/ Summer 2025 Content for UC º£½ÇÔ­´´ en /magazine/park-life <p><span>Did Al Capone have an outpost in the Everglades? How do inanimate stones manage to slide across the flat landscape of Death Valley National Park? And what happened to the lost colony of Roanoke?</span></p><p><span>For outdoor writer Mike Bezemek ’03, these tantalizing mysteries, and many others, are the subject of his new book, </span><em><span>Mysteries of the National Parks: 35 Stories of Baffling Disappearances, Unexplained Phenomena, and More </span></em><span>(Sourcebooks, 2025)</span><em><span>.</span></em></p> June 02, 2025 - 12:58pm Jocelyn C Anderson /magazine/park-life /magazine/phd-alum-kathleen-duval-wins-pulitzer-prize <p>Kathleen DuVal, Ph.D. ’01, won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in History for her book <em>Native Nations: A Millennium in North America</em> (Random House, 2024). Prize winners were announced on May 5.</p><p>The announcement comes in addition to other prestigious awards DuVal has already received for the book, including the Bancroft Prize, the Cundill History Prize and the Mark Lynton History Prize.</p><p>DuVal said the positive reception to the book was apparent immediately.</p> May 21, 2025 - 9:40am Jocelyn C Anderson /magazine/phd-alum-kathleen-duval-wins-pulitzer-prize /magazine/meet-law-and-economy-expert <figure role="group" class="caption caption-drupal-media"> <div class="media media--type-sf-image-media-type media--view-mode-sf-landscape-16x9"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/sf_landscape_16x9/public/media/images/Shayak-Sarkar-UC-º£½ÇÔ­´´.jpg?h=854a7be2&amp;itok=mpG1lXfq" width="1280" height="720" alt="Man leans against a table in an outdoor patio" typeof="Image" class="image-style-sf-landscape-16x9"> </div> <figcaption>Professor Shayak Sarkar (Gregory Urquiaga/UC º£½ÇÔ­´´)</figcaption> </figure> <p>&nbsp;</p> May 19, 2025 - 9:00am Jocelyn C Anderson /magazine/meet-law-and-economy-expert /magazine/get-know-people-and-projects-behind-aggie-square <p><span>Aggie Square, the $1.1 billion innovation district that will bring together UC º£½ÇÔ­´´â€™ cutting-edge research with private-sector companies and startups, officially opened May 2. The innovation district is next door to UC º£½ÇÔ­´´ Health in the heart of Sacramento’s Oak Park neighborhood, and features everything from housing to research facilities.&nbsp;</span><br><br><span>Here’s a roundup of articles detailing Aggie Square’s launch, the people behind the project, new tenants and future events.</span></p> May 19, 2025 - 9:00am Jocelyn C Anderson /magazine/get-know-people-and-projects-behind-aggie-square /magazine/will-we-have-wildflower-superbloom-year <p><span>Every few years, hillsides and valleys become blanketed in wildflowers, drawing in crowds of visitors. Jennifer Funk, ecologist and professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC º£½ÇÔ­´´, helped explain the science behind the superbloom phenomenon.&nbsp;</span></p><h2><span><strong>What is a superbloom?</strong></span></h2><p><span>A superbloom is a significant appearance of wildflowers, compared to a normal year.</span></p> May 19, 2025 - 9:00am Jocelyn C Anderson /magazine/will-we-have-wildflower-superbloom-year /magazine/supportive-network <p>Shane Snyder ’89 can relate to the challenges his clients face at the Society for the Blind in Sacramento.</p><p>As the director of programs, Snyder helps connect people to resources they need to build independent living skills when they lose their sight. But personally, he also has confronted vision loss due to Usher syndrome, a congenital degenerative condition that affects both eyes and ears.</p><p>“I had to learn some new ways to do the things I already knew how to do,â€� said Snyder, who wears aids to help with hearing.</p> May 19, 2025 - 9:00am Jocelyn C Anderson /magazine/supportive-network /magazine/davis-cool-says-mydaviscalifornia <p><span>Everyone’s been there: first time in a new town, in search of coffee or a bite to eat or a park to pass the time.</span></p><p><span>A web search may not visualize the experience of going to these businesses quite like social media. YouTube vlogs and TikTok videos let viewers visit any restaurant or attraction anywhere, with the ease of a swipe.</span></p> May 19, 2025 - 9:00am Jocelyn C Anderson /magazine/davis-cool-says-mydaviscalifornia /magazine/caring-kittens <p><span>Kaya Miller, a second-year UC º£½ÇÔ­´´ undergraduate, introduces her three 3-week-old foster kittens: Anna, Elsa and Merida. She explains that as a busy student, she and her roommate have taken on alternating shifts feeding and cleaning the kittens. “It’s a lot of dedication; we have to wake up every two hours, but it's so worth it,â€� she said.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p><p><span>Miller is a volunteer foster within the Orphan Kitten Project, or OKP, a nonprofit, vet-student-run club that has rescued and rehabilitated neonatal kittens since 1988.</span></p> May 19, 2025 - 9:00am Russell L Thebaud /magazine/caring-kittens /magazine/college-experience-comes-close <p><span>When I first came to UC º£½ÇÔ­´´ four years ago, I had no idea how much college would shape me academically, personally and professionally.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span>As someone from a mid-sized suburb, I saw the city of º£½ÇÔ­´´ as a small town in the middle of nowhere without much to do. I ultimately decided to come to º£½ÇÔ­´´ because it was somewhat close to my hometown and had good academics. And over the past four years my feelings about º£½ÇÔ­´´ have changed immensely.&nbsp;</span></p> May 19, 2025 - 9:00am Jocelyn C Anderson /magazine/college-experience-comes-close /magazine/revisiting-medical-marvel <p>When drug breakthroughs happen, the medical community rejoices. But some people can be left behind. Case in point: Rapamycin. Now a UC º£½ÇÔ­´´ professor is investigating how to bring back the benefits of a revolutionary drug to the people who were there from the beginning.</p> May 19, 2025 - 9:00am Russell L Thebaud /magazine/revisiting-medical-marvel