Painting a rich picture of a campus known for its innovative spirit, dynamic culture and vibrant community, a host of recent rankings uphold UC Santa Barbara’s status as a leading university across a range of categories.
Researchers are working to bring highly sensitive quantum experiments outside of the laboratory.
Selected for the honor alongside UC Berkeley physicist and former advisor John Clarke, they were lauded for work that, according to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, “revealed quantum physics in action.”
“Mexican Prints” at the Art, Design & Architecture Museum features José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Rufino Tamayo, and fellow artists who shaped 20th-century printmaking.
From move-in activities to a first-ever spirit rally, UC Santa Barbara kicks off a new year with a week’s worth of fun.
The innovative tool, designed specifically for non-expert users, improves airway access and raises survival odds in critical medical emergencies.
Budget cuts for science research were the topic of discussion at a meeting sponsored by the United Academic Workers local 4811 along with the campus, and featuring a visit by Rep. Salud Carbajal and comments from Vice Chancellor for Research Rachel Segalman.
A sediment surge after the Wenchuan Quake offers clues to mountain-building mechanics and reveals long-term hazards.
“All young stars have these disks, but we’ve known little about their orientations with respect to the spin axis of the host stars,” said associate physics professor Brendan Bowler, senior author of a study published in Nature.
Corina Logan and her team tease apart the role of behavioral flexibility in great-tailed grackles’ ability to flourish in human-made environments.
Distinguished professor Sarah Poot Herrera has built a cross-border scholarly network through her research on Mexican literature, fostering collaboration, mentorship and cultural dialogue across generations and geographies.
Read more about her work
Assanis comes to UC from the University of Delaware, where he has served as president since 2016. He will assume his role at UCSB on Sept. 1, 2025.
The patterns captured in a newly developed non-linear model reveal whether plants are ‘water savers’ or ‘water spenders.’
In his latest book, political economist Benjamin Cohen examines the global and domestic pressures driving nations, including the U.S., toward fragmentation.
Thanks to a student-led sports-waste recycling program, Gauchos and visiting community members can recycle their old sports gear in the drop-off bin at the Rec Cen.
Read more about the program
An expanded exhibition at San Diego’s Museum of Us revisits Fulbeck’s landmark portraits and the evolving identities behind them.
Mehrabian, who served as the fourth engineering dean at UCSB from 1983-1990, was responsible for major growth and advancement of the relatively young college during his tenure.
Warmer air can suck up more moisture in dry regions and dump more rain in wet regions. New research reveals that the atmosphere’s drying capacity is outpacing increases in rainfall.
More than 7,400 students — a combination of both undergraduate and graduate — have declared their candidacy to earn degrees in 2025. And they’ll all be honored across nine official events over eight days.
New research shows that, globally, men and women tend to use the ocean in different ways, with implications for how marine spaces are used and valued.
Meiya Sidney ???, a fourth-year College of Creative Studies and art honors student, shares her ceramic practice shaped by summers in Taiwan.
Photos from the diving community document around 1,200 adult giant sea bass as the species slowly recovers from decades of overfishing.
With support from a new NSF CAREER Award, Jennifer Jacobs is developing more intuitive, human-centered digital fabrication tools.
The scholar and National Book Award-winning author explores the human consequences of U.S. immigration policies and shares stories of hope and resilience from the border.
Restoring Dunes to Protect Shores
Marine Science Institute researchers have found that restored dunes at Santa Monica Beach can help protect that section of California’s coast from the severe storms and sea-level rise that come with a warming ocean.
Watch to learn about dune restoration
Author Melody Jue, an associate professor of English, departs from common coral narratives in her new collection of essays.
Read more about the book
Cultural historian Lisa Jacobson’s new book tells the complicated and fascinating story of how alcoholic beverages morphed from disreputable habit to ubiquitous facet of American life.
The virtual sessions, which are open to anyone, will tackle topics like chatbots, AI in clinical medical practice and college students’ use of ChatGPT.
Distilling more than a decade of ethnographic research, the book examines ongoing resource exploitation in Guatemala by multinational corporations that fund and operate hydroelectric projects.
Read more about the “invasion”
World Music Series
Wednesday, April 16
Los Catanes del Norte will perform music from different regions in Mexico including corridos, rancheras, and boleros norteños.
New research demonstrates that fruit fly larvae navigate toward the negative electric potential using a small set of sensory neurons in their head.
A field experiment conducted with cities in China demonstrates that an increase in government transparency causes decreases in pollution, with meaningful effects on health.
A team led by UCSB researchers highlights the importance of monitoring shark populations and combining different strategies for managing their numbers.
The film details Professor David Valentine’s discovery and investigation, with Los Angeles Times reporter Rosanna Xia, of toxic waste dumping off the Southern California coast.
Read more about “Out of Plain Sight”
Anthropologists Amber VanDerwarker and Doug Kennett present new research about the history of avocado domestication, highlighting a popular tree crop of major economic importance.
Professor Sharon Tettagah demonstrates how considering learner preferences for receiving educational content can create a more inclusive and effective educational experience.
Microsoft team led by UC Santa Barbara physicists unveils first-of-its-kind topological qubit, paving the way for a more fault-tolerant quantum computer.
“Public Texts: A Californian Visual Language” at the Art, Design & Architecture Museum explores how artists use text to challenge perception, critique culture and reflect California’s evolving identity.
Daniela Soto has earned a prestigious fellowship with eight years of funding to study the evolution of human brains from a genomic perspective.
Recognized for his stories of farmworker families in the vast and complex Central Valley of California, Muñoz is also a past recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship.
A trio short films by undergraduates — “Not Just Water,” “quwa’” and “The Kelp We Breathe” — will be featured during the festival’s Santa Barbara Documentary Shorts programming.
“It feels special because it’s my nation saying that my life’s work is appreciated. And that is an amazing feeling,” said Tilman, a distinguished professor at Bren School of Environmental Science & Management.
The associate professor, an expert in energy, climate and environmental politics, was recognized for her exceptional contributions and public engagement.
Culminating a multiyear effort to unite library collections and services in a central, state-of-the-art space, the newly opened facility also represents the vision of its namesake, a longstanding donor to campus
Intending to have a larger presence in the downtown area, and to support the revitalization of Santa Barbara’s primary business corridor, the university will acquire property on State Street.
Read more about the university’s plans
Back-to-back events will kick off celebrations for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, including a free documentary screening and a silent march through campus.
Facing a nationwide shortage of school psychologists and a growing need for services for increasingly diverse student bodies, the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education launches a new effort to train bilingual school psychologists.
Plus: Chicana and Chicano studies scholar discusses her new book, “The Children of Solaga: Indigenous Belonging across the U.S.-Mexico Border,” in this Interdisciplinary Humanities Center event.
Professor Soojin Yi leads a study of how gene expression in the human brain reveals cell types becoming more specialized, not just more numerous.
Wishing you gorgeous sunsets and bright horizons
Before signing off for the year, check out our Most Viewed Stories of 2024. Then meet us right back here on Tuesday, January 7, 2025, when The Current will return to your inbox with more research news, features and exciting UC Santa Barbara content.
Global apparel consumption resulted in over 20 million tons of plastic waste in 2019, creating an economic and environmental burden that “falls disproportionately upon the developing economies of the world.”
The Chicana and Chicano studies professor discusses her new book, “The Children of Solaga: Indigenous Belonging across the U.S.-Mexico Border.”
The emeritus professor’s new book unpacks how inept leadership by the Russian ruler precipitated the fall of the Romanovs.
New research provides the first comprehensive map of the vast footprint of coconut palm agriculture across nearly every Pacific atoll.
Morrissey is among those pioneering a new kind of immunotherapy, and her efforts have earned her the recognition of the American Cancer Society.
If policy makers implemented just four policies acting across the plastic lifecycle (from production to use and disposal), researchers say, we could reduce plastic pollution by 91%.
Researchers at Craig Montell’s lab created deaf mosquitoes by knocking out a single gene and found that the males had absolutely no interest in mating. The results could have major implications for how we manage disease transmission.
n award-winning video series Research in 60, Tania Israel, a professor in the Department of Counseling, Clinical & School Psychology, discusses strategies for navigating conversations in a divided nation.
UCSB has again been named as a Fulbright HSI Leader for its strong engagement, as an Hispanic-Serving Institution, with the Fulbright Program.
