Earth & Planetary Sciences News
Science Division staff honored with new award for outstanding service and dedication
April 14, 2025
The Science Division is honoring staff members Jeannette Peters, Patti Schell, and Deana Tanguay for demonstrating outstanding service, leadership, teamwork, innovation, or dedication to the division’s mission within the past five years.
UC Santa Cruz ocean scientist Adina Paytan honored for international research leadership
February 28, 2025
Adina Paytan, a professor in the Earth and Planetary Science Department and the Institute of Marine Science, has been awarded the Tommy and Yvette Edmondson Distinguished Service Award by the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography.
A ‘remelting’ of lunar surface adds a wrinkle to mystery of Moon’s true age
December 18, 2024
In an "idea paper" published on December 18 in Nature, UC Santa Cruz Professor Francis Nimmo and his co-authors propose a "remelting" of the Moon's surface 4.35 billion years ago due to the tidal pull of Earth causing widespread geological upheaval and intense heating.
Magnetic tornadoes create Earth-size spots discovered at Jupiter's poles
December 2, 2024
While Jupiter’s Great Red Spot has been a constant feature of the planet for centuries, a team of astronomers have discovered equally large spots at the planet’s north and south poles that appear and disappear seemingly at random.
New book California Catastrophes challenges coastal communities to confront reality
October 17, 2024
It's no secret that Californians live with the reality of earthquakes, landslides, wildfires, and other natural disasters. This confronts those who choose to stay, and the many who move here, with the equally ominous question: What can we do about it?
Understanding landslides: a new model for predicting motion
October 16, 2024
Along coastal California, the possibility of earthquakes and landslides are commonly prefaced by the phrase, “not if, but when.” This precarious reality is now a bit more predictable thanks to researchers at UC Santa Cruz and The University of Texas at Austin, who found that conditions known to cause slip along fault lines deep underground also lead to landslides above.
Science Division debuts ‘degree-defining experiences’ drawing on UC Santa Cruz’s unique strengths
October 15, 2024
The Science Division has received a $1 million donation to begin a major new program on “degree-defining experiences.” The program will pilot 17 projects across campus that aim to profoundly inspire undergraduate students and fill them with the kind of optimism that forever changes how they see their time at UC Santa Cruz and their future careers.
Postdoc Will Steinhardt wins early-career award for innovative earthquake-physics research
September 18, 2024
The American Geophysical Union (AGU) has presented UC Santa Cruz postdoctoral scholar Will Steinhardt with its 2024 Jason P. Morgan Early Career Award honoring outstanding and significant contributions to tectonophysics through a combination of research, education, and outreach activities.
Hydrothermal vents on seafloors of ‘ocean worlds’ could support life, new study says
June 24, 2024
Many lines of research suggest that some ocean worlds release enough heat internally to drive hydrothermal circulation under their seafloors. This heat is generated by radioactive decay, as occurs deep in the Earth, with additional heat possibly generated by tides.
Ph.D. student leads effort to open Kosovo's first observatory
June 13, 2024
Earth’s newest observatory will open to the public on June 20, 2024, coinciding with the summer solstice, thanks in large part to a UC Santa Cruz student from Kosovo who discovered her love of astronomy as a child amidst the chaos of the country’s brutal war for independence over 20 years ago.
Francis Nimmo elected to prestigious fellowship of UK's Royal Society
May 16, 2024
Francis Nimmo, professor of earth and planetary sciences, has been named a fellow of the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of sciences. The society announced today the election of 90 researchers from around the world as new fellows, citing their "invaluable contributions to science."
