UC Santa Cruz Social Sciences

09/02/2026

09/02/2026

08/31/2026

08/31/2026

Altering the atmosphere could fight climate change, but is it worth the risk? Who gets to decide? 👀 UC Santa Cruz Environmental Studies Professor Sikina Jinnah is working to make sure communities have a voice in the conversation.

Her new open-access book, Building Capacity for Public Engagement on Solar Geoengineering, offers practical tools for educators, researchers, policymakers, and community organizations to help people understand the science, risks, ethics, and justice implications of solar geoengineering.

This controversial technology could buy us more time to create lasting climate solutions, or distract us from making real progress. Additionally, the lack of current governance structures around solar geoengineering means businesses developing this technology lack accountability with the public.

To address this, she and her coauthors also offer recommendations on how people can participate in these important decisions. Now is the time for the public to decide the future of these technologies and how best to protect the planet we share, together.

Read more: https://news.ucsc.edu/2026/08/altering-the-atmosphere-could-fight-climate-change-but-is-it-worth-the-risk-who-gets-to-decide/

08/28/2026

🚗⚡ What if switching to an EV sooner could make a bigger climate impact?

New UC Santa Cruz research led by Environmental Studies Professor Elliott Campbell finds that replacing a gas-powered car with an electric vehicle as soon as financially feasible can significantly reduce carbon emissions.

In the study, replacing a gas vehicle within its first year could reduce emissions by 58% over a 16-year period, with EVs typically offsetting their manufacturing emissions in about three years. The findings highlight how the timing of the transition matters. It points to expanded "scrap-and-replace" programs as one way policymakers can help make cleaner transportation more accessible.

The takeaway: accelerating the shift to cleaner vehicles can accelerate climate action, too. Read more: https://news.ucsc.edu/2026/08/thinking-about-trading-your-car-in-for-an-ev-heres-a-compelling-new-reason-to-do-it-now/

08/25/2026

Sociology doctoral candidate Rosa Navarro is shedding light on how the growing use of H-2A temporary agricultural worker visas may be affecting immigrant farmworkers already living and working in Washington state.

Drawing on interviews and surveys with farmworkers, advocates, attorneys, growers, and state officials, Navarro found that some employers' recruitment practices may be contributing to reduced job opportunities, hours, and economic security for local workers. This holds particularly significant impacts on women balancing work and caregiving responsibilities.

Her findings point to the need for stronger labor protections, improved recruitment oversight, better farmworker data, and reforms that protect the rights and livelihoods of both local and H-2A workers. Read more about Navarro's research and its implications for agricultural workers and communities: https://news.ucsc.edu/2026/08/doctoral-candidates-research-explores-impacts-from-overuse-of-h-2a-visas-in-washington-state/

08/24/2026

Recent UC Santa Cruz graduate Danielle Cohen (psychology, Stevenson '26) received the Barton "Bart" Rubin Memorial Scholarship for Excellence in Psychology, which is helping her take the next steps toward a career in psychology.

Realizing her passion for working with children began during her field study placement. "Every day I get to work with these kids, I've been reminded of how much there is to learn from children: their unique perspectives, their tenacious questioning, and their way of engaging in the world with such true kindness and curiosity," she reflected. "That experience didn't just stand out to me, but has entirely clarified my path forward."

Now, Danielle plans to return to Los Angeles to gain research experience in child psychology and development, with a particular focus on neurodiverse populations. She hopes to pursue a Ph.D. specializing in child development or autism studies and build a career supporting children and families through autism intervention and advocacy.

08/21/2026

From a student film festival at UC Santa Cruz to a cultural institution serving San Diego, Ethan van Thillo's (Merrill '92, Latin American and Latino studies) journey shows how one idea can grow into lasting community impact🎬

While on campus, van Thillo founded UC Santa Cruz's first Chicano Film Festival as a student: an experience that sparked a lifelong commitment to using film as a tool for social change and education. He went on to establish the San Diego Latino Film Festival and Media Arts Center San Diego, which now supports filmmakers and communities through film, education, and digital storytelling.

"During this whole period, I was really learning how the power of film really can be a great tool for social change and education," van Thillo said.
Read more about van Thillo's journey and the UCSC experience that helped shape his work: https://news.ucsc.edu/2026/07/ethan-van-thillo-from-student-film-festival-to-a-cultural-institution/

08/20/2026

Social scientists are supporting healthier bees, one urban garden at a time 🐝🌻 A new UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute–funded project is bringing genomics into the garden to better understand what shapes pollinator health.

Environmental Studies researchers Stacy Philpott and Iris Rivera are collaborating with Ecology and Evolutionary Biology researchers Rachel Meyer and Ingrid Parker to investigate how urban garden design, plant diversity, and seasonality influence the spread of viruses and parasites among bees.

By tracking bee movements and testing bees and flowers for pathogens, the team hopes to identify ways to design urban gardens that better support pollinators, creating healthier local ecosystems for the food systems that depend on them.

Learn more about this interdisciplinary project: https://news.ucsc.edu/2026/07/genomics-institute-seed-funding-2026/

08/18/2026

Jeremy Demian Marx Award for Cultural Anthropology recipient Everett Campbell (anthropology, environmental studies '27) is driven by a deep curiosity about the connections between people, culture, history, and the natural world.

Drawn to UC Santa Cruz by its redwood forests, mountains, and coastline, he has embraced every opportunity to explore the questions that emerge at the intersection of environment and human experience. This summer, the scholarship will help Everett attend an archaeological field school in Spain, a critical step toward his goal of becoming a professional archaeologist.

Beyond learning archaeological methods, he hopes to better understand how communities relate to their histories. "I am particularly interested in how a person living geographically within their past is affected psychologically by it, and how it affects their approach to life," he said.

At UC Santa Cruz, Everett has combined hands-on research with community engagement. Working in Professor Vicky Oelze's lab, he investigated differences between soil from his community garden and nearby forest ecosystems, gaining new insight into ecological restoration and environmental change.

"Seeing how the quality of earth is altered by composting and active restoration methods was very interesting," he shared, "and it was exciting to see an aspect of my personal life through a more scientific lens."

After graduation, Everett plans to pursue ecological restoration work before attending graduate school in archaeology. His long-term goal is to document and preserve cultural heritage sites threatened by climate change. "Climate change is the largest threat to humanity today, and harms artifacts and cultural history just as it does habitats and humans," he said. "I hope to save a little bit of our shared history and what makes us human."

Congratulations, Everett! 🎉