Awards
Celebrating UC Santa Cruz’s national recognition for teaching, diversity, sustainability, and global impact.
Awards
2025
- No. 28 by Princeton Review Guide to Greenest Schools
- UCSC is one of nearly 30 institutions of higher education around the nation to have adopted the Okanagan Charter, also known as Health Promoting Universities.
- UCSC’s Grounds Department was awarded the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Achievement Award from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation.
- UCSC has been named a Designated Agricultural Experiment Station, underscoring more than a half century of pioneering work in organic farming. UCSC and UC Merced are the first UC campuses to receive this designation in 50 years.
- Associate Professor Joji Muramoto wins award for leadership in agricultural sustainability.
2024
- Excellence in undergraduate teaching, social mobility. UC Santa Cruz is No. 12 for undergraduate teaching among national public universities and also secured the No. 18 spot for social mobility among national public universities.
- UC Santa Cruz earns national acclaim: awarded NAFSA’S 2024 Senator Paul Simon Award for Comprehensive Internationalization.
- UC Santa Cruz has been awarded a 2024 STEMM Equity Achievement (SEA) Change Initiative Institutional Bronze Award. The award recognizes the university’s commitment to long-term, sustainable institutional transformation in support of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM) through self-assessment. Our campus’ commitment to disability inclusion and access was highlighted as a distinguishing feature of our ongoing work and Bronze Award action plan.
- No. 31 by Princeton Review Guide to Greenest Schools
2023
- “Kathleen Finlay brings UCSC education to the forefront”. The Audubon’s Rachel Carson Award is a national award which honors American women whose work has greatly advanced conservation locally and globally. Kathleen Finlay was one of three female leaders honored at the 20th annual Women in Conservation luncheon, hosted by the National Audubon Society at Bryant Park Grill in Manhattan. According to the Audubon Society’s event press release, the prestigious award recognizes visionary women whose “dedication, talent and energy have advanced positive environmental change locally and on a global scale.”
- UC Santa Cruz earns prestigious Seal of Excelencia certification for work as a Hispanic-Serving Institution.
- UC Santa Cruz designated as an Agricultural Experiment Station (AES) for “Underscoring more than a half century of pioneering work in organic farming” by president Drake. UCSC and Merced the first to receive this designation in 50 years!
2022
- No. 3 green college in the nation by Princeton Review. A testament to the campus’s longstanding commitment to environmental stewardship and sustainability.
- Top ranking of women in leadership at R1 universities. When it comes to women leading universities, UC Santa Cruz is first in the nation for racial and gender diversity in leadership. By Women’s Power Gap initiative (WPG)
- No. 2 public university in the U.S. for students focused on making a difference in the world by Princeton Review
2021
- UCSC named No. 3 public university for ‘making an impact’ by Princeton Review
2020
- UC Santa Cruz awarded “Best Practice Award in Social Equity & Justice” by the California Higher Education Sustainability Conference for our Expanding Sustainability: UCSC’s Diversity and Inclusion Certificate Program.
- World News and Reports placed UC Santa Cruz 4th in Nation for Social Mobility. The list measures how well universities graduated students who received federal Pell Grants, which are typically awarded to students who come from households that earn less than $50,000 annually. The ethnic diversity of UC Santa Cruz was also highlighted in the U.S. News and World Report rankings. US News and World Report’s diversity index for UC Santa Cruz was .72—with values closer to 1.0 meaning a student is more likely to run into students from a different ethnic group. Only ten universities across the United States had a higher index than UC Santa Cruz.
- UC Santa Cruz awarded with “Honorable Mention” by My Green Labs for International Freezer Challenge, the Biology Teaching Laboratories at the University of California Santa Cruz. For their reduction in the environmental impact of cold storage as well as improved sample integrity and sample accessibility.
- The National Science Foundation awarded Jennifer Derr of UC Santa Cruz the “Early CAREER Award” for their contributions to the History of Science at the Interface of Biomedical and Environmental Concerns“.
- Savannah Shange of UC Santa Cruz was awarded the “Award for Community Engagement and Scholar Activism by UC Davis”
- The American Anthropological Association awarded Mayanthi Fernando of UC Santa Cruz the “AAA President’s Award” for “putting together (the Awards’) virtual Raising Our Voices series and for (her) work co-organizing Distribute 2020, another virtual conference explicitly designed as a model for carbon-conscious conferencing.”
2019
- U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges Guidebook ranked UC Santa Cruz as 2nd in nation for “Top Performers for Social Mobility“
- UC Santa Cruz placed 4th in The Global Bike Challenge.
- UC Santa Cruz’s People of Color Sustainability Collective won the Outstanding Student Program Award from NASPA’s Indigenous Peoples Knowledge Community.
- Anne Kapuscinski, professor of environmental studies and director of the Coastal Science and Policy Program, received the “Ocean Award for Innovation” her work in aquaculture and the development of microalgae feed for farmed fish.
- AASHE’s Sustainable Campus Index recognized UC Santa Cruz as a top 10 performer in “Investment & Finance” and sustainable “Research”.
- UC Santa Cruz renewed its Silver level status as a Bike Friendly Campus from the League of American Bicyclists.
2018
The UC Santa Cruz S-Lab earns a Best Practice award from the California Higher Education Sustainability Conference. Learn more.
2017
- UC Santa Cruz is one of the 20 greenest colleges in the country, according to the Sierra magazine’s “Cool Schools” ranking. Learn more.
- UC Santa Cruz ranks No. 7 in The Princeton Review’s first list of the top 50 green colleges. Learn more.
- The People of Color Sustainability Collective wins a Best Practice award from the California Higher Education Sustainability Conference. Learn more.
2016
- The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) gives Sustainability Champion award to UC Santa Cruz alumnus Mark Lipson, currently a researcher with UCSC’s Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems. Learn more.
- Graduate student Joseph Hoyt is awarded a Switzer Environmental Fellowship. Learn more.
- UC Office of the President recognizes Dr. Sue Carter’s efforts to deepen climate change teaching and research at UC Santa Cruz. Learn more.
- CHESC “Sustainability Innovations” award for UCSC’s Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality by 2025: In 2013, UC President Janet Napolitano committed the UC system to reaching carbon neutrality by 2025. Around this time, UCSC was beginning to consider the impacts of pending Cap & Trade regulation. UCSC therefore invested in a comprehensive Climate & Energy Strategy (CES) to address how the campus could reach carbon neutrality by 2025 and mitigate the financial impacts of Cap & Trade regulation associated with campus growth. The resulting collaborative process developed an integrated and dynamic plan presenting an array of strategies that includes specific projects, policies and procurements, and detailing financial and emissions impacts and risks.
- CHESC “Sustainability in Academics: Science, Technology, Engineering and Math” award for UCSC Sustainability Studies & Sustainable Living Undergraduate Research Program. Learn more.
- CHESC “Energy Efficiency in Existing Design: Lighting Design/Retrofit” Learn more.
2015
- The EPA recognizes that the UCSC campus achieved impressive source reduction of wasted food through a variety of approaches involving both staff and students. Learn more.
- UC Santa Cruz wins a Best Practice award for drought planning and water conservation efforts at the California Higher Education Sustainability Conference. Learn more.
- Grad student Sarah Kienle is one of four students nationwide selected by NOAA to receive a 2015 Nancy Foster Scholarship. Learn more.
- UCSC is awarded the University of California President’s Award for Campus Excellence in Environmental Health and Safety. Learn more.
- Julie Guthman, UC Santa Cruz professor of social sciences, whose research looks at agricultural systems, food justice issues, and environmental health, is selected to receive the 2015 Excellence in Research Award from the Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society. Learn more.
- A prestigious governor’s award is given to the City of Santa Cruz and UCSC for the creation of Green Wharf, a program designed to foster the development and incorporation of innovative technology into the structure and operations at the Santa Cruz Wharf. Learn more.
Sustainability Champions
January 2025 – Sustainability Champion: Salvador Peña
Salvador Peña, Resource Recovery Superintendent at UC Santa Cruz, is our champion this month. Learn more about Sal and his contributions for a more sustainable campus.
November 2024 – Sustainability Champion: Derek Martin
Derek Martin, former Sustainability Programs Manager made many contributions during his three years at UC Santa Cruz. Learn more about him and his work.
Summer 2024 – Sustainability Champion: Gabriel Schiering
In this issue, the Sustainability Champion is Gabriel Schiering, who began a composting program at Oakes College with great success.
May 2024 – Sustainability Champion: Meg Kobe
In this issue, the Sustainability Champion is Meg Kobe – Director for Student Health Outreach & Promotion (SHOP) in the Student Health Center at UCSC.
April 2024 – Sustainability Champion: Yihsu Chen
In this issue, the Sustainability Champion is Yihsu Chen, Professor – Technology Management in Sustainability Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at UCSC.
March 2024 – Sustainability Champion: Peter Weiss
In this issue, the Sustainability Champion is Peter Weiss, faculty researcher & lecturer in Chemistry & Biochemistry, Microbiology & Environmental Toxicology Departments at UCSC.
