Above: Merrill College students on campus (photo by Carolyn Lagattuta)
Features:
Genomics for everyone
UC Santa Cruz scientists, along with a consortium of researchers, have released a draft of the first human pangenome—a new, usable reference for genomics that combines the genetic material of 47 individuals from different ancestral backgrounds to allow for a deeper, more accurate understanding of worldwide genomic diversity.
By Emily Cerf
Bene’t Benton connects throughtheater
Now in their senior year at UC Santa Cruz, Bene’t Benton (Porter, theater and Black studies) is looking forward to pursuing a career in theater with the goal of getting leadership experience and also writing and developing a solo theatrical piece that they can use toward ultimately being admitted to graduate school.
By Maureen Dixon Harrison
Wouldn’t it be great if you could return to UC Santa Cruz for a weekend with your college friends? Well, you can. This year, for the first time ever, UC Santa Cruz will host Return to the Redwoods, a program inviting all alumni and their friends and families to stay on campus this summer and join us for as many—or as few!—events and activities as you’d like.
Alumni profiles:
Coming to Fruition
UCSC alumni Tallula Preston and David Purgason founded Watsonville-based Fruition Brewing in 2019. Four years later, the duo’s establishment is a staple in the Santa Cruz and Watsonville communities.
By Haneen Zain
A daughter of a Vietnamese refugee and a Mexican immigrant, alumna Kim Bernice Nguyen advocates for her community as the youngest person to hold a seat on the Garden Grove City Council. In January, Nguyen announced her run for Congress.
By Haneen Zain
Alumnus Matthew Prescott’s career as a film editor developed progressively over time, and now he’s working on one of the most-watched shows on the CW Network, All American, which has been renewed for its sixth season.
By Maureen Dixon Harrison