Events

Campus Elections Orientation (Zoom)
2026-01-14 16:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/93207076397?pwd=[REDACTED]
2026 Campus Elections Orientation (Mandatory for Referenda Authors)
Date & Time:
Wednesday, January 14 | 4:00–5:00 p.m.
Location:
Zoom
Description:
Interested in proposing a referendum for the 2026 UCSC Campus Elections? At least one representative from each author group must attend a mandatory Campus Elections Orientation in order to initiate a referendum.
This session provides an overview of the Campus Elections process, timeline, and relevant policies, and includes guidance and examples from prior election cycles on how to author a referendum, opinion poll, or amendment.
Additional orientation sessions will also be held on Friday, January 16 (12:00–1:00 p.m.) and Tuesday, January 20 (10:00–11:00 a.m.). Sessions will be recorded and posted on the Campus Elections website.
All potential referenda authors must submit a completed 2026 Campus Elections Application. Proposals involving a new student fee or an amendment to an existing fee measure also require a Supplemental Fee Measure Referenda Form and draft language.
Application deadline: Monday, January 26, 2026, by 12:00 noon.
For questions or to request accommodations, contact Campus Elections Commissioner and Associate Dean of Students for Leadership and Engagement Travis S. Becker at trbecker@ucsc.edu.

ECE Associate Teacher Info Session
2026-01-14 18:00 - 19:00 | Silicon Valley Campus, 3175 Bowers Avenue, Santa Clara, CA, 95054, United States
Start a meaningful career shaping young minds.
With early learning programs in growing demand, educators who understand child development, curriculum design, and classroom dynamics are essential. The UCSC Silicon Valley Extension Early Childhood Education: Associate Teacher certificate builds foundational expertise in teaching infants through preschool‑age children, developing age‑appropriate curriculum, and collaborating with families and communities.
Speaker
Join Ninet Moradi, chair of the program, for an inside look at how our courses can help you qualify for associate‑teacher roles, meet California licensing requirements, and launch a rewarding career supporting children’s growth and learning.
Learn more.
Visit our program page to explore the courses and opportunities within the Early Childhood Education: Associate Teacher certificate program.
Register today.

Human Computer Interaction MS Virtual Info Session
2026-01-14 19:00 - 20:00
Join us January 14 from 7 – 8 PM for our Virtual Information Session. Learn more about our program, based at the UCSC Silicon Valley Campus, where you can earn your HCI MS in 15 months. We offer:

Application fee waivers for UCSC students and alumni
Full and partial scholarships
Dedicated careers services support
Internship and research opportunities
Industry mentorship
Industry sponsored capstone projects

Register for access to the Zoom link.

Stem Cell Internships in Laboratory-based Learning (SCILL) at San Jose State University
2026-01-15 12:00 - 13:00
The San Jose State University Stem Cell Internships in Laboratory-based Learning (SJSU SCILL)
is a two-year master’s program that leads to a Master’s degree in Stem Cell Biology. During the
second year, a full-time internship will be offered to students, providing hands-on lab
training.

Some of the program’s partners include Stanford University, UC Santa Cruz, Amgen, NeuCyte, Neurona, Exir Bio, and SRI International.

The program provides:
One-year internship opportunity during the 2nd year of the program
Deadline to apply: March 1st, 2026
Join our presentation for more information and LUNCH!

You can read more and find the application by visiting
https://www.sjsu.edu/scill/index.php

Info Session: Global Seminar Mediterranean France in Marseille
2026-01-15 13:00 - 14:00
Learn more at our upcoming Information Session: Thursday, January 15, 2026, at 1:00-2:00 pm via Zoom.
Register Here.
Earn 10 units on a summer program on the Global Seminar Mediterranean France in Marseille this summer. This program is taught by Muriam Davis, Associate Professor of History, and Thomas Serres, Associate Professor of Politics.
Quick Facts:

Locations: Marseille, France
Course:
His 170 C: France and its Empire in the 20th century (5 credits)
POLI 166: Politics of Migration (5 credits)
Led by: Muriam Davis and Thomas Serres
Eligibility: Good academic and disciplinary standing, Min Age: 18, Minimum GPA- 2.3 cumulative GPA or higher at the time of application and every quarter before departure, 45 units completed by the time of departure
Dates: Summer Session 1 (Exact dates to be announced)
Finances: Financial aid applies, and scholarships are available! The budget will be posted on the website when it is available.
How to apply: Visit here for instructions. Applications open on December 1 and close on March 2.
Get in touch: Email your questions to globallearning@ucsc.edu.

Program Description: Students will study French history and politics in Marseille, a port city that has a rich tradition of immigration, activism, and cultural production. By meeting with urbanists, musicians, activists, historians, and filmmakers, they will reflect on how the diverse communities have shaped French culture and politics. They will also study the lingering effects of French colonialism and immigration policy through visits to the many museums and archives located in and around Marseille. Read about Marseille here or watch this Anthony Bourdain clip here.

The art of interviewing: From good to great.
2026-01-15 18:00 - 19:00 | Silicon Valley Campus, 3175 Bowers Avenue, Santa Clara, CA, 95054, United States
Interviews are no longer just about resumes. In this section with PK Agarwal, dean of UCSC Silicon Valley Extension, we will dive into behavioral questions, storytelling techniques, virtual interview etiquette, and ways to stand out with authenticity and confidence.

Learn to craft memorable responses to behavioral interview questions using proven storytelling frameworks.
Understand what sets standout candidates apart in both in-person and virtual interviews—including etiquette, presence, and tone.
Gain tips for showcasing your unique strengths with clarity and confidence while staying true to yourself.

This is a casual discussion with Dean Agarwal. Be sure to bring your questions and share your experience.
This event is part of the Dean Conversations: Pathways to professional success series.
Claim your seat!

How to Find a Job On Campus
2026-01-16 14:00 - 14:45
Do you need a job? Learn how to find jobs on campus and how Career Success can help you through the process! All students are welcome. The presentation will last 30 minutes, followed by a 15-minute Q&A.
We will provide captions for the presentation. 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.

Intro to Fruit Trees
2026-01-17 10:00 - 12:30 | Hay Barn, 94 Ranch View Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, United States
This workshop will focus on fruit tree care and management, especially for those who are looking to establish and/or care for their fruit trees using organic methods. Although we will be demonstrating on a home garden scale, the techniques and methods are applicable at multiple scales—the basics are the same.
This hands-on workshop will cover:

The run up to planting (site, sun, soil)
Assessing and improving your soil
Sourcing quality trees for your area
Planting bare root trees
Post plant care
A Q&A session

REGISTER
Photo by Jim Clark

Seymour Marine Discovery Center Day Trip
2026-01-17 10:00 - 16:00 | Seymour Marine Discovery Center, 100 McAllister Way, Santa Cruz, CA, 95060
Join us for a full-day trip to the Seymour Marine Discovery Center on January 17
This FREE event is open to all UCSC students and includes a day by the bay exploring marine science and exhibits. No RSVP or deadline required — just show up!
Meet at Quarry Plaza by 9:00 a.m. to catch the bus with other students, or arrive on your own by 10:00 a.m. at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center.
The event runs from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Catch Metro back to campus after the event!
We hope to see you there!

Day of Service at the UCSC Arboretum in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
2026-01-19 09:00 - 12:00 | Arboretum, 122 Arboretum Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy, please join us for a National Day of Service that encourages all Americans to volunteer and connect to improve their communities.
The UCSC Arboretum is hosting a one-day volunteer opportunity in our beautiful California Conservation Garden. By volunteering, you become part of a community that directly supports the Arboretum’s mission to conserve native plants. We will be weeding areas around our native shrubs to give them more space to grow and thrive.
If interested in this service, please fill out the required registration form on our website under “Events”. Please note, at the event you will also need to complete a simple worker’s compensation form (may not apply if already an active Arboretum volunteer).

Volunteers must be 18 years or older.

Each volunteer must fill out this form separately.

Access to the CCG requires walking on a gravel road for approximately 1/3 mile.

Plan on bringing a water bottle, and wearing long pants and long sleeves to protect from sun and possible biting insects. Please also bring garden gloves and weeding tools if you have them, otherwise they will be provided. Thank you and we look forward to meeting and working together with you!
Register
Learn more

OLLI at UCSC Sunday Speaker Meeting
2026-01-19 10:00 - 12:00 | Colleges Nine and John R. Lewis College Multi-purpose Room, 615 College Nine Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
OLLI at UCSC Hosts Chris Murphy, President of the Santa Cruz Warriors
The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at UCSC invites the public to an in-person presentation on Sunday, January 18th, at Colleges Nine/ John R. Lewis Multipurpose Room on the UCSC campus. Join us for a social hour and presentation titled, “A Local Success Story: Inside the Santa Cruz Warriors.” Chris Murphy, President of the Santa Cruz Warriors and an active participant in several local organizations, will talk about the inner workings of the basketball and business operations of our local team. This event is free and open to the public. Bring a friend. Coffee and nibbles will be served. OLLI at UCSC is a community of adults from diverse educational, occupational and geographic backgrounds who are devoted to the pursuit of learning. For directions and free parking information visit https://olli.ucsc.edu/monthly-gatherings/location-directions-and-parking/

How Long is Long Enough: Screening and Conversation
2026-01-19 17:30 - 19:30 | Santa Cruz Barrios Unidos, 1817 Soquel Ave, Santa Cruz, 95062, United States
Join us for a screening of How Long is Long Enough: The Excessive Sentencing of Quntos & Layla, a short documentary created by Natalie Decena, Sarina Bozorgnia, Veler Brown, and Aiden Olivier from UC Santa Cruz with support from Michael Ademaro from Georgetown Law School as part of the Making an Exoneree initiative.
Quntos Wilson and Layla Roberts were sentenced to life without parole in 1995 at the ages of 18 and 19 for a robbery in which no one was physically harmed and a mere $301 was stolen. Now approaching 50, they have each become remarkable artists and mentors behind the prison bars of Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola).
In addition to the documentary screening, the event will include a conversation with Quntos Wilson and Layla Roberts, letter-writing, and collaborative art making.

Info Session: Global Seminar Eco-Entrepreneurship in the Netherlands
2026-01-20 12:00 - 13:00
Learn more at our upcoming Information Session: Tuesday, January 20th, 2026 at 12:00-1:00 pm via Zoom.
Register Here
Earn 10 units on a summer program on the Global Seminar Eco-Entrepreneurship in the Netherlands in Amsterdam this summer. This program is taught by Nada Miljkovic, Entrepreneurship Instructor and Program Manager for UCSC’s Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurial Development.
Quick Facts:

Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Courses: Crown 92G: Social and Creative Entrepreneurship, GE: PE-H (5 units) and Crown 194: Eco Entrepreneurship, GE: PR-S (5 units)
Led by: Crown Lecturer, Nada Miljkovic
Eligibility: Open to students from any major who have completed 90 units by time of departure and have a minimum of a 2.3 GPA
Dates: Summer Session 2 (Exact dates to be announced)
Finances: Financial aid applies, and scholarships are available! Budget will be posted on the website when it is available.
How to apply: Visit here for instructions. Applications open on December 1 and close on March 2.
Get in touch: Email your questions to globallearning@ucsc.edu.

Program Description:
Discover how entrepreneurship can bridge the gap between the Netherlands’ thriving economy and its commitment to environmental sustainability! Based in Amsterdam, this immersive program includes exciting site visits to Rotterdam, Utrecht, and beyond. You will collaborate with local sustainability-focused entrepreneurs, exploring how innovative business models can tackle the challenges of conservation and development. Through hands-on experience and seminars in entrepreneurship and sustainability, you will gain valuable insights into creating businesses that prioritize environmental well-being. Join us to reimagine what it means to value and protect life in a modern, holistic way. Discover more here.

Campus to Career: Job Talk with Chief of Staff Mikaila Kruse
2026-01-20 13:00 - 14:00 | https://events.ucsc.edu/event/campus-to-career-job-talk-with-chief-of-staff-mikaila-kruse/
Are you curious about careers in government, leadership, or public service? Join us for a job talk with UCSC alumna Mikaila Kruse, the Chief of Staff for the Riverside city mayor. Mikaila will tell us her professional story and share how her education has informed her trajectory. You’ll learn about entering the field of politics, what government work looks like, and how to apply your skills for public service.
Attendees will enter raffles for a Humanities tumbler and tote!
Register here
Learn more about Mikaila:
Mikaila Kruse is Chief of Staff to Mayor Lock Dawson of Riverside. Having worked for elected officials at the federal, state, and local level, she has a range of experience in government relations that includes serving on political campaigns, delivering constituent services, and developing legislation in Sacramento. Previously, she worked on voter registration efforts and as a substitute teacher. She graduated from UC Santa Cruz in 2015 with a BA in History and Politics and received a Master of Public Policy degree from UC Riverside in 2020.
Find more Humanities Division career events and other resources at Humanities Career Engagement

Info Session: Global Seminar Agroecology Practicum in Guatemala
2026-01-20 14:00 - 15:00
Learn more at our upcoming Information Session: Tuesday, January 20, at 2:00-3:00 p.m. via Zoom.
Register Here
Earn 6 units on a summer program on the Global Seminar Agroecology Practicum in Guatemala this summer. This program is taught by Damian Parr, Education Programs Manager and Instructor for the Agroecology Center and Michael Bakal, post-doctoral researcher.
Quick Facts:

Location: Antigua, Guatemala; Lake Atitlán, Guatemala
Course:
ENVS 133 B: Agroecology Practicum (6 units)
Led by: Damian Parr and Michael Bakal
Eligibility: Good academic and disciplinary standing, Min Age: 18, 45 units completed at time of departure, Minimum GPA 2.3 cumulative GPA or higher at the time of application and every quarter prior to departure, Eligible majors: Agroecology, ENVS, additional majors by permission of the instructor.
Dates: June 17-July 2, 2026
Finances: Financial aid applies, and scholarships are available! The budget will be posted on the website when it is available.
How to apply: Visit here for instructions. Applications open on December 1, 2025, and close on March 2, 2026.
Get in touch: Email your questions to globallearning@ucsc.edu.

Program Description:
This program will explore the historical and contemporary strengths and challenges to Guatemala’s food and agricultural system through the lens of Agroecology and indigenous-led agricultural development work. Examples of learning objective topics include developing students’ competencies in biological soil fertility and pest management, tillage and cultivation, crop care, and analysis of diversified farming systems. The course frames these more technical production competencies within learning objectives related to agriculture literacies, analyzing broader societal aspects of food sovereignty, and the development of equitable and ecologically sustainable food systems. By broadening student perspectives and understandings of our diverse global community, students will strengthen their ability to think critically about solutions. Studying and working in an unfamiliar place will support students gaining a clearer sense of who they are as learners, so that they leave the program empowered to tackle the challenges – both academic and non-academic – that inevitably lie ahead.
Check out this student-produced video from a previous program!

Nurturing Difference - Parenting and Disability in a Careless Age
2026-01-20 18:00 | Hay Barn, 94 Ranch View Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, United States
JOIN US as we celebrate two distinguished members of our UCSC community and their new books. We’ll be discussing Danilyn Rutherford’s Beautiful Mystery: Living in a Wordless World (Duke University Press) and Noah Wardrip-Fruin’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons: Can a game take care of us? (University of Chicago Press). Joined by Donna Haraway and Megan Moodie, and moderated by THI Faculty Director, Pranav Anand, the panel will explore questions of caregiving, parenthood, disability, language, meaning, and technology.

Danilyn Rutherford is the president of the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research and a professor emerita of anthropology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is the author of Raiding the Land of the Foreigners: The Limits of the Nation on an Indonesian Frontier (Princeton, 2003), Laughing at Leviathan: Sovereignty and Audience in West Papua (Chicago, 2012), Living in the Stone Age: Reflections on the Origins of a Colonial Fantasy (Chicago, 2018), and, most recently, Beautiful Mystery: Living in a Wordless World (Duke, 2025).
Noah Wardrip-Fruin is a Professor of Computational Media at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He studies and makes video games and electronic literature. Before his most recent book, Noah authored or co-edited six books on games and digital media for the MIT Press, including The New Media Reader (2003). His collaborative art projects have been exhibited by the Whitney Museum of American Art, New Museum of Contemporary Art, Krannert Art Museum, and a wide variety of festivals and conferences. Noah holds both a PhD (2006) and an MFA (2003) from Brown University, an MA (2000) from the Gallatin School at New York University, and a BA (1994) from the Johnston Center at the University of Redlands.
Megan Moodie is a Professor of Anthropology at UC Santa Cruz. She is chair of the Disabled Faculty Networking Group and a core member of the disability studies initiative on campus.

This event is presented by the Abolition Medicine and Disability Justice Project, a UC Multicampus Research Program and Initiative and co-sponsored by The Humanities Institute

AI Business Practices Info Session
2026-01-20 18:00 - 19:00
Transform your workplace with practical AI skills.
In an era of rapid digital change, non‑technical professionals need to know how to deploy AI tools and strategies efficiently—without needing to code. This specialization shows how you can streamline tasks like document and presentation creation, reporting, and project coordination using generative AI, intelligent agents, and automation.
Speaker
Join Hien Luu, Program Chair and Head of Machine Learning Infrastructure at Zoox, for an inside look at how our courses help you build prompt‑engineering know‑how, ethical AI awareness, and productivity‑boosting workflows—so you can lead AI‑driven change in your organization.
Sponsor
This winter info session is sponsored by the AI Business Practices specialization.
Claim your seat.

CSE Colloquium - Constraining Chaos: Toward Faithful and Semantic Decoding in Language Models
2026-01-21 11:00 - 12:30 | Engineering 2, Engineering 2 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Presenter: Loris D’Antoni, UC San Diego
Abstract:
Language models excel at producing fluent text, but in domains like code and math, fluency isn’t enough — outputs must obey strict syntactic and semantic rules. A new wave of research is rethinking decoding itself: not as a process of sampling words, but as a negotiation between probability, structure, and meaning. In this talk, I’ll explore how grammar and semantics can be embedded into the decoding loop, how we can sample from the true model conditional distribution under constraints, and how programmable abstractions make it possible to enforce properties like type safety or program invariants. The result is a vision of decoding that is faithful to the model yet governed by rules, pointing toward a future where LLMs generate not just plausible text, but reliably correct output.
Bio:
Loris D’Antoni is a Jacobs Faculty Scholar and Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of California San Diego. His research helps people build trustworthy software. His work has introduced new frameworks for verifying and synthesizing programs—ranging from resilient network configurations to robust decision-making systems—and, more recently, methods for aligning language models with user intent.
He is the recipient of an NSF CAREER Award and a Microsoft Research Faculty Fellowship, and was selected as a Vilas Associate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has also received Google, Amazon, and Meta Faculty Awards, and the Morris and Dorothy Rubinoff Dissertation Award. His papers have earned several best paper awards and nominations, including at TACAS, ESOP, ICDCN, and SBES.
Loris received his B.S. and M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Torino, and his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Pennsylvania. Before joining UC San Diego, he was a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Hosted by: Professor Nikos Tziavelis
Location: Engineering 2, Room E2-180
*Light refreshments such as coffee, pastries, and fruit will be available.
Zoom: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/93445911992?pwd=[REDACTED]

Kraw Lecture: Sensing the Unseen: How Drones and Ground Sensors Reveal the Hidden Air Quality Impact
2026-01-21 17:30 - 19:30 | Silicon Valley Campus, 3175 Bowers Avenue, Santa Clara, CA, 95054, United States
How can flying robots help us track the air we breathe and the pollutants we can’t see? In this talk, Assistant Professor Javier González-Rocha will share how his team uses drones to measure wind patterns and detect airborne pollutants in hard-to-reach places..
These systems help us understand how toxic pollutants and climate emissions move through the atmosphere and affect human health and the environment. From wildfire smoke to methane leaks from dairy farms and oil fields, these emissions are often poorly monitored—especially in rural or overburdened communities.
Low-cost, adaptable drone and ground sensor systems fill this gap. By combining real-time flight data, environmental measurements, and advanced modeling, González-Rocha and his team generate targeted observations that inform air quality assessments and improve emissions tracking.
This work sits at the intersection of engineering, environmental science, and community collaboration—building tools that empower people and support climate resilience from the ground up.
In-Person Reception: 5:30 p.m.
Lecture: 6–7 p.m.

Register Now

HSI Equity Talk
2026-01-22 08:00 - 17:00
Title: Understanding the advising praxes central to student success at a four-year Hispanic-Serving Research Institution
Presenter: Dr. Lydia Iyeczohua Zendejas
Location: Via Zoom (link provided via RSVP)
Abstract: Higher education scholars increasingly recognize academic advising as a critical strategy for supporting the persistence of systemically marginalized students. Since the 1990s, UC Santa Cruz has undergone significant growth and demographic shifts—undergraduate enrollment grew from 10,269 in 1999 to 17,517 in 2019, with sharp increases in underrepresented, first-generation, and Hispanic students—creating both challenges and opportunities for advancing equitable outcomes.
Dr. Zendejas’s interview-based qualitative study examines how UCSC’s decentralized, dual shared advising model shapes advisors’ ability to provide holistic, culturally responsive advising. In this HSI equity talk, she will share how advising structures, practices, and policies impact advisors’ capacity to support students, how the current model can act as a structural barrier to collaboration, and the advising praxis advisors identify as essential to student success, persistence, and retention.
Please complete this RSVP form if you plan to attend. The Zoom information and a calendar invitation will be sent to those who RSVP.

Info Session: Global Seminar Fish Biology and Evolution in Southern Africa
2026-01-22 11:00 - 12:00
Learn more at our upcoming Information Session: Thursday, January 22 at 11:00 am-12:00 pm via Zoom.
Register Here.
Earn 12 upper-division units on an experiential EEB program this summer on the UCSC faculty-led Global Seminar: Evolution and Fish Biology in Southern Africa. This program is taught by Giacomo Bernardi, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.
Quick Facts:

Locations: South Africa and Malawi
Courses: BIOE 157A: Ichthyology (5 units) and BIOE 157B: Evolution (7 units)
Led by: UCSC EEB Professor Giacomo Bernardi
Dates: June 15-July 13, 2026
Finances: Financial aid applies, and scholarships are available! The budget will be posted on the website when it is available.
How to apply: Visit here for instructions. Applications open on December 1 and close on March 2.
Get in touch: Email your questions to globallearning@ucsc.edu.

Program Description:
Dive into Evolution and Fish Biology through fieldwork and experiences in South Africa and Malawi. Begin your journey on a farm outside Pretoria, in Southern Africa, visiting the Sterkfontein Caves, one of the world’s most important archeological sites. Venture towards Kruger National Park, viewing evolution and evolutionary strategies. Fly to Cape Maclear in Malawi and embark on daily visits to the UNESCO World Heritage site, Lake Malawi National Park, an underwater park where you will snorkel and do hands-on experiments on how fish biology is performed in the field, specifically focusing on the huge variety of cichlids native to this region.

BME Seminar: Rotation Talks
2026-01-22 11:40 - 13:15 | Physical Sciences Building, Physical Sciences Building, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Presenter: Grad Students
Description: Rotation Talks
Bio: N/A
Hosted by: Professor Rebecca DuBois, BME Department

Wellness in Action: Better Sleep for Busy Lives
2026-01-22 12:00 - 12:30
Thursday, January 22, 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM
This new Wellness in Action workshop series is designed to help you improve your health with a short session with simple tips you can try, and a follow-up session two weeks later to reflect on what worked, troubleshoot what didn’t, and learn what’s working for others.
In this workshop, you’ll learn simple strategies for winding down, improving sleep quality, and building a routine that fits your life.
In the follow-up session on Thursday, February 5 from 12:00 PM – 12:30 PM, you will have the opportunity to share your experience and learn from others in the group.
Register for Better Sleep for Busy Lives to receive the Zoom link.
Visit the Faculty & Staff Health and Well-being Workshops calendar to view more current events.
If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to Parker, the Health and Well-being Specialist, at aseparke@ucsc.edu.

Renowned climatologist Zeke Hausfather speaks on "Progress and Peril in a Warming World"
2026-01-22 15:30 - 17:00 | Center for Adaptive Optics, 7487 Red Hill Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Zeke Hausfather, noted climate scientist, is the climate lead at Stripe, writes for Carbon Brief, and is affiliated with Berkeley Earth and the Breakthrough Institute. He is a lead author on the IPCC AR7 report. His blog, The Climate Brink, is one of the most popular go-to spots for climate information on Substack.
Dr. Hausfather’s presentation abstract follows:
Recent progress on climate policy coupled with more rapid than expected declines in clean energy costs have bent down the curve of future emissions. Growing consensus is that 21st century warming will likely remain below 3˚C.
However it is difficult to fully preclude an eventual warming of 4˚C or more under a current policy world if there are continued positive emissions after 2100, or if carbon cycle feedbacks and climate sensitivity are on the high end of current estimates.
This talk will review our current climate trajectory and its impacts and assess measures needed to further reduce future warming and hedge against climate tail risks.
Please come in person to the Center for Adaptive Optics atrium, or zoom in to https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84461520550?pwd=[REDACTED]
A special Q&A session for undergraduates will be held at the CfAO atrium from 2-3!
CfAO is adjacent to Earth and Marine Sciences and Natural Sciences II.

Crafting Your Personal Pitch | UCSC x COOP Careers
2026-01-22 16:00 - 17:00
Make your first impression count! Join COOP Careers for a dynamic and practical workshop designed to help you stand out at your next job fair. In Craft Your Personal Pitch, you’ll discover how to confidently and authentically talk about your story, your skills, and your goals. Learn COOP’s signature 3W’s personal pitch hack to help you introduce yourself with impact in any professional setting. This session will also include key strategies to help you navigate job fairs with purpose, clarity, and confidence.
Date: Thursday, January 22nd 2026
Time: 4:00 – 5:00pm
COOP Careers, a nonprofit organization dedicated to closing the opportunity gap for first-generation and low-income college graduates through hands-on training and mentorship. COOP helps participants launch meaningful careers in fields like data analytics, digital marketing, and tech sales by building real-world skills and strong professional networks.
Don’t miss this opportunity to learn how COOP can help you take your career to the next level!
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.

Sharma, R. (CSE) - Automatically Evolving GPU Libraries for Performance Portable AI Kernels
2026-01-23 09:30 - 11:00 | Engineering 2, Engineering 2 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
GPUs are the workhorses of modern AI, widely deployed and developed by many vendors including Apple, Qualcomm, Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA. While these GPUs all offer high compute potential, programming them effectively is difficult because they differ in performance-critical features like SIMT width, cache capacity, and memory bandwidth, demanding different optimization strategies. Tunable kernels address this by exposing parameters such as tiling dimensions and workgroup sizes, enabling per-device specialization. Yet this produces static libraries: tuned once, then frozen, degrading as new hardware emerges. We propose automatically evolving libraries that expand their tuning knowledge as new hardware emerges, with minimal impact on user experience.
To build such libraries, we first need to understand the tuning landscape. We address this through GPU Goldmines, a WebGPU-based framework for exhaustively collecting tuning data across diverse devices. Our tuned matrix multiplication kernels outperform an optimized baseline by 8.4x on average, while matrix-vector kernels achieve 93% of platform bandwidth. We find that hyper-tuning for a single GPU causes 50% performance degradation on other devices, whereas data-driven portability methods recover 88% of peak performance. These kernels are fundamental to the prefill and decode phases of LLM inference. We integrate them into llama.cpp as our evaluation platform, where they outperform CPU and Vulkan backends.
Building on this data, we are developing Living Libraries to improve performance continuously without disrupting users. This means choosing good parameters upfront, learning from real-world execution, and knowing when to keep searching versus when to stop, though hand-designed parameter spaces remain inherently bounded. To move beyond this, we extend toward LLM-based kernel evolution, where language models propose entirely new kernel variants, opening a less structured but higher potential search space.
Event Host: Rithik Sharma, Ph.D. Student, Computer Science and Engineering
Advisor: Tyler Sorensen & Yuanchao Xu

Zoom: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/92739836317?pwd=[REDACTED]
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Statistics Seminar: Heterogeneous Statistical Transfer Learning
2026-01-23 12:00 - 13:00 | https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/94465292273?pwd=[REDACTED]
Presenter: Subhadeep Paul, Associate Professor, Ohio State University
Description: In the first part of the talk, we consider the problem of Transfer Learning (TL) under heterogeneity from a source to a new target domain for high-dimensional regression with differing feature sets. Most homogeneous TL methods assume that target and source domains share the same feature space, which limits their practical applicability. In applications, the target and source features are frequently different due to the inability to measure certain variables in data-poor target environments. Conversely, existing heterogeneous TL methods do not provide statistical error guarantees, limiting their utility for scientific discovery. Our method first learns a feature map between the missing and observed features, leveraging the vast source data, and then imputes the missing features in the target. Using the combined matched and imputed features, we then perform a two-step transfer learning for penalized regression. We develop upper bounds on estimation and prediction errors, assuming that the source and target parameters differ sparsely but without assuming sparsity in the target model. We obtain results for both when the feature map is linear and when it is nonparametrically specified as unknown functions. Our results elucidate how estimation and prediction errors of HTL depend on the model’s complexity, sample size, the quality and differences in feature maps, and differences in the models across domains. In the second part of the talk, going beyond linear models, I will discuss a transfer learning method for nonparametric regression using a random forest. The unknown source and target regression functions are assumed to differ for a small number of features. Our method obtains residuals from a source domain-trained Centered RF (CRF) in the target domain, then fits another CRF to these residuals with feature splitting probabilities proportional to feature-residual distance covariance. We derive an upper bound on the mean square error rate of the procedure that theoretically brings out the benefits of transfer learning in random forests. Our results explain why shallower trees in the residual random forest in the target domain provide implicit regularization.
Bio:Subhadeep Paul is an Associate Professor in the Department of Statistics at The Ohio State University. He is also a faculty fellow and previously served as a co-director of the foundations of data science and AI community at the Translational Data Analytics Institute at Ohio State. He received his PhD in Statistics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2017. His research focuses on statistical analysis of complex network-linked data and transfer and federated statistical learning. His research has been funded by two NSF grants from the algorithms of threat detection and mathematics of digital twins programs.
Hosted by: Statistics Department
Zoom link: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/94465292273?pwd=[REDACTED]

SC County Spelling Bee 2026
2026-01-24 12:00
The Santa Cruz County Office of Education coordinates the Elementary (grades 4-6) and Junior High (grades 7-9) County Spelling Bee Competition. Students first participate in school spelling bees, and then advance to the county-level event. The countywide competition is open to two students from every private/public school in Santa Cruz County in grades 4-6 and grades 7-9 who have been certified as school champions by their school coordinator.
All participants will receive certificates of participation and the top three spellers in each grade level division will receive a trophy. Winners will be announced at the end of the event.
The top two spellers from each division, grades 4-6 and 7-9 will represent Santa Cruz County at the respective California State Spelling Championship

Like Water: A Participatory Walk from the Edge of the City to the Sea
2026-01-24 14:00 - 17:00 | Institute of the Arts and Sciences, 100 Panetta Ave, Santa Cruz, United States
Inspired by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Bruce Lee, and the Hong Kong protestors, join artist A. Laurie Palmer, in collaboration with Cid Pearlman and Ilia Dolgov to practice moving together as a body of water, walking west from the Institute of the Arts and Sciences, along Delaware Ave., to the ocean. On the way, participants will imagine and explore how this particular stretch of land has been inhabited, stewarded, enclosed, owned, and used—and how these histories shape contemporary borders between public and private space. From thousands of years of stewardship by the Awaswas-speaking Uypi people, through seizure by missionaries for pasturage, division into private ranchos for Spanish settlers and then parceled into lots for European/American settlers, to more recent developments including the creation of natural reserves, the land carries the effects of these experiences and relationships into the present.
How might a collective experiment in moving “like water” help one discover surprising ways to relate with a place, a social and environmental context, and a particular historical moment?
This event is presented as part of as part of the Intersections of Climate Change series, and is organized with the Friedlaender Lab, in conjunction with the Weather and the Whale exhibition, at the Institute of the Arts and Sciences.

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EVENT AGENDA
part 1. 2:00 pm – 2:30 pm
Panetta Street to Natural Bridges St
part 2. 2:30 pm – 3:00 pm
Natural Bridges to the Homeless Garden Project
part 3. 3:30 pm – 4:00 pm
Homeless Garden Project to Younger Lagoon
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FULL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Intersections of Climate Change series:
– Thu., Jan. 29, 6:00 p.m.: Pesticide Impacts in and around Monterey Bay
– Thu., Feb. 5, 6:00 p.m.: Climate Justice and the Moss Landing Battery Fire
– Wed., Feb. 11, 6:00 p.m.: The California Firefighter Cancer Research Study with Shehnaz Hussain and Fire Captain Jamie Gabriel
– Thu., Feb. 26, 6:00 p.m.: The Whale Liberation Front—An electroacoustic performance and artist talk
– Wed., March 4, 6:00 p.m.: Unexpected Returns: The Historic Entanglements of Fire, Settlement, and Stewardship in the Santa Cruz Mountains
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ADMISSION
– FREE and open to the public
– Attend in person at the intersection of Delaware Avenue and Natural Bridges Drive.
– This walk will be fully accessible up until the overlook of the Lagoon, at which point a technically accessible, but possibly slippery, trail (depending on the weather) meanders down hill. Participants are welcome to stay at the overlook, or go down to the water’s level in the company of a guide.
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PARKING
– The entrance to the Institute of the Arts and Sciences is on Delaware St. and has an accessibility ramp.
– Free self-parking is available on Panetta Ave. and High Rd., immediately adjacent to the building.
– Accessible parking is on High Rd.
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This program is open to all members of the public consistent with state and federal law.

Battle of the Bands 2026
2026-01-24 19:00 - 22:00 | Porter/Kresge Dining Hall, 411 Porter-Kresge Rd, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
The Kresge College Programs Office are excited to announce the 5th Annual Battle of the Bands event that will be happening on Saturday, January 24th from 7pm-10pm at the Porter/Kresge Dining Hall.
⭐️ We invite you all to check out our various student bands and be a part of the decision in choosing the WINNER of Battle of the Bands 2026! ⭐️
We can’t wait to see you all there!! 🎸😎
Any questions or accommodations, please email: kresgcpc@ucsc.edu
