Alumni Raise Funds for Student FoodbankIn the spirit of the holiday season, alumni were asked to support our students and contribute to the UCSB Associated Students Food Bank, a program directly addressing student needs such as food supplies, toiletries, and information on additional resources. UCSB Ranked No. 35 in World University Rankings UC Santa Barbara has been ranked number 35 in a list of the world's top 200 universities released today by Times Higher Education, a British periodical. Among U.S. universities, UCSB is ranked number 24. UCSB Scientists Reveal Dynamics Behind Bacterial Response to Oil Spill In a new study, UC Santa Barbara scientists explain how they used DNA to identify microbes present in the Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and how they identified the microbes responsible for consuming the large amount of natural gas present immediately after the spill. They also explain how water temperature played a key role in the way bacteria reacted to the spill. Threat of Stereotyping Contributes to Mind-WanderingMind-wandering –– or task-unrelated thought –– and the effects of negative stereotyping have long been areas of study for social and cognitive psychologists. Now, a team of researchers at UC Santa Barbara and the University of British Columbia has established a relationship between the two. UCSB Develops Breakthrough in Identification of Prostate Cancer Cells A team of researchers at UC Santa Barbara has developed a breakthrough technology that can be used to discriminate cancerous prostate cells in bodily fluids from those that are healthy. The findings are published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. UCSB Alumni Association Honors Two Students with Buchanan AwardThe UC Santa Barbara Alumni Association has offered two students – Jonathan Brons and Matt Fibiger – the Buchanan Award, which is presented to a graduating senior majoring in History or History of Public Policy, for superior scholarship, undergraduate achievement, and potential for graduate research and continued success in the field. UCSB Sociologist Examines Realism and Emotion in Love SongsLove songs –– the pouring out of one's heart in words and melody –– are as ubiquitous and timeless as the emotion itself. Whatever their focus, however –– requited, unrequited, or infatuation –– they tend to present a perception of love that is, at best, unrealistic. UCSB Scholar Named Fellow of International Mathematics Society Jean-Pierre Fouque, professor of statistics and applied probability, and director of the Center for Research in Financial Mathematics and Statistics at UC Santa Barbara, has been named a Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM). He is one of 34 academics and professionals so honored for their outstanding contributions to applied mathematics and computational science through research or service. UCSB Scholar Examines Chicano Struggle for Educational JusticeIn March 1968, thousands of Chicano students walked out of their East Los Angeles high schools to protest decades of inferior or discriminatory education in their so-called "Mexican Schools." During these historic walkouts –– or "blowouts," as they were known –– the students were led by Sal Castro, a Mexican-American teacher who encouraged them to make their grievances public after school administrators and school board members failed to listen to them. UCSB Offers Free Online Tutorial for Federal Student Aid Form The Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships at UC Santa Barbara is once again offering its online tutorial to assist current and prospective students in completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA is used by nearly all colleges and universities to determine a student's eligibility for federal, state, and college-sponsored financial aid, including grants, educational loans, and work-study programs. NASA Finds Earth-Size Planet CandidatesNASA's Kepler mission has discovered its first Earth-size planet candidates and its first candidates in the habitable zone, a region where liquid water could exist on a planet's surface. UC Santa Barbara scientists are involved in the mission. More Frequent Drought Likely in Eastern Africa The increased frequency of drought observed in Eastern Africa over the last 20 years is likely to continue as long as global temperatures continue to rise, according to UC Santa Barbara scientist Park Williams. UCSB Engineering Professor Mark Rodwell Appointed to Doluca Chair UC Santa Barbara Professor Mark Rodwell, whose research has extended the limits of high-frequency radio, high-speed optical communications, and powerful imaging applications, has been awarded the Doluca Family Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering in recognition of his exceptional achievements. Alumni to honor Gene Lucas, Robert and Lynn Koegel and Michael TowbesThe 2011 UCSB Alumni Association Awards Banquet, scheduled for Friday night, April 29, 2011, will honor Gene Lucas, Executive Vice Chancellor for UCSB, Robert and Lynn Koegel of the Koegel Autism Research Center, and Michael Towbes, founder and chair of Montecito Bank & Trust. UCSB Scholar Examines Dysfunctional Feedback in Organizations Although most organizations –– business or otherwise –– operate with the noblest of intentions, at some point the people associated with them will experience some degree of systemic dysfunction. Unexpected difficulties will arise that require workers, clients, and/or customers to find alternate methods for completing their respective tasks, or to suffer negative consequences. These difficulties –– and the responses to them –– comprise what UC Santa Barbara communication professor Ronald E. Rice refers to as "unusual routines." UCSB Sociology Professor Had Front Row Seat at Guantánamo Trial When Canadian-born Omar Khadr pleaded guilty last month as part of an agreement with prosecutors at the U.S. military commission at Guantánamo Bay Naval Base, Lisa Hajjar, associate professor of sociology at UC Santa Barbara, was among the observers who witnessed the proceedings. Technology Developed by UCSB Computer Scientist Advances Internet Security Christopher Kruegel, associate professor of computer science at UC Santa Barbara and a member of the campus's Computer Security Group, has developed a new security software that can identify and neutralize viruses after they've infected a user's machine, even if that virus has no known signatures. UCSB Alumnus Amir Abo-Shaeer Garners MacArthur Fellowship UC Santa Barbara alumnus Amir Abo-Shaeer has won a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship for his work with the Dos Pueblos High School Engineering Academy in Goleta, Calif. Academy Director Abo-Shaeer is the first public high school teacher to receive a MacArthur “genius grant.” UCSB Ranked Among Country's Best UniversitiesU.S. News & World Report has ranked UC Santa Barbara number 9 in its annual listing of the "Top 50 Public National Universities" in the country, and number 39 on its list of the "Best National Universities." These are the highest rankings ever for UCSB in the U.S. News listings. UCSB Writing Program Welcomes New Director Linda Adler-Kassner, a professor of writing, has joined the Writing Program at UC Santa Barbara as its new director. She replaces acting co-directors Michael Petracca and Madeleine Sorapure, who served in that capacity since the retirement of former director Susan McLeod in 2008. UCSB Professor Sees Medical Breakthrough in New Bone Measurement Tool Paul Hansma's face lights up when he talks about what his latest research might mean for people who suffer after breaking their hips or other bones that become more and more brittle as they age. Statistics show that a woman is more likely to die in the next year after a hip fracture than if she's had a heart attack. UCSB Ticket Office to Offer Saturday Hours Beginning August 7UCSB Athletics is pleased to announce that its Ticket Office will be open on Saturdays beginning Aug. 7, and to add even more convenience to buying tickets to Gaucho events, the department still holds two parking spaces just adjacent to the Intercollegiate Athletics Building. UCSB's External Research Funding for 2009-10 Breaks RecordResearch support from external sources broke all previous records at UC Santa Barbara during the 2009-10 fiscal year. A total of $222 million was received from federal and state agencies, corporations, and nonprofits in fiscal 2010 –– a 28 percent increase over the previous fiscal year
Gaucho Fund Donors Make The DifferenceFollowing the conclusion of the 2009-10 fiscal year earlier this month, the UCSB Athletics Department is excited to announce that UCSB Athletics donors committed $1.13 million in gifts and pledges to support scholarships and administrative services for student-athlete from all 20 of the Gauchos' intercollegiate athletics programs. Peter Rupert Named Director of the UCSB Economic Forecast Project UC Santa Barbara has announced the appointment of economics professor Peter Rupert as director of the UCSB Economic Forecast Project, a research unit that provides economic data, analysis, and forecasts to the community. Rupert, who joined the UCSB faculty in 2007, came to Santa Barbara from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, where he had been a senior economic adviser for 13 years. UCSB Is a Leader Among Graduates Selected by Teach for America Thirty-one UC Santa Barbara graduates have been selected by Teach for America to work as beginning teachers in public schools in low-income communities across the country. The campus is among the top 20 large universities with the greatest number of students admitted to the highly competitive, nonprofit public service program. UCSB Chemistry Professor Receives Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar AwardSong-I Han, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UC Santa Barbara, has received a Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award. She is one of 14 recipients from universities across the United States. The award, which supports the teaching and research of talented young faculty members in the chemical sciences, is presented by The Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation. Two UCSB Buildings Receive LEED Certifications From Green Building Council UC Santa Barbara's Life Sciences and Engineering II buildings have been awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). LEED is the USGBC's rating system for designing and constructing the world's greenest, most energy efficient, and high-performing buildings. Book Edited by UCSB English Scholar Examines Enlightenment and Mediation Debates about the nature of the Enlightenment date to the 18th century, when philosopher Imanual Kant himself addressed the question, "What is Enlightenment?" A new book edited by William Warner and Clifford Siskin offers a paradigm-shifting answer to that now-famous query: Enlightenment is an event in the history of mediation Machael David: A Great Soccer ExampleTo become a Division I student-athlete, it takes copious amounts of hard work, drive, persistence and also the ability to succeed in the face of adversity. Many of UC Santa Barbara's athletes have had to overcome significant obstacles on their journeys to becoming a Gaucho, but few have overcome as many as men's soccer standout Machael David. NCEAS Study Analyzes Worldwide Catch, Economic Data of FisheriesUC Santa Barbara's National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) supports a graduate student working group in fisheries that produced an article in a recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The article presents the first-ever analysis of worldwide catch and economic data for the past 55 years. Former UCSB Grad Student's Invention Helping to Clean Up Gulf Oil SpillAmong the many tools being used to clean up the country's worst environmental disaster –– the Deepwater Horizon platform explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico –– is a new device called the Groovy Drum Skimmer. Designed to scoop oil from the surface of the ocean, the skimmer is the brainchild of former UC Santa Barbara graduate student Victoria Broje. GIVE's Sale of Items Donated by UCSB Students Breaks Record Representatives of Isla Vista nonprofits and community organizations will receive their shares of a record-breaking $27,000 at a ceremony on Friday. The total reflects 100 percent of the proceeds from the two-day GIVE sale held June 19-20. The announcements will take place Friday at 12:15 p.m. in UCSB's Embarcadero Hall, 935 Embarcadero del Norte, in Isla Vista. UCSB Programs to Receive Awards at Statewide Sustainability ConferenceRepresentatives from UC Santa Barbara will be in Los Angeles next week to accept three awards at the 2010 California Higher Education Sustainability Conference. The conference, scheduled for June 20-23 at Los Angeles Trade Technical College in downtown Los Angeles, will bring together 850 representatives of sustainability programs in the University of California, California State University, and California Community Colleges systems.
Physicists Help Biologists Understand Protein FoldingPhysicists at UC Santa Barbara have created a microscopic device to assist biologists in making very fast molecular measurements that aid the understanding of protein folding. This development may help elucidate biological processes associated with diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Since proteins in the body perform different functions according to their shape, the folding process is considered a key area of study. Program Wraps-up Successful First Year with Student-Athlete Thank-a-thonAt the beginning of the 2009-2010 academic year, as a part of the Gaucho Fund, UCSB Athletics launched its Living Scholar program as a way to provide essential scholarship and operational support to all 20 of its intercollegiate athletic programs while strengthening the relationships that exist between the donors and the programs they support. Grants Awarded for Pacific Rim Research The University of California Pacific Rim Research Program (PRRP) has awarded grants totaling more than $60,000 to UC Santa Barbara anthropologist Shankar Aswani, political scientist Kaewkamol Pitakdumrongkit, and film and media studies scholar Nicole Staroseilski. Located at UC Santa Cruz and funded by the UC Office of the President, the PRRP promotes the study of the Pacific Rim as a distinctive region. Open-Space Agreement for UCSB's South Parcel Announced by UniversityUC Santa Barbara and The Land Trust for Santa Barbara County have announced that the 68-acre tract of coastal university property known as the South Parcel has been permanently set aside as open space under a conservation easement agreement. Final documents related to the action were recorded this week. UCSB Claims Eighth Big West Commissioner's Cup Title in 10 YearsUC Santa Barbara has reclaimed the Big West Conference Commissioner's Cup for the eighth time in 10 years, the conference announced Tuesday. The Commissioner's Cup is presented to the league institution with the best overall results in the conference's 18 sponsored sports championships.
UCSB Scientist Has Key Role in Gulf Oil Spill StudiesWhen the Obama administration announced this morning that the amount of oil leaking from the BP well in the Gulf of Mexico is far greater than previously disclosed, that statement was based on research conducted by a panel of government-appointed scientists that included Ira Leifer, a researcher in the Marine Science Institute at UC Santa Barbara. UCSB Running Series Donates $10,000 to Scholarship FundThe 2010 UCSB Running Series presented by Citrix Online presented a check for $10,000 to the UCSB Alumni Association Student Scholarship Fund at an Awards Reception held at the Mosher Alumni House on May 13. The UCSB Running Series had a combined total of nearly 800 runners in the three-race series. Thanks to this great participation, as well as support from sponsors, the series was able to raise $10,000 for students in need of financial aid. UCSB Scientist Proposes Novel Method to Quantify Gulf Oil Spill While the world has reacted with shock and anger to the massive amounts of oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico as a result of the Deepwater Horizon platform blowout, a UC Santa Barbara scientist has proposed that methane gas dissolved into the waters of the Gulf holds the key to calculating the magnitude of the spill. Brain Mechanism Evolved to Identify Cheaters, According to UCSB Scientists New research by scholars at UC Santa Barbara indicates that the uncanny human ability to detect cheaters reflects the operation of a reasoning system that evolved for that narrow purpose, and cannot be explained by more general abilities to reason about conditional rules, moral violations, or social interactions. Their findings appear in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). UCSB Survey Shows How Wildfires Affected Mental Health of Area ResidentsIn a little less than a year, from July 2008 to May 2009, the Santa Barbara area was hit by three terrifying wildfires. All took a physical and mental toll on the citizens of Santa Barbara, Goleta, and Montecito. A number of factors –– mandatory evacuations, homes in flames, concern for loved ones –– created stress for those who live in the Santa Barbara area. Studies Advance Understanding of How Amphibian Disease Spreads and Kills Scientists have unraveled the dynamics of a deadly disease that is wiping out amphibian populations across the globe. This disease, Chytridiomycosis was discovered in 1998 and has already caused the decline or extinction of hundreds of amphibian species across the globe. This impact was recently described by scientists as "the most spectacular loss of vertebrate biodiversity due to disease in recorded history." UC Santa Barbara Undergraduate Researchers Will Present Their DiscoveriesUndergraduate researchers at UC Santa Barbara will present their discoveries and creative accomplishments at the annual Undergraduate Research Colloquium on Thursday, May 20, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Corwin Pavilion. The event is free and open to the public. The student researchers will be available to discuss their work. UCSB Biologist to Give Plous Lecture on Biodiversity and Species ExtinctionThe world is currently in the midst of one of the greatest waves of species extinction that has ever occurred. But, even as rates of species extinction are approaching those of prior mass extinctions, scientists know little about the different roles that species play in natural environments. They know even less about how the well-being of our own species might be linked to the great variety of life that is the most striking feature of our planet. UCSB Economics Programs Ranked Third and Sixth in Nation Two programs within the Department of Economics at UC Santa Barbara have been ranked among the top 10 in the nation by Research Papers in Economics (RePEc), a volunteer-driven initiative to create a public-access database that promotes scholarly communication in economics and related disciplines. UCSB Scientists Research Materials Useful for Quantum Computing A team of scientists at UC Santa Barbara that helped pioneer research into the quantum properties of a small defect found in diamonds has now used cutting-edge computational techniques to produce a road map for studying defects in alternative materials. U.S. News Ranks UCSB Graduate Programs Among Best U.S. News & World Report magazine has rated UC Santa Barbara's physics program among the top 10 in the nation in its 2010 ranking of leading graduate and professional programs at American universities. Overall, seven of UCSB's graduate programs were ranked among the top 50, with three in the top 25. Underwater Asphalt Volcanoes Discovered by UCSB Scientists About 10 miles off the Santa Barbara coast, at the bottom of the Santa Barbara Channel, a series of impressive landmarks rise from the sea floor. They've been there for about 40,000 years, but they've remained hidden in the murky depths of the Pacific Ocean –– until now Asian American Studies Scholar Explores Social HierarchiesThe Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 has changed the demographiccomposition of the Chinese American community in significant ways.Under provisions for family unification and for certain skilled laborand professionals, more than one million Chinese gained entry to theUnited States in the last three decades of the 20th century. The ethniccommunity grew at an unprecedented rate, and as the Chinese populationincreased, a new social hierarchy among Chinese Americans emerged. Two UCSB Professors Elected to National Academy of Sciences Two UC Santa Barbara faculty members –– Douglas Burbank, director of UCSB's Institute for Crustal Studies and professor of earth science, and Gary Horowitz, professor of physics –– have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Burbank and Horowitz were among 72 new members elected to the academy today in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. New Monitor Lizard Discovered in Indonesia A newly discovered species of monitor lizard, a close relative of the Komodo dragon, was reported in the journal Zootaxa this week by a professor at UC Santa Barbara and a researcher from Finland. Political Scientist Appointed Fellow of National Asia Research Program Amit Ahuja, assistant professor of political science at UC Santa Barbara, has been named to the first class of Research Associates and Fellows of the National Asia Research Program (NARP). He is one of 39 scholars recognized for their research into issues of importance to U.S. interests in Asia. UC Santa Barbara Offers Admission to 19,721 for Fall 2010 The University of California, Santa Barbara has offered a place in its fall 2010 entering class to a total of 19,721 high school seniors. The prospective UCSB freshmen were selected from a total of 46,700 applicants –– the second-largest applicant pool in UCSB history. The campus expects its fall 2010 entering class to number about 3,900. Astronomers Find Nine New Planets The discovery of nine new planets challenges the reigning theory of the formation of planets, according to new observations by astronomers. Two of the astronomers involved in the discoveries are based at the UC Santa Barbara-affiliated Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGT), based in Goleta, Calif., near UCSB. Astronomy Lecture to be Held at Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Robert C. Kennicutt, Jr., a prominent astronomer with the University of Cambridge, will give a lecture on the hidden universe that can only be studied fully from space-borne telescopes. The lecture is part of an annual series on astrophysics –– the Las Cumbres Observatory Lectures –– presented jointly by the Department of Physics at UC Santa Barbara, the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History (SBMNH), and the UCSB-affiliated Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGT). UCSB Geologist Discovers Pattern in Earth's Long-Term Climate RecordIn an analysis of the past 1.2 million years, UC Santa Barbara geologist Lorraine Lisiecki discovered a pattern that connects the regular changes of the Earth's orbital cycle to changes in the Earth's climate. The finding is reported in this week's issue of the scientific journal Nature Geoscience. UCSB Scientists Obtain Unique Recordings of Easter Earthquake in Mexico The major earthquake that occurred in Baja California on Easter Sunday, April 4th, at 3:40 p.m. Pacific Time, is of great interest to UC Santa Barbara seismologists, who are busy collecting information from a nearby research station. The earthquake was the largest in the Southern California region since 1992. UC Santa Barbara to Host "Spring Insight" Open House on April 10 UC Santa Barbara will host its annual "Spring Insight" open house for prospective students and their families on Saturday, April 10, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The daylong program of lectures, demonstrations, and tours is designed to showcase what UC Santa Barbara has to offer undergraduate students. It is also a fun way to get to know the campus and learn about the opportunities it offers for academic and personal growth. UCSB Historian Examines Mexican Role in Development of Oral ContraceptivesWhen chemists in Mexico in the 1940's began studying barbasco, a wild yam indigenous to the region, they made a startling discovery: The tuber contains chemical components that actually mimic human steroids and could be used to mass-produce synthetic hormones for new drugs, such as cortisone and the first viable oral contraceptive. UCSB Religious Studies Scholar to Discuss Religion Religion in the United States –– and California in particular –– is an ever-changing entity. Currently, two important aspects of religious change are the focus of much attention and discussion. They include "religion à la carte," or the combining of beliefs, symbols, and practices; and the progressive religious movement, or commitment to social justices and other concerns. Researchers Examine Development of Cooperation in Human Societies A study conducted by an international team of social scientists that includes Michael Gurven, professor of anthropology at UC Santa Barbara, suggests that cooperative behavior among strangers has been influenced more by norms and institutions –– such as socioeconomics and world religions –– than by misplaced preferences favoring kin or friends. The group's findings appear in an article published in the March 19 issue of the journal Science. McCauley is New Director of UCSB's NCEASEdward McCauley, who was recently named the new director of UC Santa Barbara's National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, understands why NCEAS has been recognized as a pioneering research institution since it started in 1995. UCSB Italian Studies Professor Co-Edits New Online Scholarly JournaCalifornia Italian Studies, a new peer-reviewed, open-access scholarly journal, has been published exclusively online by University of California's e-Scholarship and the California Digital Library. The journal, which debuted on March 1, was co-edited by Claudio Fogu, associate professor of Italian Studies at UC Santa Barbara, and Lucia Re, professor of Italian and women's studies at UCLA Scientists at UCSB Discover 600 Million-Year-Old Origins of VisionBy studying the hydra, a member of an ancient group of sea creatures that is still flourishing, scientists at UC Santa Barbara have made a discovery in understanding the origins of human vision. The finding is published in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, a British journal of biology. UCSB Receives Bicycle Friendly Business Gold AwardThe League of American Bicyclists has named UC Santa Barbara a Bicycle Friendly Business Gold Award winner. UCSB will be among 51 new Bicycle Friendly Businesses announced at the 10th National Bike Summit in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, March 10. Effects of Tsunami Caused by Chile Earthquake Detected in Santa BarbaraWaves from the tsunami produced by the massive earthquake that struck Chile last week reached the Santa Barbara harbor roughly 14 hours after the event, according to geographers and marine scientists at UC Santa Barbara. The first tsunami waves appeared in the harbor at about 12:45 p.m. on February 27, and continued for several hours. Tsuyoshi Hasegawa Receives UCSB Faculty's Top Honor The faculty of UC Santa Barbara has bestowed its highest honor on Tsuyoshi Hasegawa, a professor of history at UCSB. Hasegawa, an internationally recognized authority on Japanese-Russian relations and co-founder and former director of the campus's Center for Cold War Studies, has been named Faculty Research Lecturer for 2010. Lecture to Explore a Fossil Fuel-Free WorldAmory Lovins will demonstrate how “Reinventing Fire” can change minds and clarify choices by showing what exists, what works, what makes sense and makes money, what can change the world during his free lecture at 2 p.m. March 5 in UCSB's Corwin Pavilion. UCSB Climbs National RankingsUCSB was recently ranked number 11 in the list of “Top 50 Public National Universities” and number 42 in “Best National Universities,” according to the U.S. News & World Report’s annual assessment of America's top universities. UCSB Ranked in Top 30UCSB has been ranked number 21 in a list of the Top 30 National Universities by Washington Monthly magazine. |