Science
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Beyond free access: UC Santa Cruz study exposes the hidden barriers to California’s beaches
A new UC Santa Cruz study reveals that despite California’s strong access laws, historical discrimination, wealth disparities and systemic barriers still make the state’s coastlines overwhelmingly white and affluent. Additional coverage by The Cool Down and Earth.com.
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Unequal access to California’s beaches
Coastal access is not equal among communities in California, according to a paper from UC Santa Cruz published this week.
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For This Bay Area Island City, Water Is Coming From All Sides
But water from above is not the only issue. Patrick Barnard, research director for the UC Santa Cruz Center for Coastal Climate Resilience, said about 60% of Alameda’s groundwater is already close to the surface — without further sea level rise. “We know there are lots of issues in Alameda, but bottom line, it’s effectively…
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Bird Flu Strikes California Elephant Seals for the First Time
Seven elephant seal pups at Año Nuevo State Park have tested positive for the virus, known as H5N1, becoming the first recorded cases in northern elephant seals. They are among about 30 seals that have died at the park since late last week and the first to have been tested, said Roxanne Beltran, an ecologist…
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From campus to community: UCSC brings science to the neighborhood to spark local dialogue
Stefano Profumo, UCSC associate dean for graduate studies and postdoctoral affairs, said he created the series to give researchers the chance to receive “fresh perspectives and questions that can spark new research directions.” Emphasizing the value of dialogue between scientists and the public, Profumo noted that “breakthrough insights often come from unexpected places — sometimes…
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Tracking fisherman to track fish: The new technological approach to better understand ocean life
“We wondered if we could use it to understand what’s happening to the ecosystem as the climate changes,” explains Heather Welch, a marine science researcher at U.C. Santa Cruz. Instead of tracking fishing fleets, Welch and her colleagues are interested in tracking the fish themselves. Tuna to be exact.
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To save condors, conservation biologists take on a new role of advocating for easier access to ammo.
“It’s all about overall mortality. You want the population to be sustainable – you want more chicks in the wild to be born than to die,” says Myra Finkelstein, a professor of microbiology and environmental toxicology at UC Santa Cruz. The condor success story so far has relied on the birth part of the equation.…
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California’s beaches grew some 500 acres in 40 years, says new study. Inside the haves and have-nots
Gary Griggs, a coastal erosion expert at U.C. Santa Cruz, described how a submarine canyon near Point Mugu has been slowly reconfigured (for reasons that aren’t clear) in a way that it effectively swallows up sand previously pushed farther down the coast by currents.
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Central Coast faces doctor shortage with plans for new medical school
UC Santa Cruz, in partnership with UC Davis, is addressing this issue with expansion of the PRIME program in which students will receive classroom training at Davis and clinical training on the Central Coast. Grant Hartzog, Executive Director of UC Santa Cruz’s Global and Community Health program, said, “Let’s start fast but small. So we’re…
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I grew up in an education desert but made it to UCSC
Ava Thornock grew up in Amador County, an education desert without a local college or regular internet access. She made it to UC Santa Cruz, where she is studying biochemistry.
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Joel Primack, Physicist Who Helped Explain the Cosmos, Dies at 80
A professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, he was a key contributor to a landmark paper that laid out how the universe came to look like it does today.
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Community unites to sustainably restore Santa Cruz’s iconic blue whale skeleton
The Seymour Marine Discovery Center, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Marco Rolandi’s lab, Halon Entertainment, and swellcycle are teaming up to restore and preserve Ms. Blue, an iconic blue whale skeleton.