Events

Ecology of Presence: Pathways to the Natural World
2026-02-03 12:00 - 17:00, 2026-02-02 12:00 - 17:00, 2026-01-31 12:00 - 17:00, 2026-01-30 12:00 - 17:00, 2026-01-29 12:00 - 17:00, 2026-01-28 12:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | 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.

Advance with Northeastern: Graduate Opportunities
2026-02-03 10:00 - 11:00 | https://events.ucsc.edu/event/advance-with-northeastern-graduate-opportunities/
Join the Northeastern University Bay Area recruiters for an essential information session on graduate programs offered here in the Bay Area. Our master’s degree programs in computing, engineering, public policy, game design and more professional studies are designed to fit your professional aspirations and schedule, helping you advance or change your career trajectory.
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.

Community Day: Free Admission at the Arboretum
2026-02-03 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.

Coffee and Convo with Provost Aims
2026-02-03 09:00 - 11:00 | CA
Stay for the engaging conversation or grab it to go. Either way, it’s hot and free. Featuring Alta Organic Roasting Company coffee, a fair trade locally women owned company.

Gregory O' Malley - The Escapes of David George
2026-02-02 19:00 - 20:00 | Bookshop Santa Cruz
Bookshop welcomes prize-winning historian and UC Santa Cruz professor Gregory O’Malley for a discussion about his new book The Escapes of David George: An Odyssey of Slavery, Freedom, and the American Revolution—the dramatic story of a Black man’s relentless search for freedom in Revolutionary America.
This book tells the story of David George who in 1762 at the age of 19 escaped from a plantation in Virginia thus becoming a fugitive enslaved person. Using archival records and David’s own brief account of his life, which is the earliest written testimony by a fugitive enslaved person in North America, the book tells the story of David George’s relentless search for freedom in Revolutionary-era America and presents a unique perspective on our nation’s origins, principles, and contradictions.
Piecing together archival records and David George’s own brief account of his life—the earliest written testimony by a fugitive enslaved person in North America—Gregory O’Malley presents a thrilling narrative and a unique perspective on our nation’s origins, principles, and contradictions.
Gregory E O’Malley is professor of history at UC Santa Cruz and the author of The Escapes of David George: An Odyssey of Slavery, Freedom, and the American Revolution. His first book, Final Passages: The Intercolonial Slave Trade of British America, 1619-1807, won the Forkosch, Rawley, Owsley, and Elsa Goveia awards. He is a key contributor to the SlaveVoyages.org, consulted on The 1619 Project, and lectures widely on the slave trade and related subjects.
Cosponsored by The Humanities Institute

Grad Slam Divisional Semi-Finals
2026-02-02 17:30 - 2026-02-05 19:00 | Graduate Student Commons, 420 Hagar Drive, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
What is Grad Slam?

Grad Slam is a communication contest hosted by the UC Santa Cruz Graduate Division that is open to all graduate students (except those who have won 1st place in a previous Grad Slam. Currently enrolled graduate students who have won 2nd or the people’s choice in a prior Grad Slam may enter again.). Participants have a maximum of three minutes to explain their graduate research or artistic endeavor to a general audience.
UCSC Divisional Semi-Finals:
February 2: Engineering
February 3: Social Sciences
February 4: Arts & Humanities
February 5: Physical and Biological Sciences
Winners will compete in the UCSC Grand Final at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center on March 7, 2026 for cash prizes:
1st place $3000, 2nd place $1500, People’s choice award $750
One student will be selected to represent UCSC at the UC-system-wise competition on April 22 in Sacramento.

AM Seminar: Are Graph Learning Methods Actually Learning?
2026-02-02 16:00 - 17:00 | CA
Presenter: Seshadhri Comandur, Professor of Computer Science, UCSC
Description: There has been a lot of literature on graph machine learning over the past few years, and a bewildering array of new methods. This talk is based on a series of results making a provocative argument. Maybe many graph machine learning methods are not really that effective, and the progress we are seeing is an artifact of experimental design and measurement. I will talk about some results showing that low-dimensional embeddings with dot product similarity (arguably the most common graph ML technique) cannot capture salient aspects of real-world graphs. Follow-up work demonstrates that simple benchmarks seem to outperform fancier methods, and that there are significant shortcomings in existing accuracy measurement.
Bio: C. Seshadhri (Sesh) is a professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Santa Cruz and an Amazon scholar. Prior to joining UCSC, he was a researcher at Sandia National Labs, Livermore in the Information Security Sciences department, during 2010-2014. His primary interest is the theoretical study of algorithms, especially those with a mix of graphs and randomization. By and large, Sesh works at the boundary of theoretical computer science (TCS) and data mining. His work spans many areas: sublinear algorithms, graph algorithms, graph modeling, scalable computation, and data mining. In the theory world, his work has resolved numerous open problems in monotonicity testing and graph property testing. A number of his papers in the interface of TCS and applied algorithms have received paper awards at KDD, WWW, ICDM, SDM, and WSDM. He received the 2019 SDM/IBM Early Career Award for Excellence in Data Analytics. Sesh got his Ph.D from Princeton University and spent two years as a postdoc in IBM Almaden Labs.
Hosted by: Ashesh Chattopadhyay, Applied Mathematics Department

Info Session: Global Seminar Art in a Globalized World: UK
2026-02-02 13:30 - 14:30 | CA
Learn more at our upcoming Information Session: Monday, February 2 at 1:30-2:30 p.m.
Register Here
Earn 6 units on a summer program on the Global Seminar: Art in a Globalized World: UK. The program is taught by Dee Hibbert-Jones, Professor of Art, Digital Art and New Media.
Quick Facts:

Location: Falmer, Brighton and Hove, United Kingdom
Courses: ART 186 Art and Globalization (6 units)
Dates: June 29-July 17, 2026
Eligibility: Open to students who are an Art Major or Minor (or with special instructor approval), have completed at least 45 units by the time of departure and have at least a 2.3 GPA.
Finances: Financial aid applies, and scholarships are available! Budget with program fees and expenses are posted on the website.
How to apply: Visit here. Applications open on December 1 and close on March 2.
Get in touch: Email your questions to globallearning@ucsc.edu

Program Description: In this studio art, students create site-responsive artworks across media created in response to our visits to museums, galleries, sites, and exhibitions in London and Brighton, UK. Studio work and research explore what it means to make art in a global art world (sculpture, drawing, zines, graphic works, animation, photography, installation, and/or performance). We will work in the new media studios at the University of Sussex, and students will live on campus at the University. This class includes art making, lectures, docent tours, museum visits, discussions, and critique by UK artists and a final gallery exhibition on campus. More information can be read here.

Statistics Seminar: Mathematical Foundations for Machine Learning from a Nonlinear Time Series Perspective
2026-02-02 12:00 - 13:00 | https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/96647674332?pwd=[REDACTED]
Presenter: Jiaqi Li, William H. Kruskal Instructor, University of Chicago
Description:Modern machine learning (ML) algorithms achieve remarkable empirical success, yet providing rigorous statistical guarantees remains a major challenge, particularly in distributional theory and online inference methods. In this talk, we will introduce a novel framework to provide mathematical foundations for ML by bringing powerful tools in nonlinear time series. First, we focus on the stochastic gradient descent (SGD) with constant learning rates. By interpreting the SGD sequence as a nonlinear AR(1) process, we can establish the geometric moment contraction (GMC) for SGD regardless of initializations. By this GMC property, we can derive refined asymptotic theory of SGD and its averaging variant, including general moment convergence, quenched central limit theorems, quenched invariance principles, and sharp Berry- Esseen bounds. Then, we extend this theoretical framework to SGD with dropout regularization, a widely used but theoretically underexplored technique in deep learning. By establishing GMC under explicit learning-rate and dimensional scaling regimes, we obtain asymptotic normality and invariance principles for dropout SGD and its averaged version. These results enable online inference, for which we introduce a fully recursive estimator of the long-run covariance matrix appearing in the limiting distributions. The proposed online confidence intervals with asymptotically correct coverage can be generalized to many other ML algorithms. Overall, viewing online learning algorithms as nonlinear time series provides a powerful toolkit for deriving statistical guarantees in modern ML, with implications for high-dimensional stochastic optimization and real-time uncertainty quantification.
Bio:Jiaqi Li is a William H. Kruskal Instructor in the Department of Statistics at the University of Chicago. She obtained her PhD in Statistics from Washington University in St. Louis in 2024. Her research focuses on developing theoretical guarantees and statistical inference methods for machine learning algorithms. She also works on time series data, especially in the high- dimensional settings with complex temporal and cross-sectional dependency structures. She also
collaborates with neuroscientists on applications in fMRI and EEG data.
Hosted by: Statistics Department
Zoom link: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/96647674332?pwd=[REDACTED]

ECE Seminar: Advanced Packaging as the Engine of the AI Systems Era
2026-02-02 10:40 - 11:45 | Engineering 2, Engineering 2 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Presenter: Tolga Acikalin, System and Package Architect, Lumilens
Description: The rapid rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning—most notably recent breakthroughs in large language models—is reshaping the trajectory of the semiconductor industry and ushering in a new era of system innovation. As performance scaling at the device level slows, heterogeneous integration (HI) has emerged as a foundational technology to sustain advances in computing and communication. By integrating separately manufactured components with diverse functions into a single system, HI enables new levels of functionality, performance, and efficiency that are no longer achievable through traditional scaling alone.
Realizing the full potential of heterogeneous systems demands a shift toward holistic system-level co-design, with advanced packaging assuming a central and strategic role. This talk will briefly review the evolution of packaging technologies and then focus on advanced packaging architectures that enable heterogeneous integration.Topics will include advances in 2D and 3D interconnect technologies, the introduction of novel packaging materials such as glass substrates, and the growing role of photonic links, including co-packaged optics enabled by silicon photonics. The talk will conclude with a discussion of power delivery and thermal management as system-level challenges and opportunities that will shape the next generation of high-performance, energy-efficient systems.
Bio: Tolga Acikalin received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey, and his Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.
He joined Intel in 2007 as a Research and Development Engineer, working on assembly and test pathfinding projects within the Technology and Manufacturing Group in Chandler, Arizona. From 2013 to 2025, he was a Principal Engineer at Intel Labs in Santa Clara, California, where he led and influenced innovative strategies for heterogeneous system integration, spanning package- to wafer-scale solutions, with a strong emphasis on next-generation interconnect technologies. Tolga is currently a System and Package Architect at Lumilens, where he focuses on next-generation photonic interconnect solutions, ranging from near-packaged optics to co-packaged optics.
His technical interests include co-packaged optics and silicon photonics, optical and sub-THz to THz RF high-speed interconnects and the associated advanced package architectures, novel advanced packaging solutions such as glass substrates, and optical computing. Tolga has authored or co-authored more than 15 peer-reviewed journal and conference publications in leading APS, ASME, and IEEE venues, including best paper awards at IEEE RFIC and JSCC. He holds nine issued patents and more than 27 additional patent filings.
Hosted by: Professor Soumya Bose, ECE Department
Zoom Link: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/97975378707?pwd=[REDACTED]

Connect To Your Roots: BIPOC Herbalism
2026-02-01 12:00 - 15:00 | UCSC Farm, 152 Farm Rd, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
The People of Color Sustainability Collective invites you to Connect To Your Roots!
We will be sharing and connecting with generational knowledge and empowering BIPOC to take control of their own food systems, particularly medicinal herbs, through a variety of educational hands-on activities. We aim for this event to enhance BIPOC visibility on campus, and cultural awareness and preservation. Light refreshments provided!

Salve making
DIY tea/scent bags
Recycled plant propagation
Native plant bundling

Join us Sunday, February 1st, 2026 from 12:00PM to 3:00PM at the Community Herb Garden within UCSC Farm.

For accommodations or questions: pocsc@ucsc.edu
RSVP at bit.ly/BIPOCHerbalism

Creating a LinkedIn Profile
2026-01-30 15:30 - 16:30 | https://ucsc.joinhandshake.com/events/1881544/share_preview
Join us to learn why having a LinkedIn profile is beneficial to advance your career and gain tips on how to create or update your LinkedIn profile. This session is for students who are new to LinkedIn or have not updated their profile in a while. The session will have a presentation and time for 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.

AI Workshop Series: AI in the Semiconductor Industry
2026-01-30 10:00 - 16:00 | Silicon Valley Campus, 3175 Bowers Avenue, Santa Clara, CA, 95054, United States
Explore how artificial intelligence is transforming the semiconductor industry—from design to manufacturing.
In this AI workshop, students will examine how AI is being applied to chip design, Electronic Design Automation (EDA), and production workflows, with a focus on real-world use cases and emerging industry trends. Through expert insights and practical examples, this session highlights how generative AI and advanced analytics are improving efficiency, yield, and innovation across the semiconductor lifecycle.

Apply AI tools to modern semiconductor design and manufacturing
Identify high-impact generative AI use cases in chip development
Understand how AI is reshaping Electronic Design Automation (EDA)
Leverage AI for yield improvement, defect detection, and process optimization
Stay informed on key trends shaping the future of AI in semiconductors

Format:
This is a hybrid course, offered both in person and via Zoom. Participants are expected to attend and actively engage during the scheduled class time. Remote attendees are encouraged to keep cameras on to support an interactive learning experience. In-person participants should bring a laptop to each class session.
This course is part of the Winter 2026 AI Workshop series.
Enroll in this workshop.

Pesticide Impacts in and around Monterey Bay lecture
2026-01-29 18:00 - 19:30 | Institute of the Arts and Sciences, 100 Panetta Ave, Santa Cruz, United States
The short- and long-term health impacts of pesticide use for local communities on land as well as in the ocean are addressed in a conversation with Yanely Martinez, Katherine Gabriel-Cox, Adam Scow and Logan Pallin.
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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FULL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
– 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 UC Santa Cruz Institute of the Arts and Sciences on the Westside in Santa Cruz, Calif.
—
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.
—
This program is open to all members of the public consistent with state and federal law.

Fanon in Documentary Film: Algerian Legacies
2026-01-29 17:30 - 20:00 | Communications Building, 7487 Red Hill Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Film Screening and Panel Discussion: 5:30-7pm, Communications 150, Studio C
Reception: Communications 139, 7-8pm
Marking the centenary of Frantz Fanon’s birth, the Center for Middle East and North Africa is hosting a film screening of True Chronicles of the Blida Joinville Psychiatric Hospital, the recent film by Algerian director Abdenour Zahzah that focuses on his time in the psychiatric hospital in Blida, Algeria. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with Meryem Belkaïd (Bowdoin College), Isaac Julien (UCSC), and Mark Nash (UCSC) on the representation of Fanon’s work and life in film, from Julien and Nash’s classic 1998 documentary, Black Skin White Masks, to more recent films that focus on how Fanon’s time in Algeria shaped his intellectual and political commitments.
Meryem Belkaïd is the Harriet Sara Walker and Mary Sophia Walker Associate Professor of Humanities at Bowdoin College. Trained in both literature (PhD from La Sorbonne) and political science (Master degree from Science Po, Paris), her research focuses on a decolonial approach of North African cinema and literature. She is the author of From Outlaw to Rebel: Contemporary documentary in Contemporary Algeria (Palgrave 2023). Her works have appeared in peer-reviewed journals such as Journal of North African Studies, Fixxion and Expressions maghrébines. She is a regular contributor of the online magazine Orient XXI.
Mark Nash is a distinguished independent curator, film historian, and filmmaker with a specialization in contemporary fine art moving image practices, avant-garde, and world cinema. He holds a PhD from Middlesex University and an MA from Cambridge University. He is a professor in History of Consciousness at UC Santa Cruz, where he founded the Isaac Julien Lab with his partner and long-time collaborator, Isaac Julien. His most recent publication, Curating the Moving Image (Duke UP, 2023), outlines several key concepts that range from exhibition architecture and curating as an affective and artistic practice to post-cold war aesthetics and contemporary Chinese art.
Isaac Julien is a filmmaker and installation artist who has been making films and producing film installations for over forty years. Recent works include All that Changes You. Metamorphosis (2025), Once Again… (Statues Never Die) (2022), Lina Bo Bardi – A Marvellous Entanglement (2019), and Lessons of the Hour – Frederick Douglass (2019). A retrospective of his work, Isaac Julien: I Dream a World, was exhibited at the De Young Museum in 2025. In 2018, Julien joined the faculty at the UC Santa Cruz where he is a Distinguished Professor of the Arts and Humanities and leads the Moving Image Lab together with Mark Nash. Julien is the recipient of The Royal Academy of Arts Charles Wollaston Award in 2017. In 2022, he was awarded a Kaiserring Goslar Award in 2022, and he was granted a knighthood as part of the Queen’s Honours List.

Presented by the Center for the Middle East and North Africa and co-sponsored by the Film and Digital Media Department.

Unlock Your Career: 10 Essential Strategies for Success in an AI-Driven World
2026-01-29 17:30 - 18:30 | Silicon Valley Campus, 3175 Bowers Avenue, Santa Clara, CA, 95054, United States
Are you ready to thrive in today’s fast-moving professional world — especially in one shaped by innovation, technology, and AI? Success in today’s AI-driven economy requires more than technical skills—it demands the right mindset, habits, and career strategy. Whether you’re early in your career, navigating a transition, or pushing for your next breakthrough, this workshop will help you accelerate your professional impact with confidence and clarity.
In this Dean Series workshop, Dean PK Agarwal shares practical, real-world insights drawn from leadership roles across industry, academia, and government. Participants will learn how to create value in any role, stay relevant as careers evolve, and build professional resilience in times of change.

Identify the traits and mindsets that separate high performers from the rest
Learn how to add value and stand out in any organization
Explore strategies for continuous learning in an AI-enabled workplace
Pick up tips to build and leverage professional networks effectively
Gain insight into managing up and taking ownership of your career trajectory
Examine your brand, both in person and online

This event is part of the Dean Conversations: Pathways to professional success series.
Claim your seat!

UC Center Sacramento Information Session
2026-01-29 15:30 - 16:30 | Classroom Unit, Classroom Unit, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, Select a Country:
A representative from the UC Center Sacramento (UCCS) program will be at UCSC to host a UCCS overview information session. If you are interested in learning more about this impactful experiential learning opportunity, we encourage you to join!

Location: Classroom Unit Bldg., Conference Room 101
Date: Thursday, January 29, 2026
Time: 3:30 – 4:30 p.m.

Program Quick Facts:
– Location: Sacramento, California
– Courses: UCCS students take a full term’s worth of courses in addition to their internships. Earn 16 units in the fall, winter, or spring program; or, 14 units in the summer program.
– Dates & Deadlines
– Eligibility:

Must be a current, UC degree-seeking undergraduate student in good academic standing
Junior or Senior standing. Sophomores with a B or better in upper-division courses (at least two in any subject) may apply.
Transfer students with 1 completed quarter at their UC campus are eligible to apply.
International students and DACA/AB540/Undocumented students are eligible to apply
3.0 GPA or above.

– Finances: Financial aid applies, and scholarships are available! Budget with program fees and expenses are posted on the website.
– How to apply: Visit here.
– Get in touch: Email your questions to globallearning@ucsc.edu
Program Description:
UC Center Sacramento is the University of California’s premier teaching, research, and public-service site located one block from the State Capitol Building in Sacramento, California. Operated by UC Davis, UCCS offers a distinctive academic internship program in public policy, combining academics, research, and public service. The program allows students to engage with public policy and policymaking at all levels of government, in a diverse number of fields. It is an unparalleled opportunity for students to expand their professional network with University of California peers as well as a range of professionals in a variety of industries!

Allen van Gelder Memorial
2026-01-29 13:00 - 16:30 | University Center, University Center, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
You are cordially invited to an event celebrating the life and research legacy of Allen van Gelder, who passed away in April 2025 after 37 years of dedicated service to the Computer Science and Engineering Department at UC Santa Cruz.
Thursday, January 29, 2025
Reception begins 1pm, Program begins 1:30pm
Alumni Room, University Center, UC Santa Cruz
Please RSVP via the following link:
https://forms.gle/iyFTL2aAxLMWdRMU9
The gathering will include three presentations reflecting on Allen’s contributions to computer science, followed by an opportunity for attendees to share remembrances and stories
On Allen’s contributions to databases and logic programming
Jeff Ullman, Stanford W. Ascherman Professor of Computer Science (Emeritus), Computer Science Department, Stanford University
On Allen’s contributions to computer graphics and visualization
Claudio Silva, Institute Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, NYU Tandon School of Engineering, New York University
On Allen’s contributions to satisfiability
Olaf Beyersdorff, Professor of Theoretical Computer Science, Institute of Computer Science, Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Whether you were a colleague, student, or friend, we hope you’ll join us in celebrating Allen’s career and its impact.

BME 280B Seminar: Satellite repeats encode megabase-scale transcription factor hubs
2026-01-29 11:40 - 13:15 | Physical Sciences Building, Physical Sciences Building, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Presenter: Matt Franklin, Postdoctoral Researcher, Stanford University
Description: Eukaryotic genomes contain large stretches of repetitive DNA called satellite DNA, often found near centromeres and ribosomal DNA regions. In humans, alpha satellite has well-established roles in centromere biology, however the functions of other human satellite DNAs remain largely unexplored.
We recently identified the Hippo pathway effector TEAD as a novel Human Satellite 3 (HSat3) binding TF. Because HSat3 is highly enriched near ribosomal DNA (rDNA) genes, we examined whether the Hippo pathway regulates rDNA via HSat3. Our work demonstrates that HSat3 localizes the Hippo factors YAP and TEAD inside the nucleolus, where YAP directly activates ribosomal RNA (rRNA) transcription. These findings present the first evidence that the Hippo pathway factor YAP directly regulates RNA Polymerase I activity.
Disparate studies have identified examples of transcription factors that bind repetitive DNA elements through motif recognition. However, a systematic search for such factors has not been conducted. Using Telomere-to-telomere genome assemblies, we predicted and validated dozens of new satellite-binding TFs, many of which are part of highly conserved signaling pathways. Beyond revealing a direct relationship between the Hippo pathway and ribosomal DNA regulation, this work demonstrates that satellite DNA can encode a broad range of functional motifs, hinting at new roles for these enormous genomic elements.
Bio: Following his undergraduate studies, Matt conducted a 1-year research fellowship at EMBL Hamburg, where he worked on X-ray scattering methods for structural biology. He then earned his PhD in chemical engineering at Stanford University, where he investigated mechanotransduction and Hippo pathway signaling. Matt continued this research as a postdoc under Kun-Liang Guan at UC San Diego, where he discovered that Hippo pathway effectors bind repetitive DNA elements. To expand on his newfound interest in repetitive DNA, Matt returned to Stanford as a postdoctoral researcher under Nicolas Altemose, where he is studying the functions of satellite repeats as hubs for transcription factor binding.
Hosted by: Professor Karen Miga, BME Department

Business, Arts, Social Sciences, Humanities Career & Internship Fair
2026-01-29 11:00 - 15:00 | Stevenson Event Center, Stevenson Service Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Undergraduate and graduate students and recent alumni interested in pursuing careers in business, arts, social sciences & humanities industries are welcome to attend. Get the chance to meet recruiters from many industries/firms seeking to fill internship, full-time, and part-time roles. Come take essential steps toward laying the foundation for your future career and potentially even land an interview!
Curious about how to best prepare for the fair?
1. Research the organization
Identify the top 3-5 companies you are interested in, but remember to be open to different companies you may not have heard of because they may be a startup or business-to-business organization that doesn’t directly serve consumers.
Do your research by reviewing company websites. Look for their mission, values, location, and the type of available opportunities (e.g., internships, full-time positions, etc.). Company representatives are impressed by potential candidates who take the time to do this!
2. Prepare your introduction and questions
Reflect on what it is about each company that resonates with you. Perhaps it’s the specific technology they’re developing, the research they’re leading, or the world problem they’re trying to solve. What relevant experiences do you have? How can you be of service to that organization? Exercise critical thinking skills to develop questions to ask recruiters and hiring managers.
3. Dress with confidence
Each industry and each company has different work attire expectations and organizational culture. Do your research, ask mentors in advance for advice, and dress to impress!
PLEASE NOTE: You are encouraged to check in at the student registration table in order to participate in the career fair. Bring your student ID.
Want more support?

Visit a peer coach during drop-in hours
Schedule a career coaching appointment with a Career Engagement Specialist
For PhD students looking to pursue careers in industry, explore Beyond the Professoriate
(Scroll over “Login to Platform” at the top navigation bar and click “Through your institution”)
Stay in the loop by following Career Success on Instagram

You will receive registration and additional information in your email from Career Success via Handshake. Please make sure to check your junk/spam folder if you are not receiving any communication.

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.

Questions? Send to csuccess@ucsc.edu or visit Career Success at Hahn 125 East Entrance
Need accessibility support? Let us know at slugtalent@ucsc.edu at least two weeks prior to the fair date.

Career fair registrations 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.

The Sheikh's Jews: Muslim-Jewish Relations in Interwar Algeria
2026-01-28 18:00 | Hay Barn, 94 Ranch View Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, United States
The Center for Jewish Studies presents, The Helen Diller Distinguished Lecture in Jewish Studies.
Until the middle of the twentieth century, Algeria hosted an array of Jewish communities—some deeply-rooted, others more recently settled—that played important roles in North African society. French colonial rule, however, brought changes that profoundly reshaped Jews’ relationship to their Muslim neighbors. By the years leading up to the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962), these changes had created new lines of solidarity—and new tensions—that cast doubt on Jews’ place in Algeria’s future. In this lecture, Professor Joshua Schreier will explore how the most prominent figure among Algerian Ulema, ͑Abd al-Ḥamīd Ben Bādīs (1889–1940), the undisputed leader of reformist Islam in interwar Algeria and a powerful influence on Algeria’s nascent nationalist movement, understood Jews, their relationship to Muslims, and the escalating conflict in Palestine.

Joshua Schreier’s research and teaching navigate the intersection of Jewish, Middle Eastern, North African, and French colonial history. His publications explore the ways colonialism in Algeria not only transformed the relationship between Jews and Muslims but also redefined what these identifiers meant. He is the author of Arabs of the Jewish Faith: The Civilizing Mission in Colonial Algeria (Rutgers, 2010), and The Merchants of Oran: A Jewish Port at the Dawn of Empire (Stanford, 2017), which was a National Jewish Book Award Finalist.

This event is a part of The Helen Diller Distinguished Lecture in Jewish Studies.

Ancestral Algorithms: Indigenous Virtual Realities & the Ethics of AI
2026-01-28 16:00 - 17:35 | CA
This talk explores how Indigenous analytic and ancestral technologies, rooted in technē as craft, knowledge, and skilled practice, inform contemporary digital forms such as Virtual Reality and AI. It traces how ancestral memory is transferred, adapted, and sustained across generations through decolonial and anti-colonial frameworks, while critically engaging both the generative possibilities and the structural pitfalls of digital technologies as they shape relational, technological futures.
This event is presented as part of the Creative Interventions (CI) series and is co-sponsored by the Arts Division’s Creative Technologies program and Porter College at UC Santa Cruz.
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ADMISSION
– Free and open to UCSC affiliates.
– This is an online event.
– Registration is required here.
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FULL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
– Event dates to be announced throughout the 2025-26 academic year.
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ABOUT THE SERIES
Creative Interventions addresses the interconnected work of artists, designers, activists, and knowledge workers—and the intrinsic and transformative capacity of that work to cultivate a just society. More information about the Creative Technologies program.
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This program is open to all UC Santa Cruz affiliates consistent with state and federal law.

Decolonizing Education with Annamarie Chavez
2026-01-28 15:00 - 17:00 | Namaste Lounge, 615 College Nine Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Join our conversation with, fourth-year UCSC student Annamarie Chavez as she aims to spread awareness around colonial practices within higher educational systems like universities while challenging those institutions to bring indigenous perspectives and practices to the forefront.

Successful Slug Workshop: Habit Tracking as a Tool
2026-01-28 14:30 - 15:30 | Academic Resources Center (ARC), 408 McHenry Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
Habit Tracking as a Tool
Wednesday, January 28, 2:45–3:30 p.m.
Location: ARCenter 203
Learn how strategies like habit stacking and tracking can ensure you can stick to your academic and personal routines.
Successful Slug Workshop Series
Join Learning Support Services (LSS) for Successful Slug Workshops on Tuesdays at noon and Wednesdays at 2:45 p.m.
These 45-minute workshops are open to all UCSC students and offer tools and strategies to support your academic success. Each session highlights best practices for effective, long-lasting learning and is led by LSS professional staff.
To get first priority, sign up on TutorHub or simply drop in. You can also sign up on TutorHub to receive email reminders.
Learn more and sign up: learningsupport.ucsc.edu/programs/workshops/
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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.

International Market Fair
2026-01-28 13:30 - 15:00 | Classroom Unit, Classroom Unit, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, Select a Country:
Are you feeling cold and missing a piece of nostalgia from your global learning experience? International Student Services and Programming (ISSP) is excited to invite you to drop by our International Market Fair on Wednesday, January 28 from 13:30 – 15:00 at our office in Classroom Unit 101 (same floor as Global Learning). No RSVP required.

We’ll be handing out free giveaways of international snacks including:

Chili snacks from China
Indomie instant noodles from Indonesia
Kinder chocolate from Italy
Pocky from Japan
Soybean and Sesame bars from Korea
…and more!

Our staff will be hosting mini international themed activities for you to earn these prizes. We hope to see you there!
