Professor Soojin Yi leads a study of how gene expression in the human brain reveals cell types becoming more specialized, not just more numerous.
UCSB — The Current — ‘It’s all about expression’ and more news, events
Tag: University of California at Santa Barbara
UCSB — The Current — ‘Season’s greetings from our home to yours’
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.
UCSB — The Current — ‘Apparel industry leaks millions of tons of plastic into environment each year’ and more news, events
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.”
UCSB — The Current — ‘Humanities Decanted: Daina Sanchez on Jan. 21, 2025’ and more news, events
The Chicana and Chicano studies professor discusses her new book, “The Children of Solaga: Indigenous Belonging across the U.S.-Mexico Border.”
UCSB — The Current — ‘Historian Tsuyoshi Hasegawa writes definitive account of the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II’ and more news, events
The emeritus professor’s new book unpacks how inept leadership by the Russian ruler precipitated the fall of the Romanovs.
UCSB — The Current — ‘After decades of plantation agriculture, coconut palms dominate over half of Pacific atoll forests’ and more news, events
New research provides the first comprehensive map of the vast footprint of coconut palm agriculture across nearly every Pacific atoll.
UCSB — The Current — ‘Prof. Meghan Morrissey honored by the American Cancer Society for her work on cancer immunotherapy’ and more news, events
Morrissey is among those pioneering a new kind of immunotherapy, and her efforts have earned her the recognition of the American Cancer Society.
UCSB — The Current — ‘A new study in Science maps out a comprehensive plan to eliminate plastic pollution by 2050’ and more news, events
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%.
UCSB — The Current — ‘Deaf male mosquitoes don’t mate’ and more news, events
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.
UCSB — The Current — ‘Bridging divided views to strengthen communities’ and more news, events
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 — The Current — ‘Promoting global engagement, reflecting diversity and embracing different perspectives’ and more news
UCSB has again been named as a Fulbright HSI Leader for its strong engagement, as an Hispanic-Serving Institution, with the Fulbright Program.
UCSB — The Current — ‘Children’s Event: Dia de los Muertos’ on Nov. 3, more news
The MultiCultural Center and UCSB’s Early Childhood Care and Education Services partner on a community-based Dia de los Muertos celebration for children and families.
UCSB — The Current — How art opens the mind: Prof. Jonathan Schooler’s research on the cognitive effects of art
In Rome, Schooler will present alongside research colleague Madeline Gross, assistant project scientist. Together, they are investigating how art can induce a state of cognitive openness, allowing viewers to approach the world with greater mental flexibility.
UCSB — The Current — ‘UCSB’s cybersecurity chief on protecting digital spaces and the role of AI’ and more news, events
Jackson Muhirwe, chief information security officer and director of information assurance, is a seasoned higher education leader with over two decades of experience in information technology and security.
UCSB — The Current — ‘UC Santa Barbara ranks among top universities nationally and globally in recent assessments’ and more news, events
For affordability, social mobility, research impact, academics and other metrics, the campus is again considered among the nation’s — and the world’s — top universities, according to myriad recent rankings.
UCSB — The Current — ‘Bursts of exercise boost cognitive function, neuroscientists find’ and more news, events
Executive functioning was the key cognitive domain impacted by vigorous exercise, such as high-intensity interval training (HIIT) protocols, according to new research.
UCSB — The Current — ‘Promoting Latiné excellence: A Q&A with inaugural HSI director Veronica Fematt’ and more news, events
Tasked with uniting efforts across campus to enhance “servingness” — an HSI model that goes beyond enrollment numbers to truly support the success of Latiné — Fematt characterized the establishment of the new role as a “significant step forward” for the campus.
UCSB — The Current — ‘Dead coral skeletons hinder reef regeneration by sheltering seaweed’ and more news, events
While working at reefs in Moorea, French Polynesia, Kai Kopecky found that the network of coral skeletons left in place by bleaching events caused critical processes to break down, ultimately preventing reefs from recovering.
UCSB — The Current — ‘Professor Denise Montell wins second NIH Pioneer Award, receiving $5.5 million for immune therapy research’ and more news, events
The award is part of the NIH’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research program. Montell will use the funds to test a new treatment her group is developing for cancer and other diseases, such as antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
UCSB — The Current — ‘Artist Sarah Rosalena featured in six Getty PST ART shows, gains spot in LACMA’s collection’ and more news, events
Featured prominently in Getty’s Art + Science Collide-themed initiative, Rosalena discusses computational craft, a hybrid practice between analog and digital techniques, in a recent episode of UCSB’s video series, “Research in 60 Seconds.”
UCSB — The Current — ‘New study reveals changes in the brain throughout pregnancy’ and more news, events
The brain’s gray and white matter shift across gestation, according to first-of-its-kind research that scanned the brain of one first-time mother every few weeks, from before pregnancy through two years postpartum.
UCSB — The Current — ‘On gender: misperceptions about others can stifle women’s empowerment’ and more news, events
In a pair of recent papers, David W. Lawson and his team at UCSB’s Applied Evolutionary Anthropology Lab shed light on possible explanations for gender bias. Their research was carried out in an urbanizing rural community in northwestern Tanzania.
UCSB — The Current — ‘Immersive ocean health project opens at AlloSphere for Getty PST ART’ and more news, events
The AlloSphere opens to the public with “Sketches of Sensorium,” a multisensory installation exploring ocean fragility and resilience through art and science. Shows are every second Thursday and fourth Saturday.
UCSB — The Current — ‘Pooch’s World: Art, Design & Architecture Museum celebrates the artistic life of Keith Puccinelli’ and more news
The exhibition situates Puccinelli’s career within the constellation of his local and regional contemporaries.
Read more about the art opening
UCSB — The Current — ‘Big sharks have a big impact — and a big problem’ and more news, events
When it comes to shark conservation, scientists say size should matter after a global study finds that the sharks most affected by fishing are also the most important for healthy oceans.
UCSB — The Current — ‘Rhythms of nature: understanding synchrony in oscillatory systems’ and more news, events
Mechanical engineering professor Francesco Bullo leads a multidisciplinary university research initiative to investigate the mathematics behind networks of coupled oscillators.
UCSB —The Current — UC President Michael V. Drake, M.D., announces plans to step down
Drake will step down from his role at the end of the 2024-25 academic year, after five years leading California’s world-renowned public research university system.
UCSB — The Current — ‘Expanding marine reserves will redistribute global fishing effort’ and more news, events
Previous studies have looked at regional effects on fishing of individual marine protected areas; this is the first to consider the question on a global scale, accounting for complex interactions between fleets. Its findings challenge assumptions about ocean conservation.
UCSB — The Current — ‘UC Santa Barbara and Tuskegee University launch pilot program to advance Black cultural perspectives in TV writing’ and more news, events
Bringing together students from Tuskegee and from UCSB, the unique program is creating a new kind of space between a Hispanic Serving Institution and an HBCU.
UCSB — The Current — ‘Discoveries from Disasters: A conversation with oceanographer David Valentine’ and more news, events
The professor’s expertise drives impactful research on marine contamination and oil spills. Here he discusses his work behind the headlines, balancing science, policy and people.
UCSB — The Current — ‘Researchers propose the next platform for brain-inspired computing’ and more news, events
The Banerjee Lab’s flat and tiny field-effect transistors could pave the way for ultra-efficient computing with a platform that can bring energy requirements to within two orders of magnitude — about 100 times — with respect to the human brain.
UCSB — The Current — ‘Leveraging social psychology to overcome barriers to climate action’ and more news, events
Researchers explore the connections, and disconnects, between public beliefs about climate change and climate action.
UCSB — The Current — ‘A celebratory send-off’ and more news, events
From the sunny skies to the good vibes, it was a glorious graduation weekend at UC Santa Barbara.
UCSB — The Current — ‘From Juneteenth to reparations: The ongoing journey for racial justice’ and more news, events
Professor and historian Giuliana Perrone discusses her new research in the context of Juneteenth and the latest from California’s reparations task force.
UCSB — The Current — ‘UCSB’s ÉXITO Program graduates third cohort of future ethnic studies teachers amidst rising attacks on ethnic studies’ and more news, events
Designed for highly motivated students, the first of its kind program in the UC system provides undergraduates with a clearly structured pathway to becoming credentialed K-12 teachers.
Read more about ÉXITO
UCSB — The Current — ‘A week’s worth of commencement activities will celebrate 6,875 graduates for 2023–2024’ and more news, events
With the College of Creative Studies commencement festivities already in the books, eight more ceremonies remain in UC Santa Barbara’s graduation lineup for the Class of 2024.
UCSB — The Current — ‘A novel approach to tracking conservation reveals more areas may be conserved than currently accounted for’ and more news, events
The new method finds more extensive and diverse coverage, which is crucial for meeting the goal of protecting 30% of Earth by 2030.
UCSB — The Current — ‘Historic iceberg surges offer insights on modern climate change’ and more news, events
Bringing warm surface water north and cold deep water south, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC, is a major component of the global climate system, influencing marine ecosystems, weather patterns and temperatures. It’s also regarded as a potential tipping element of the Earth’s climate.
UCSB — The Current — ‘Mario T. García: A lifetime of achievement in Chicano/a history’ and more news, events
The historian and professor receives the Bert Corona Lifetime Achievement Award for inspiring progressive social change to advance the inclusion of the poor and oppressed.
Read more about the honor
UCSB —The Current — ‘Controlling the chaos of active fluids’ and more news, events
Physicists Cristina Marchetti and Mark Bowick develop design rules that take advantage of topological defects to control flows in active fluids.
UCSB — The Current — ‘Brenda Major elected to National Academy of Sciences’ and more news, events
A distinguished professor emerita in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Major was cited for her pioneering and decades-long body of work on the psychological impacts of prejudice and discrimination.
UCSB — The Current — ‘How the romantic institution props-up a racialized dating landscape’ and more news, events
View this email online May 16, 2024 Top News How the romantic institution props-up a racialized dating landscape In a new book, Sabrina Strings blends historical research, personal anecdotes and cultural criticism to consider the demise of romantic partnerships, emphasizing…
UCSB — The Current — ‘Rolling with the punches: How mantis shrimp defend against high-speed strikes’ and more news, events
These territorial crustaceans use their tails as shields to defend against the explosive punches of their rivals.
UCSB — The Current — ‘Creative Studies student earns coveted Knight-Hennessy Scholarship’ and more news, events
Ashley Yeh ’24 will go on to pursue a Ph.D. in neuroscience at Stanford School of Medicine. The Knight-Hennessy Program, established in 2018, provides fellows up to three years of tuition and a stipend for living and academic expenses.
UCSB — The Current — ‘Historian Jeffrey Stewart elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences for his work in the visual arts’ and more news, events
The Black Studies professor, who won a Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for his acclaimed biography of Alain Locke, brings to 49 the number of UCSB faculty that have been named fellows of the academy.
UCSB — The Current — ‘How to build and protect skills in our modern workplace, a world filled with AI and robots’ and more news, events
Assistant professor Matt Beane‘s new book uncovers ways for workers to remain competent and competitive in an increasingly automated workplace.
UCSB — The Current — ‘New book explores gay, queer and feminist community in early advances in computer science’ and more news, events
Patricia Fancher digs into Alan Turing’s technical and scientific writing, highlighting his role in computing’s inception and his collaborations with women and queer individuals.
UCSB — The Current — ‘A prestigious career honor for two elite engineers’ and more news, events
Professors Beth Pruitt and M. Scott Shell have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
UCSB — The Current — ‘The Museum of Modern Art premieres Shana Moulton’s ‘Meta/Physical Therapy’ and more news, events
Healing meets the surreal in the hyper-saturated dreamscape featured in the exhibition and performance series by the art professor, whose work captures the banality and enormity of everyday life.
UCSB — The Current — ‘Computer scientist William Wang receives prestigious early career technical achievement award’ and more news, events
Wang’s considerable work to develop scalable algorithms that are both swift and accurate couldn’t be more necessary. His efforts are being recognized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Signal Processing Society.