications and the city as canvas UC Santa Barbara’s Art, Design & Architecture Museum revisits the visionary 1970s collective Environmental Communications, whose multi-media documentation of Los Angeles reimagined the city as a living ecosystem — and reshaped how we see the built environment today.

Traffic & creative freedom, urban sprawl & self-expression.

The UCSB AD&A Museum exhibition "Big Bang Beat L.A." highlights the 1970s L.A. Environmental Communications collective. The photos are a historical record & a meditation on L.A.'s environmental vulnerability: https://ow.ly/yYgW50XotoP

Vast collection of historic American music released via UCSB Library partnership with Dust-to-Digital Foundation Thousands of rare and uniquely American songs from the Jazz Age and the Great Depression are available for free listening thanks to a partnership between UCSB and the Dust-to-Digital Foundation.

A treasure trove of rare and historic American music—including songs by Memphis Minnie, the Carter Family, Blind Willie Johnson, and more—is now freely available to the public thanks to a new collaboration between the UC Santa Barbara Library and Dust-to-Digital Foundation https://ow.ly/J8Bg50Xpuf2

#UCSB has proven it helps students take steps in the right direction 🔝 We're ranked as the No. 19 Best National University for Social Mobility 🏆

Full story: https://ow.ly/pzyy50Xm9XS

From charged polymers to life-saving innovations Materials scientist Omar Saleh’s NSF-funded research explores how charged polymers could power next-generation adhesives and drug delivery systems.

#UCSB professor Omar Saleh has spent decades studying polymer behavior, conducting experiments to better understand coacervates. He estimates his lab is 1 of 10 labs globally conducting nanoscale measurements of microgel polymers with custom-built machinery 💡

Full story https://ow.ly/GbZf50XmPoL

Michael Gurven reframes aging as evolutionary success By redefining aging as an evolutionary achievement, Gurven challenges a youth-obsessed culture to see the later decades of life as vital to our collective survival

UCSB professor Michael Gurven's new book, "Seven Decades: How We Evolved to Live Longer," examines anatomic and societal aspects of aging. He believes being "old" is less about age than the ability to fend for one’s self and one’s community 🤲

Full story https://ow.ly/KPay50XmMsn

Civil rights lawyer Sherrilyn Ifill reimagines democracy in talk for UCSB Arts & Lectures In “Reimagining a New American Democracy,” Ifill explores themes including the 14th Amendment, the power of civic participation and the essential role of higher education in shaping engaged citizens.

Civil rights lawyer Sherrilyn Ifill hosts a talk this week as part of #UCSB Arts & Lectures' Justice for All initiative.

Ifill has dedicated decades to fighting for justice and challenges audiences to imagine a democracy that fulfills its founding ideals.

Full story: https://ow.ly/Q6Qr50Xm8ZT

UCSB outlines progress and goals for Native American repatriation The campus established a dedicated Repatriation Office in 2024 to oversee compliance with federal and state laws and to coordinate closely with Native Nations. The office is charged with summarizing collections, reporting campus holdings to state and federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) offices, facilitating consultation and ensuring that tribes have the information they need to guide decisions about their heritage and cultural belongings.

UC Santa Barbara is advancing its efforts to return Native American ancestors and cultural items, with a comprehensive repatriation program and a goal of completing this work responsibly and transparently by 2028: https://ow.ly/vzh650XlUl0

How feminist witch studies redefine magic and power Witchcraft has long been dismissed as superstition or spectacle — but a new interdisciplinary field reframes it as feminist resistance. In The Witch Studies Reader (Duke University Press, 2025), scholars Jane Ward and Soma Chaudhuri introduce feminist witch studies, exploring how witchcraft functions as a site of power, persecution and decolonial critique. Centering voices from the Global South, the book challenges dominant narratives and examines how witches — real and imagined — confront systems of gendered and colonial control.

The Halloween witch is one of the most enduring images in Western pop culture. But #UCSB's Jane Ward argues that the fear she represents is much deeper 🧙

In the book "The Witch Studies Reader," Ward and co-author Soma Chaudhuri present feminist witch studies: https://ow.ly/M0Q350XiIUu

Happy Halloween from #UCSB 🎃

A new dimension for spin qubits in diamond In groundbreaking work with physicist Ania Jayich, newly minted Ph.D. Lillian Hughes demonstrates how two-dimensional arrays of spin qubits in diamond can be entangled to achieve a metrological quantum advantage — a key advance toward next-generation quantum technologies.

#UCSB researchers have demonstrated a new dimension for spin qubits in diamond 💎 This breakthrough enables the realization of a metrological quantum advantage in the solid state, marking an important step toward the next generation of quantum technologies: https://ow.ly/aNKN50XjXoZ

National Internet Day throwback to the dawn of the Internet, Oct. 29, 1969: #UCSB was one of the first four nodes of the original ARPANET, along with UCLA, Stanford, and University of Utah.

Learn more about world-changing UC innovations: https://ow.ly/QcCa50XjPxX

How to retire coal, smarter and faster UCSB researchers develop data-driven strategies to retire U.S. coal plants smarter and faster, accelerating the clean energy transition.

As coal power continues its decline in the U.S., 100+ plants still have no retirement plans—which could derail national climate goals. A new #UCSB study shows how targeted, data-driven approaches could help accelerate the transition: https://ow.ly/ZhaR50Xix1m

Mock TIME magazine cover with image of Rubin Observatory and text: "Every year, Time Magazine highlights inventions that change how we live, work, play and think about what's possible. 13 of them have UC ties.

Every year, TIME magazine highlights inventions that change how we live, work, play and think about what's possible. 13 of them have UC ties. www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/uc-facu...

#UCSB faculty and alumni are behind three of TIME's Best Inventions of 2025.

From the first topological quantum chip, to compostable retail bags, to an app showing how brains change during pregnancy, #UCSB made its mark 💡

Full story: https://ow.ly/GuT750XhHXj #UniversityOfCalifornia

In ‘Digital Exhaustion,’ Paul Leonardi shares how to make technology work for you The technology management professor draws on 20 years of research to examine why our digital life is so overwhelming — and elucidate some strategies to help us stem that stress.

Texts, emails, social media pings—and repeat. In "Digital Exhaustion: Simple Rules for Reclaiming Your Life" #UCSB's Paul Leonardi draws on decades of research to examine why our digital life is so overwhelming and what we can do to make our tools work for us.

Full story: https://ow.ly/8Aaf50XgwTx

Bioblitz reveals hidden biodiversity in the Santa Barbara Channel UCSB researchers welcome visiting taxonomists for a seafloor census in the Santa Barbara Channel

In a one-week "bioblitz," #UCSB researchers and students worked to collect and classify sea floor creatures—worms, mollusks, sponges, sea stars and others—in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution.

Full story: https://ow.ly/QarQ50XguoU