Features | Fall / Winter 2025
Features | Fall / WInter 2025
The calls alerting the winners went out at 3 a.m.; and texts started flying among our editorial team shortly thereafter: two UC Santa Barbara professors, Michel Devoret and John Martinis, have won the Nobel Prize in Physics for work they did together. Their reactions — and the science behind their breakthrough — are the focus of our cover story. Another highlight is a photo essay capturing Chancellor Dennis Assanis’ first few months on campus.
Also featured in this edition: a look back at artist and professor Kip Fulbeck’s “The Hapa Project,” exploring multiracial identity in America; a portrait of marine scientist Ben Halpern and why his new findings are critical to ocean health; physicist Ania Jayich’s reflections on her past as a tennis phenom, and how she brought that same grit and focus from the court to the lab.
And, as always, there are highlights from across campus and lively alumni features aplenty. Get to reading!
A Nobel pursuit
UCSB professors Michel Devoret and John Martinis win the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics for discoveries in quantum physics
Ben Halpern
The marine ecologist hopes we can look back on this era as the moment we decided to band together and avert disaster through collective and consistent action.
How the US became a science superpower
For decades, U.S. research leadership has been a defining national strength. Now, that long-held scientific edge is at risk.
A bright future
Chancellor Dennis Assanis brings global experience, academic excellence and a spirit of innovation to guide UC Santa Barbara
The art of being seen
Kip Fulbeck’s ‘The Hapa Project’ brings together voices and faces that defy easy categorization.