Presenter: Derek Hollenbeck, postdoctoral research scholar, University of California, Merced Description: Advances in drone-based environmental sensing, atmospheric modeling, and intelligent monitoring systems are creating new opportunities for addressing emerging challenges in food safety and agricultural resilience. This talk explores how methodologies originally developed for methane emission detection and quantification could be translated toward agricultural and […]

Presenter: Masood Parvania, Roger P. Webb Endowed Professor, University of Utah   Description: Many communities across the world are experiencing more frequent and severe extreme weather disturbances such as wildfires, heatwaves, drought, storms, rising sea levels, and flooding, which not only pose threats to human health, and the environment but also affect the ability of […]

Are you looking for a unique way to connect with your peers and experience art and food together? Our team is thrilled to invite you to a special, immersive event hosted by your fellow international graduate students: The Sensory Arcade: Food as Language. When & Where: Date: Monday, May 18 Time: 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. Location: Graduate Student […]

Host:Madeleine Fairbairn Silicon Valley investors, entrepreneurs, and engineers are increasingly interested in agriculture as a site to disrupt and improve upon with their technologies. The nearby Salinas Valley – known as the Salad Bowl of the World – might be considered a “ground zero” for these operations of technological introduction, with some calling it the […]

Presenter: Peng Ding, Associate Professor, UC Berkeley Description: I will present some recent results on unifying regression-based and design-based causal inference in time-series experiments and crossover experiments. Part I: Time-series experiments, also called switchback experiments or N-of-1 trials, play increasingly important roles in modern applications in medical and industrial areas. Under the potential outcomes framework, […]

Presenter: Dr. David A. Knowles, New York Genome Center & Columbia University Description: Many human diseases have a substantial genetic component, which association studies are increasingly capable of characterizing, empowered by ever-growing sample sizes. These associations have the potential to elucidate complex disease biology and prioritize therapeutic interventions. However, it is challenging to determine the […]

Pattern counting is a fundamental problem in computer science with applications in many domains. For a fixed small pattern H, we are given a large graph G and we are asked to count the number of subgraphs or homomorphisms (edge-preserving maps) of H in G. For practical applications where the input graph can be very […]

Presenter: Eve Laroche-Pinel, Postdoctoral Researcher, California State University, Fresno Description: Advances in remote sensing, drone platforms, and data analytics are enhancing the ability to monitor agricultural systems at fine spatial and temporal scales. This presentation will highlight applied research using multispectral and hyperspectral data from satellites, drones, aircraft, and ground platforms to assess crop water […]

Privacy’s Defender Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Executive Director Cindy Cohn’s Journey Inside the Privacy Battles That Shaped Today’s Internet Cindy Cohn has devoted her life to the fight for digital rights. She’s tangled with federal officials to keep our online conversations secure from the government’s prying eyes, fought to ensure that you are told when […]

Sequencing technologies have revolutionized our understanding of biology, yet many existing methods require fragmentation of DNA or RNA, fundamentally limiting our ability to study these molecules in their native, intact forms. Long-read sequencing overcomes this constraint by enabling the sequencing of long, single-molecule native DNA and RNA, providing simultaneous access to both sequence and base […]

Religion has historically been a profound force for global mobilization, shaping geopolitics, economies, and geography. Similarly, contemporary interactive media, with video games at the forefront, has moved beyond mere entertainment to become a powerful vehicle for communication, narrative, and inspiration, reaching millions worldwide. This dissertation investigates the intersection of these two influential forces: religion and […]

Centromeric DNA is critical for accurate chromosome segregation and genome stability, but due to its repetitive nature, it was only recently fully included in a human reference. Rapid evolution and sequence diversity in these regions limit the utility of one reference sequence, however. Integrating centromeric and pericentromeric satellite DNA – which together constitute over 5% […]

Presenter: Arman Zharmagambetov, Meta Abstract: Ensuring the safety of language models (LMs) while maintaining their usefulness remains a critical challenge in AI alignment. Current approaches rely on sequential adversarial training: generating adversarial (harmful) prompts and fine-tuning LMs to defend against them. We introduce a different paradigm: framing safety alignment as a non-zero-sum game between an […]

Presenter: Dr. Ann Mc Cartney Location: Virtual. Please register here: https://ucsc.zoom.us/meeting/register/ciShTZsyRViYxMDjCc_cAQ#/registration Abstract: In 2007 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) that supports Indigenous Peoples’ inherent rights to self-determination and governance over Indigenous Peoples, territories and resources. This codification in an international treaty led to the […]

Funded through a Department of Education Title V grant, a team at UC Santa Cruz launched CULTURA (Centering Undergraduate Latine Thriving with University Racial-Equity Action) in 2024 as a bold, campus-wide effort to reimagine how we can collectively advance student success and equity. At its core, CULTURA asks: What becomes possible when we intentionally invest […]

Donna Haraway, “Staying with the Trouble for Still Possible Times” Wednesday May 20, 2026, 5:30 p.m. There will be refreshments from 5– 5:30 p.m., the talk at 5:30 – 7 p.m., and a reception at the very end. Merrill Cultural Center In-person only The sky has not fallen – yet. In troubled times, this lecture […]

What counts as life in the midst of war, genocide, and planetary destruction? What is death and how do ideas around martyrdom and sacrifice contribute to our understanding of sacred ecologies? In this talk, Mameni engages these questions based on research for his second book project focusing on ecologies of war and martyrdom in the […]

While living abroad, a filmmaker returns to Tripoli, Lebanon, to confront a hometown that once rejected him as a queer child. With a microphone in hand, he walks around coffee shops, public squares, and a park to ask the city’s inhabitants about their cultural and social beliefs and their embrace of new ideas. Gradually, he […]

The annual BE Student Project Showcase celebrates the innovative work and accomplishments of undergraduate engineers in capstone courses and research pathways.

Presenter: Dylan Shropshire, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, Lehigh University Description: Maternally transmitted Wolbachia bacteria inhabit roughly half of all arthropod species, making them likely the most common animal-associated microbe on Earth. Wolbachia alter host reproduction, persist across deep evolutionary timescales, and move into new host species in ways that we are only beginning to resolve. Wolbachia’s […]

In this intimate workshop, UC Santa Cruz students, faculty, and staff are invited into conversation with poets Ronaldo V. Wilson and Terri Witek. Something held by poetry is programmed for […]

Join us for a conversation between Black feminist abolitionist, advocate, and researcher Aminah Elster, Black Feminist scholar Jennifer James, UCSF, and public health and medical anthropology reseaarcher Carlos Martinez, ucsc,  on the intersection of prison abolition and healthcare. This conversation draws on research from the co-edited volume All This Safety Is Killing Us: Health Justice Beyond […]

Spontaneous human combustion! Evil lawyers! Detectives! Family intrigue! Join the Pickwick Club for a series of discussions about ‘Bleak House.’