A new course at UC Santa Cruz is turning climate crisis anxiety into action. “Bending the Curve: Climate Education for All” equips students from every discipline with interactive lessons, expert lectures, and real-world projects to tackle issues from sea-level rise to environmental injustice. Led by sociology researcher and Baskin Engineering lecturer Les Guliasi, the course has already sparked initiatives like the student-led Sunrise climate coalition … Continue reading Bending the Curve: A New UCSC Course that Empowers Students to Tackle Climate Change

In accordance with UC President Drake’s mandate that all UC campuses submit a timeline for (partial) decarbonization by the end of December  ‘24, the campuses turned in these goals. The UCSC Sustainability Office hosted a February webinar on UCSC’s timeline; the recording and slides can be found here, and a press release on the same topic is here.  Unfortunately UCSC’s choice of a 2045 deadline … Continue reading UC (partial) Decarbonization Timeline December ’24

In this accessible annual update, Ripple, Mann, Rockström, Oreskes and collaborators “analyze the latest trends in a wide array of planetary vital signs [and] review notable recent climate-related disasters, spotlight important climate-related topics, and discuss needed policy interventions.” They conclude, “it is our moral duty and that of our institutions to alert humanity to the growing threats that we face as clearly as possible and … Continue reading The 2024 State of the Climate Report: Perilous Times on Planet Earth

January 15, 2025 The Earth Futures Institute has just announced the opening of applications for the fourth year of Frontier Fellowships. Frontier Fellowships support original interdisciplinary research by UCSC undergraduates on topics related to planning Earth’s future.  Each fellowship lasts a year and includes a summer stipend to enable a strong focus on the project during the valuable summer months.  All UCSC undergraduates with prospective graduation … Continue reading UCSC Earth Futures Institute Opens Applications for Fourth Cohort of Frontier Fellowships.