UC Santa Barbara

10/19/2026

What’s it like to be a member of ’s UCSB Gaucho Pep Band? Spend a busy day in the life with Music Studies major Chihiro Chua, who primarily plays French horn but in plays mellophone 🎺🎶💙

UCSB Music Department

10/19/2026

Brain surgery by autonomous robot? It’s possible. That’s what 's Elliot Hawkes is aiming to do. With a grant from the federal government’s Advanced Projects Research Agency for Health (ARPA-H) program, Hawkes and collaborators from lead institution UC San Diego and more are working to bring soft robotics to life-saving surgical thrombectomies 🧠

Full story: https://ow.ly/R6wO50ZZ0Gk

10/18/2026

New mural on campus: Leaders at 's Department of Political Science invited students from the Department of Art to bring fresh ideas to a large wall on the third floor of Ellison Hall. At the time, the space—roughly 25 feet wide and 9.5 feet tall—featured a mural painted by a student in 1975 🎨

Half a century later, it was time for something new.

Full story: https://ow.ly/NnSV50ZY87R

10/16/2026

With snakes emerging from her scalp and a stony superpower, Medusa has terrified people for millennia. But how did she get that way? That question is explored in the new musical “A Legacy of Stone,” which student-run Shrunken Heads Production Company will stage Oct. 16-18 in Lotte Lehmann Concert Hall on campus.

Full story: https://ow.ly/jMb350ZXGZH

10/15/2026

Your vote counts! Join the millions of college students voting this election season.

Reminders:
🌟 This Election Day is Nov. 3, 2026.
🌟October 19 is the last day to register to vote in the November 3 election.
🌟If you moved addresses since the last election in December you need to register again, so check: studentvote dot org or registertovote dot ca dot gov back slash collegestudents.
🌟You can vote on or near campus at one of nine polling stations or drop your ballot in the ballot box out front of the SRB.

In past years, has won competitions like the Ballot Bowl for registering the most voters on campus, so let’s keep it up and do our civic duty 🗳️

10/15/2026

Rising seas threaten to accelerate beach erosion and due to our beachfront location, must navigate these geographic changes. In 2024, the university adopted a sea level rise adaptation strategy for the campus, and that shoreline adaptation team is now seeking community input.

Full story: https://ow.ly/w4xr50ZXGvn

10/14/2026

Checking out some of the delicious Hispanic food offerings in Isla Vista near this at Zocalo, Super Cucas, Elubias Kitchen and Maria’s Tacos 🌮💙⭐️

Food Descriptions:
Zocalo: Quesabirria Tacos
Super Cucas: Agua de Jamaica
Elubia’s Kitchen: Pupusas
Maria’s Tacos: Asada Tacos

10/14/2026

An international team of researchers led by has discovered that after elephants pass, decomposition creates nutrient hotspots that can persist on the landscape for years, possibly decades 🐘🌱

"We know that these really charismatic megafauna have strong impacts on ecosystems while they're alive, but until now we haven't really understood how those impacts continue after they die."

For the study, scientists studied the sites of elephant carcasses in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, documenting soil chemistry, microbiology, biodiversity and animal grazing around their remains.

Full story:

Elephant remains create nutrient hotspots on the landscape that continue to affect an ecosystem long after the bones vanish.

10/13/2026

Gaucho Families: Early bird pricing for 's Parents & Family Weekend ends this week! Register here and check out the schedule of events: https://ow.ly/qrBb50ZWZ74

10/12/2026

A new fund at will help students transform ideas at the intersection of Indigenous studies and environmental action into projects with community impact.

"Many of our students want to build projects in partnership with Indigenous communities or explore Indigenous approaches to environmental stewardship, but they've lacked a funding source designed specifically for that work," said Erika Zollett, executive director of CUEL.

Full story:

The Kenneth Robert Lincoln Indigenous Environmental Projects Fund will support students in UC Santa Barbara’s Environmental Leadership Incubator