Social Justice & Community
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UC Santa Cruz Alumni Association announces 2026 Alumni Award recipients
John Torigoe, Melinda Aldrich, James Hein, Peter Coha, Jim Gunderson, and Stephanie Barron Lu are the recipients of the 2026 UC Santa Cruz Alumni Awards.
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Girls in Engineering brings STEM to life for middle school students
This summer, 45 middle school students from across Santa Cruz and Monterey counties participated in the five-day camp, taking part in hands-on projects, lab tours, and a field trip to Google.
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Doctoral candidate’s research explores impacts from overuse of H-2A visas in Washington state
H-2A visa loopholes may be displacing immigrant farmworkers already living in the region, especially women, a new report shows.
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Jessica Lum to serve as UC Santa Cruz’s sixth alumni regent
Since graduating from UC Santa Cruz, Jessica Lum (Rachel Carson ’09, environmental studies and economics) has built a career in external affairs, serving mission-driven organizations, non-profit trade associations, and government. She began her two-year term as an alumni regent earlier this month.
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Leading games research in the AI era
UC Presidential Chair Magy Seif El-Nasr shares insights on how AI has shaped academic publishing, and her observations on an emerging “AI divide.”
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They escaped the slave trade to an island in the middle of the ocean. Almost two centuries later, science is revealing their life histories.
The origin stories of Saint Helena’s Liberated Africans come into focus in a new study combining historical methods, computer modeling, and biogeochemical and DNA analysis.
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Collaborating to support youth leadership and voice
2026 Youth & Adult Partnership Summit promotes strategies for working effectively with youth, supported by UC Santa Cruz, United Way, and All Children Thrive.
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Beach season is here—just not for everyone
Marine and social scientists at UC Santa Cruz explain why privileged people enjoy more recreational, economic, and emotional benefits of the ocean than underresourced groups, and offer holistic remedies
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La temporada de playa ya está aquí—pero no para todos
Científicos marinos y sociales de la UC Santa Cruz explican por qué las personas privilegiadas disfrutan de más beneficios recreativos, económicos y emocionales del océano que los grupos con menos recursos, y ofrecen soluciones holísticas
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Alumna María Ramos Bracamontes champions indigenous farmworker health and justice
María Ascención Ramos Bracamontes (Merrill ’02, language studies and Latino American and Latino studies) is a certified midwife, community activist, and founder of mutual aid organization Campesina Womb Justice, advocating and supporting farmworker women’s health.
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CEJA at UC Santa Cruz: Preparing alumni for academic and community impact
Alumni Desiree Ryan (Ph.D. ’24, psychology), David Amaral (Ph.D. ’22, politics), Melina Singh (Ph.D. ‘23, psychology), and Rosalie Lansing (Rachel Carson ’24, sociology) share their experiences with the Center for Economic Justice and Action and how it prepared them to be successful in their careers.
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Thirty years of investing in communities: Alumna Shannon Lawder on language, philanthropy, and following your passion
UC Santa Cruz alumna Shannon Lawder (Kresge ’91, Russian studies) is the director of the Civil Society Program at the Mott Foundation. The Mott Foundation has supported communities worldwide for 100 years, and Lawder has been part of that mission for 31 years.