The University of California, Santa Cruz (also known as UC Santa Cruz or UCSC), is a public, collegiate university and one of 10 campuses in the University of California system. Located 80 miles (130 km) south of San Francisco at the edge of the coastal community of Santa Cruz, the campus lies on 2,001 acres (810 ha) of rolling, forested hills overlooking the Pacific Ocean and Monterey Bay.
Founded in 1965, UC Santa Cruz began as a showcase for progressive, cross-disciplinary undergraduate education, innovative teaching methods and contemporary architecture. Since then, it has evolved into a modern research university with a wide variety of both undergraduate and graduate programs, while retaining its reputation for strong undergraduate support and student political activism. The residential college system, which consists of ten small colleges, is intended to combine the student support of a small college with the resources of a major university.
Coastal development is destroying marshes, mangroves and other wetlands that provide valuable protection from hurricanes and storms. Research shows these benefits can be worth millions of dollars.
Psychotropic medication is ‘pharmaceutical violence’ against migrant children and other incarcerated youth throughout the United States. Drug addiction is one consequence.
New research shows that injecting wastewater deep underground can cause earthquakes far from the injection site. It also raises questions about which rock layers are the safest injection targets.
An evolutionary biologist visits the remote jungle mountaintop where a little-known naturalist wrote his insightful paper about the mechanisms of evolution that spurred on a rivalrous Charles Darwin.
How can marine preserves best protect sea creatures that move in and out of them? Two ocean scientists describe new thinking about designing marine protected areas.
Chris Sellers, Stony Brook University (The State University of New York); Lindsey Dillon, University of California, Santa Cruz, and Phil Brown, Northeastern University
Government agencies are supposed to listen to the industries they regulate, but what if they tune out everyone else? Scholars call this regulatory capture, and some staffers see it happening at EPA.
Fifty years after a major oil spill in Santa Barbara helped launch the environmental movement, Californians strongly oppose the Trump administration’s push to expand offshore drilling.
A new study shows that polar bears require more food than previously thought. The scientists used collars that tracked bears’ movements and metabolic rates.
California produces 90 percent of the US strawberry crop, but growers face curbs on toxic chemicals that have helped their industry expand. Can a system centered on mass production become more sustainable?
Daniel Wirls, University of California, Santa Cruz
Republicans were able to push through a tax plan and a flurry of judicial nominees after the Senate curtailed use of the filibuster. It’s time to go all the way.
Gary Griggs, University of California, Santa Cruz and Charles Lester, University of California, Santa Cruz
For 50 years California has used laws and policies to manage development along its 1,100-mile coastline and preserve public access to the shore. Climate change will make that task harder.
Americans Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael Young share the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for work that explained how our cells keep track of time.
New research by scholars, conservationists and the insurance industry shows that coastal wetlands provide hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of protection from flooding, boosting the case for protecting them.
Cleaning up and reusing contaminated sites, known as brownfields, can create jobs and promote economic growth. But it also can drive gentrification that prices out low-income residents.
Fidget items can have practical uses that help people calm down and stay focused. The problem with spinners may be that they require visual attention, which can distract users and others nearby.
People want video games and interactive experiences that help them explore deep and meaningful themes, such as creating family, valuing diversity and living responsibly.
Astronomers are surprised by what they’re finding out about galaxies that formed in the early days of our universe, now that sensitive telescopes allow direct observation, not the inference of old.