Three major wildfires impact campus facilities

Dear Friends of the Sciences at UC Santa Cruz, As all of you are aware, the immense dry lightning storms on August 16 and the massive wildfires it sparked quickly upended our campus’s preparations for opening in Fall 2020 in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fires came at a time when our science […]



132-year-old Lick Observatory threatened by fire

The University of California’s Lick Observatory appeared to have escaped serious damage as the SCU Lightning Complex Fire swept across Mt. Hamilton east of San Jose on Wednesday.

UC Observatories Director Claire Max said firefighting units from Cal Fire and other organizations were stationed at Lick Observatory all night, using the observatory’s buildings as a command center and as a safety zone for the crews.

“Thanks to their tremendous efforts, the telescope domes did not burn,” Max said.






Pandemic Stories: Adapting physics labs in the time of COVID-19

Jason Nielsen, professor of physics, shares how our Department of Physics has adapted to instructing lab courses online while still providing a highly interactive student experience.