UC Santa Cruz

Resilience looks like: losing your home in a fire, then helping others rebuild theirs.
Green Heart Award recipient and alumna, Tonje Switzer, earned the award for her years of service to the Santa Cruz community. Read more: https://bit.ly/4rMgugc

Resilience looks like: losing your home in a fire, then helping others rebuild theirs.
Green Heart Award recipient and alumna, Tonje Switzer, earned the award for her years of service to the Santa Cruz community. Read more: https://bit.ly/4rMgugc

Preserving the Amazon: A digital lifeline for the Biblioteca Amazónica Three years ago, a fire broke out at the Biblioteca Amazónica in Iquitos, Peru, imperiling one of the world’s most important collections of primary sources on Amazonian history, culture, and politics....

Now, local collaborators are leveraging their tools and expertise to continue preserving their cultural heritage and have created a model for digital preservation. Read more: bit.ly/3Mh3VJM

The project collaborators digitized fragile materials such as maps, photographs, newspapers, and journals that were at risk from humidity, aging infrastructure, and limited resources, while also centering ethical, community-engaged practices.

Group team meeting at the Biblioteca Amazónica in January 2024

It marks a major milestone in preserving one of the world’s most significant collections on Amazonian history, culture, and politics, made possible in part by the UC Santa Cruz Humanities Division, The Humanities Institute (THI), and the Dolores Huerta Research Center for the Americas.

two researchers working on digital archives

Three years after a devastating fire threatened the Biblioteca Amazónica in Iquitos, Peru, UC Santa Cruz Associate Professor of Latin American Literature Amanda M. Smith and her collaborators have completed the library’s first open-access digital archive.

A class that’s also a road trip? Yes, please. Photo Field Research Quarter is UC Santa Cruz is an immersive, art-filled road trip across CA, where students create work shaped by the landscapes they travel through. https://bit.ly/49PrrqY

📸Jack Chapman

2025 iGEM team investigates solution to common food toxin The undergraduate research team won a silver medal at the 2025 international jamboree.

Congrats to the 2025 @ucsantacruz.bsky.social iGEM team for placing 2nd at this year's iGEM competition!🥈 The team of #BaskinEngineering undergraduates developed a novel, accessible method for removing aflatoxin B1—a common microtoxin—found in fruits, nuts, rice and grains. Read on: bit.ly/4pmdjdH

AI Wildfire Modeling Expands Beyond The West As Climate Risks Shift National Grid collaborates with Rhizome to deploy AI technology that identifies and helps prevent wildfire risks through their climate resilience platform.

Mentioned by @forbes.com! 50 student innovators at @ucsantacruz.bsky.social spent two days developing #AI powered solutions for wildfire mitigation and climate resilience at the “Reboot the Earth” hackathon co-hosted by the United Nations and #BaskinEngineering. bit.ly/4rE8iyt

🧠The brain is the most complex organ we’ve got, and our researchers are helping uncover its biggest mysteries from aging & mental health to cutting-edge work on misophonia. If you value research and education that help keep minds healthy & communities thriving, #StandUpForUC: https://bit.ly/48ChJ93

🧠The brain is the most complex organ we’ve got, and our researchers are helping uncover its biggest mysteries from aging & mental health to cutting-edge work on misophonia. If you value research & education that help keep minds healthy + communities thriving, #StandUpForUC: https://bit.ly/48ChJ93

In Memoriam: Joel Primack Distinguished emeritus professor was a towering figure in theoretical physics and cosmology, a visionary educator, dedicated mentor, and passionate advocate for the role of science in society

In memoriam: UC Santa Cruz honors the passing of physicist and cosmologist Joel Primack, co-developer of the cold dark matter theory and a leader in linking science with public policy.

Please join us in honoring the life of a dedicated mentor and truly seminal scientist: bit.ly/4rDCZ7e

Bella

people learning in sand on shore

Across 2,300 participants and 26 majors, students say these experiences gave them a sense of belonging, confidence, and clarity about their education, careers, and purpose. These are their Degree-Defining Experiences: bit.ly/48qHVTZ

Photo credit: 3. Photo of Bella Shamoon, 4. Sydnee Van Dorn

students in group in water in Alaska

diver in kelp

@ucscscience.bsky.social is reshaping what learning looks like, taking students down to Alaskan kelp forests, up to mountaintop observatories, and into cutting-edge cancer research labs. The skills and courage they build go far beyond graduation.

Photo credit: 1. Dave Benet, 2. Sofia Orelind

We’re at the forefront of inspiring health & healthy communities. Our researchers are asking questions that lead to cures, and we’re building pathways for anyone to become a changemaker in public health.

Help us continue asking bold questions for a better tomorrow: https://bit.ly/49zBNLv

Inspiring Change: Driving an integrated approach for health and wellbeing Nobel Laureate Carol Greider, UC Santa Cruz Distinguished Professor of Molecular, Cell & Developmental Biology, describes the campus’s bold, integrated efforts to advance the health and wellness of California’s Central Coast and the world. Join UC Sant...

We’re at the forefront of inspiring health & healthy communities. Our researchers are asking questions that lead to cures, and we’re building pathways for anyone to become a changemaker in public health. Help us continue to build a better tomorrow: https://bit.ly/49zBNLv

https://bit.ly/3KmZVXl

Three fellows in the Humanities EXCEL Program partnered with local Santa Cruz organizations to gain hands-on, real-world experience. Using disposable cameras, they captured moments of creativity, confidence, service, and joy at their paid internships. Read their reflections: https://bit.ly/3JJ357H

Three fellows in the Humanities EXCEL Program partnered with local Santa Cruz organizations to gain hands-on, real-world experience. Using disposable cameras, they captured moments of creativity, confidence, service, and joy at their paid internships. Read their reflections: https://bit.ly/3JJ357H

“There’s really no evidence that having kids tethered to chairs for six hours a day is the best way to have them learn,” said Rebecca London, a professor of sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who advocates for more access to recess.

Mark Diekhans

James Kent

Maximilian Haeussler

🧬Genomics: Mark Diekhans, James Kent, Maximilian Haeussler, Galt Barber, Jonathan Casper, Hiram Clawson, Jairo Navarro Gonzalez, Angie Hinrichs, Robert Kuhn, Brian Lee, Christopher Lee, Brian Raney, Kate Rosenbloom, Matthew Speir, and Ann Zweig.

Yat Li

🧪Chemistry and biochemistry: Yat Li

Jonathan Fortney

Garth Illingworth

☄️ Astronomy and astrophysics: Jonathan Fortney and Garth Illingworth

Karen Miga

David Haussler

Benedict Paten

🧫 Biomolecular engineering: Karen Miga, David Haussler, and Benedict Paten

Twenty-five UC Santa Cruz researchers earned a spot on the 2025 Highly Cited Researchers, placing their work among the top 1% most cited globally. The list included faculty and staff from across @baskinengineering.bsky.social, @ucscscience.bsky.social and @ucscgenomics.bsky.social ⬇️

UC Santa Cruz is the top public research university in the world for highly cited researchers amid strong 2025 list 25 UC Santa Cruz researchers earned a spot on the prestigious annual list.

UC Santa Cruz was ranked the #1 public research university in the world for highly cited researchers over the past 10 years (2014-2024) by Clarivate.

Not only did we launch the @ucsantacruz.bsky.social campaign in fine style this weekend, but I also fulfilled my lifelong dream of meeting SAMMY THE SLUG.

Now the work begins, to create new projects that will transform the lives of our students and make the world a better place.

Speaker Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz at a lectern, with brown dwarf image onscreen.

#Scialog: Early Science with the #LSST continues! Thanks to Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz @ucsantacruz.bsky.social for a terrific keynote talk, “The Calm Before the Boom: Astrophysical Transients & Stellar Stories with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory.”

AI That Reasons with Medicine | intelligent imaging University of California San Francisco

"Accurate knowledge is actually far more important than the reasoning capabilities," said @ucsantacruz.bsky.social's Yuyin Zhou on the development of #AI reasoning models. Read the recap of her SRG Pillar Meeting at @ucsfci2.bsky.social.

Inspiring Change: UC Santa Cruz launches $750M campaign The campaign is a collective effort to raise funding to accelerate the campus’s groundbreaking discoveries, create real, lasting solutions to some of the world’s most consequential challenges, and amp...

Join us in launching the largest effort in our campus history to invest in high-impact research and the next generation of diverse scholars and leaders. bit.ly/4861n8C

Inspiring Change: Help us invest in expanding life-changing educational opportunities and advance world-changing ideas and solutions that benefit all of us💫