News

UC Santa Barbara’s Ian Duncan to lead world’s largest actuarial society

2025-09-18

His election brings new distinction to the university’s renowned actuarial science program and its role in shaping the future of the profession.

Professor Brenda Major Wins Psychology’s Prestigious William James Fellow Award

2025-09-12

The distinguished professor emeritus is celebrated with the Association for Psychological Science's highest honor for her five decades of paradigm-shifting research on stigma, discrimination and resilience.

UC Santa Barbara, UCLA’s BioPACIFIC MIP earns renewed NSF support to accelerate AI-driven biobased materials innovation

2025-08-20

Photos by Juan Manuel Urueña Vargas, Jeff Liang, and Marc Roseboro

Gary Horowitz awarded Dirac Medal for contributions to theoretical physics

2025-08-13

UC Santa Barbara physicist honored for landmark advancements in gravity and string theory

Gary Horowitz, a distinguished professor of physics at UC Santa Barbara, has been awarded the 2025 Dirac Medal by the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), a prestigious honor recognizing his groundbreaking work in gravitational physics and string theory.

New Method for Synthesizing Carbohydrates Paves Way for Biomedical Advances

2025-08-12

Chemistry professor Liming Zhang has solved a decades-long challenge in his field, discovering a way to reliably synthesize some of biology’s most complex molecules.

The new technique, developed in Zhang’s lab, enables precise control over the construction of short-chain carbohydrates, called oligosaccharides—a feat that has challenged scientists for decades.

Cosmic Airbursts More Common Than Previously Thought, Study Finds

2025-08-08

New research led by James Kennett, emeritus professor of Earth Science, suggests that high-energy cosmic impacts that explode above ground may be a more frequent and widespread destructive force than the crater-forming strikes traditionally studied. 

In a series of four recently published papers, Kennett and his collaborators present compelling evidence for these “touchdown airbursts” from various locations across the globe.

New Global Study Reveals How to Stop Plastic Waste Before It Reaches the Ocean

2025-07-24

A sweeping UC Santa Barbara-led study, led by project scientist Chase Brewster, has revealed the scale and complexity of plastic pollution flowing through rivers, and identified practical, community-driven strategies to stop it before it reaches the ocean.

Spanning eight countries across four continents, the three-year project was coordinated by Brewster at the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory in partnership with local organizations. Together, the teams collected and analyzed over 3.8 million kilograms of river debris.

Chemistry Professor Justin Wilson Develops Efficient Filter for Rare Earth Recovery

2025-07-22

Professor Justin Wilson’s lab has created a new material that acts like a Brita filter for rare earth elements, offering a cleaner, scalable solution to one of the world’s most pressing recycling challenges.