Events

Landesman Lecture
2026-04-28 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Music Center Recital Hall, 400 McHenry Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Landesman Lecture: Integrating Mathematical and Scientific Research with Excellence in Teaching
Ancestral Matter, Shared Humanity, Beyond Borders and Labels
This evening blends science, poetry, and storytelling to explore our deepest origins and shared humanity. Tracing the cosmic formation of the elements that make our bodies, we reflect on an ancestry older than nations, borders, and labels. Through verse and story, we connect stellar history with lived experience, inviting us to see how our many identities arise from the same ancestral matter. Together, we explore how storytelling can soften divisions, cross boundaries, and remind us that we are forged from one common origin.
Register to attend in-person or virtual
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for guests attending in person
Lecture: 6 p.m.
Followed by a reception for in-person guests
Free and open to the public
Parking is $11
Presented by the UC Santa Cruz Emeriti Association

Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz studies some of the most powerful explosions since the birth of the universe by looking not at the heavens but at computer models. Eager to understand our origins, he uses simulations to explore the cataclysmic death of stars that give rise to many of the elements of the periodic table. His work tests ideas at the edge of human experience, challenging how we imagine the universe and our place within it.

Jasmine Schlafke, better known by her stage name Queen Jasmeen, is a poet, slam coach, diversity trainer, and a doula from Santa Cruz, CA. Her first book, Crowned, published in 2019 by Bay Company Books, is a widely respected expression of the complexity of compounded identities, reflecting on mental health, race, teen parenting, womanhood, ministry, and so much more. Currently, she works as a privately contracted poetry and performance coach and is a proud single mother of two grown children.

Karen Tei Yamashita – Questions 27 & 28
2026-04-28 19:00 - 20:00 | Bookshop Santa Cruz
Bookshop Santa Cruz welcomes acclaimed author Karen Tei Yamashita (I Hotel) to celebrate the launch of her new novel Questions 27 & 28—a masterful polyvocal history of Japanese Americans before, during, and after World War II. Yamashita will be in conversation with Alice Yang, Professor of History and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies at UC Santa Cruz.
In February 1942, shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order authorizing the secretary of war to remove 120,000 Japanese Americans from their homes on the West Coast and corral them into inland concentration camps.

Questions 27 & 28 reaches backward and forward from the time of the questionnaire, chronicling the individuals who arrived in the US from Japan at the turn of the century, their children who came of age during war and incarceration, and their descendants who lived in its aftermath. Yamashita mixes fact with fiction and layers genres from James Bond movies to haiku to oral history, transfiguring an enormity of archival research into a chorus of stories. With her signature wit and aplomb, she gives voice to laborers, artists, scholars, informants, and activists who, over three generations, defined an immigrant community.
Karen Tei Yamashita is the author of nine books, including I Hotel, finalist for the National Book Award. Recipient of the National Book Foundation’s 2021 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, she is Professor Emerita of literature and creative writing at the University of California, Santa Cruz. In 2024 Yamashita was inducted as a Literature Fellow in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Alice Yang is Professor of History and Critical Race and Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She received her Ph.D. in history from Stanford University and currently co-directs the Center for the Study of Pacific War Memories. She specializes in memories of the Pacific War, Asian American history, race, gender, oral history, historical memory, and twentieth-century America. Her publications include Historical Memories of the Japanese American Internment and the Struggle for Redress (2007), Major Problems in Asian American History (2003, 2017) and What Did the Internment of Japanese Americans Mean? (2000). Her exhibit, Never Again is Now: Japanese American Women Activists and the Legacy of Mass Incarceration, appeared at UC Santa Cruz, the Watsonville Public Library and the Japanese American Museum of San Jose. She also has served as chair of the UCSC History Department and provost of Stevenson College at UCSC.
More information at: Bookshop Santa Cruz – Karen Tei Yamashita

Co-sponsored by The Humanities Institute at UC Santa Cruz.

FINS: Fisheries Insights Narratives and Stories seminar series featuring Dr. Steve Lindley
2026-04-29 10:30 - 12:00 | Ocean Health Building, McAllister Way, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Please join us for the third talk in the FINS: Fisheries Insights Narratives and Stories seminar series featuring Dr. Steve Lindley.
Steve Lindley worked at NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center for 29 years, retiring in 2025 as director of the Santa Cruz Laboratory and Fisheries Ecology Division, where he led the SWFSC’s salmon and groundfish research programs. A graduate of Duke University and UC Santa Barbara, Steve has broad interests in aquatic ecology, and is currently a member of the Delta Stewardship Council’s Delta Independent Science Board, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s Independent Scientific Advisory Board and Independent Scientific Review Group, and researcher at UC Santa Cruz.
FINS: Fisheries Insights Narratives and Stories Seminar Series
Dr. Steve Lindley, UCSC IMS researcher, former director of NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center
Title: Science in support of salmon conservation in California
When: Wednesday, April 29th from 11am-12pm
Where: Ocean Health Building Rm 118, 115 McAllister Way, Santa Cruz, CA 95060 and on Zoom
Agenda:

10:30 am – 11:00 am – Professional Networking Session (in person only – light snacks and refreshments provided)
11 am to 12 pm – presentation followed by Q & A
12 pm – 1pm – student lunch with the speaker in OHB courtyard → sign up here

Zoom Meeting Registration: https://ucsc.zoom.us/meeting/register/NwH0_qUbSeuIm3A76DY-Dg

CSE Colloquium - Towards Safe and Resilient Large-scale Distributed Programming
2026-04-29 11:00 - 12:15 | Engineering 2, Engineering 2 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Presenter: Philipp Haller, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Abstract:
Distributed programming is notoriously difficult. Not only are distributed systems concurrent, they pose additional challenges including data consistency and fault tolerance. At the same time, the share of software systems that are necessarily distributed systems is growing rapidly. As a result, too many software developers are asked to become distributed systems experts. Thus, tools and techniques for ensuring the correctness of distributed systems are urgently needed in order to leave this unsustainable trajectory. This talk presents research results towards the design and implementation of programming systems that support emerging applications and workloads; provide reliability and trust; and embrace simplicity and accessibility. Concretely, the presented work focuses on two directions.
The first direction explores a distributed programming model that provides consistency while enabling high availability for workloads operating on join-semilattices without sacrificing partition tolerance. We propose a new consistency protocol, called observable atomic consistency protocol (OACP), which leverages on-demand coordination to support both coordination-free operations as well as totally-ordered operations on replicated data types. We present a formal, mechanized model of OACP in rewriting logic and verify key correctness properties using the model checking tool Maude. Furthermore, we present the evaluation of a prototype implementation of OACP based on Akka, a widely-used actor-based middleware. The second direction explores a programming system that aims to reconcile the scalability and fault tolerance of stream processing systems with the flexibility of the actor concurrency model. The programming system ensures a failure-transparency property, effectively masking failures through transparent recovery. Our work is the first to formalize failure transparency using a small-step operational semantics, and to provide proofs of failure transparency for stateful dataflow streaming and a fault-tolerant actor-based programming model.
Bio:
Philipp Haller is an Associate Professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. His main research interests are in the design and implementation of programming languages, type systems, concurrency, and distributed programming. He was part of the team that received the 2019 ACM SIGPLAN Programming Languages Software Award for the development of the Scala programming language. Prior to KTH, he was an early employee at Akka (previously Lightbend, Inc.), a start-up company developing and supporting Scala as well as frameworks for large-scale distributed programming. Prior to Akka, he was a post-doctoral fellow at Stanford University, USA, and at EPFL, Switzerland. In 2010 he received his PhD in computer science from EPFL, including a nomination for the 2010 EPFL Doctorate Award. In 2006 he received his Dipl.-Inform. degree from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (previously University of Karlsruhe), Germany.
Hosted by: Professor Mohsen Lesani
Location: Engineering 2, Room E2-180 (Refreshments such as fruit, pastries, coffee, and tea will be provided.)
Zoom Option: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/93445911992?pwd=[REDACTED]

A Mouthful of Archaeology: Oral Health Disparities During the Early Bronze Age in Anatolia
2026-04-29 12:00 - 13:00 | Social Sciences 1, Social Sciences 1, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Archaeology and Biological Anthropology Lunch Talk with Dr. Emily Smith — April 29th at 12 noon in Rm 261, Social Sciences 1.
About the Talk: The Early Bronze Age in Anatolia is recognized as a transformative period of increased social stratification, urbanization, and socioeconomic shifts. While substantial archaeological evidence traces these characteristics of the Early Bronze Age, there remains a deficit in bioarchaeological evidence supporting this discussion. Emily’s research seeks to fill the gap in the biocultural evidence by investigating oral health. Her research demonstrates how dental anthropology is vital in understanding the relationships between diet, social structure, and complex cultural and economic changes during the Early Bronze Age in Anatolia.

About the Speaker: Emily Smith is the new Laboratory Operations and Facilities Manager for the Anthropology Department. She recently earned her PhD in Anthropology from the University of Nevada, Reno. Her research interests focus on oral health disparities, where the majority of her research has looked at health disparities during the rise of city-states in Anatolia during the Early Bronze Age.

Office of Research Faculty Town Hall
2026-04-29 12:00 - 13:00 | https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/97860241141
Please join us for an Office of Research Faculty Town Hall with VCR John MacMillan.
The Town Hall will be held via zoom on Wednesday, April 29th from 12-1pm.
In this Town Hall, the VCR and OR leadership will provide updates on the federal landscape, the centralization of research accounting, and compliance and PI responsibilities. There will also be some time for Q&A.
In addition to questions taken during the session, you may also choose to submit your questions in advance. Please send questions to Kelly at kgraham2@ucsc.edu by Monday, April 27 at noon.
No registration required. Use UCSC email to access the zoom link: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/97860241141

Career Success Drop-Ins at the Ethnic Resource Centers - Week 5
2026-04-29 13:00 - 14:30 | Crown Provost House, 660 Crown Service Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Group Appointment
Drop-in at the Ethnic Resource Centers with Career Coach & Engagement Specialist Bridge Kennedy to discuss career exploration, job search strategy, interview prep, grad school prep, or whatever’s on your mind related to your career success!
If you need accommodations please email bridgekk@ucsc.edu

YOU BELONG HERE
Programs and services are open to all, consistent with state and federal law, as well as the University of California’s nondiscrimination policies. Every initiative—whether a student service, faculty program, or community event—is designed to be accessible, inclusive, and respectful of all identities. To learn more, please visit UC Nondiscrimination Statement or Nondiscrimination Policy for UC Publications.

Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed
2026-04-29 15:30 - 17:30 | Merrill Cultural Center, 200 McLaughlin Dr, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Please join us as Quinn Slobodian & Ben Tarnoff discuss their new book, Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed (April, 2026).

A Financial Times Most Anticipated Nonfiction Book of the Year • A Kirkus Most Anticipated Nonfiction Book of Spring 2026• A Literary Hub Most Anticipated Book of the Year

A pyrotechnic examination of Elon Musk as a symptom and avatar of our postliberal age
Everyone’s got an Elon take. He’s a messiah. A menace; a genius; a clown. The verdicts differ, but they share one theme: they treat him as an individual. Muskism argues otherwise. Elon Musk isn’t a glitch in the system—he is the system. His worldview promises sovereignty through technology: plug in, power up, and become self-reliant. But the more you connect, the more he owns you.
If Fordism defined the capitalism of the twentieth century, Muskism may define the twenty-first. Fordism helped build the welfare state. Musk undoes it. He thrives on dependence while preaching freedom. His cars run on subsidies; his satellites run the battlefield; his social networks train the AI that trains us. Muskism sells itself as the future but entrenches age-old hierarchies. It offers autonomy for some and exclusion for others. It’s pro-natalist but anti-immigrant, futurist but reactionary. It speaks of humanity but warns against empathy. Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff cut through the hype and the hate to reveal what Musk really represents: a new political economy, where to be “free” means to serve a Technoking. Muskism isn’t about the man. It’s about the machine that made him—and the world he’s making next.
Quinn Slobodian is professor of international history at Boston University, and the author or editor of seven books translated into ten languages including, Hayek’s Bastards: Race, Gold, IQ and the Capitalism of the Far Right, Crack-Up Capitalism: Market Radicals and the Dream of a World without Democracy, and Globalists: The End of Empire and the Birth of Neoliberalism.
Ben Tarnoff is a writer and technologist based in Massachusetts and is the author of Internet for the People and the co-author of Voices from the Valley: Tech Workers Talk About What They Do—And How They Do It. He is a frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books, and has also written for the New York Times, The New Yorker, and the New Republic, among other publications.

Denim Day Open Mic & Survivor Share-Out
2026-04-29 17:30 - 19:30 | Namaste Lounge, 615 College Nine Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Join CARE in closing out Sexual Assault Awareness Month 2026, during Denim Day, for a space where we’ll connect as a community, hand out copies of the new volume of the CARE Art Zine, and hold an open mic and survivor share-out, open to all UCSC survivors, their supporters, and allies! Food and refreshments provided, no RSVP required! For questions or accommodations, please email the CARE team.
You Belong Here: The programs and services described here are open to all, consistent with state and federal law, as well as the University of California’s nondiscrimination policies. Every initiative—whether a student service, faculty program, or community event—is designed to be accessible, inclusive, and respectful of all identities.
To learn more, please visit UC Nondiscrimination Statement or Nondiscrimination Policy for UC Publications.

Stamp it Out: Pasifika Patterns
2026-04-29 18:00 - 20:00 | Terry Freitas Commons, 600 McLaughlin Dr. College Nine, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Join AA/PIRC and Mauna Kea Protectors on Wednesday, April 29th from 6-8pm at Terry Freitas Commons to learn about the cultural significance of different Pasifika patterns and how to respectfully use the designs, before creating your own linocut stamps. The ink will work for both paper and cloth, so bring any old clothes you may want to upcycle!
Register at bit.ly/aapirc-stamp
You Belong Here: The programs and services described here are open to all, consistent with state and federal law, as well as the University of California’s nondiscrimination policies. Every initiative—whether a student service, faculty program, or community event—is designed to be accessible, inclusive, and respectful of all identities.
To learn more, please visit UC Nondiscrimination Statement or Nondiscrimination Policy for UC Publications.

TLC Convocation 2026
2026-04-30 05:00 - 19:30 | Colleges Nine and John R. Lewis College Multi-purpose Room, 615 College Nine Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
The Opposite of Cheating: Rethinking Instruction in the Age of AI
David Rettinger, Applied Professor and Undergraduate Program Director at the University of Tulsa
Higher education stands at a crossroads. Generative AI is a powerful and flawed tool that may render traditional assessments obsolete and call fundamental pedagogical assumptions into question across all disciplines. Yet this moment of disruption also presents an opportunity to refocus on what truly matters: student learning and growth. In this session, David Rettinger will outline a positive, evidence-based approach to academic integrity in the age of AI, encouraging all of us to move beyond policing to authentic learning. Together, we will take an evidence-based approach toward change, by rethinking assessments to focus on durable human skills, by learning to communicate the value of higher education to our students, and by evaluating strategies for integrating AI thoughtfully into our courses. Attendees will leave with both conceptual frameworks for decision-making and concrete tools for AI integration, communicating about integrity, and reducing misconduct through improved teaching and learning.
Register to attend in person or watch remotely

Portfolio Workshop for Arts Division Students - all majors
2026-04-30 12:00 - 13:00 | https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/2614256373?pwd=[REDACTED]
Employment opportunities in various portions of the Art industry often require a portfolio as part of an application. If you’re unsure how to create a portfolio for an employment application, or what should be included in it, this workshop is for you! We will focus on best practices that apply broadly to almost all portfolio styles for all majors – digital media, fine art, AGPM, music, etc. We will also spend a few minutes on items that are specific to various majors/industries. We’ll end with time for you to ask questions and make a specific plan of action for yourself! Join us for this informative, relevant, and empowering workshop!

KNOW OUR POLICIES
Job postings and employer announcements are made without endorsement, direct or implied, by Career Success or UCSC. Career Success educates students about various opportunities and ensures equity of access to campus recruiting activities for all employers who abide by our Employer Policies. Individual students are encouraged to determine which employers align with their diverse talents, values, and interests.

YOU BELONG HERE
Programs and services are open to all, consistent with state and federal law, as well as the University of California’s nondiscrimination policies. Every initiative—whether a student service, faculty program, or community event—is designed to be accessible, inclusive, and respectful of all identities. To learn more, please visit UC Nondiscrimination Statement or Nondiscrimination Policy for UC Publications.
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Email Career Success: csuccess@ucsc.edu
Visit Career Success Website: https://careers.ucsc.ed

Blue Zones: Secrets to Health and Longevity Workshop
2026-04-30 12:00 - 13:00 | CA
Register for the Zoom link.

What do some of the world’s longest-living communities have in common? In regions known as Blue Zones, people routinely live longer, healthier lives. Known as centennials, they often reach 90 or even 100 with vitality. In this workshop, we’ll explore:

The 5 Blue Zone regions and their secrets to longevity

Everyday habits shared by these longevity hotspots

Tips for eating, movement, connection with others, purpose, and stress management

Take away small and realistic changes they can apply to support long-term health and well-being in your own life.

Register here for the Zoom link.

For questions, please reach out to Ashley Parker, Health and Well-being Specialist, at aseparke@ucsc.edu.

UC Santa Cruz Police Accountability Board (PAB) Spring 2026 Public Meeting
2026-04-30 15:00 - 16:00
The UC Santa Cruz Police Accountability Board (PAB) invites students, staff, faculty, and community members to its Spring 2026 Public Meeting on Thursday, April 30 from 3–4 p.m. via Zoom. This is an opportunity to learn about the PAB’s role in providing civilian oversight of the UC Santa Cruz Police Department, hear updates on complaint data and board activities, and share your questions and feedback directly with board members. The PAB is an independent committee charged by the Chancellor to review investigations into complaints of police misconduct, evaluate UCSC PD policies and procedures, and submit advisory recommendations to the Chief of Police. Your voice matters — join us and help shape the future of public safety at UC Santa Cruz.

Register today: https://ucsc.zoom.us/meeting/register/Rwisb3unSZ-LKKfBbNtx0w#/registration

Planetary Health and Innovation Panel
2026-04-30 16:00 - 19:00 | Seymour Marine Discovery Center, 100 McAllister Way, Santa Cruz, CA, 95060
Join us for an interactive conversation featuring visionary entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem experts at the forefront of global sustainability. This panel explores the intersection of environmental stewardship and cutting-edge solutions to drive meaningful impact. Following the discussion, please stay for a networking reception to connect with fellow attendees and industry leaders. It is a premier opportunity to exchange ideas and forge new partnerships within the planetary health space.

Your Next Degree: Business School
2026-04-30 17:00 - 18:30 | CA
Is business school the right next step for you? This webinar will feature admissions representatives from UCLA Anderson School of Management and other UC programs, offering an inside look at the application process, admissions requirements, and the range of business degrees available.
Designed for alumni at any stage of exploration, this session will help you assess whether business school aligns with your goals, understand the value it can bring to your career, and determine the right timing to apply. The session will conclude with a live Q&A, giving you the opportunity to ask questions directly to admissions professionals.
This program, hosted by UCLA, is open to alumni from all UC campuses.
Website for additional information
Registration link

Slugs at Sundown: CEO of Your Own Career
2026-04-30 17:30 - 19:30 | Silicon Valley Campus, 3175 Bowers Avenue, Santa Clara, CA, 95054, United States
Tired of the dreaded question, “So, what do you do?” Join us for a high-impact session designed to help you ditch the “humble brag” and start speaking like the CEO of your career. Our alumna career coach will guide you through a “Marketing Mindset” workshop, using timed journaling and a proven three-part formula to help you craft a powerful statement of your professional impact. You won’t just leave with a draft—you’ll have the chance to test-drive your new narrative immediately during our networking portion. Whether you’re leveling up or pivoting, come gain the confidence to own your value in a supportive, low-pressure environment.
Thursday, April 30
5:30 – 5:45 p.m. | Check-in
5:45 – 6:45 p.m. | Welcome, Presentation, Q&A
6:45 – 7:30 p.m. | Networking
This workshop will be presented by Megan Rees (Porter ’99). Megan is a therapist, coach, and workplace consultant with nearly 20 years of experience helping people communicate more clearly and work better together. After studying theater at UC Santa Cruz, she earned a master’s degree in drama therapy at NYU, combining psychology, storytelling, and performance to help people better understand themselves and each other. Megan works with individuals, leaders, and teams to clarify their narrative, strengthen their professional presence, and build the trust and communication that sup11port collaboration and innovation.
Please register to confirm your attendance.

Santa Cruz Cinema Takeover: Double Feature Night
2026-04-30 20:00 - 22:00 | Santa Cruz Cinema, 1405 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz, 95060, United States
Join us for Santa Cruz Cinema Takeover: Double Feature Night and pick your own galaxy to explore. Choose between an outer-space adventure with Project Hail Mary or a fun-filled journey through the stars with Super Mario Galaxy.
Grab your friends and enjoy a free screening at Santa Cruz Cinema, brought to you by the Center for Leadership and Involvement.
Tickets will be distributed at the theater entrance starting at 7:30 p.m.
Seating and ticket distribution are first-come, first-served.
We hope this event will be out of this world!
For questions, please email involved@ucsc.edu

Summer Session Enrollment Open
2026-05-01 09:00 - 17:00 | https://events.ucsc.edu/event/summer-session-enrollment-open/2026-05-01/
Summer Session enrollment is now open! All continuing students can add classes in MyUCSC. Incoming students must register to enroll. Get ahead on your degree, explore new subjects, or catch up on requirements. Financial aid is available. Learn more and enroll at summer.ucsc.edu

Sequence to Survival: Using Genomics to Save Biodiversity
2026-05-01 13:00 - 16:30 | Cultural Center – Merrill College, 641 Merrill Rd, Santa Cruz, 95064, United States
A Free Public Symposium
Friday, May 1, 2026 Merrill Cultural Center, UC Santa Cruz Main Campus Doors open at 12:30 PM | Program begins at 1:00 PM
Registration is free but required!

In the 25 years since the Human Genome Project, scientists have sequenced the DNA of thousands of species. But what can genomics actually do for ecological conservation? The answers are both surprising and urgent. Join us for an afternoon at the cutting edge of conservation genomics as we explore everything from de-extinction to searching water samples for viral genomes, with researchers from the UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute who are turning DNA into a tool for protecting life on Earth.
Keynote Speaker: Beth Shapiro Chief Science Officer, Colossal Biosciences Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UC Santa Cruz; Director of Conservation Genomics, UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute
Beth Shapiro leads the science behind Colossal Biosciences’ efforts to bring back the woolly mammoth and dire wolf. In her talk, “How (and Why) to Clone a Mammoth,“ she’ll share what the science of de-extinction is revealing about how we can protect the species we still have — and why the tools being built for resurrection may be our best hope for preventing extinction in the first place.
Panel Discussion: Conservation Genomics in Action
Following the keynote, Beth joins a panel of researchers working on the front lines of conservation: helping kelp forests survive warming oceans, tracking the genetic health of brown bears, monitoring biodiversity through DNA collected from soil and water, and partnering with Indigenous communities to protect species around the world. Panel participants include:

Beth Shapiro- Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UC Santa Cruz, CSO of Colossal Biosciences
Meaghan Clark- Postdoctoral Scholar in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UCSC
Katie Jones- Director of Community Engagement at Wise Ancestors
Joanna Kelley- Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UC Santa Cruz
Rachel Meyers – Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UC Santa Cruz, CSO of eDNA Explorer

Science Fair Showcase
Explore live demos and talk directly with researchers from some of the top conservation genomics labs in the country. Come curious.
Refreshments provided by 10X Genomics and Oxford Nanopore Technologies!
Schedule
12:30 PM — Doors open
1:00 PM — Welcome remarks by David Haussler and Keynote by Beth Shapiro
1:50 PM — Panel discussion and Q&A
2:50 PM — Refreshments and science fair showcase
4:30 PM — Event close

BME80G Seminar - Katherine Bonini, "Rethinking Familial Risk in Genomic Medicine: Ethical Approaches to Cascade Screening"
2026-05-01 13:20 - 14:25 | Jack Baskin Auditorium, 191 Baskin Cir, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Presenter: Katherine Bonini, Senior Genetic Counselor @ Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Description: It has long been argued that families are central to genomic medicine. Genomic risk, diagnosis, and management are rarely confined to a single individual, and separating patients’ interests from those of their relatives is often neither straightforward nor desirable. Despite this, healthcare systems in the United States continue to operationalize care at the level of the individual. This tension is especially evident in cascade screening, the process of identifying, notifying, and offering genetic testing to relatives of a proband with a hereditary condition. Cascade screening can enable earlier diagnosis, guide preventive care, and reduce morbidity and mortality, but its implementation raises important ethical questions.
In this talk, we will examine how current approaches to familial risk communication place responsibility on patients to notify relatives, often resulting in incomplete reach and missed opportunities for prevention. We will then consider alternative approaches, including system-led contact models in which health systems directly notify at-risk relatives with proband consent. Drawing on public health ethics frameworks, we will discuss a proposed framework demonstrating how system-led models may be ethically justified when specific criteria are met, including considerations of public input, opt-out mechanisms, and a focus on actionable conditions. This talk will encourage consideration of how genomic care can be structured to better balance individual rights with broader responsibilities to families and public health.

Bio: Katherine (Kate) Bonini, MS, MA, CGC is a Senior Genetic Counselor and Core Faculty member in the Institute for Genomic Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Her work focuses on the ethical, legal, and social implications of integrating emerging genomic technologies into clinical care, with particular emphasis on implementation science and equitable translation of genomic advances into practice. She has contributed to several major NHGRI-funded initiatives, including the Clinical Sequencing Evidence-Generating Research (CSER) Consortium, the Electronic Medical Records and Genomics (eMERGE) Network, and the Human Pangenome Reference Consortium (HPRC).
Kate is an active leader within the National Society of Genetic Counselors, where she previously served as Chair of the Research Special Interest Group and Chair of the Public Policy Committee. She is also a member of the Mount Sinai Clinical Ethics Committee, where she contributes to institutional discussions on complex ethical issues in patient care and research.
She received her MS in Genetic Counseling and MA in Medical Humanities and Bioethics from Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.
Hosted by: Professor Karen Miga, BME Department

Meet the Campus Mobile Crisis Team
2026-05-01 15:00 - 17:00 | Porter College Quad
The UC Santa Cruz Campus Mobile Crisis Team (CMCT) will be at the SHOP RAVE Ready Event at Porter College Quad on May 1 from 3–5 PM. Drop by to meet the CMCT team, learn more about the services they offer, and connect in a welcoming space. Enjoy some treats while you’re there and take the opportunity to get familiar with your campus resources.
This event is supported by Student Health Services for Mental Health Awareness Month. You are invited to engage in a variety of campus-wide activities focused on mental health and wellness. Learn about support services, discover ways to help a friend in need, and explore strategies to care for your own well-being. Information is available on the Mental Health Month Event Calendar.
You Belong Here: The programs and services described here are open to all, consistent with state and federal law, as well as the University of California’s nondiscrimination policies. Every initiative—whether a student service, faculty program, or community event—is designed to be accessible, inclusive, and respectful of all identities.
To learn more, please visit UC Nondiscrimination Statement or Nondiscrimination Policy for UC Publications.

Berry U-Pick at the UCSC Farm
2026-05-02 09:00 - 12:00 | UCSC Farm, 152 Farm Rd, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Come enjoy picking your own organic strawberries and/or blueberries at the campus farm! Our delicious, organic berries will be plentiful this spring and we hope you can come enjoy the bounty.
When: U-picks will take place on Saturdays from 9am to 12pm while supplies last. Blueberries will be available approximately through June, and strawberries will be available into the summer season. PLEASE NOTE that u-picks will not occur on Saturday, June 13 due to campus commencement ceremonies that will impact traffic and parking.
Where: Free parking will be available in the Hay Barn lot or lot 115/116 during u-pick hours. Please do not park in the dirt lot at the farm’s back gate. Please walk to the pinned location at the farm to pre-pay and collect your u-pick container(s). We will have directional signage displayed. There is one ADA parking spot on the farm. The UCSC Farm has uneven, hilly terrain. If you require accommodations to fully participate, please email agroecology@ucsc.edu and we will do our best to accommodate.
Payment: Credit card payments only (you will need a smartphone to scan a QR code and enter your card info manually).

Kuumbwa Jazz Presents – Gregorio Uribe
2026-05-04 07:00 - 20:00 | Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320-2 Cedar St, Santa Cruz, 95060, United States
“Colombian artist Gregorio Uribe, whose blend of contemporary cumbia and timeless charisma has marked him as an artist to watch.” – Billboard
Uribe was recognized by the Colombian government as one of “The 100 Most Successful Colombians Abroad”, and has received honors from the city of Boston and the state of Massachusetts for his contribution to Latin music. He is currently recording his fourth studio album, a groundbreaking collection of songs that will take the Colombian accordion to a new level of versatility. This concert date will feature a dynamic combination of solo and band performances.

Gregorio Uribe is a Latin GRAMMY-nominated Colombian singer-songwriter and accordionist. He graduated from Berklee College of Music and has performed his music at NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert, Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden, and the New Orleans Jazz Fest, among others. He has collaborated with renowned artists such as Rubén Blades, Carlos Vives, and Paquito D’Rivera, as well as with folklore masters Alfredo Gutiérrez, Carmelo Torres, and Martina Camargo.
For more information: Kuumbwa Jazz – Gregorio Uribe

Presented by the Kuumbwa Jazz Center and Co-sponsored by The Humanities Institute at UC Santa Cruz.

Let's Talk
2026-05-04 14:00 - 15:00 | https://events.ucsc.edu/event/lets-talk-6/2026-05-04/
Need to talk? We’re here to listen! Drop in for a confidential chat with a professional counselor who can provide support, advice and information.
Zoom Meeting Link
Meeting ID: 870 435 8865
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Facilitator: Niki Severson, LCSW (831) 459-2628
You Belong Here: The programs and services described here are open to all, consistent with state and federal law, as well as the University of California’s nondiscrimination policies. Every initiative—whether a student service, faculty program, or community event—is designed to be accessible, inclusive, and respectful of all identities.
To learn more, please visit UC Nondiscrimination Statement or Nondiscrimination Policy for UC Publications.

Statistics Seminar: Advancing Statistical Rigor in Single-Cell and Spatial Omics Using In Silico Control Data
2026-05-04 16:00 - 17:00 | CA
Presenter: Guan’ao Yan, Assistant Professor, Michigan State University
Description: Single-cell and spatial transcriptomics technologies now let us map cellular diversity and tissue organization at high resolution, but the computational methods built to analyze these data are difficult to evaluate in a rigorous, reproducible way. Two key barriers are the lack of realistic synthetic data with known ground truth and the ambiguity in how we define biologically meaningful spatial patterns. This talk will introduce two simulation frameworks—scReadSim for single-cell RNA-seq and ATAC-seq data, and scIsoSim for isoform-level expression and splicing—that generate realistic sequencing reads while preserving user-specified truth. These tools enable fair, controlled benchmarking of quantification and splicing methods across experimental protocols. The talk will also present a systematic review of 34 methods for detecting spatially variable genes (SVGs) in spatial transcriptomics data, proposing a new categorization of SVGs and outlining how future benchmarks should be designed. Overall, the goal is to improve statistical rigor, interpretability, and comparability in single-cell and spatial omics analysis.
Bio: Guan’ao Yan is an Assistant Professor of Computational Mathematics, Science & Engineering at Michigan State University. He received his Ph.D. in Statistics from UCLA. His research focuses on statistical and computational methods for modern statistical genomics, particularly single-cell and spatial omics, with an emphasis on rigorous benchmarking, interpretability, and biomedical discovery.
Hosted by: Statistics Department

AM Seminar: Using Math and Experiments to Study the Control of Cell Metabolism
2026-05-04 16:00 - 17:00 | Jack Baskin Engineering, Baskin Engineering 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Presenter: Denis Titov, Assistant Professor, University of California, Berkeley
Description: Cells run thousands of chemical reactions simultaneously, and these reactions must be precisely controlled—like a thermostat that prevents overheating. When this control fails, diseases including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and fatty liver disease result. One key control mechanism is allosteric regulation, where a small molecule binds to an enzyme and changes its activity. Allosteric regulation is among the most conserved features of cellular life, yet the functions it serves remain one of the oldest unsolved problems in biology. Several roles have been proposed, but since the discovery of allostery in the 1950s, no one has systematically disabled it in metabolic enzymes and measured the consequences. Four technological advances now converge to make this possible. CRISPR enables precise genome editing of allosteric sites. Structural biology has mapped which residues to target. LC-MS metabolomics makes metabolic phenotyping routine. The speed of modern computers enables detailed modeling of allosteric regulator function. In this talk, I will describe our work developing and testing the first-in-class biophysical model of a metabolic pathway that accurately predicts responses to the addition or removal of allosteric regulators. Our work provides a framework for developing predictive models of cell metabolism that can be used for drug development or for engineering cells for energy production and chemical synthesis. Within a decade, we plan to develop a model that accurately predicts metabolic activity in any human cell type under any condition.
About the speaker: Denis Titov is an Assistant Professor at the University of California Berkeley with joint appointments in the Department of Metabolic Biology and Nutrition, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, and Center for Computational Biology. Dr. Titov’s long-term research dream is to improve the understanding of human metabolic pathway regulation to a point where we can accurately predict metabolic pathway activity in any cell type, under any condition, and in response to any perturbation. Dr. Titov is interested in the following broad questions: How does metabolic homeostasis emerge from the activities of individual enzymes? What trade-offs drove the evolution of specific metabolic pathways and their control mechanisms? How to effectively combine data and biophysical models to simulate metabolic pathways? To tackle these questions, Titov lab is using a combination of biochemistry, mathematical modeling, physiology, custom instrumentation, and genetically encoded tool development to study metabolism in mammalian cells and reconstituted biochemical systems.
This seminar is hosted by Professor Nilah Ioannidis.

Analyzing AI Security and Vulnerabilities in the Current Landscape
2026-05-04 17:00 - 19:00 | Engineering 2, Engineering 2 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Interested in careers in AI and cybersecurity? Then don’t miss this highly informative workshop covering today’s most relevant trends in this space.

In this 2-part session, you’ll get expert insight from security leaders at Microsoft. Here’s a breakdown of each part:

When AI Breaks, Be the One Who Notices
Speaker: Raji Vanninathan
Discover how AI Security and AI Safety vulnerability research can lead to real‑world impact, public credit, and a competitive edge in the current job market. This talk focuses on how students can understand what qualifies as a real AI vulnerability, how meaningful findings are assessed and validated, and how responsible disclosure, CVEs, and bug bounty programs translate research into recognized impact across the industry We will also explore emerging challenges facing bounty programs as AI-assisted discoveries drivers higher volume and how the signal‑to‑noise problem of “AI slop” is reshaping vulnerability triage and detection.
Reimagining Security for the Agentic AI
Speaker: Neta Haiby
As AI evolves from tools into autonomous agents that can plan, act, and collaborate, traditional security models start to break down. This session explores how agentic AI changes the rules of trust, access, and accountability – introducing challenges like agent sprawl, permission misuse, and unintended actions across systems.
Building on foundational AI security concepts, we’ll dive into practical strategies for securing and governing AI agents covering identity, access control, monitoring, and human oversight. Students will leave with a clear mental model for securing agent-based systems and the skills to think critically about the next generation of AI security architectures.

Don’t miss this highly relevant and compelling event! And be sure to register as space is limited!

If you have disability-related needs, please contact the Career Success office at csuccess@ucsc.edu or (831) 459-4420 as soon as possible.

YOU BELONG HERE
Programs and services are open to all, consistent with state and federal law, as well as the University of California’s nondiscrimination policies. Every initiative—whether a student service, faculty program, or community event—is designed to be accessible, inclusive, and respectful of all identities. To learn more, please visit UC Nondiscrimination Statement or Nondiscrimination Policy for UC Publications.

May Slugs and Steins with Professor Soraya Murray
2026-05-04 18:30 - 20:00
TECHNOTHRILLER: Film and the American Imagination
In this presentation, visual culture scholar Soraya Murray (Film + Digital Media Department, UCSC) shares her new book, TECHNOTHRILLER: Film and the American Imagination (MIT, Feb 2026). In TECHNOTHRILLER, Soraya Murray reveals how popular American films after the 1960s, in which technology assumes a central role—mainly biotech, military, and computational—channel our cultural anxieties, dreams, and convictions about the power and meaning of advanced technology. Along with iconic adaptations from technothriller novels by Tom Clancy and Michael Crichton, such as The Hunt for Red October and The Andromeda Strain, Murray considers Westworld, Rollerball, Demon Seed, WarGames, Ex Machina, Tenet, M3GAN , and The Creator, as well as the Terminator and Mission: Impossible franchises. Through these films and others, she traces deeply embedded popular beliefs about technology and innovation—and then asks what this tells us about the mechanics of power within our technological lives. Her work finds in technothrillers a new way of thinking about the troubled, sometimes catastrophic, relationships between humans and their inventions.
REGISTER

Living Roots: The Promise of Perennial Foods Book Talk
2026-05-05 17:30 - 19:00 | Hay Barn, 94 Ranch View Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, United States
Join us for a conversation with co-editors Liz Carlisle and Aubrey Streit Krug and contributor Tim Crews about their new book Living Roots: The Promise of Perennial Foods. Following the conversation, we’ll enjoy a tasting of perennial treats, and copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing.
Living Roots makes the case for putting perennial foods at the center of our farms and our plates, to add flavor and nutrients to our diets while reducing emissions and making our food system more resilient to climate change and economic uncertainty. With contributions from James Beard Award-winning chefs, Macarthur genius grant-winning scientists, and a host of farmers who are leading the way on perennializing agriculture, the book takes readers on a behind-the-scenes tour of the largest food forest in the United States, the test plots developing the first commercial perennial grains, and the vast grasslands where Indigenous communities are returning bison to their prairie homelands. In the process, each contributor shares their unique story of learning with these long-lived plants about how to root deeper in the face of existential challenges, speaking directly to readers charting their own path on a rapidly changing planet.
RSVP
