Resources for Learning and Research
The handsome McHenry and Science & Engineering Library buildings house the increasingly impressive collection of UCSC’s University Library. In nearly four decades, the collection has grown from a few shelves of books and a substantial dependence on the libraries of UC Berkeley, to over 1.35 million volumes, nearly 17,000 periodical titles (including electronic journals), over 825,000 microforms, and more than 500,000 nonprint items, including maps, slides, and audio and video recordings.
As part of the statewide University of California library system, the University Library also serves as gateway to millions of other books and periodicals on other campuses throughout the state. The library’s efficient Interlibrary Loan service is heavily used, especially the online request service of the California Digital Library. Faculty, staff, and graduate students may also use the Slug Express service for on-campus delivery of local materials.
The University Library collection is divided into two parts. Resources in the humanities, arts, and social sciences are contained in the McHenry Library at the heart of the campus, while the science collection is housed in the beautiful Science & Engineering Library, conveniently located on “Science Hill.”
Subject bibliographers manage the growth and development of UCSC’s collection and provide in-depth research assistance.
Most of the holdings of the University Library are shelved in open stacks. Students and faculty are encouraged to help themselves, using information found via the local CRUZCAT online library catalog, the systemwide Melvyl® catalog, and the library home page. The library home page provides a convenient gateway to the CRUZCAT and Melvyl® systems, the California Digital Library, and a host of other electronic information resources, such as electronic journals. The library staff is also eager to offer its assistance at any of several service points.
At the Reference Desks in both libraries, reference librarians give individual guidance: general orientation for the newcomer and specialized help for the researcher. Librarians assist in the use of a wide range of indexes—in print, on CD-ROM or the World Wide Web, and nearly 150 online article databases to which the library subscribes. Libarians also offer group instruction: orientation tours at the beginning of each quarter, library research workshops, special web seminars for students and faculty, and upon request, specialized instruction to classes in all disciplines.
The Reserve Desks lend copies of assigned class readings on a short-term basis, operate a web-based electronic reserve system, and provide protection for vulnerable circulating materials and heavily used magazines. In addition, the McHenry Library Reserve Unit provides access to recent newspapers.
Special Collections at McHenry Library contains rare, valuable, and often fragile materials that do not circulate. Holdings focus on local history and 20th-century literature and book arts. Special Collections also houses the official campus archives, as well as the archives of George Barati, Gregory Bateson, Thomas Carlyle, Lou Harrison, Kenneth Patchen, Edward Weston, and the Shameless Hussy, Trianon, and Turtle Island presses.
Other important collections and services include the following:
- Government Publications, a selective depository for documents published by U.S., California, and Santa Cruz government agencies
- The Media and Electronic Resource Center (MERC), which provides access to CD-ROMs, computer files, and language-related audio and video recordings; electronic support for language study at UCSC; and printing support for the Electronic Reserve System (ERes)
- The Map Collection, with maps and aerial photographs of Santa Cruz and adjoining counties and topographic, nautical, and aeronautical maps from all over the world
- The Mary Lea Shane Archives of the Lick Observatory, a national resource for the history of astronomy
- The Film and Music Center, which houses music recordings and a growing collection of videos and DVDs
- The Regional History Project’s documentation of central California history
- The Visual Resource Collection, which emphasizes art history but also includes slides on science, history, and the UCSC campus and offers the web-based SlideCat slide catalog
For more information, see the library’s home page, library.ucsc.edu.
Center for Teaching Excellence
The Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) is a professional resource, dedicated to promoting, sustaining, and recognizing teaching excellence at UCSC. Serving the faculty and graduate students, CTE programs and services support instructors in their efforts to develop as teachers, to enhance the quality of instruction, and to improve students’ learning.
Regular programs and services include Instructional Improvement Grants, Excellence in Teaching Awards, Teaching Convocations, Mid-quarter Class Interviews, Electronic Mid-quarter Analysis of Teaching, Videotaping of Teaching, UCSC Instructor Evaluation, and Faculty Focus, a quarterly newsletter featuring the voices of the UCSC community speaking out on teaching and learning.
CTE is located on the first floor of McHenry Library, in Room 168C. For more information, visit the CTE web site: ic.ucsc.edu/CTE.
Computing at Santa Cruz is characterized by faculty, staff, and students using computers not only for instructional, research, and administrative activities, but to communicate with each other and colleagues worldwide in support of these scholarly activities. With campus computing resources, students on or off campus can access campus web and application servers, library resources, and the Internet.
Electronic mail is a primary form of communication and available to everyone in the campus community.
The campus has 15 open-access instructional computing laboratories, with digital media equipment and specialized academic software. For a description of these open-access labs, see ic.ucsc.edu. In addition, several programs—including those in arts, biology, computer engineering, economics, foreign languages, and physics—operate specialized computing facilities for students in those majors. The campus also provides specialized computing facilities, such as visualization laboratories, for faculty research in many fields from astronomy to linguistics to seismology. See below for a description of the Baskin School of Engineering computer facilities.
Many classrooms are equipped with the latest advances in technology, including computers, video, and video projectors. Faculty and students take advantage of these by using innovative instructional software and presentation methods.
The campus bookstore provides substantial discounts for students, faculty, and staff on personal computers such as Apple and Compaq and may be contacted directly for pricing and availability information or via the web at slugstore.ucsc.edu/.
Communications and Technology Services
Communications and Technology Services (CATS) provides computing, network, telecommunications, and instructional technology services and support to the campus. CATS is located in the Communications Building and may be visited at www2.ucsc.edu/cats and ic.ucsc.edu.
CATS operates the UCSC network, which interconnects the campus network, the student residential network, and the Internet. On-campus network resources include academic, library, and administrative computing, database, and information servers. Many instructors are choosing to provide course material via the web or electronic mail, and both the UCSC and UC-wide library catalogs are accessible via the web.
CATS Instructional Computing (CATS/IC) manages 15 instructional computing labs throughout the campus. These include a Digital Media Lab in the arts and Solaris Unix labs for students in the sciences. The 15 labs, including wired and wireless labs, have over 375 computers available for students to use; 65 are Sun workstations, and the remaining are about evenly split between Macs and PCs. Lab workstations are replaced every three years.
Labs are used like classrooms: reserved by faculty or TAs for instruction. When not reserved for instruction, the labs are available to students on a walk-in basis. Even if they are not teaching in the labs, many faculty request to have academic software installed in the labs so that their students can complete homework assignments. Every IC lab is open to every student, no matter what his or her major. Assistive technologies are provided to disabled students who request services via the Disability Resource Center. If you need assistive technologies, please see www2.ucsc.edu/drc/ and make your request so CATS/IC can provide services for you in a timely manner.
Technical training is available for students in the labs. In addition, faculty or TAs can request CATS/IC staff to conduct training sessions as part of an academic course. Contact fitc@ucsc.edu for more information.
More extensive lab information, including hardware and software specifications, hours of operation, and student employment opportunities, is available at ic.ucsc.edu.
Instructional Computing has about 100 student staff members. Positions include lab consultants, who staff labs and assist students; technical support specialists, who maintain lab hardware and software; and web developers, who work on project teams to produce academic course sites. Please see the IC web page at ic.ucsc.edu or e-mail fitc@ucsc.edu for more information.
WebCT Learning Management System is a standardized tool provided by IC’s Faculty Instructional Technology Center (FITC). UCSC faculty can use WebCT to deliver web-based course materials to supplement their classroom instruction. At FITC, student web developers provide faculty services such as audio and video digitizing, CD-ROM burning, flatbed as well as slide scanning, and web authoring. FITC student web developers provide faculty four hours per quarter of free technical assistance to develop digital course materials and train students in skills needed for academic courses.
ResNet, a network in the residence halls, is available in nearly all campus residence halls and apartments. Students can connect to the ResNet and access campus resources and the Internet from their rooms at speeds significantly faster than modems. Students can also access the UCSC campus network and the Internet by modem at speeds of up to 56K.
UCSC is connected to other UC campuses and the Internet via a high-speed connection into the UC network. UCSC is also part of the state and national initiatives for the next generation Internet, joining the other UC campuses and select California universities in this project.
To access any of the central computing services, including e-mail, individuals must have a UCSC/CATS account. Each registered student is assigned an account and may set the initial password via the web at any of the instructional computing labs or from their own computer. Faculty and campus units send e-mail about classes and student services to this account. Students may forward e-mail sent to this UCSC account to another address via a web form.
CATS provides support for its services to students, faculty, and staff via the Information Resource Center. The Information Resource Center (IRC) provides walk-in, phone, and online support, including a knowlege database at ic.ucsc.edu/help/. The IRC is located at 50 Communications Building. To reach the IRC, call (831) 459-4357 (459-HELP), e-mail infocat@ucsc.edu, or visit our web site: www2.ucsc.edu/cats/sc/.
Research Programs and Facilities
Research at Santa Cruz is thriving, facilities are excellent, and the amount of external funding received for research continues to grow. In addition to their individual research projects, faculty are involved in organized research on various scales, from small focused activities within academic divisions, to large research units, some with campuswide scope and others with wider connections to the whole 10-campus University of California system.
Specialized research facilities in addition to those listed below are described in the programs and courses section.
Arboretum
The Arboretum at UCSC is a research and teaching facility serving both the campus and the public. Its total collection, containing representatives of nearly 300 plant families, provides beginning students with a survey of the plant kingdom. Special collections provide undergraduates with illustrations of a great variety of interesting phenomena. Facilities for growing plants offer students aand research faculty opportunities to experiment with living plants. The Arboretum maintains various collections of rare plants of unusual scientific interest. Particular specialties are world conifers, primitive angiosperms, plant families from Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, and California natives. Many of the species in these collections are not otherwise available for study in American botanical gardens and arboreta.
Of service to the public and the nursery industry are the Arboretum’s activities in importing, selecting, and breeding choice ornamental plants, especially those that are drought tolerant and pest resistant. To date, the Arboretum is the original importer of 1,500 different selections from among choice ornamentals. Many of these have been and will continue to be the plants of future California gardens.
Norrie’s, which is a volunteer-run gift shop supporting the Arboretum and its student staff, is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m.
Arboretum: (831) 427-2998; Norrie’s gift shop: (831) 423-4977; e-mail: arboretum@ucsc.edu; web: www2.ucsc.edu/arboretum.
Arts Instructional Computing Laboratories
Instructional Computing (IC) has two labs for the arts located in Porter College, Rooms D-240 and D-245. A third lab, with specialized music hardware and software, is located in the Music Center.
The IC Arts Mac Lab and IC Digital Media Lab at Porter are equipped with arts-specific hardware and software. Apple G4 workstations are complemented with high-end sound-, graphic-, and video-editing software. The Digital Media Lab (DML) is oriented more exclusively toward the moving image. It is equipped with dual-processor G4s and other hardware and software capable of high-end video import, digitizing, editing, compositing, and output. The Music Lab includes hardware and software for music editing, notation, and working with MIDI. See hardware and software details at ic.ucsc.edu/labs/.
These Instructional Computing labs are open to all UCSC students. In addition, computer labs located in the Art, Theater Arts, and Film and Digital Media Departments only serve students taking classes in those departments.
Baskin School of Engineering Computer Facilities
The Jack Baskin School of Engineering operates several computer laboratories in support of research and graduate instruction in applied mathematics and statistics, computer engineering, computer science, and electrical engineering. The School of Engineering maintains a network of several hundred Unix and Windows systems. For general-purpose computing, the School of Engineering supports
- Central fileservers for core services such as mail, name service, and file sharing
- Several general-access Unix systems
- Several graduate student computer labs with a mix of Windows, Linux, and Solaris workstations and network printers
In addition to these facilities, the School of Engineering operates and supports the following research laboratories.
Computer Communication Research Group
The Computer Communication Research Group (CCRG) is dedicated to basic and applied research in computer communication. CCRG research focuses on new algorithms, protocols, and architectures for wireless networks based on packet switching (e.g., packet-radio networks), Internetworking, multipoint communication, and the control of resources by multiple administrative authorities.
Computer Systems Laboratory
Composed of faculty from the Computer Science and Computer Engineering Departments, the Computer Systems Laboratory focuses on caching, storage systems hierarchies, wide-area distributed systems, security, and performance.
High-Speed Network Laboratory
Members of the High-Speed Network Laboratory explore and expand the field of high-speed computer networking and communication. Current areas of research include high-speed switching, traffic scheduling algorithms for providing quality-of-service (QoS) guarantees in packet networks, ATM congestion control, and optical networks. Projects are funded by NSF, ARPA, and private industry.
Image Processing and Multimedia Laboratory
The Image Processing and Multimedia Lab (IPMML) is the central venue for ongoing research into topics in image processing and multimedia. Areas of interest include wireless digital video; virtual scene and panorama generation; natural and machine-generated image compression; video capture, processing, and editing techniques; color printing technology; image libraries; and combinations of the above.
Multidimensional Signal Processing Research Group
The Multidimensional Signal Processing (MDSP) Research Group interests are in the area of inverse problems in imaging, statistical detection and estimation, and associated numerical methods. Current projects include image-resolution enhancement and superresolution, computationally efficient image-motion estimation, shape reconstruction from local and global geometric data, multiscale modeling and analysis of signals and images, radon transform-based algorithms for deformation analysis and dynamic imaging, image processing and inverse problems in remote sensing, and automatic target detection and recognition. The group is also associated with the Image Processing and Multimedia Lab.
Santa Cruz Laboratory for Visualization and Graphics
Recent research at the Santa Cruz Laboratory for Visualization and Graphics includes animal modeling and animation, environmental visualization, isosurfaces, d.v.r., hierarchies, irregular grids, massively parallel volume rendering through the net, uncertainty visualization, virtual reality in scientific visualization, nomadic collaborative visualization, tensor visualization, and flow visualization.
Storage Systems Advanced Research Group
The Storage Systems Advanced Research (STAR) Group develops new I/O interfaces that exploit high bandwidth and increased processing power at the storage layer, coupled with automatic techniques for characterizing performance and adapting to new workloads.
UCSC Scientific Visualization Laboratory
The UCSC Scientific Visualization Laboratory provides the means for creating visualizations from scientific data. Projects include a simulation of an “extensive air shower” striking the Milagro detector at Los Alamos National Lab, representing a subsonic flow over a delta wing aircraft, a demonstration of direct volume rendering on a multiply-gridded space shuttle launch vehicle, an N-body simulation of large-scale structure in the universe, and a representation of a diving whale based on location data from a Monterey Bay tagging experiment.
Undergraduate Engineering Laboratories
The School of Engineering operates the following special instructional laboratories for the exclusive use of engineering students. These laboratories are typically open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, during instructional quarters. Detailed information about these labs can be found at www.soe.ucsc.edu/bels.
- Digital Logic Design Laboratory
- Controls, Signals and Instrumentation Laboratory
- Analog Circuits Laboratory
- Electrical Engineering Senior Projects Laboratory
- Optics and Laser Laboratory
- Computer Engineering Projects Laboratory
- Electromagnetic and Radio Frequency Laboratory
- Physical Electronics Laboratory
- Computer Networking Laboratory
Engineering Building Public Wireless Computer Network
A public wireless (IEEE–802.116) computer network is being installed on the first floor of the Baskin Engineering Building. UCSC students and guests may access the Internet using their own laptops with wireless Internet cards.
UCSC Computer Center
In addition to the facilities provided by the Jack Baskin School of Engineering, students have access to the computing facilities of the UCSC Computer Center. These include several computer labs consisting of Unix, Mac, and Windows workstations. They are supported by the Instructional Computing component of Communications and Technology Services.
For additional information regarding the School of Engineering, please check our web site: www.soe.ucsc.edu.
California Carlyle Edition
The splendid Norman and Charlotte Strouse Collection of Thomas Carlyle in Special Collections at McHenry Library is the focus of an exciting and innovative effort by an international group of scholars to publish an eight-volume critical edition of Carlyle’s major works. Headquartered at UCSC, it is the first “scientific” edition of Carlyle, using computer technology to compare all the lifetime editions of each work in order to establish an accurate text, as well as providing explanatory notes for the modern reader. The edition promises to set the agenda for work on Carlyle and the Victorian era for the next generation. In addition to producing a much needed critical edition of the works of Carlyle, the project is using the campus’s computer facilities to develop and demonstrate many state-of-the-art applications of data-processing technology in the humanities, from optical scanning of some editions and machine-assisted collation and proofreading, to desktop typesetting and the creation of an online Carlyle textual archive. The first volume, On Heroes, Hero Worship, and the Heroic in History, was published in 1993 by the University of California Press. The second volume, Sartor Resartus, was published in 2000. Historical Essays and The French Revolution are forthcoming. Web: www.nd.edu/~carlyle/strouse.html.
Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems
The Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS) is a research, education, and public service unit of the Division of Social Sciences, dedicated to increasing ecological sustainability and social justice in the food and agriculture system. Center researchers investigate the ecological basis for sustainable agriculture and the cultural, political, and economic aspects of developing sustainable food and agricultural systems. The center’s work is multifaceted, covering a spectrum that includes research (theoretical and applied), education (practical and academic), and public service (with audiences ranging from local schoolchildren to international agencies). Much of the center’s farming-systems research takes place on organic and conventional farms throughout the region, including a number of projects in the Santa Cruz/Monterey area and the Elkhorn Slough watershed. Center social issues staff participate in the Agrifood Working Group for UCSC faculty, researchers, and graduate students, which meets regularly to discuss topics related to food systems.
Center facilities and resources are available to all UC Santa Cruz undergraduate and graduate students. Students can take part in ongoing center research and education efforts, design their own projects and internships in collaboration with the center’s affiliated faculty and staff, and apply for research funds through the center’s competitive grants program. Many undergraduate students participate in the center as part of the environmental studies major and as participants in the Apprenticeship in Ecological Horticulture (see below). The graduate program in environmental studies includes a focus on agroecology and sustainable food systems; graduate students have access to the center’s facilities and staff assistance for field-based work. Students have also pursued undergraduate and graduate studies with the center by working through the Departments of Biology, Education, Anthropology, and Sociology.
In addition, about 35 people complete a six-month apprenticeship organized and taught by center staff each year, earning a Certificate in Ecological Horticulture through UCSC Extension. Through workshops, lectures, and hands-on instruction, apprentices master basic organic farming and gardening techniques.
The center gives high priority to forging links with, and serving as a resource for, researchers on and off campus, government agencies at many levels, nongovernmental organizations, producers, consumers, students, gardeners, and other individuals interested in multiple aspects of sustainable agriculture and food systems. Center staff coordinate major agricultural conferences, teach short courses, make presentations at agricultural and ecological events, and publish a newsletter twice yearly. In addition, the center hosts a growing number of international researchers interested in working with faculty and staff.
The center manages two facilities: the 25-acre Farm on a lower meadow of campus and the four-acre Alan Chadwick Garden on the upper part of campus. As the center’s primary on-campus research facility, the Farm includes research plots, raised-bed gardens, row crops, and orchards, as well as staff offices, a laboratory, greenhouses, and a visitors center. The Garden showcases small-scale intensive horticulture and hosts a diverse collection of ornamentals, food crops, and native California plants.
The Farm & Garden are open to the public daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. In conjunction with the Friends of the UCSC Farm & Garden, the center sponsors a variety of public education events for the community. For further information, contact the center at (831) 459-3240; for directions to the Farm & Garden, call (831) 459-4140. Web: zzyx.ucsc.edu/casfs/.
Center for Biomolecular Science and Engineering
The Center for Biomolecular Science and Engineering (CBSE) is an umbrella organization for interdisciplinary research and academic programs spanning the School of Engineering and the Division of Physical and Biological Sciences. The mission of CBSE is to foster research and education intended to meet the challenges of the post-genomic era resulting from completion of the Human Genome Project and sequencing of model organisms. The revolutionary technologies that have recently been developed to gather and analyze genomic information will help to forge a new understanding of biology, with widespread applications to medicine, agriculture, and ecology. These technologies have been made possible by developments in structural biology, engineering, and computer science, and their further advancement requires a new blend of computational analysis, micromechanical robo-tics, microfluidics, bioelectronic chips, imaging, and new laboratory methods for functional genomics. UCSC’s location, in proximity to Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area biotech community, our actively collaborating groups in molecular biology, biochemistry, and computational biology, and the support for micro- and nanoscale engineering methods from programs in the School of Engineering make this a natural research and academic focus for this campus.
Our goals are to (1) promote interdisciplinary research in areas that support the study of genomic information and structural biology, (2) develop courses, curricula, and internships leading to degrees in the area of biomolecular engineering, (3) support a core of instrumental and computational facilities, and (4) cultivate and maintain mutually beneficial industrial collaborations.
The center provides a forum for bringing individual faculty together to jointly tackle some of the emerging complex research challenges in genomics and structural biology. Through funding for the center and affiliated faculty from federal, state, and private agencies, we provide interdisciplinary training for undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers. UCSC currently offers a B.S. degree in bioinformatics and has initiated plans for M.S. and Ph.D. degree programs in bioinformatics. These educational programs are designed to meet the critical need for trained professionals in industry and academia in this area and will include internship opportunities and seminars to facilitate close interaction with local industry. More information on the center can be found on the web site: www.cbse.ucsc.edu.
The Center for Cultural Studies builds on UCSC’s strong history of innovative scholarship in the humanities, and particularly on its unusual strength in interdisciplinary and global cultural studies. The center sponsors conferences, lectures, film series, seminars, scholarly visits, workshops, and discussion groups. It also organizes and supports research clusters of faculty and graduate students working on a variety of topics, including cultural theory, critical regional studies (Asia-Pacific-America, Inter-Americas, and Hawai’i have been recent foci), contemporary cultural production, minority discourse, and queer studies. The center is based in the Humanities Division, under the rubric of the Institute for Humanities Research, but it sponsors collaborative work involving faculty and graduate students from the social sciences, the physical and biological sciences, and the arts. From 2003 to 2006, the center will fund several visiting scholars each year in conjunction with an ongoing project on “Other Globalizations,” funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. It also hosts an unfunded residency program for U.S. and international scholars in cultural studies. The center publishes a quarterly newsletter listing events and activities and maintains a web site with programs, schedules, and other material at humanities.ucsc.edu/CultStudies/. The center can be reached at (831) 459-4899, by e-mail at cult@ucsc.edu, or by mail at Oakes College Academic Services.
Center for Global, International and Regional Studies
The Center for Global, International and Regional Studies (CGIRS) was established within the Division of Social Sciences in 1996, bringing under one umbrella the Center for the Study of Global Transformations, the Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC)–UCSC Campus Program, the UC Pacific Rim Research Program, the Global Information Internship Program, the Global Studies Honors Program initiative, and related research, teaching, conferences, workshops, and public-education activities. CGIRS is organized around the idea that human activities, although anchored in specific regions and nation-states, are increasingly integrated by social, economic, and cultural networks to states, regions, and communities in other parts of the world. Accordingly, globalization processes and responses to them are a major research focus of CGIRS. The center also sponsors collaborative research groups focusing on five main areas. These research areas are global economics; civil society and social movements; global environment and development; globalization, states, and regulation; and regions and networks. CGIRS is funded by the Division of Social Sciences, the UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, multicampus research units, private donors, and foundation support. For further information, e-mail global@ucsc.edu or visit the web site: www2.ucsc.edu/cgirs.
Center for Informal Learning and Schools
The Center for Informal Learning and Schools (CILS) was created in 2002 through a Center for Learning and Teaching (CLT) grant from the National Science Foundation. The primary intent of this center is to strengthen K–12 science education through broadening the understanding of science learning in both formal and informal environments. CILS is a collaboration among UC Santa Cruz, the Exploratorium in San Francisco, and King’s College London, England. All three institutions offer CILS graduate programs.
CILS programs at UC Santa Cruz offer doctoral and postdoctoral research support to study the nature of informal learning in diverse settings and in diverse communities traditionally underserved by schools. UC Santa Cruz CILS programs include the following:
Doctoral Fellowships
CILS doctoral students at UCSC receive support to pursue a Ph.D. through either the Science and Mathematics Program in the Education Department or the Developmental Psychology program in the Psychology Department. CILS students complete the requirements in their department, as well as attend joint doctoral seminars.
Postdoctoral Fellowships
This two-year program is aimed at new Ph.D. recipients who want to develop their research in directions compatible with the goals of CILS. Postdoctoral researchers collaborate with one or more faculty members in developmental psychology, or science and mathematics education, on research of mutual interest.
CILS Science Fellows
This program offers three quarters of support for students at UC Santa Cruz who are working on their doctorates in the fields of natural or social sciences and who want to deepen their understanding about informal science learning and connections among diverse learning environments. CILS Science Fellows participate in a core course, colloquia, and a practicum in informal science education and informal learning with other CILS Ph.D. students.
For further information on CILS at UCSC, e-mail sallyd@ucsc.edu. For information on all CILS programs at all three institutions, view the web site: www.exploratorium.edu/cils
Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society
The Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) is one of four California Institutes for Science and Innovation created in 2000. Financed by state, federal, and private funds, the centers concentrate on areas of science and innovation that are of special importance to California’s high-tech economy and to homeland security.
CITRIS is seeking new ways to help realize information technology’s potential for solving many of the complex problems facing society, including those in transportation, education, emergency preparedness, health care, and the environment. At their core, such issues depend on widespread, reliable, and secure information systems that adapt to the varied needs of users and continue to perform even if part of the system is down, disabled, or threatened.
With participation from engineers, scientists, and social scientists, the focus of the institute is to develop the technical foundations of such Societal-scale Information Systems (SIS) to meet many of California’s infrastructure needs. Initial work will provide distributed “smart classrooms” for enhanced education and training, “smart buildings” that adapt their environment to their inhabitants, an urban SIS for transportation management, disaster response, seismic planning, and environmental monitoring, and a medical alert network to monitor and treat patients.
CITRIS’s lead campus is UC Berkeley. UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis, and UC Merced are partners in the institute. Web: www.citris.berkeley.edu.
Information Technologies Institute
The Information Technologies Institute (ITI), formerly Institute for Networking, Information Systems & Technologies (iNIST), is a Focused Research Activity (FRA) founded in 2001 and housed at the Baskin School of Engineering. In addition, it plans to convert to an Organized Research Unit (ORU) in 2003. ITI’s objective is to provide an environment in which its members can attract large-scale projects that bridge technology research from concept to prototype and that solve critical problems in the social and commercial sectors nationally.
In ITI, advanced Internet applications provide the impetus and focus that bring together the components of research related to the rapidly expanding world of networks, distributed computing, "smart" sensors, and Internet appliances. As electronics and packaging developments lead to powerful low-cost sensors, resulting in a broad array of instruments, these become Internet devices, bringing a significant increase in the data captured, transmitted, stored, managed, and displayed.
ITI, via its research centers, focuses research in an interrelated set of areas in computer science, computer engineering, and electrical engineering as well as physics, chemistry and applied mathematics. Areas of emphasis include:
- Internet and information systems: architecture, performance, and applications
- Multimedia systems and applications in education, telecommuting, and distance learning
- Design and development of complex networked systems and software technologies
- Storage systems and databases
- Communications
- Optoelectronics (including nanotechnology devices)
- VLSI design, packaging, testing
- Sensors and Internet appliances
- Visualization and computer graphics
ITI manages the participation with other research partnerships of its faculty, including the activities of the Baskin School of Engineering in the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS), with UC Berkeley, UC Davis, and UC Merced; the High Dependability Computing Consortium (with NASA Ames, Carnegie Mellon, and other universities); the National Partnership for Advanced Computing Infrastructure (NPACI) and the San Diego Supercomputer Center; and local universities and organizations with mutual research interests, including the Naval Postgraduate School; San Jose State University; California State University, Monterey Bay; and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). Web: www.cse.ucsc.edu/research/centers/inist/.
Center for Justice, Tolerance, and Community
The Center for Justice, Tolerance, and Community (CJTC) was established in 2000. Housed in the Division of Social Sciences and funded by divisional monies, university initiative funds, private donors, and various foundations, CJTC is an interdisciplinary center tackling issues of social justice, diversity and tolerance, and the building of collaborative communities. The center includes research clusters on age and aging; poverty and inequality; the role of faith-based movements in social change; comparative genocides across time, space, and culture; sexuality and the pulic sphere; the relationship between science, technology, and social justice; youth, education, and inequality; and activist-academic collaboration on issues facing immigrants in northern California. Current research projects include studies of environmental justice, regional and community linkages for housing and employment, the changing labor market in Silicon Valley, transnational movements for social justice, and the barriers faced in the welfare-to-work transition for poor women and others. While the mix of work includes considerations of fundamental issues of discrimination, power, and domination, the center actively seeks to play a public role in providing research that can inform policy and programs to improve equity. To ensure a public presence, the center sponsors an annual lecture series as well as smaller events bringing together community leaders and academic researchers. The center draws researchers from all departments in the division as well as from the humanities and arts, and includes opportunities for postdoctoral and affiliated researchers. For more information, contact CJTC at cjtc@ucsc.edu or (831) 459-5743. Web: cjtc.ucsc.edu.
Center for Molecular Biology of RNA
The center, established in 1992, brings together an interdisciplinary group of researchers whose common interest is to understand the molecular basis of action of RNA in biological systems. An important goal is to promote interaction between structural biologists on the one hand and molecular geneticists and biochemists on the other; thus, members of the center comprise faculty from biology, chemistry and biochemistry, and computer science. Major funding for the center has come from grants from the Lucille P. Markey Charitable Trust and the W. M. Keck Foundation, as well as individual research grants from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and other sources available to members of the center.
Motivation for the creation of the center has come from many exciting developments in the molecular biology of RNA in recent years. It is now known that RNA can have enzymatic activity and has the ability to catalyze specific biochemical reactions. Accordingly, many molecular biologists now believe that RNA may have preceded both protein and DNA in the early molecular evolution of life. It is becoming apparent that RNA, like protein, can fold into complex and unusual three-dimensional structures and that this is crucial for its ability to carry out enzymatic functions. A better grasp of the fundamental properties of RNA will benefit a wide range of medical research projects, and understanding RNA viruses—such as HIV—has become a national priority.
Research laboratories for the center are located in Sinsheimer Laboratories, a state-of-the-art research facility. High-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction facilities have been established to determine three-dimensional structures of RNA molecules and study the mechanisms of RNA-protein recognition.
Among the research areas currently under investigation by members of the center are RNA processing, translation, mRNA stability and structure, ribonucleoprotein assembly, RNA-protein recognition, three-dimensional structures of RNA and RNA-protein complexes (including the ribosome), the mechanism of action of functional RNAs, in vitro evolution of novel catalytic RNAs, and RNA genomics. Members of the center participate in the research training of doctoral students in the graduate program offered by the Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology Department as well as graduate programs offered by the Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Computer Science, and Computer Engineering. The center sponsors research seminars and provides a forum for discussion of topics in RNA. Web: rna.ucsc.edu/rnacenter/.
Center for Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence
The Center for Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence (CREDE) is a federally funded research and development program focused on improving the education of students at risk of academic failure due to language or cultural barriers, race, geographic location, or poverty. CREDE is based at UCSC, with an affiliate center at the University of Houston.
From 1996 to 2001, CREDE funded 31 research projects around the country. Researchers in these projects gathered data and tested curriculum models in wide-ranging settings and with diverse student populations—from classrooms with predominantly Zuni-speaking students in New Mexico, to inner-city schools in Florida, to California elementary schools with large populations of native Spanish-speaking students.
During 2001–03, seven synthesis teams are extracting the key findings and practices from the field. The teams will produce a range of publications and other tools to help teachers implement best practices in the classroom and to set future research agendas. CREDE is also partnered with two schools (Starlight Elementary School in Watsonville, Calif., and Waianae High School in Waianae, Hawaii) to document and develop a scalable model of school reform.
CREDE offers a wide range of multimedia products (interactive CD-ROMs, videos, and national directories of programs focused on teacher preparation, two-way bilingual immersion, and secondary newcomers), print publications, and a useful web site for practitioners, researchers, policy makers, and parents. For more on CREDE, visit www.crede.ucsc.edu.
Chicano/Latino Research Center
The Chicano/Latino Research Center (CLRC) was founded in 1992 and is located at Merrill College’s Casa Latina. CLRC faculty associates and affiliates conduct research within a cross-border perspective that links Latina/o studies to the rest of the Americas. The interdisciplinary approach spans empirical social scientific research and policy studies with cultural studies and the humanities. Research clusters focus on “Borders, Nations, Regions,” “Chicana/Latina Feminisms,” “Feminist Translation in the Latin/a Americas,” “Inter-Ethnicity,” “Latinos in California,” “Hemispheric Dialogues: Rethinking Area and Ethnic Studies,” “Mexico in Transition,” “Transnational Imaginaries,” and “Transnational Popular Cultures and Brazil.” The CLRC funds collaborative faculty, policy-related, and graduate research initiatives. The center supports research clusters; sponsors conferences, a colloquium series, and a visiting scholar program; and publishes an annual newsletter and a working-paper series. For further information, e-mail clrc@ucsc.edu or visit the web page: lals.ucsc.edu/clrc.
Dickens Project
Through a regular program of conferences, courses, and scholarly gatherings, the Dickens Project coordinates research and instruction in the work, times, influence, and achievement of Charles Dickens. Twice a year faculty members and graduate students from the nine general campuses of the University of California, joined by colleagues from other universities, present their research findings to conference participants, interested undergraduate and graduate students, and members of the general public. They meet on the Santa Cruz campus each summer and at Davis or Riverside each winter. The scheduled topic for summer 2003 is The Old Curiosity Shop. This conference is available as a regular Summer Session undergraduate course. The project also publishes its own newsletter, publishes curricular materials, cosponsors international conferences, and sponsors a web site, humwww.ucsc.edu/dickens/. Founded in 1981, the Dickens Project is a multicampus research group of the University of California.
Educational Partnership Center
The UC Santa Cruz Educational Partnership Center (EPC) is the first point of contact for schools, community colleges, and members of the educational community interested in forging new relationships or partnerships with UCSC. It also offers support to UC Santa Cruz faculty and staff interested in collaborating with local schools. The EPC coordinates a variety of outreach programs to elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as community colleges in five counties: Monterey, San Benito, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and San Mateo. The overall goal of the EPC is to increase UC eligibility, competitive eligibility, and college-going rates among low-income and traditionally non-college-going students.
The EPC central support team includes a financial service center, integrated planning support, grant writing, tutor coordination, summer residential program coordination, curriculum advising, communications support, and a research and evaluation team. Housed with the central support team are the integrated and affiliated programs listed below.
The EPC is located at 3004 Mission Street, Suite 220, in Santa Cruz. Call (831) 460-3000 or visit the web: epc.ucsc.edu.
EPC Integrated Programs
The Monterey Bay Educational Consortium (MBEC)—an alliance among public educational institutions in the Monterey Bay Area—is dedicated to increasing the levels of educational attainment of all students in the region.
The Partnership Schools program works at an intensive level with a number of local high schools and their feeder school systems.
Designed to work in tandem with Partnership Schools, SAAGE (Students Achieving A–G Expectations) identifies high school sophomores who lack one or more courses needed to complete the A–G sequence required for university admission, and coordinates efforts to provide them with academic counseling and advisement.
Kids Around the University provides copies of a book about college written by Aromas, California students, tours of the UCSC campus, and a curriculum guide for all fourth- grade teachers in the region to begin to learn about the importance of higher education and the pathways to attaining a college education.
The Early Academic Outreach Program (EAOP) provides direct assistance to students in grades six through 12 in local schools with high percentages of low-income and traditionally non-college-going families.
The Transfer Partnerships Program is an initiative designed to increase the number of students transferring from community colleges to the UC system.
GEAR UP offers a full range of student- and school-centered activities for Watsonville High School and its feeder middle schools, with a focus on college-preparatory mathematics.
The EPC coordinates three residential programs on the UCSC campus providing high school students with enriched learning experiences. The Upward Bound Math and Science Program assists students from disadvantaged backgrounds to succeed in higher education through its summer program and year-round counseling services. The California State Summer School in Mathematics and Science (COSMOS) selects academically talented high school students from around the state. The Magical School Bus Ride is a two-week program for students from Compton Unified School District who visit four UC campuses, including UC Santa Cruz.
EPC Affiliated Programs
Also housed at EPC are program affiliates: the UC College Preparatory (UCCP) Initiative, which provides students opportunities to take advanced placement courses online in schools that might not normally be able to offer such courses; UC Gateways, an online database to help California K–12 students track their progress toward UC admission; the PEERS study research project, a research study at Aptos High School on the role of peers in academic success; MESA (Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement), a program to increase the number of minority students entering the fields of math, engineering, and science; ACCESS (Baccalaureate Bridge to the Biomedical Sciences), which brings community college students to work as interns with UCSC researchers; and the UCSC/Monterey Bay California Reading and Literature Project (CRLP).
Focused Research Activity in Performance and Visual Studies
The Focused Research Activity in Performance and Visual Studies develops multidisciplinary and integrated approaches to the arts. Faculty and graduate students come from three Divisions: Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.
The FRA explores how working across the disciplinary boundaries of theater, dance, music, art history, literary theory, anthropology, and history can uncover new methodological approaches to the study of performance and visual culture. Performance and visual culture emphasize both the historical and social situation of ITS approaches. In addition, the impact of visual culture on performance (cultural, artistic, and ritual) since the 1960s leads to the more contemporary studies undertaken by the FRA. The intersections of aesthetics and anthropology, of literature and performance, of dance and ethnography, and of all of these with the visual dimension of representation have become ever more intensive areas of interdisciplinary research since the 1980s. The performativity of viewing also contributes to our field of study. We see recent work on the body and its movements; on the diverse cultures of musical notation; on the relationship of the physical and auditory to dramatic production as areas of innovative and forward-reaching scholarship. Today, performative and visual media interact and redefine our understanding of culture, causing critical approaches to be of paramount importance to the future of the arts. This work generates new theories of interpretation and meanings. The FRA sponsors a yearly speaker series and special events such as symposia and international conferences. For further information, e-mail mfranko@ucsc.edu or cmsoussl@ucsc.edu.
Focused Research Activity in Performance Practice and Context in the Arts
The Focused Research Activity in Performance Practice and Context in the Arts explores issues within and around performance. The research and creative work of this multidisciplinary group of scholar-performers integrates the presentation and study of performance itself with the intellectual, historical, and cultural context of the performance, utilizing the various perspectives of ethnomusicology, historical musicology, systematic musicology, and ethnology. The FRA focuses on recorded music performance as a modality of creative expression rather than on writing about the arts, although scholarly notes typically establish a context for performances. By long-standing FRA policy, our members thus engage in basic research in cultural performance practice as well as in audio or video recordings documenting arts performance not already accessible. Our creative work consists of (1) recordings interpreting musical scores through informed performance, and (2) documentary films interpreting oral tradition performance in cultural context. Our projects are published as reviewable professional multiauthor CD recordings and films.
Members collaborate with each other, visiting scholar-performers, and UCSC professorial faculty who are not yet ongoing members of the FRA. Typical projects also involve UCSC lecturers, students, staff, and alumni. Our team projects are often successful in securing external matching funds to support recording and publication costs. In the area of historical performance practice, the FRA has produced a series of recorded performances. A CD Virtual Mozart (2000), a project for Classical orchestra involving computer-generated Mozart-style “composition” by Experiments in Musical Intelligence, brought all four members of the FRA into productive collaboration with professional early-music specialists. A related project with Baroque orchestra, Virtual Bach, is forthcoming; it premieres and records a new “Brandenburg Concerto,” a new harpsichord concerto, and a suite for solo violoncello. In the area of 20th-century performance practice, FRA members have released CDs of the works of pioneering American composer Lou Harrison, celebrated French composer Germaine Tailleferre, and American dance works by the avant-gardist Henry Cowell. A CD of music by Darius Milhaud was recorded and edited in 2003. The FRA cluster in Indonesian cultural documentation focuses on documentation of traditional music as embedded in the context of calendrical Hindu-Buddhist ritual. The first film of a projected trilogy is Kawitan (2002), distributed by the Center for Media and Independent Learning, UC Berkeley Extension.
Focused Research Activity in Shakespeare: Text, Interpretation, Performance
The Focused Research Activity in Shakespeare: Text, Interpretation, Performance brings together faculty in literature and theater arts who are engaged in research and creative activities relating to Shakespeare and other premodern drama. Members explore methodologies for establishing the texts of plays, problems in interpreting them, original performance contexts, and issues and techniques involved in presenting older drama to modern audiences. The members’ research and creative activities focus especially on the productions of Shakespeare Santa Cruz. The group sponsors colloquia (including the annual Weekend with Shakespeare, held during the Shakespeare Santa Cruz Festival), lectures by visiting scholars, rehearsed play readings, and open rehearsals. The group is also responsible for the archival documentation of Shakespeare Santa Cruz productions as a scholarly and pedagogical resource. For further information, call the Shakespeare Santa Cruz company manager, (831) 459-5810.
Institute for Advanced Feminist Research
The focus of the UCSC Institute for Advanced Feminist Research (IAFR) is Feminism and the Public Sphere. IAFR sponsors projects that are historical, international, and interdisciplinary in their conception, and collaborative and experimental in their practice. Employing scholarly methodologies and activist strategies, participants address a range of intellectual and academic problems. They seek, above all, to engage current political debates, including those from which feminist critiques have been largely absent.
Centrally, the institute facilitates sustained conversations among individuals who do not ordinarily have the opportunity to brainstorm and act in concert: scholars, artists, activists, journalists, community people and public intellectuals; people of different generations from diverse geographical areas; those who define themselves as feminists and those who do not. These conversations create new conceptual spaces, theoretical formulations and strategic interventions: written work of varying length—popular as well as academic, films and art shows, conferences and symposia, working groups and public policy collectives.
Chief among the Institute’s projects is the support of residential groups, which focus on specific problems in seminars and workshops. To facilitate their activities, faculty are given released time, graduate students receive fellowships, and undergraduates do internships—all on a rotating basis. Visiting scholars, journalists, activists, and artists are supported for varying periods of time. Each research group sponsors activities for the larger community and maintains connections—nationally and internationally—with other similar entities. Each group chooses the forms of its own productions and the kinds of social and political interventions it wishes to make. In addition, the institute sponsors other activities, which are determined by its Executive Committee.
The focus of academic year 2003–04 will be Feminisms and Global War. For information, contact the director at (831) 459-4146, moglen@ucsc.edu, or staff at (831) 479-1776, nray@ucsc.edu. Web: iafr.ucsc.edu.
Institute for Humanities Research
The Institute for Humanities Research (IHR) was established in the fall of 1999 with funding from the Campus Provost/Executive Vice Chancellor’s Office and the Humanities Dean’s Office. The mission of the IHR is to enhance the environment for faculty and graduate student humanities research on the UCSC campus. Recognizing that humanities research is an important component of a first-rate research university and is crucial to excellent teaching and scholarship, the IHR provides time, space, and support for the maintenance of a lively, active research community. The IHR includes the Center for Cultural Studies and research units including: Jewish Studies, Mediterranean Studies, Mind and Meaning, Pre- and Early Modern Studies, and Modernist and Avant-Garde Studies, Wilderness Studies, and Black Music in a Global Context. It supports the Humanities Research Fellows Program, Faculty Research and Travel Grants, Graduate Dissertation Fellowships, Graduate Research and Travel Grants, and special events. In addition, the IHR sponsors the Dean’s Distinguished Lecturers and Humanities in the Schools, an outreach initiative to middle and high schools in the region. Further information is available on the web: humanities.ucsc.edu/ihr. The IHR may be contacted by e-mail at ihrstaff@ucsc.edu, by mail at IHR, Oakes College Academic Services, or by phone at (831) 459-4899.
Institute for Quantitative Biomedical Research
UCSC is one of three UC campuses sponsoring the Institute for Quantitative Biomedical Research (QB3), a new California Institute for Science and Innovation (CISI). A cooperative effort with UC San Francisco as the lead campus, UC Berkeley, and industry, QB3 focuses on biomedical research, integrating the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences to create powerful techniques for solving complex biological problems. The institute will build on strengths in the mathematical and computational sciences at UCSC, the biomedical engineering and physical sciences at UCB, and the medical sciences at UCSF, as well as strong biology programs on all three campuses.
QB3 focuses on four major challenges: developing new mathematical and computational techniques to analyze vast quantities of biological data; new imaging technologies combined with advanced mathematical and computer modeling to understand complex biological systems; new engineering technologies to analyze biological systems; and new physical and biological techniques to synthesize and modify components of living systems. QB3 is organized around four programs: Bioengineering and Biotechnology, Structural and Chemical Biology, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, and Experimental Genomics/ Proteomics/Biochemistry.
The Bioinformatics (BI) Program is based at UCSC. Its mission is twofold: (1) to interact closely with the other three programs of the institute to provide the theoretical and computational expertise needed to translate experimental results into predictive models and comprehensive profiles of biological regulation at multiple levels; and (2) to drive critical research projects in the areas of genomics, proteomics, complex systems, and medical discovery informatics. The BI Program will thus provide the mathematical and computational matrix that will unify the four programs of the institute.
QB3 is administered at UCSC through the Center for Biomolecular Science and Engineering and involves faculty from the Departments of Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Applied Mathematics and Statistics, Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, and Chemistry and Biochemistry. More information on CISI and QB3 can be found at www.qb3.org and www.ucsc.edu/news_events/press_releases/archive/00-01/12-00/institute.html.
Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics
UC’s Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP), a multicampus research unit, includes a branch at UCSC. The IGPP supports a wide range of basic research on the origin, structure, and evolution of the Earth, the solar system, and the universe. One of the goals of this research is to predict future changes in global systems that may affect human life.
The UCSC branch of the institute addresses fundamental questions relating to Earth’s environment, global change, and planetary sciences. The UCSC branch includes three interdisciplinary research centers: the Center for Origin, Dynamics, and Evolution of Planets (CODEP), the Center for Dynamics and Evolution of the Land-Sea Interface (CDELSI), and the Center for the Study of Imaging and Dynamics of the Earth (CSIDE). These interdisciplinary centers serve to create bridges between different departments and heighten the focus on collaborative research efforts. A Massive Computer Simulation Facility (MCSF) has been established with a large parallel supercomputer for conducting geophysical and astrophysical modeling. An expansion is planned that will add a Center for Remote Sensing of the Environment.
CDELSI brings together faculty from six Departments: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Earth Sciences, Ocean Sciences, Environmental Toxicology, Anthropology, and Environmental Studies. Researchers in these departments are at the forefront of efforts to understand the complex processes and interactions occurring at the continental margin. A primary concern is the impact of global and regional climate change on key processes in the coastal environment, such as atmospheric circulation, ocean temperature and currents, nutrient cycling, and the geological processes that shape the continental margin.
CODEP brings together faculty from the Departments of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Applied Mathematics and Statistics, Earth Sciences, and Physics. The interests of CODEP researchers include Earth’s internal dynamics, the formation of planets, how planetary systems evolve, and the discovery of new planets outside the solar system. This is a joint effort to understand as much as possible about planets in general, both in our own solar system and around other stars. The center encourages Earth scientists and astronomers to bring their different perspectives to bear on planetary issues.
CSIDE coordinates research in seismology, geodynamics, geomagnetism, hydrology, geomorphology, active tectonics, and mineral physics addressing structure and dynamics of the Earths’s interior. Thermal, chemical, and dynamic processes are studied in six affiliated research laboratories. CSIDE hosts a major industrial consortium focused on development of new seismic-imaging technologies.
The IGPP was established in 1946 at UCLA. Other branches are located at UC San Diego, UC Riverside, UC Irvine, UC Berkeley, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. A key objective of the IGPP is to encourage and support cooperative projects that bring together researchers from different disciplines and institutional laboratories. The UCSC branch was established in 1999. Web: igpp.ucsc.edu/.
Institute of Marine Sciences
With the dynamic combination of university marine scientists, state-of-the art facilities and analytical equipment, collaborative research, and an overriding commitment to quality, UC Santa Cruz is on the forefront of marine sciences research and education. Set in the biologically rich environment of Monterey Bay and the nation’s largest national marine sanctuary, the campus provides students and scientists who seek to study the ocean and its life a unique opportunity to pursue their dreams.
Established in 1972, the Institute of Marine Sciences (IMS) is composed of 46 affiliated faculty, 108 researchers and research associates, and 32 support staff. Marine scientists from the Departments of Ocean Sciences, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Earth Sciences, Environmental Toxicology, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Environmental Studies, and Physics conduct their research within the shared focus of the institute. The institute provides facilities and administrative and technical support for faculty, researchers, and graduate and undergraduate students involved in marine sciences. Faculty and researchers work independently and collaboratively within seven clusters:
- Coastal marine biology
- Marine vertebrate biology
- Ocean processes/oceanography
- Paleoceanography and climate change
- Marine and coastal geology/geophysics
- Environmental toxicology
- Fisheries and fisheries management
An undergraduate major leading to a B.S. in marine biology is described under Biological Sciences; a two-year graduate program leading to an M.S. in marine sciences is described under Ocean Sciences. Doctoral students pursue marine research through the Ph.D. programs in ecology and evolutionary biology, Earth sciences, environmental toxicology, or ocean sciences.
Facilities
The institute’s on-campus complex includes the IMS administrative office; research laboratories; offices for visiting scientists; state-of-the-art analytical labs for marine chemistry, biology, and geology, including a coastal imaging/Geographic Information Systems laboratory; a computer laboratory; culture rooms for invertebrates and algae; portable seagoing analytical labs; and support facilities for cruise staging.
The Joseph M. Long Marine Laboratory, an onshore site three miles from campus on the shoreline of the nation’s largest national marine sanctuary, has running seawater capabilities that increase opportunities for research and instruction. Facilities include research laboratory buildings; outdoor tanks for research involving marine mammals (dolphins, seals, sea lions, and otters), seabirds, and fish; and teaching laboratories. Specialized laboratories and facilities for marine physiology, ecology, and marine mammal bioacoustics studies are available. Adjacent to the lab are 55 acres of land recently purchased by UCSC for marine-related research and education facilities, a protected lagoon, a sandy beach, and rocky intertidal platforms for field research. Because Long Marine Lab is close to the campus, work there is easily incorporated into daily campus activities. A campus–LML shuttle operates regularly.
Each year, 50,000 people—including 10,000 schoolchildren—tour Long Marine Lab. Trained volunteer docents welcome visitors, guide groups through the laboratory, and provide information on research in progress. The Seymour Marine Discovery Center at Long Marine Laboratory houses an aquarium, exhibits that interpret the research under way within the institute, and an auditorium. All are open to the public—including K–12 classes—for a modest fee. In addition, a Center for Ocean Health at Long Marine Lab, completed in 2001, houses offices and labs for marine sciences faculty and their research programs, as well as two nonprofits: the Nature Conservancy’s Coastal Waters Program and the Island Conservation and Ecology Group.
IMS maintains a 43-foot research vessel, which is equipped for nearshore coastal research, several small craft for inshore work, and a scientific diving program. In addition, IMS-associated faculty, researchers, and students work around the world aboard larger oceanographic vessels.
IMS has scientific control over use of Año Nuevo Island, the largest elephant seal rookery on the Pacific coast. Long-term research on Año Nuevo is made possible by a use agreement with the California Department of Parks and Recreation.
IMS maintains active cooperative research agreements with both the Biological Resources Division and the Coastal and Marine Group of the U.S. Geological Survey and houses at or near Long Marine Labroatory 30 agency research scientists and support staff, who interact and collaborate with faculty and students. A plan is under way to develop a larger USGS facility, the Pacific Science Center, at the Long Marine Lab site.
The institute maintains a cooperative agreement with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). In 2000, this agency completed a fisheries laboratory at Long Marine Lab, which houses 55 scientists and staff working on salmon, bottom fish, and fishery-management issues. NMFS scientists study causes of variability in abundance and health of fish populations and the economics of exploiting and protecting natural resources. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has also located an Institute for Marine Protected Area Science within this federal building. The California Department of Fish and Game operates a Marine Wildlife Veterinary Care and Research Center at Long Marine Lab, which provides interior lab space and outdoor pool space for research on sea otters and the effects of oil and other contaminants on marine mammals and seabirds.
Additional collaboration also takes place with scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, Hopkins Marine Station, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Naval Postgraduate School, and the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
IMS web sites: ims.ucsc.edu and www2.ucsc.edu/seymourcenter.
Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group
The Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group (SCPBRG) was formed in 1975 to restore an endangered peregrine falcon population in California. SCPBRG researchers advise students on their senior theses, direct interns in individual studies, and hire biologists in entry-level field-biologist positions.
SCPBRG has become a resource to agency biologists, industry, and university researchers who require expertise with problem solving and management of avian species, especially raptors. Having accomplished most of its goals with peregrine falcon management, the group now applies its expertise to a wider range of species. Current studies involve international bald eagle satellite telemetry studies, helping restore the delicate ecology of California’s Channel Islands, research to mitigate impacts to endangered birds by raptors, and research on solutions for avian electrocutions and wire strikes along California’s power transmissions network. SCPBRG is also expanding its activities to increase educational outreach through school assemblies and training for professionals. A new Seabird/Raptor Facility focuses research and education efforts on posttreatment and postrelease monitoring and survival of oiled seabirds, as well as on research and monitoring of raptors. SCPBRG is located at the Long Marine Laboratory. For more information, review the web site at www2.ucsc.edu/~scpbrg.
Scientific Diving and Boating Safety
The university’s Diving Safety Program (DSP) is housed within the Institute of Marine Sciences, with offices at Long Marine Lab. Scuba diving and small boats are tools used in science classes and by UCSC faculty, staff, and student researchers in Monterey Bay and at study sites worldwide. In order to ensure safe scuba diving and scientific boating practices, DSP provides training and oversight for all scuba diving (scientific and recreational) and scientific boating activities conducted under UCSC auspices. The diving safety officer teaches Biology 75, Scientific Diving Certification, which is a prerequisite for all UCSC courses and research using scuba diving as a tool. DSP maintains a fleet of boats and diving equipment for researchers to use. DSP assists faculty, staff, and student researchers in complying with federal OSHA standards for scientific scuba diving. Anyone who needs to use scuba diving or small boats for scientific purposes should contact the DSP Office at srclabue@ucsc.edu. The web address is www2.ucsc.edu/sci-diving.
Recreational diving opportunities offered by the Office of Physical Education, Recreation, and Sports (OPERS) include numerous scuba courses and the Scuba Club. The web address is www.ucsc.edu/opers/scuba/.
Linguistics Research Center
The Linguistics Research Center supports and facilitates research on the phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics of languages, particularly those that differ significantly from English in structure. It publishes a working-paper series, sponsors research colloquia, and hosts longer visits to the campus by international scholars. The work of previous visitors has focused on various languages and more general topics (e.g., languages of South America and Australia, Japanese, Hungarian, Irish, Hebrew syntax, phonological theory). Founded in 1981, the center is housed in Stevenson College and fully integrated into the Department of Linguistics. Current research projects include the clause structure and subjecthood, the syntax and semantics of indefinites, the phonological structure of the lexicon, morphosyntactic markedness and typology in optimality theory, the phonetic bases of phonology, and morphological parsing. For further information, call (831) 459-2386, e-mail lrc@ling.ucsc.edu; or see the web: ling.ucsc.edu.
Monterey Bay Education, Science, and Technology Center at Fort Ord
UCSC has played a leading role in the development of a multi-institutional center for science, technology, education, and policy—called the Monterey Bay Education, Science, and Technology (MBEST) Center—as a cornerstone of the Fort Ord defense conversion redevelopment plan. In 1994, about 1,100 acres at the closed Fort Ord Military Reservation were conveyed to the University of California. Of that land, 437 acres are planned for development into the research and technology center, and 605 acres of adjacent natural habitat are now part of the UC Natural Reserve System.
The mission of the MBEST Center is to promote collaborative interaction among private businesses, government research agencies, public and private education and research institutions, and policy makers in strategic alliances to address the environmental opportunities and challenges of the new millennium. MBEST Center activities will focus initially on environmental science and technology, biotechnology and bioresources, information science and technology, and multimedia. And, by leveraging the strengths of over 20 public and private research and training assets of the Monterey Bay Research Crescent, the UC MBEST Center is anticipated to be a key stimulus for sustainable economic development and job generation.
The first base reuse activity began in January 1995 at the MBEST Center when UCSC Extension started offering technical training classes there in environmental remediation. Since then, several tenants have occupied existing facilities at MBEST, including an office of the U.S. Geological Survey, an organic farming operation, and a recycling plant. In partnership with the Golden Capital Network and the Marina Small Business Incubator, MBEST has launched a micro enterprise training initiative, the Monterey Bay V3 Training Program. The V3 program provides entrepreneurs with business mentor expertise and connections to capital. Recently, investments in roadway and utilities infrastructure were completed, making 55 acres of real estate available for development. In addition, the UC MBEST Center Headquarters and a high-technology business incubator were completed in 2001.
Information about the center is available from the UC MBEST Center Office, 3180 Imjin Road, Marina, CA 93933, (831) 582-1020; via e-mail info@ucmbest.org; web www.ucmbest.org.
Natural Reserve System
The purpose of the Natural Reserve System (NRS) is to establish and maintain for teaching and research a system of natural areas that encompasses diverse and undisturbed examples of California’s terrain, both aquatic and terrestrial. The reserves are open to all qualified individuals and institutions for scholarly work concerned with the natural environment. Such work usually deals with ecological topics or experimental studies in a natural setting.
The University of California administers 34 natural reserves throughout the state. Santa Cruz has responsibility for four—the Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve, Fort Ord, Año Nuevo Island, and Younger Lagoon—in addition to the campus’s own reserve. Information about the system’s holdings and management is available from the director, NRS, University of California, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, CA 94612-3560, (510) 987-0150. Web: nrs.ucop.edu. You may also contact the UCSC natural reserve director, c/o Environmental Studies Department, 467 Natural Sciences 2 Building, (831) 459-4971, fusari@ucsc.edu. Web: ucreserve.ucsc.edu/.
Campus Natural Reserve
About 400 acres of campus wildlands were designated by the Regents in the 1988 Long-Range Development Plan as a Campus Natural Reserve. This reserve contains redwood forest, springs, a stream, vernal pools, secondary madrone/ Douglas fir forest, chaparral, and many soil types and geological formations and structures. Supported by a modest field-studies center, the reserve is used for research and teaching and is operated by the UCSC natural reserve director, c/o Environmental Studies Department, 467 Natural Sciences 2 Building, (831) 459-4971, fusari@ucsc.edu. Web: ucreserve.ucsc.edu/.
Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve
This 4,000-acre NRS reserve is located in the Santa Lucia Mountains on the Big Sur coast, about two hours by car from the campus. The reserve includes the lower portions of an undisturbed watershed containing numerous terrestrial and aquatic habitats and several geological formations and associated fault systems. The watershed is protected by the Ventana Wilderness of the Los Padres National Forest. The reserve’s four miles of rocky coastline, located within the California Sea Otter Refuge area and the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, is now a California Department of Fish and Game Research Area and provides opportunities for marine research. There are campsites, a modest field-laboratory facility, a cabin for long-term researchers, a trailer that allows workers to locate anywhere on the road system, and a small storage facility. The Big Creek Reserve is operated by the UCSC natural reserve director. Access is controlled, and applications for use should be made to the resident reserve manager, Big Creek Reserve, Big Sur, CA 93920, (831) 667-2543, jsmiley@ucsc.edu. Web: www.redshift.com/~bigcreek/.
Fort Ord Natural Reserve
This 600-acre NRS reserve was added to the system in 1996. It contains Monterey Bay maritime chaparral, an endemic plant community, and coast live oak woodland, grassland, and coastal scrub, including nine species of plants and animals that are listed as endangered, threatened, or of special status. The reserve was part of the former Fort Ord army base and its habitats are relatively intact. The reserve specializes in studies of rare species management and habitat restoration. It is a 45-minute drive from campus. For information, contact the UCSC natural reserve director, c/o Environmental Studies Department, 467 Natural Sciences 2 Building, (831) 459-4971, fusari@ucsc.edu. Web: ucreserve.ucsc.edu/.
Younger Lagoon Reserve
A 26-acre coastal lagoon and beach next to UCSC’s Long Marine Laboratory is part of the NRS. Its waters are a haven for many species of migratory birds, and many small mammals, birds, reptiles, and invertebrates live in its marsh and bank vegetation. Younger Lagoon is managed by the UCSC natural reserve director, c/o Environmental Studies Department, 467 Natural Sciences 2 Building, (831) 459-4971, fusari@ucsc.edu. Web: ucreserve.ucsc.edu/.
This 25-acre island, part of the 4,000-acre Año Nuevo State Reserve 20 miles north of Santa Cruz, is a university research reserve of the NRS. Its rich variety of resident and migratory wildlife and proximity to campus make this an ideal location for research. Northern elephant seals, California sea lions, northern sea lions, and harbor seals breed and haul out at different seasons. The reserve’s breeding colony of elephant seals has been the subject of a remarkable 30-year study by UCSC scientists. More than 300 species of land, shore, and sea birds reside in or migrate through the area, which also has a diversity of fish and intertidal organisms. Access to the island is restricted, and UCSC’s research use is managed by the UCSC Institute of Marine Sciences. An annual use agreement with California State Parks allows research and field work throughout Año Nuevo State Reserve. A small research facility is located on the island, and a day-use facility is available in the state reserve. For further information, call (831) 459-2883, e-mail pamorris@ucsc.edu, or visit the web: http://nrs.ucop.edu/Ano-Nuevo.htm.
New Teacher Center
The New Teacher Center (NTC) is a national resource dedicated to teacher development and the support of programs and practices that promote excellence and diversity in America’s teaching force. Recent research and conventional wisdom indicate that the quality of the classroom teacher is the most important ingredient for student learning. Currently, the NTC operates a number of initiatives in the areas of teacher preparation, teacher induction, teacher leadership, school administrator training and support, and research addressing these topics. The NTC receives support from a number of foundations and works in collaboration with county offices of education and school districts throughout the state and the nation. The center is located at 725 Front Street in downtown Santa Cruz, (831) 459-4323, e-mail ntc@ucsc.edu. Web: www.newteachercenter.org.
Ray Film and Study Collection
The Satyajit Ray Film and Study Collection (Ray FASC) is a focused research activity concentrating on the films and other artistic works of Satyajit Ray, one of the world’s greatest filmmakers. Ray FASC maintains, in addition to 35 mm films and videocassettes of Satyajit Ray’s films, a collection of the Ray papers: books, articles, letters, screenplays, sketchbooks, costume designs, music tapes/recordings, posters, stills, illustrations, and other examples of Ray’s multifaceted genius. Ray FASC has received the Lethbridge Collection of some 1,500 volumes/items of works on Ray and by Ray in some 10 world languages. The gift has come from Mr. and Mrs. Cuthbert Lethbridge of Melbourne, Australia. Ray FASC is a recent recipient of a major two-year grant from the Packard Humanities Institute. The grant will enable Ray FASC to prepare an inventory, catalog, and database of the materials in the archive. Ray FASC hosts an annual lecture in honor of the late Dr. Sidhartha Maitra, film screenings, seminars, and exhibitions. It helped organize several Ray retrospectives nationally and internationally in 2001–02; plans for more in 2003–04 are under way. Student internships and research projects in the archives are welcome. For further information, call (831) 459-4012, fax (831) 459-3125, e-mail rayfasc@scilibx.ucsc.edu, or check the web site: satyajitray.ucsc.edu/.
Santa Cruz Center for International Economics
The Santa Cruz Center for International Economics (SCCIE) was established as a UCSC research center in 2000, funded by campus and external sources. The objective of SCCIE is to broaden our understanding of international economic issues by sponsoring research, conferences, graduate and undergraduate studies, and the exchange of scholars. Areas of study include international finance, open-economy macroeconomics, international trade, and international political economy. We also support and participate in activities designed to bring greater public awareness and understanding to policy issues involving international economics. SCCIE sponsors public seminars, publication of working papers, and occasional public forums. To support undergraduate study and research in international economics, SCCIE sponsors 10 annual research awards to students wishing to work on a project involving international economics and/or global economic issues. Recent SCCIE events include workshops on the World Trade Organization, Asian Currency Crisis, Globalization and Labor Markets, and International Trade and the Environment. SCCIE cosponsors the West Coast Japan Economic Seminar with UC San Diego. For more information, call (831) 459-1553. E-mail sccie@ucsc.edu; web: sccie.ucsc.edu.
Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics
The Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics (SCIPP) was established on the Santa Cruz campus by the Regents in 1980 to coordinate research and instruction in elementary particle physics. Its staff members, as well as visiting scientists, are engaged in both theoretical and experimental projects that concern the fundamental interactions of matter. They are also involved in graduate and undergraduate instruction as regular faculty or adjunct professors, usually with the Department of Physics.
Experimental work such as the design, testing, and construction of large-scale particle detectors, as well as associated electronics, takes place in the development laboratories on campus. The experiments are ultimately performed at large facilities—notably the federally funded electron-positron storage rings and electron linear accelerator at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC), in Palo Alto, an hour’s drive from Santa Cruz. SCIPP experimentalists also use other national and international laboratories as well as participate in detectors based in space.
At present the institute’s principal experimental projects include the following:
- Data collection with the BaBar detector for studies of CP violation at SLAC
- Studies of ultrahigh-energy cosmic ray showers at facilities associated with Los Alamos National Laboratory
- Studies of deep inelastic electron scattering at DESY in Hamburg, Germany
- Work toward the ATLAS detector for studies at the LHC at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland
- Development of the GLAST detector for studies of high-energy photons in space
The detector development is largely concerned with miniaturization of detectors. Design and testing of custom-integrated circuitry is a major facet of this effort.
Both graduate and undergraduate students take part in these projects, which give them opportunities for thesis work, independent study, and part-time employment. Students have gained experience in the use of minicomputers and electronics design, as well as in actual experimentation and data analysis.
The institute’s theorists have broad interests in high-energy physics, astrophysics, and cosmology—subjects that have become increasingly interrelated in recent years. Topics of their recent work have included the following:
- Phenomenological properties of Higgs bosons and formulation of search strategies for their discovery
- Development and analysis of supersymmetric and other new theories of particle physics that can be tested at present and future accelerators
- Investigations of gauge theories of strong and electroweak interactions, topics in quantum field theory and string theory
- Physics of the early universe including the origin of matter-antimatter asymmetry
- Theories of dark matter and galaxy formation
The theory group collaborates with the SCIPP experimental group, the UCSC astrophysicists and astronomers associated with Lick and Keck Observatories, the large theoretical physics group at SLAC, and theorists at UC Berkeley, UC Davis, and the Institute for Theoretical Physics at UC Santa Barbara. The theory group supports the research and thesis work of graduate students and occasionally supervises undergraduate theses. Web: scipp.ucsc.edu.
Social Sciences Media Laboratory
The Social Sciences Media Laboratory offers media services and equipment to students, faculty, and staff in the Division of Social Sciences. The lab provides technical consultation and support, equipment training, video production and postproduction services, equipment loans, and darkroom facilities. The lab’s facilities are available for use by undergraduates and graduate students doing media projects for credit in a social science class, independent study, or senior thesis. The media lab regularly offers laboratories in video production, basic photography, and audio documentary. These labs train participants in the fundamentals of portable video production, still photography, and audio production. The lab may be contacted by phone at (831) 459-4010; e-mail mlab@zzyx.ucsc.edu. Web: zzyx.ucsc.edu/Mlab/.
STEPS Institute for Innovation in Environmental Research
Founded to integrate Science, Technology, Engineering, Policy, and Society, the STEPS Institute seeks practical solutions to critical environmental problems. The institute focuses on three major global environmental issues: climate change, genetic restructuring of ecosystems, and alteration of major water systems. These changes, brought about by human activities, are interconnected and are rapidly altering all of the Earth’s ecosystems.
The STEPS Institute addresses these problems by helping facilitate research projects through the commonly missed first step: bringing together policy makers, social scientists, engineers, and life-sciences researchers from UC Santa Cruz and other institutions. These interdisciplinary groups formulate major environmental questions and design research that will deliver usable answers. Objectives follow:
- To foster collaborations among environmental research groups throughout the university and help develop partnerships between UCSC researchers and others regionally, nationally, and internationally
- To provide a context where working groups addressing major environmental research and policy questions can develop coordinated long-term efforts
- To be the major mechanism for coordinating environmental research throughout the university, linking departments, centers, other institutes, and divisions and developing research facilities with tools that go beyond the equipment and resources available to individual researchers Current research being addressed:
- How do we confront scientifically and socially the rapidly changing biodiversity of all ecosystems that is being driven by fragmentation of landscapes and the introduction of nonnative species of plants, animals, and microbes?
- How is diffusion of environmental toxicants, such as heavy metals and toxic algal blooms, reshaping ecosystems?
- How do we translate the science and technology of climate modeling and data collection into effective planning tools for fisheries, agriculture, forestry, urban centers, and overall ecosystem management?
The STEPS Institute harnesses the expertise and resources of dozens of departments and research units at UC Santa Cruz, spanning the Division of Physical and Biological Sciences, the Division of Social Sciences, and the Jack Baskin School of Engineering. For more information contact: thompson@biology.ucsc.edu. Web: www.steps.ucsc.edu.
Training and Research Facility for Geographic Information Systems
Training and Research Facility for Geographic Information Systems (GIS) refers to a computerized information system that works with data referenced by spatial or geographic coordinates. GIS integrates procedures designed to support the capture, management, manipulation, analysis, modeling, and display of data for solving complex planning and management problems. GIS allows researchers to work with vast amounts of information—ranging from local field data to satellite imagery to the U.S. Census—which is presented as maps and tables of attributes or relations. During the last several decades, GIS has become well established in corporations, city and county planning departments, and resource management agencies, to map everything from trucking routes and zoning areas to acreage slated for logging.
The purpose of the facility is for environmental and policy research and training, including additional teaching and self-instruction. Beyond serving the training and research needs of the campus, the facility serves as a regional resource through data and technology exchanges (e.g., with NASA, the California Coastal Commission, U.S.G.S.). GIS brings technology to bear on critical science and policy issues and provides scientists and policy makers with a new way to analyze, simulate, and visualize alternatives.
Housed on the fourth floor of the Interdisciplinary Sciences Building, the laboratory consists of networked workstations and numerous peripherals. It is administered by the Environmental Studies Department, Division of Social Sciences, which teaches Environmental Studies 115A. Among the donors who have helped establish the lab are ESRI (ARC/INFO software), Sun Microsystems, ERDAS (imaging software), and the Instructional Improvement Grant Program. Interested students may contact the laboratory manager at (831) 459-2890 (fulfrost@ucsc.edu). Web: gis.ucsc.edu/.
University of California Observatories/Lick Observatory
Lick Observatory was established on Mt. Hamilton in the 1880s as a result of the gift of James Lick, a Pennsylvania piano maker who came to San Francisco in 1848 and amassed a fortune through investment in California real estate. The observatory has been part of the University of California since 1888, when the Lick Trustees conveyed the just completed original installation to the Regents.
As resident members of the Santa Cruz faculty, the UCO/Lick staff are members of UCSC’s Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, which offers the graduate program in astronomy and astrophysics and an undergraduate minor. A B.S. degree in astrophysics is offered through the Physics Department. The astronomy library and laboratories are located on campus, as are optical, electronics, engineering, programming, and detector and instrument-development groups. There are resources for measurement, analysis, and computation of data on campus as well.
The telescopes and accompanying facilities on the 3,762-acre reservation on Mt. Hamilton east of San Jose are operated as an observatory, with faculty, research, and student observers commuting to the facility. Telescopes include the Lick 36-inch refractor, the Carnegie 20-inch twin astrograph, and the CAT 24-inch, Crossley 36-inch, and Nickel 40-inch reflectors. The newest telescope is the Katzman 30-inch robotic reflector, dedicated to searching for supernovas. The largest and most powerful of the Lick instruments is the Shane 120-inch reflector, which was completed in 1959 and is one of the world’s most effective telescopes. The observatory’s equipment also includes a variety of auxiliary instruments used in connection with observations at the 120-inch telescope. Among the most recent is the Hamilton echelle spectrograph, judged to be one of the world’s most efficient instruments for high-resolution analysis of the light of stars and galaxies and the instrument by which astronomers have discovered new planets outside our solar system. Other instruments include the Kast double spectrograph, a pioneering example of UCO/ Lick’s innovative instrumentation capabilities; the multiple-object spectrograph, which gives astronomers the opportunity to look at the spectra of 100 objects simultaneously; and the new prime-focus Wide Field Camera, capable of taking digital images of large areas of the sky. One of the most exciting new technological innovations developed at Lick Observatory, in conjunction with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, is the use of an adaptive optics system with an artificial laser-produced guide star to correct distortions to incoming light caused by the blurring effects of the atmosphere. The observatory is a systemwide facility used extensively by observers and students from other UC campuses and the national laboratories.
UCSC’s courses in astronomy and astrophysics are taught on campus. Advanced students gain observing experience with the Mt. Hamilton telescopes and conduct research directed by the staff. Visiting astronomers use the equipment to investigate special problems.
UCO/Lick astronomers work on a wide variety of astrophysical problems, including solar system and star formation, stellar evolution, the origin and evolution of the Galaxy and external galaxies, abundances of the chemical elements, and the size, structure, and evolution of the universe. In many summers, UCO/Lick and the department host a conference on topics in astronomy and a