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Letters and Science

A forest smothered in vines.
Photo Credit
Jonathan Hammond via iStock
Kudzu got a foothold in North America in 1876 and has since gotten a stranglehold on the forests of the Southeast.

Vast botanical data help solve Darwin’s puzzle of why some exotic plants become pests

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a young lady with a yellow bandana sits at a table, smiling at the camera
Photo Credit
Courtesy Image

Schmidt Family Foundation renews multi-year funding of UCSB’s Environmental Solutions Fellows Program
scene from ucsb student theatrical production of animal farm
Photo Credit
Jeff Liang
Scene from UCSB Department of Theater and Dance production of "Animal Farm," February 2026

UCSB student-produced plays collect theater awards
book cover in wood block stile image of fields and a comb
Photo Credit
Courtesy

From Amazon pastures to suburban lawns and groomed bodies: Anthropologist’s new book explores the meanings of plants and hair
nighttime photo of cars in the foreground, wildfire in the background

Six roads to safety: New study finds a critical threshold for wildfire survival
Whitecaps stir up on the ocean surface under dark clouds
Photo Credit
Oporkka via iStock
Climate dynamics can be quite nuanced, with far off winds influencing tropical oceans.

Distant winds can drive massive tropical warming deep below the ocean surface
photo of a brightly colored optical experiment
Photo Credit
Courtesy Image

Atomic physicist David Weld selected for 2026 National Brown Investigator Award
Dorit Hanein stands with other fellows in front of the capital
Photo Credit
Courtesy Dorit Hanein
Professor Dorit Hanein, center-left, newly elected fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, took part in the society's recent advocacy event in Washington D.C.

Professor Dorit Hanein recognized for pioneering high resolution cryo-imaging technologies
a section of cave with Native American art
Photo Credit
Doc Searles/ CC BY-SA 2.0
The rock art of the Chumash people, the original inhabitants of what are now Santa Barbara, Ventura, San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles and Kern counties

Professor Emerita Lynn Gamble receives lifetime achievement award as a California archaeologist
book cover inside abstracted image of book cover as blurry background

New collection examines the lasting effects of purity culture
Sunbeams filter down on a algae-covered rocks on a shallow seafloor.
Photo Credit
Johan Holmdahl via iStock
Oxygenated seafloors were likely the cradle of eukaryotic life.

Early complex life clung to oxygenated seafloors for hundreds of millions of years
Snags cover a mountainside under white puffy clouds.
Photo Credit
Cavan Images via iStock
Forests can’t offset emissions as a carbon store if trees are constantly succumbing to droughts, pests and fires.

Carbon markets underestimate the risks U.S. forests face from climate change
a gray whale blows in in the San Francisco Bay
Photo Credit
Darrin Allen © NOAA Permit #26532
The new technology will detect whales by sensing the heat of their blows with thermal imaging

New AI system uses cameras and thermal sensors to steer ships clear of gray whales in the San Francisco Bay
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