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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250804T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250804T130000
DTSTAMP:20260406T100101
CREATED:20250801T070000Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250925T231319Z
UID:10000085-1754312400-1754312400@events.ucsc.edu
SUMMARY:Johnson-Bey\, S. (CMPM) - Designing Reusable Tools for Social Simulation-Driven Emergent Storytelling
DESCRIPTION:Narrative sandbox games rely heavily on simulation to produce emergent narrative experiences. Instead of featuring pre-authored central narratives\, these games provide a play space\, a sandbox\, of various systems and mechanics players use to produce interesting narrative moments. This dissertation focuses on social simulation games\, a subset of narrative sandbox games that drive the narrative experience by simulating individual characters and their social interactions. The core challenge of social simulation-driven emergent storytelling is complexity. Social simulations are complex to set up and complex to debug/balance. The entire narrative experience hinges on interesting events emerging from the complex interplay between systems. Small changes can have huge emergent effects on the dynamics of the story world. Game makers must constantly test their game to ensure behavior is consistent with their design intentions. \nEvent Host: Shi Johnson-Bey\, PhD Candidate\, Computational Media \nAdvisor: Michael Mateas
URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/johnson-bey-s-cmpm-designing-reusable-tools-for-social-simulation-driven-emergent-storytelling/
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250805T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250805T170000
DTSTAMP:20260406T100101
CREATED:20250121T080000Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260112T233109Z
UID:10008364-1754384400-1754413200@events.ucsc.edu
SUMMARY:Community Day: Free Admission at the Arboretum
DESCRIPTION: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.
URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/community-day-free-admission-at-the-arboretum/2025-08-05/
LOCATION:Arboretum\, 122 Arboretum Road\, Santa Cruz\, CA\, 95064
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://events.ucsc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/c3b9429d729523dcc42d038836e730c059ee9cde.jpg
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250805T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250805T100000
DTSTAMP:20260406T100101
CREATED:20250801T070000Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250925T231319Z
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SUMMARY:Larsen\, B. (CMPM) - Communal Narrative Play in Perennial Games
DESCRIPTION:Online communities tell stories with the games they play. As continual updates\, recurring monetization\, and platforms for community discussions have flourished\, we have seen a rise in video games using ongoing development to tell stories\, and have a community interact with those stories and build upon them. In this dissertation\, I study this phenomenon\, which I call textit{perennial games}—storytelling experiences\, which are perpetual\, continuous\, and tell an ongoing\, communal story\, where everyone influences its future in big and small ways. I study this especially as it has grown in the years 2010-2025\, as the modern rise of the live-service game has exploded in popularity\, and are using this format to tell stories in ways both unique yet also in ways that harks back to serial fiction\, professional wrestling\, modern television series\, traditional mythology\, and more. Through a three-pronged focus I study: 1) the games as narrative experiences\, and how they facilitate narrative play through their design\, 2) the communities who play them\, how and why they play with the narrative and stay in these worlds for decades\, and 3) the development\, investigating the many joys and challenges of telling an ongoing story\, following the inevitable oscillations as developers interact with the community. Through this multifaceted approach\, I illustrate how perennial games cultivate community by inherently trading their mystery for familiarity\, creating strong social bonds through the communal experience of uncovering\, cataloging and deciphering mystery. Pushed forward by the inherent myth that these games will continue to change\, the communities around them strain against and increasing lack of mystery\, both seeking the safety of their social bonds while yearning for that which brought them there in the first place. Perennial games can be alluded to a developed garden\, requiring maintenance and care\, each year taking a subtly new shape\, molded by its inhabitants and its caretakers\, always a bit more wild than anyone can manage on their own\, and as it grows the people inside it grow ever more dependent on its continued existence\, until the promise that kept them there breaks. \nEvent Host: Bjarke Larsen\, PhD Candidate\, Computational Media \nAdvisor: Elin Carstensdottir
URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/larsen-b-cmpm-communal-narrative-play-in-perennial-games/
LOCATION:Engineering 2\, Engineering 2 1156 High Street\, Santa Cruz\, CA\, 95064
GEO:37.0009723;-122.0632371
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250806T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250806T170000
DTSTAMP:20260406T100101
CREATED:20250703T070000Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250925T231316Z
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SUMMARY:Exploring your science major
DESCRIPTION:Choosing a major can feel overwhelming\, but many science students share a common academic path in their first year. This session breaks down the similarities in core coursework\, introduces the range of science majors available\, and helps you begin thinking about where your interests align. To receive a Zoom link\, register HERE.
URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/exploring-your-science-major/
CATEGORIES:Lectures & Presentations,Meetings & Conferences
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250807T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250807T103000
DTSTAMP:20260406T100101
CREATED:20250805T070000Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250925T231625Z
UID:10000091-1754562600-1754562600@events.ucsc.edu
SUMMARY:Rose\, N. (BMEB) - MACHINE LEARNING MODELS FOR T CELL RECEPTOR TARGET DISCOVERY AND AFFINITY ENGINEERING
DESCRIPTION:T cell receptors (TCRs) mediate antigen-specific immune responses through recognition of peptides presented by major histocompatibility complex (pMHC) molecules. Accurately predicting TCR–pMHC interactions remains a major barrier to TCR-based immunotherapy\, due to limitations in current models that fail to generalize beyond common viral epitopes and well-characterized HLA alleles. In this PhD proposal\, I outline a computational framework that integrates deep learning\, structural modeling\, and molecular simulation to improve TCR–pMHC prediction and discovery. I first introduce TRIOPS\, a convolutional neural network trained on harmonized\, experimentally validated data to predict MHC restriction from TCR sequence alone. TRIOPS outperforms state-of-the-art models in both held-out evaluation and independent patient datasets\, demonstrating improved accuracy in assigning TCRs to their correct restricting MHC alleles. I then propose TRILOBITE\, a two-part structure-based model combining atomic-resolution graph representations and dynamics-derived biophysical features to classify TCR–pMHC binding and estimate affinity. Finally\, I propose an end-to-end pipeline to identify tumor-reactive TCRs from patient-derived sequencing data by integrating HLA typing\, antigen prediction\, structure generation\, and binding assessment. Applied to a pan-cancer atlas of over 1.2 million T cells\, this framework will enable high-throughput\, structure-informed TCR discovery across diverse HLA backgrounds. Together\, these aims address a critical need for scalable\, mechanistically grounded methods for mapping T cell specificity to accelerate cancer immunotherapy discovery. \nEvent Host: Nicholas Rose\, PhD student\, Biomolecular Engineering & Bioinformatics \nAdvisor: Vanessa Jonsson
URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/rose-n-bmeb-machine-learning-models-for-t-cell-receptor-target-discovery-and-affinity-engineering/
LOCATION:Jack Baskin Engineering\, Baskin Engineering 1156 High Street\, Santa Cruz\, CA\, 95064
GEO:37.000369;-122.0632371
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250807T173000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250807T173000
DTSTAMP:20260406T100101
CREATED:20250702T070000Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250925T231620Z
UID:10000055-1754587800-1754587800@events.ucsc.edu
SUMMARY:Slugs at Sundown - The Art of the Career Pivot
DESCRIPTION:Thinking about making a career change? Join fellow Banana Slugs for an evening of connection and guidance from professional career coaches. Learn how to navigate transitions with confidence\, gain practical strategies\, and get inspired to take the next step in your journey—whether you’re pivoting by choice or by chance. \nBonus: Come early for a 15-minute\, one-on-one resume review—available from 4:30 to 5:30 PM.
URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/slugs-at-sundown-the-art-of-the-career-pivot/
LOCATION:Silicon Valley Campus\, 3175 Bowers Avenue\, Santa Clara\, CA\, 95054\, United States
CATEGORIES:Meetings & Conferences
GEO:37.3796975;-121.9765484
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Silicon Valley Campus 3175 Bowers Avenue Santa Clara CA 95054 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=3175 Bowers Avenue:geo:-121.9765484,37.3796975
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250808T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250808T140000
DTSTAMP:20260406T100101
CREATED:20250801T070000Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250925T231427Z
UID:10000087-1754661600-1754661600@events.ucsc.edu
SUMMARY:Katte\, P. (BMEB) - Interactive and Scalable Frameworks for Pathogen Surveillance and Ancestral Recombination Graph
DESCRIPTION:The explosive growth of genomic data\, driven by advances in sequencing and inference technologies\, presents both an opportunity and a challenge for evolutionary biology and public health. Existing visualization and analysis tools often fall short in handling the scale\, complexity\, and uncertainty of modern genomic datasets—especially in the areas of pathogen surveillance and ancestral recombination inference. This thesis introduces new tools that provide scalable visualization and analysis to bridge these gaps and enable more interpretable and actionable genomic insights. \nFirst\, I develop an interactive dashboard within a tool called WEPP for wastewater-based pathogen surveillance. It combines phylogenetic placement with intuitive web-based visualization\, allowing public health officials to track variant spread at high resolution. Second\, I build Lorax\, a browser-based platform for visualizing Ancestral Recombination Graphs (ARGs) at biobank scale. Lorax incorporates a multi-agent system that supports natural language querying\, code generation\, and interactive tree exploration. Finally\, I introduce a novel inference framework based on Generative Flow Networks to sample from posterior distributions over ARGs\, addressing key limitations in uncertainty quantification and scalability found in existing methods. Together\, these tools aim to make the study of evolution and disease more accessible and effective\, helping researchers and public health teams draw clearer conclusions from complex genetic data. \nEvent Host: Pratik Katte\, PhD Student\, Biomolecular Engineering & Bioinformatics \nAdvisor: Russ Corbett-Detig
URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/katte-p-bmeb-interactive-and-scalable-frameworks-for-pathogen-surveillance-and-ancestral-recombination-graph/
LOCATION:Biomedical Sciences Building\, 575 McLaughlin Drive
GEO:46.1226939;-64.7891251
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Biomedical Sciences Building 575 McLaughlin Drive;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=575 McLaughlin Drive:geo:-64.7891251,46.1226939
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250808T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250808T150000
DTSTAMP:20260406T100101
CREATED:20250805T070000Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250925T231428Z
UID:10000090-1754665200-1754665200@events.ucsc.edu
SUMMARY:Vera-Choqqueccota\, S. (BMEB) - A CRISPRi-Based platform for multimodal functional analysis of neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders risk genes in engineered mouse cortical neurons
DESCRIPTION:Neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders (NPDs)\, such as autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia\, are among the most heritable yet mechanistically complex conditions. While large-scale genomic studies have identified hundreds of high-confidence risk genes\, the lack of scalable and integrative platforms has limited our ability to functionally characterize these genes. To address this\, I am developing a CRISPR interference (CRISPRi)-based screening platform using mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) engineered to express Ngn2 for rapid and standardized neuronal differentiation and dCas9-KRAB for gene repression. In Aim 1\, I will generate and validate this cell line\, enabling reproducible and scalable perturbation of disease-relevant genes. In Aim 2\, I will apply this system to characterize the effects of knocking down ten NPD-risk genes using multimodal analysis of morphology\, transcriptomics\, and electrophysiology. In Aim 3\, I will build a framework to crowdsource functional analysis of NPD risk genes to design gRNAs\, access experiments remotely\, and analyze data using simplified\, accessible tools. Together\, this project advances both scientific understanding of NPD mechanisms and equitable access to functional analysis. \nEvent Host: Samira Vera-Choqqueccota\, PhD Student\, Biomolecular Engineering & Bioinformatics \nAdvisor: David Haussler
URL:https://events.ucsc.edu/event/vera-choqqueccota-s-bmeb-a-crispri-based-platform-for-multimodal-functional-analysis-of-neurodevelopmental-and-neuropsychiatric-disorders-risk-genes-in-engineered-mouse-cortical-neurons/
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