Science

Our weekly news roundup includes an update on the cyclospora outbreak, stream health monitoring, new housing development in Monterey, and more.

UC Santa Cruz scientists are using bits of DNA shed over time to monitor stream health. And, a donation from the president of Open A-I pushes a fundraiser to buy land near Big Bear’s famous bald eagle nest beyond its goal.

Researchers monitor western snowy plover populations to see how these tiny shorebirds are slowly making a recovery along the West Coast.

After a federal grant was cancelled last year, Cal State Monterey Bay agriculture researchers will appear before a judge this week to appeal that decision. Plus, Republican Congressman Doug LaMalfa has died at 65. He represented rural northeastern California.

A paper published in November confirms that the Vistra battery fire in Moss Landing in January released heavy metal deposits into Elkhorn Slough Reserve. Researchers are now trying to understand what that means for the ecosystem.

The first report breaking down the value and vulnerability of surf breaks in Santa Cruz is out. And an indigenous Samoan chief who lives in Santa Cruz attends the inaugural Communicating Climate Solutions Symposium organized by the UC Santa Cruz Science Communication Program.

Monterey County has updates on cleanup efforts following the January battery plant fire. But residents and some supervisors remain frustrated by the lack of information about possible human and environmental health impacts. Ongoing research from Moss Landing Marine Labs may help answer their questions.

Scientists are gathering at the Asilomar Hotel and Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove for a meeting about technology and society 50 years after a conversation about genetic engineering and ethics began there, and the Santa Cruz County civil grand jury has published agency responses to its recommendations. They come from the board of supervisors, superintendent of schools, sheriff-coroner, city council and local agency formation commission.

The elementary-aged students from Tara Redwood School in Santa Cruz discovered a fossilized bone while exploring a creek last spring. The bone was from the arm of a Jefferson ground sloth — the first fossil to show the Ice Age creature lived in the Santa Cruz area.

For 50 years, fungiphiles have gathered at the Santa Cruz Fungus Fair to marvel at mushrooms. Last weekend, the three-day event returned in full force after three years of smaller, outdoor events during the pandemic.