Any other Banana Slugs catch this question on #ESPNJeopardy? If you missed it, the episode is now streaming on Hulu, Disney+, and the ESPN App. Thank you, @jeopardyofficial.bsky.social! #GoSlugs 🍌🐌
UC Santa Cruz
@ucsantacruz.bsky.social
Official account of University of California, Santa Cruz. Go Slugs! ucsc.edu
Every big breakthrough starts with people who are committed to making positive change. The Donor Collective is built on a simple idea: meaningful change happens when we come together around the causes we care about. Last year, gifts under $250 totaled more than $1 million. https://bit.ly/4wWdAr6
Penguin poop is helping scientists understand climate change’s effects on the diets of Antarctic species. UC Santa Cruz ocean sciences professor Michael Polito brought color to this clever work 🐧 https://bit.ly/4yloU1g
California’s biodiversity is facing climate pressure. Protect rare species & train future conservation leaders! 🌿 Give to the UC Santa Cruz Aboretum now and your gift will be matched 1:1 up to $25k. https://bit.ly/4vTGzvq
Time to rewind back to the 60's at UC Santa Cruz. 👀🎥🎶 📸 Images Courtesy of UC Santa Cruz Special Collections
🔭This week marks 150 years of discovery at Lick Observatory! Many people have found their love of science at this iconic facility, and I’m so proud of the research and education programs that Lick Observatory has supported all these years. #CA18
I had the pleasure to tour the @ucsantacruz.bsky.social Institute for Particle Physics yesterday, where they’re doing cutting-edge research, including in fusion energy. California institutions are leading these advancements, and it’s critical that they continue receiving federal support.
From UC Santa Cruz to managing Apple operations in the Soviet Union, David Gleason used his humanities degree to build an extraordinary career. Today, he still gives back as a mentor and Humanities Dean’s Council member. https://bit.ly/4v8zTsz
What happens to human ritual in the age of AI? "Body Proxy," an award-winning XR experience co-produced by @baskinengineering.bsky.social Assistant Teaching Professor Samantha Gorman, debuted at SXSW and explores this through satire. Learn more: https://bit.ly/3ROT4t3
We’re measuring the health of a waterways by looking at DNA! 🧬 UC Santa Cruz is using a $2.2M California Department of Fish and Wildlife grant to create an eDNA "health index" for California’s streams—spotting declines from the Mojave to the Redwoods before they turn severe. https://bit.ly/4wrUc5H
From de-extinction to saving today’s endangered species, the science shared at Friday’s genomics symposium at UCSC was groundbreaking! 🦣🧬 Huge thanks to Beth Shapiro for showing how DNA research is our best hope for preventing extinction. https://bit.ly/4tXQ2kz
“We are here ... We’re not something of the past. We are something of the present." Join in person/Zoom on Mon. 5/4 to launch Shadow Indigenous Worlds, which aims to immerse learners globally in Indigenous forms of inquiry and understanding. Learn more and RSVP here: news.ucsc.edu/2026/04/shad...
Dr. Ramon Resa (Crown ’76, biology) started picking oranges and peaches at age three. 🍊🍑 Decades later, he’s a celebrated pediatrician who has spent 40 years caring for underserved families in his hometown. Read more about this UCSC alum: https://bit.ly/4d3tLLW
Congrats to UCSC’s Greer Murphy on winning ICAI’s 2026 Donald McCabe Research of the Year Award! 🏆 Her work focuses on making academic integrity policies more equitable and more student-centered. https://bit.ly/4tvZGtU
UC Santa Cruz in the 80's. 📼✨🌲🦭💙 📸 Images Courtesy of UC Santa Cruz Special Collections
“UCSC ‘had me at hello.’ I never even made it to the other two campuses that had accepted me.” Alumnus Tim Shannon (Cowell '71, history) has philanthropically supported the Humanities at UCSC and students' path to UCSC for 15 years. Here's how: https://bit.ly/4sQ5EG8
How do we build a resilient world? For our two newest AAAS Fellows, the answer lies in the deep histories of migration spaces and the chemical cycles of our coastal wetlands. Congrats to Katharyne Mitchell and Adina Paytan on this lifetime honor! https://bit.ly/4se3hf8
Three UC Santa Cruz professor-student teams won Keck Foundation funding. Learn more about how this not only supports the career trajectories of faculty and graduate students but supports high-impact science research: https://bit.ly/41Lcalx
From UC Santa Cruz art studios to the @BattleBots judging panel. Alumna Lisa Winter (Porter ’09) is proof that an Art degree can lead to the top of the robotics industry. As COO of Sensible Robotics, she’s building a more tactile and creative future. Read more: https://bit.ly/4m0OBOX
Students are tackling real-world challenges in Crown's Corporate Innovation Laboratory. One team built an AI system to improve how navigation apps guide people. Crown’s Innovation & Entrepreneurship Certificate gives students the chance to have a real impact beyond campus. https://bit.ly/40hGDqV
In Crown College’s innovation lab, students work on industry-driven challenges
In Crown College’s Corporate Innovation Laboratory (CRWN 102), students like Evan Rantala and Julien Howard address industry-driven challenges alongside tech and community partners. The course, part o...
bit.ly
When Jim Pepper arrived on campus in 1972, Environmental Studies was dismissed by some as “tree-hugger” activism. 50+ years later, it’s a flagship program addressing climate change through sustainability & justice. Now, Pepper’s legacy is continuing to plant seeds of change: https://bit.ly/4ahAe3A
Most birds in Hawaiʻi can transmit avian malaria to mosquitoes, leading to multiple bird extinctions and threatening native species. 🐦🦟 But UC Santa Cruz scientists are helping guide conservation strategies like mosquito control + habitat protection: https://bit.ly/4bTA0SC
For decades, Alzheimer’s drug research has focused on amyloid beta. But scientists at UC Santa Cruz say an overlooked peptide (P3) may also quickly form toxic clumps in the brain. Read the full story: https://bit.ly/47Hq6jT
Supposedly harmless peptide may be linked to Alzheimer’s disease
New paper from UC Santa Cruz chemistry lab argues that efforts to develop treatments for Alzheimer's should stop ignoring a short protein called P3, the ‘neglected cousin’ of amyloid beta
bit.ly
Humanities = real-world skills 💡 UCSC students graduate with the ability to analyze, communicate, collaborate, and adapt, skills that employers value across every industry. From tech to media to entrepreneurship, read how transferable skills power unexpected careers: https://bit.ly/4l2oLtv
Science doesn't happen in a vacuum. And for 18 years, the Lamat Institute has mobilized marginalized students' strengths and changed how astronomy is practiced. A new review in Nature Astronomy shows how equity + excellence leads to better science: https://bit.ly/4b4YXto
Born enslaved in 1742, David George spent decades running toward freedom and across colonies, wars, and continents 📘 A new book by historian Gregory O’Malley tells his extraordinary story and rethinks the American Revolution from the perspective of the enslaved. Read more: https://bit.ly/4azL0Dr
Applied mathematics professor Ashesh Chattopadhyay received a Sloan Research Fellowship to develop AI models that improve climate prediction and help forecast extreme Earth-system events, improving our responses to climate change while conserving energy resources: https://bit.ly/3Optzgp
What happens when Star Trek meets opera? 🚀 A decade-long creative collaboration turns the classic episode “The Menagerie” into a powerful exploration of disability, love, and what makes life meaningful. Join the creators as they ask: What do we need to live long and prosper? https://bit.ly/4cWPoyf
Questions that Matter: Lessons on the good life from a Star Trek opera-in-progress
For the past decade, an eclectic group of professors, staff members, and show-business professionals has been working hard to bring a Star Trek opera to vibrant life. Now, they are inviting the public...
bit.ly
Arts education starts with access. A new California Arts Council grant is helping students experience world-class exhibitions and pass that access on by mentoring high school students: https://bit.ly/40qqq2x