Tamara Afifi’s research examines how family and relational communication under stress affects personal, relational, and physiological health, and explores information regulation practices like avoidance, privacy, secrets, and stress contagion.

Sociocultural linguistics; language and identity; language and youth; language and race; language, gender, and sexuality; African American English; Chicano English and Spanish; language in California; discourse, cognition, and culture

Dr. Andrea S. Carlini's research focuses on developing dynamic biomaterials and devices using photo-induced processes, particularly through NITEC chemistry, to create fluorescent probes, polymers, and hydrogels for material assembly and reactive oxygen species sensing.

U.S. Spanish-language media; Chicana and Latina popular culture; radio and sound practices; racial politics of language; accent studies; language learning technologies.

Interested in analyzing the intersections of race, gender, regional, and transnational migration in the Mexico-U.S. borderlands.

Dr. de Vries, a Professor of Physical Chemistry at UCSB, specializes in laser spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, photochemistry, and the UV photodynamics of DNA.

Bridgette Degnan, a graduate student in Archaeology at UC Santa Barbara, investigates how complex social systems in the Maya region adapt to environmental instability, with interests in economic systems, social networks, and computational archaeology.

Somayeh is an associate professor at UC Santa Barbara specializing in spatial data science, leading the MOVE Lab, and focusing on data-driven analytics and modeling of movement in ecological and social systems.

Alex Eleazar, a PhD candidate with a background in migration, gender, and postcolonial feminist theory, explores the impact of digital labor economies and colonial legacies on privileged migrants in Guatemala.

Dr. Gardner's research investigates how eukaryotic cells manage the biogenesis, growth, division, and specialization of peroxisomes, focusing on the role of approximately 30 Pex proteins in creating peroxisomes from scratch.

Elisa Halewood, the laboratory manager at UCSB’s Carlson lab, specializes in microbial oceanography and the biogeochemical cycling of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in marine environments.

Equity issues in education for Chicanas/os, Chicana feminist theory, media representations of Latinos & other ethnic & racial groups, social identity, including ethnic identity

Jennifer Kam uses quantitative and qualitative methods to study how structural barriers impact the health and wellbeing of immigrant youth and their families. She also researches factors at various levels—individual, interpersonal, community, institutional, and cultural—that promote resilience and thriving.

María Lumbreras, a historian of early modern Iberian art and visual culture, explores antiquarianism, replication, and material experimentation in her research on the intersection of artistic and scientific practices in Habsburg Spain.

Dr. Mavel Marina, an international specialist at UCSB, oversees the Exchange Program for International Academics and Researchers, advising on immigration regulations and managing the paperless system.

Julien Middleton, a Ph.D. isotope geochemist from MIT-WHOI, is a Postdoctoral Investigator at UC Santa Barbara. They specialize in marine isotope geochemistry.

William Nomikos, a scholar in International Relations, focuses on how identity and domestic politics influence international intervention and peacekeeping, with research on civil wars, climate change, and identity politics.

Ryoko Oono's research focuses on the evolution of plant-microbe symbiotic relationships, using genetic and experimental methods to study legume-rhizobia interactions and foliar fungal endophytes.

Prof. Oropeza's research focuses on optimizing manufacturing processes to control material microstructure and performance, integrating material science and mechanical engineering for applications in aerospace, prosthetics, energy, robotics, and hypersonics.

Sociocultural linguistics; linguistic anthropology; community-centered ethnography; critical disability studies; autism; bilingualism; communication technologies; embodiment; Latinx linguistic practices; social justice; Spanish; translanguaging

Anastasia Quintana is a professional researcher at UCSB focusing on the human dimensions of small-scale fisheries management and coastal conservation, employing mixed methods to study fisherfolk cooperation in the face of global pressures.

Equity in mathematics education across the P-20 continuum, mathematics language routines in K-12 education, bilingual mathematics instruction, postsecondary mathematics, and higher education research.

Nick Saglimbeni, a PhD student at UCSB, specializes in optimizing restoration projects in coastal ecosystems affected by invasive Carpobrotus edulis and exploring restoration in the context of changing fire regimes.

Transnational Migration and Children of Immigrants; Identity and Community Formation; Oaxaca, Los Angeles

Immigrant-origin youth, family-school relationships, educational policy and evaluation, qualitative research methods, school choice, college access, educational equity.

The Sepunaru Lab specializes in electrocatalysis across both macro and nanoscale dimensions, as well as bioelectrochemistry, with a particular emphasis on biosensor applications.

Dario Trujano Ochoa is a Ph.D. candidate at UCSB in Experimental and Behavioral Economics, focusing on higher-order beliefs, willingness to pay for information, risk preferences, and misinformation.