Events

Unexpected Returns: The Historic Entanglements of Fire, Settlement, and Stewardship in the Santa Cruz Mountains
2026-03-04 18:00 - 19:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Institute of the Arts and Sciences, 100 Panetta Ave, Santa Cruz, United States
March 4th, 2026 from 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Miriam Greenberg and Andrew Matthews will present the findings of UCSC researchers who have spent three years studying the ecological, social, and political economic processes that have set the stage for contemporary wildfires, in what has become known as the “Wildland Urban Interface” (WUI). Come and learn about the deeper histories of indigenous burning, settler ranching, fire suppression, extractive industries and urbanization that have produced fire prone landscapes in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
This event is presented as part of An Aesthetics of Resilience, a collaborative research initiative of the Institute of the Arts and Sciences and the Friedlaender Lab at UC Santa Cruz. The project brings scientists, artists, humanists, and activists together to examine multiple experiences of vulnerability in the face of climate change and is supported by a University of California Office of the President California Climate Action Seed Grant, with additional support from the Coha Nowark Art + Science Fund.

Unexpected Returns: The Historic Entanglements of Fire, Settlement, and Stewardship in the Santa Cruz Mountains
2026-03-04 18:00 - 19:30 | Institute of the Arts and Sciences, 100 Panetta Ave, Santa Cruz, United States
Join UCSC faculty members Miriam Greenberg and Andrew Matthews as they discuss the deep regional histories of fire, from indigenous burning, settler ranching, fire suppression, and much more.

This event is part of Intersections of Climate Change, a series organized with the Friedlaender Lab in conjunction with Weather and the Whale.

ADMISSION
– FREE and open to the public
PARKING
– The entrance to the Institute of the Arts and Sciences Galleries is on Delaware Street and has an accessibility ramp.
– Convenient and free self-parking is available on Panetta Avenue and High Road, immediately adjacent to the galleries.
– Accessible parking is on High Road.
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This program is open to all members of the public consistent with state and federal law.

The UC Santa Cruz Kraw Lecture Series presents: Unmasking cancer's complete genetic code
2026-03-04 17:30 - 19:30 | Silicon Valley Campus, 3175 Bowers Avenue, Santa Clara, CA, 95054, United States
In this Kraw lecture, Angela Brooks will discuss her work on cancer research.
Current cancer research focuses almost entirely on finding errors—mutations—in DNA. This has given us incredible tools like precision oncology, matching patients with targeted drugs. But cancer cells almost always develop drug resistance, causing treatments to fail and limiting patient survival. An often-overlooked aspect of cancer genes is the messenger RNA, which is copied from DNA, then translated into protein to do the work of the cell. Over 95% of human genes have isoforms, which are different versions of the RNA message created through a process called RNA splicing. These different messages lead to slightly different proteins, and we believe our lack of knowledge of different isoforms is a missing cause of treatment failure.

In-Person Reception: 5:30 p.m.
Lecture: 6–7 p.m.

REGISTER

Ways to Wellness
2026-03-04 17:30 - 19:00 | Namaste Lounge, 615 College Nine Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Join the Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center on Wednesday 3/4 from 5:30-7:00pm at Namaste Lounge to learn about Tai Chi and Yoga, as we highlight Asian wellness tools that can be used to help relieve stress and discuss how cultural wellness practices can help us connect to our communities. Feel free to bring your own yoga mat, towel, or blanket!
RSVP at bit.ly/aapirc-wellness
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.

College Night: Gotta Catch Them All? – a Pokémon themed event exploring animal rights
2026-03-04 17:00 - 20:00 | College Nine and John R. Lewis Dining Hall
College Nine and John R. Lewis College, in collaboration with UCSC Dining, present “Gotta Catch Them All? ” – a Pokémon-themed event exploring animal rights. Join us Wednesday, March 4 from 5–8 p.m. at the College Nine/John R. Lewis Dining Hall for a night of activities, fun, community, and a special themed menu. Standard dining hall entry pricing applies, and all students, faculty, and staff are invited.
Please note: The dining hall will be closed from 2–5 p.m. for event preparation.
Learn more about College Nights at dining.ucsc.edu/events.
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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.How to Use the Statement Across Communication Channels

Sonic Icons: Relation, Recognition, and Revival in a Syriac World
2026-03-04 15:30 - 17:00 | Social Sciences 1, Social Sciences 1, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Talk Abstract: To the extent that Middle Eastern Christians register in Euro-American political imaginaries at all, they are usually invoked to make a political point about the need for Western military intervention in places like Iraq or Syria, or they are cited as an exemption to anti-Islamic immigration policies because of an assumption that their Christianity makes them easily assimilable in the so-called “Judeo-Christian” West. Sonic Icons argues that these views work against the very communities they are meant to benefit by tracking a diasporic network of Syriac Orthodox Christians—also known as Assyrians, Aramaeans, and Syriacs—in the Netherlands who intertwine religious practice with political activism to “save” Syriac Christianity from the twin threats of political violence in the Middle East and cultural assimilation in Europe.
Coming of age in a historical moment when much of their tradition has been destroyed or forgotten by war, dispossession, displacement, and genocide—their story of self-discovery is a story of survival, revival, and reinvention. Their activism is oriented toward seeking a complex form of recognition for what they understand to be the ethical core of Christian kinship in an ethnic as well as in a religious sense, despite living in societies that do not recognize this unhyphenated form of ethnoreligious identity as a politically legitimate mode of public identity. Drawing on both theological and linguistic theories of the icon, Sonic Icons rethinks foundational theoretical accounts of ethnicization, racialization, and secularization by examining how kinship gets made, claimed, and named in the global politics of minority recognition.

Speaker Bio: A cultural anthropologist by training (UCSC ’13), Dr. Sarah Bakker Kellogg is a sensory ethnographer whose research and writing documents minor traditions of knowledge, care, and relational world-making. Known for her methodological creativity, her work centers questions of reproduction, ethics, and justice at the intersection of religious studies, gender studies, migration studies, and political economy. The author of Sonic Icons: Relation, Recognition, and Revival in a Syriac World published by Fordham University Press (2025), she has also won numerous awards, research grants, and fellowships, including the SSRC’s International Dissertation Research Fellowship, the Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, and the Wenner Gren Hunt Postdoctoral Fellowship. Her new research project is an ethnographic and historical investigation of interfaith activist traditions organized around immigration, racial reparations, and economic justice.

Career Success Drop-In Coaching at the Cantú Cabin - Winter 2026
2026-03-04 13:30 - 15:00 | Lionel Cantú Queer Center, Crown Lane, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Drop-in 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!
Time: 1:30pm – 3:00pm
Dates: Wednesdays, Weeks 7 & 9 of Winter Quarter 2026
2/18/2026 & 3/4/2026
Location: Cantú Queer Student Resource Center, Merrill College
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.

Shields, S. (CM) - Procedural, Player-Centric Game Balancing
2026-03-04 13:00 - 17:00 | Merrill College, College Office, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Game balance is a term widely used among players, researchers, and designers of games. It is a concept that feels vitally important to how we make and play games – but when we try to define it or implement it, we seldom get the same definition twice. Balance appears differently to whoever is judging it, but as researchers and designers we still must translate this element of game design into technical practice. It also is an expensive and time-consuming subject, one that requires a constant loop of playtesting and design iteration through nearly the entirety of the game development process.
This work seeks to focus our understanding of balance while offering procedural methods to either increase speed or improve quality when performing balancing tasks in game design and research. It accomplishes this by offering a taxonomy of balance alongside a generic design framework that can be used to apply balancing strategies to any game context. It additionally provides a catalog of balancing methods, allowing designers to use common patterns to apply procedural balancing to their games. Finally, I offer three technical examples using the taxonomy and framework, putting theoretical knowledge of balance into concrete technical systems.
Balance ultimately helps us design games that make us feel fairness in our play. By sharpening and optimizing our understanding of the term, we improve the games we make and open new doors in game systems design.
Event Host: Sam Shields, Ph.D. Candidate, Computational Media
Advisor: Edward F. Melcer
Zoom- https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/98956788669?pwd=[REDACTED]
Passcode- 713173

Ecology of Presence: Pathways to the Natural World
2026-03-04 12:00 - 17:00, 2026-03-03 12:00 - 17:00, 2026-03-02 12:00 - 17:00 | Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery, 11 Cowell Service Rd, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Norris Center Art + Science Graduate Fellowship Exhibition
Ecology of Presence: Pathways to the Natural World brings together the work of ten graduate students supported by the Kenneth S. Norris Center for Natural History Art + Science Fellowship, a program dedicated to creative research connecting art with the natural world. Across media – including sound, moving image, music, performance, installation, comics, social practice, photography, and storytelling – the artists in Ecology of Presence emphasize relationality and careful attention to place as essential to building relationships with environs. As accelerating environmental change and technological dependency threaten ways of belonging, the works in this exhibition maintain a steadfast commitment to interdisciplinary approaches that propose kinship with the natural world. By coming together, Art + Science Fellows artworks and social practices suggest ways of imagining human life in relation to the more-than-human world.

Penguin Random House Info Session for UC Santa Cruz Undergraduates
2026-03-04 12:00 - 13:00 | https://events.ucsc.edu/event/penguin-random-house-info-session-for-uc-santa-cruz-undergraduates/
Looking to break into the publishing field? Join us for an insightful information session with an experienced recruiter at Penguin Random House!
This session is exclusively for UCSC students and will provide an overview of pathways within publishing and careers at Penguin Random House. You will learn about their dynamic internship program and get insider tips for navigating the recruitment process. Don’t miss this opportunity to ask questions and hear directly from a publishing professional!
Register here
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.
Find more Humanities Division career events and other resources at Humanities Career Engagement

Engineering Teaching Community (Faculty)
2026-03-04 12:00 - 13:00 | Jack Baskin Engineering, Baskin Engineering 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
During the chaos of a quarter, is it hard to find time to reflect and improve as an instructor? Would you like to be a part of an inclusive, supportive group of engineering instructors who do this in community? ETC is for sharing teaching experiences, classroom ideas, research on learning, and methods that support instructors and students. All are welcome, and lunch is provided. Please reach out to Jenny Quynn with questions.

CSE Colloquium - Improving Efficiency and Reliability of Foundation Models in Clinical AI
2026-03-04 11:00 - 12:15 | Engineering 2, Engineering 2 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Presenter: Vasiliki “Vicky” Bikia, PhD, Stanford Department of Biomedical Data Science and Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI)
Abstract:
Deploying foundation models in health requires both computational efficiency and reliable generation. In this talk, I present two studies that address these dimensions separately but with a shared goal of real-world clinical deployment. The first study focuses on reduced-resolution distillation for multimodal clinical data, particularly medical imaging. As model and input sizes increase, inference cost and memory constraints become major barriers to deployment. We investigate how high-capacity teacher models can transfer structured knowledge to compact student models trained on downsampled images, using embedding-space supervision to preserve clinically meaningful representations while reducing computational footprint. The second study examines the reliability of AI-generated clinical text. Foundation models are increasingly used to produce discharge summaries and patient-facing explanations, yet fluency does not guarantee safety. We develop a structured evaluation framework grounded in clinical error taxonomies and clinician-calibrated metrics to quantify hallucinations, omissions, and semantic misalignment. Together, these studies emphasize that scalable clinical AI requires not only smaller and faster models, but also rigorous evaluation of generative reliability before deployment.
Bio:
Vasiliki Bikia is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Stanford University, affiliated with the Department of Biomedical Data Science and the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI). She received an Advanced Diploma in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and a Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). Her research focuses on medical foundation models, structured representations of health data, and the evaluation of generative systems in clinical settings. Previously, she was a Machine Learning Scientist at the Mussallem Center for Biodesign at Stanford University, where she developed software pipelines to improve data accessibility and interoperability in digital health applications. Vasiliki was selected as an MIT Rising Star in EECS (2025) and as an Emerson Consequential Scholar (2025), and is actively engaged with the Silicon Valley entrepreneurial ecosystem through collaborations at the intersection of research, industry, and healthcare. She is an organizing member of the Conference on Health, Inference, and Learning (CHIL) and serves as Unconference Chair for the 2025 and 2026 editions, where she leads the design and execution of the entrepreneurship-focused track bridging academic research and real-world deployment. Her work has appeared in venues including IEEE journals, npj Digital Medicine, Nature Communications, and leading AI conferences, and she has contributed to multiple funded research proposals and clinical studies at the intersection of AI, medicine, and translational impact.
Hosted by: Professor Nikos Tziavelis
Location: Engineering 2, E2-180 (*Refreshments such as coffee, tea, fresh fruit, and pastries will be provided)
Zoom: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/93445911992?pwd=[REDACTED]

UCSC Orchestra—Bravada and Tchaikovsky
2026-03-03 19:30 - 21:30 | Music Center Recital Hall, 400 McHenry Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Join the UC Santa Cruz Orchestra, conducted by Bruce Kiesling, for a winter concert, featuring Flagello’s Bravada and selections from Tchaikovsky, including the Overture–Fantasy from Romeo and Juliet and Solemn Overture from The Year 1812.
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ADMISSION
– General admission
– Free for UCSC students (ticket required).
– Tickets will be available here online through Eventbrite only.
– Follow the Music Dept on Eventbrite for notices and updates.
– Doors are scheduled to open 30 minutes prior to event start time.
– Ticket holders not seated at least 5 minutes before the advertised start time may forfeit their ticket/seat and no refund will be issued.
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PARKING
– Parking by permit, ParkMobile, or $11 cash/credit via the on-site parking attendant
– Arts Lot #126 is the closest parking lot to the event
– Visitors with DMV placards or plates may park for free in DMV spaces, Medical spaces, or ParkMobile spaces without additional payment, or in timed zones for longer than the posted time.
– More information provided by UCSC Transportation & Parking Services (TAPS)
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This program is open to all members of the public consistent with state and federal law.

Drop-In Figure Drawing
2026-03-03 19:00 - 21:00 | Elena Baskin Visual Arts Center, Baskin Service Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Drop-In Draw provides a live model and room monitor. There is no formal lesson and only dry media is allowed (no paints).
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ADVISORIES
– These events contain mature content and nudity.
– Drop-In Draw is subject to the possibility of last-minute cancellation without notification, and sessions are not guaranteed.
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ADMISSION
– FREE and open to the public
– UCSC Art Department Room L-101
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SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
This series occurs weekly on Tuesday evenings during winter quarter, including the following:
Tuesday January 6, 2026, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
Tuesday January 13, 2026, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
Tuesday January 20, 2026, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
Tuesday January 27, 2026, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
Tuesday February 3, 2026, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
Tuesday February 10, 2026, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
Tuesday February 17, 2026, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
Tuesday February 24, 2026, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
Tuesday March 3, 2026, 7:00–9:00 p.m.
Additional dates to be announced for spring quarter.
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PARKING
– Parking by permit or ParkMobile.
– Arts Lot #126 is the closest parking lot to the event.
– Visitors with DMV placards or plates may park for free in DMV spaces, Medical spaces, or ParkMobile spaces without additional payment, or in timed zones for longer than the posted time.
– More information provided by UCSC Transportation & Parking Services (TAPS).
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This program is open to all members of the public consistent with state and federal law.

Mental Health First Aid Certification
2026-03-03 10:00 - 14:00 | CA
Thursday, February 19, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Location: Register for the Zoom link
Be prepared to support those around you by getting certified in Mental Health First Aid. Mental Health First Aid teaches the skills needed to recognize and respond to signs and symptoms of mental health and substance use challenges, as well as how to provide someone with initial support until they are connected with appropriate professional help. In the course, you learn risk factors and warning signs for mental health and addiction concerns, strategies to help someone in crisis and non-crisis situations, and where to turn for help.
We encourage all staff and faculty to take advantage of this opportunity. Whether you work directly with students or behind the scenes, your participation in MHFA training is a crucial step in building a resilient and supportive campus community.
Register for the Zoom link. For more information, please visit the Occupational Health Training website.
For questions or to schedule a training for your team, please contact Occupational Health Specialist, Elizabeth Tomlinson, at ektomlin@ucsc.edu.

Community Day: Free Admission at the Arboretum
2026-03-03 09:00 - 17:00 | Arboretum, 122 Arboretum Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
The first Tuesday of each month, the Arboretum is open without charge to visitors. See dates and times UC Santa Cruz Arboretum & Botanic Garden is open. NOTE: Due to limited parking at the Arboretum and the popularity of Community Day, we greatly encourage visitors to carpool, bike, walk or use public transportation as much as possible.

Free Coffee, Snacks, & Conversation
2026-03-03 09:00 - 11:00 | Merrill College Office, 641 Merrill Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Enjoy a cup of coffee, cocoa, or tea, and a breakfast snack with Merrill Provost McGuinness. Stay and chat with him and Poppy the Merrill Chihuahua, or take it go.
See you outside of the Merrill College office, across from the Merrill Mailroom.

AM Seminar: The Evolving Landscape of AI for Science and Engineering: Bridging Simulation, Experiment, and Multi-scale Dynamics
2026-03-02 16:00 - 17:00 | CA
Presenter: Aditi Krishnapriyan, Assistant Professor, UC Berkeley
Description: Recent advances in large-scale scientific datasets are creating new opportunities for machine learning (ML) methods to more effectively capture scientific phenomena with greater accuracy and reach. In this talk, I will discuss how these advances are both shifting ML design paradigms and enabling new scientific inquiries. This includes investigations into understanding if neural networks can autonomously discover fundamental physical relationships from data, and demonstrating how more flexible machine learning modeling design choices enable capturing physical dynamics across multiple scales. I will also explore how generative modeling approaches rooted in statistical physics can be applied to accelerate the sampling of dynamic pathways, and as a framework to align and bridge the gap between simulated data and experimental observations.
Bio: Aditi Krishnapriyan is an Assistant Professor at UC Berkeley where she is part of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, and Berkeley AI Research; as well as a faculty scientist in the Applied Mathematics division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. She holds a PhD from Stanford University, supported by the DOE Computational Science Graduate Fellowship, was the Luis W. Alvarez Fellow in Computing Sciences at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and is a recipient of the Department of Energy Early Career Award and RCSA Scialog. Her research focuses on developing physics-inspired machine learning methods that bridge machine learning with physical science applications to capture phenomena across multiple length and timescales.
Hosted by: Applied Mathematics

Statistics Seminar: Decoding Phytoplankton Responses to a Changing Ocean
2026-03-02 16:00 - 17:00 | CA
Presenter: Francois Ribalet, Research Associate Professor, School of Oceanography, University of Washington
Description: François Ribalet will present new observational technologies and computational approaches for studying phytoplankton responses to ocean warming. Using SeaFlow, a custom-built automated flow cytometer deployed on over 100 research cruises, his team has collected nearly 850 billion cell measurements across global oceans. Matrix population models applied to these data reveal how temperature affects phytoplankton division rates and biomass. The research shows that Prochlorococcus, the ocean’s most abundant photosynthetic organism, experiences sharp declines in growth above 28°C. Climate projections incorporating these metabolic constraints predict a 40-60% decrease in Prochlorococcus production in tropical regions by 2100, with Synechococcus partially compensating through a 20-40% increase. These shifts between dominant phytoplankton groups will likely disrupt ocean food webs and carbon cycling, raising questions about whether tropical ecosystems can adapt to warming oceans.

Bio: François Ribalet is a research associate professor at the University of Washington studying phytoplankton and their role in ocean food webs and carbon cycling. He combines field observations with statistical models to understand how environmental changes affect the growth and community dynamics of these microscopic organisms.
Hosted by: Statistics Department

CM Seminar - "From Sibelius to Game: Crafting Adaptive Music for 'Kingdom Come: Deliverance'"
2026-03-02 12:30 - 13:30 | Silicon Valley Campus, 3175 Bowers Avenue, Santa Clara, CA, 95054, United States
Presented by: Adam Sporka
Description: “This talk explores the technical and creative processes behind the music of Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, where I served as a music programmer, and soundtrack contributor. Using our proprietary Sequence Music Engine and music logic module, we authentically scored the game’s 1400s Bohemia setting with segment-based adaptive music driven by in-game variables. Our workflow centers around the notation program Sibelius and our custom tool Converdi, which streamlines the production by converting the score symbols to preliminary MIDI streams per individual VSTs and by extracting the precise timing data necessary for the segment transitions. This enabled us to spend more time on the creative aspects of music and less time on production and implementation.”
The key takeaways from the talk are as follows:
* Production should start with a complete score, and not just the MIDI exports therefrom
* Custom automation tools can streamline the music creation workflow and reduce the production time
* Resequencing is more suitable for classical and medievalesque music than layering
* Rapid music prototyping allows for early testing of adaptive music directly in the game
Bio: Adam Sporka is a software developer by trade, a musician by domain, and a scientist by approach. As a researcher, developer, and educator in game audio, he places a special focus on interactive music. He has served as the technical music director for Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (Warhorse Studios) and is the author of the Sequence Music Engine, a proprietary adaptive music middleware used in both games. As a composer, he contributed to the soundtrack of both Kingdom Come: Deliverance games, writing some of the most memorable medievalesque and early renaissance pieces on the soundtrack. Currently, he teaches game audio at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He received his Ph.D. and habilitation in human-computer interaction from the Czech Technical University (Czech Republic) and was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Trento (Italy). He has published more than 50 articles in the proceedings of international conferences and academic journals. Adam is currently appointed as a principal engineer at Embody, a Sunnyvale-based game audio software company focused on the commercial applications of the head-related transfer function.
Hosted by: Professor Christina Chung
When: March 2, 2026 from 12:30PM to 1:30PM
Location:
IN-PERSON @ SVC 3212.
Viewing room @ UCSC Main Campus, E2-280.
LUNCH WILL BE PROVIDED AT BOTH LOCATIONS! Faculty and students are highly encouraged to attend.
Zoom info:
https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/98763397019?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 987 6339 7019
Passcode: [REDACTED]

ECE 290 Seminar: Precision Nuclear Medicine: Engineering Solutions from Acquisition to Analysis
2026-03-02 10:40 - 11:45 | Engineering 2, Engineering 2 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Presenter: Spencer L. Bowen, Assistant Professor in the Departments of Radiology and Biomedical Engineering, UT Southwestern Medical Center
Description: The Bowen Lab focuses on the development of tools for positron emission tomography (PET) and hybrid systems (e.g. PET/CT), to advance precision imaging for the care and study of oncology, neurology, and cardiology patients. Quantitative metrics from PET are integral to both patient workup and clinical research. However, current approaches to enable quantitative imaging have substantial performance limitations that can compromise study conclusions, fail to generalize across exams and scanners, expose patients to additional ionizing radiation, or necessitate invasive procedures. To address these key barriers, Dr. Bowen and his team investigate advanced acquisition techniques, image reconstruction algorithms, and post-processing methods. Their studies span from digital simulations to human subjects research. This lecture will cover recent developments by the Bowen Lab, including 1) advanced PET data correction methods for low-dose and standalone exams, 2) non-invasive fully quantitative imaging, and 3) leveraging topical sensors to detect faulty radiotracer injections.
Bio: Spencer L. Bowen, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Radiology and Biomedical Engineering at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He earned his doctorate in biomedical engineering from University of California, Davis, where he developed hardware and algorithmic solutions to enable quantification with a breast PET/CT scanner. Dr. Bowen then worked as a research fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital on precision PET imaging methods for combined PET/MR. Prior to joining the UT Southwestern faculty in 2020, he served as a research assistant professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech-Carilion. Dr. Bowen’s research program is funded by both industry and the NIH. His work has been featured on the cover of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine and detailed by the press.
Hosted by: Professor Soumya Bose, ECE Department
Zoom Link: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/97975378707?pwd=[REDACTED]

Optional Practical Training (OPT) Awareness Week
2026-03-02 00:00 - 2026-03-06 23:59 | CA
Join us for OPT Awareness Week at UC Santa Cruz, a supportive and informative series designed to help international students learn about and confidently prepare for Optional Practical Training. You’ll learn application steps, key timelines, and employment rules while connecting with advisors and peers who are here to help you succeed. Whether you’re just starting to explore OPT or ready to apply, this week offers the tools and clarity you need to move forward with confidence.
Visit our website to explore the different workshops and sessions.

Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour, Santa Cruz
2026-03-01 19:00 - 22:00 | Rio Theater, 1205 Soquel Avenue, Santa Cruz, 95062, United States
For the 35th year, UC Santa Cruz Adventure Rec is thrilled to bring the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour to Santa Cruz! Each November, the Banff Festival in Canada showcases the year’s most breathtaking, inspiring adventure films—and we’re bringing the very best of them to the Rio Theatre, February 27, 28, & March 1, 2026.
Each night features completely different films. Join us for one, two or all three nights!
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE.
Your ticket purchases help Adventure Rec raise over $20,000 to reduce students’ Rec trip costs by up to 50%. Thank you!

The Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival is one of the largest and most prestigious mountain festivals in the world! Hot on the heels of the Festival that is held every fall in beautiful Banff, Alberta, the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour hits the road. With stops planned in over 600 communities and more than 40 countries across the globe, the Banff World Tour celebrates amazing achievements in outdoor storytelling and filmmaking worldwide.
From the over 400 entries submitted into the Festival each year, award-winners and audience favorites are among the films that are carefully selected to play in theaters around the world.
Traveling to remote vistas, analyzing topical environmental issues, and bringing audiences up-close and personal with adrenaline-packed action sports the 2025/26 World Tour is an exhilarating and provocative exploration of the mountain world.
For more information contact Adventure Rec (adventurerec@ucsc.edu; 831-459-2806).
Thank you to our local sponsors!…

Allterra Solar
Land Trust of Santa Cruz County
KZSC 88.1
Pacific Edge Climbing Gym
Good Times
Woodstock’s Pizza

Barn Dance at the Hay Barn
2026-03-01 15:00 - 17:00 | Hay Barn, 94 Ranch View Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, United States
The UCSC Celtic Music Ensemble performs live during a beginner-friendly, gender-neutral, darn good barn dance. Attendees are invited to dance, and partners are not needed.
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ADMISSION
– Open admission; tickets/registration not required.
– FREE and open to the public.
– Donations of any amount are welcomed and appreciated to support to support live music study, performance, and events like this.
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PARKING
– Parking by permit or ParkMobile.
– Lot #170 is the closest parking lot to the event.
– Visitors with DMV placards or plates may park for free in DMV spaces, Medical spaces, or ParkMobile spaces without additional payment, or in timed zones for longer than the posted time.
– More information provided by UCSC Transportation & Parking Services (TAPS).
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This program is open to staff, faculty, and students consistent with state and federal law.

UCSC Family Opera—Mozart's "The Magic Flute"
2026-03-01 15:00 - 16:30 | Music Center Recital Hall, 400 McHenry Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Voice students, accompanied by Luke Shepherd on piano, perform an abridged version of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. This is a family-friendly production of Mozart’s most famous fairytale. Duration is approximately 1 hour with music and dialogue presented in English. The two matinee performances showcase two different casts.
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ADVISORIES
– Loud noises (thunder sound effects)
– Flashing lights
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ADMISSION
– FREE and open to the public
– Open seating (no tickets or registration required)
– First-come, first-served
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FULL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
– Two performance of back-to-back matinees at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.
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PARKING
– Parking by permit, ParkMobile, or $11 cash/credit via the on-site parking attendant
– Arts Lot #126 is the closest parking lot to the event
– Visitors with DMV placards or plates may park for free in DMV spaces, Medical spaces, or ParkMobile spaces without additional payment, or in timed zones for longer than the posted time.
– UCSC affiliates must purchase their permits before arriving at the event in order to receive their discounted UCSC rate. Attendants will only sell the non-affiliate-priced permits.
– More information provided by UCSC Transportation & Parking Services (TAPS)
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This program is open to all members of the public consistent with state and federal law.

Barnstorm Presents—Our Dear Dead Drug Lord
2026-03-01 14:00 - 16:00 | Theater Arts B100 Studio Theater, 453 Kerr Rd, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, United States
A gang of teenage girls gathers in an abandoned treehouse to summon the ghost of Pablo Escobar. Are they messing with the actual spirit of the infamous cartel kingpin? Or are they really just messing with each other? A roller coaster ride through the danger and damage of girlhood—the teenage wasteland—has never been so much twisted fun. Show by Alexis Scheer. Directed by Angela Rangel.
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ABOUT BARNSTORM
UC Santa Cruz students experiment with and create their own innovative theater and gain a sense of operating and creating art in the Barnstorm Theater Company, a student-run theater arts production company established in 2004.
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ADVISORIES
– Ticket holders not seated at least 10 minutes before the advertised start time may forfeit their ticket/seat and no refund will be issued.
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FULL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Fri. Feb. 27: 7:30 p.m.
Sat. Feb. 28: 7:30 p.m.
Sun. March 1: 2:00 p.m.
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ADMISSION
– Tickets issued through Eventbrite HERE; Follow the Dept. of Performance, Play & Design and Barnstorm on Eventbrite for notifications and updates.
– Free for UCSC undergraduate students (ticket required).
– General admission “Pay What You Like” options $5–20
– A limited number of tickets/seats may be available at the door, even after online ticket sales end or reach full capacity.
– Doors are scheduled to open 30 minutes prior to event start time.
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PARKING
– Parking by permit, ParkMobile, or $11 cash/credit via the on-site parking attendant.
– Arts Lot #126 is the closest parking lot to the event.
– Visitors with DMV placards or plates may park for free in DMV spaces, Medical spaces, or ParkMobile spaces without additional payment, or in timed zones for longer than the posted time.
– UCSC affiliates must purchase their permits before arriving at the event in order to receive their discounted UCSC rate. Attendants will only sell the non-affiliate-priced permits.
– More information provided by UCSC Transportation & Parking Services (TAPS).
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This program is open to all members of the public consistent with state and federal law.

Random With A Purpose (RWAP) XXXlV—The Experiment
2026-03-01 14:00 - 16:00 | Second Stage, Second Stage, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Random With A Purpose is a popular annual student-directed and -choreographed dance showcase.
Per directors Lydia Wallman and Brennah Lyons, this year’s production, The Experiment, “serves as a platform for collaborators to develop work that does not yet exist in the physical world and to investigate elements of community and features a cast that reflects UC Santa Cruz’s diverse student population through a wide range of dance styles and perspectives.”
Admission

General admission $5–$20 “Pay What You Like”
FREE for UCSC undergrads (ticket required).
Tickets available on Eventbrite.
Doors open 30 minutes prior to the event start time.
Ticket holders not seated at least 5 minutes before the advertised start time may forfeit their ticket/seat and no refund will be issued.

Advisories
This performance is approximately 90 minutes with a 15-minute intermission and includes: flashing lights and mature language.
Event dates

Fri. Feb. 27: 7:30 p.m.
Sat. Feb. 28: 7:30 p.m.
Sun. Mar. 1: 2:00 p.m.
Thu. Mar. 5: 7:30 p.m.
Fri. Mar. 6: 7:30 p.m.
Sat. Mar. 7: 7:30 p.m.
Sun. Mar. 8: 2:00 p.m.

Parking

Parking by permit, ParkMobile, or $11.00 cash/credit card via the on-site parking attendant
Arts parking lot #126 is the closest parking lot to the event
Visitors with DMV placards or plates may park for free in DMV spaces, Medical spaces, or ParkMobile spaces without additional payment, or in timed zones for longer than the posted time.
Refer to Transportation & Parking Services for more information.

This program is open to all members of the public consistent with state and federal law.

Dreamgirls—Presented by the African American Theater Arts Troupe (AATAT)
2026-03-01 14:00 - 16:00 | Theater Arts Mainstage, 411 Kerr Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Move into the spotlight with Dreamgirls, the electrifying musical sensation that brings the soul, sparkle, and spirit of Motown to the stage. Follow the unforgettable journey of three talented young women as they rise from hopeful dreamers to international superstars. With powerful vocals, stimulating choreography, and hits like “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going,” this AATAT production will bursts with passion, ambition, and inspiration!
Directed by Don Williams.
Co-presented by the African American Theater Arts Troupe (AATAT) and the Department of Performance, Play & Design (PPD).
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ADMISSION
– General admission with “Pay What You Like” options.
– Free for UCSC students (ticket required).
– Tickets issued online here through Eventbrite only.
– Follow the Dept. of Performance, Play & Design on Eventbrite for notifications and updates.
– Doors are scheduled to open 30 minutes prior to event start time.
– Ticket holders not seated at least 5 minutes before the advertised start time may forfeit their ticket/seat and no refund will be issued.
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FULL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Dreamgirls is a two-week production, with seven performances at UC Santa Cruz*, including the following:
– Fri., Feb. 20, 7:30 p.m.
– Sat., Feb. 21, 7:30 p.m.
– Sun., Feb. 22, 2:00 p.m. matinee
– Fri., Feb. 27, 7:30 p.m.
– Sat., Feb. 28, 2:00 p.m. matinee
– Sat., Feb. 28, 7:30 p.m.
– Sun., Mar. 1, 2:00 p.m. matinee
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PARKING
– Parking by permit, ParkMobile, or $11 cash/credit via the on-site parking attendant
– Arts Lot #126 is the closest parking lot to the event
– Visitors with DMV placards or plates may park for free in DMV spaces, Medical spaces, or ParkMobile spaces without additional payment, or in timed zones for longer than the posted time.
– UCSC affiliates must purchase their permits before arriving at the event in order to receive their discounted UCSC rate. Attendants will only sell the non-affiliate-priced permits.
– More information provided by UCSC Transportation & Parking Services (TAPS)
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ABOUT AATAT
For nearly 35 years, the African American Theater Arts Troupe (AATAT) at UC Santa Cruz has been a vehicle to create unity, higher visibility and greater understanding of the multicultural community at UC Santa Cruz and the greater Santa Cruz community. AATAT hope for your continued support for the next 30 years and would appreciate your support of the scholarship fund. Donations are welcome here. AATAT awards a minimum of $5,000 in scholarships to individuals participating in the program who exhibit exemplary academic performance. Since 1993, thanks to generous donors, AATAT has raised over $120,000 in annual scholarship funding.
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This program is open to all members of the public consistent with state and federal law.
