The University of California, Santa Cruz community is home to several shared biomolecular resource facilities that can be accessed by our researchers and beyond. Here is a summary list prepared by the CSC, last updated on Jan 27, 2023 (if you work for a UCSC Core Facility, add its information to my list using this form). You can also go to a self-updating, public list on Core Marketplace of those with RRIDs. To add your facility, go here. To use the logo shown above (in a few different formats) and a slide with the list of facilities, see this slide deck.
| Facility | Contacts | Resources |
|---|---|---|
| Chemical Screening Center | Beverley Rabbitts | High throughput equipment available to trained users and chemical compound libraries. |
| Macromolecular Structure and Function | Sarvind Tripathi | crystallization and structure determination as wells as biophysical characterization of macromolecular stability and interactions. |
| Mass Spec Facility | Qianglii Zang | LC-MSLTQ and LTQ-Orbitrap Velos Pro MS |
| NMR Facility | Jack Lee | Three instruments for small molecules, proteins, and other biomolecules. |
| X-ray Crystallography Facility | Tim Johnstone | |
| cryoEM | Vitor Hugo Balasco Serrao | Transmission Electron Microscopy: Sample preparation, data collection and analysis |
| EPR | Kevin Singewald | |
| Life Sciences Microscopy Center | Ben Abrams | Microscopes, image processing and analysis software |
| CRISPR Core | Alice Devigne | CRISPR cell line, cloning, lentivirus, CRISPR screen, custom projects involving CRISPR |
| Flow Cytometry Facility | Bari Nazario | a flow cytometer and a FACS sorter |
| Cell Culture | Bari Nazario | Mammalian cell culturing biosafety cabinets, incubators, and other equipment. |
| Nanopore Sequencing | Brandy Baird | DNA sequencing and genomics |
| Banana Slug Genomics Center | Patricia Chan | Next generation sequencing data analysis and custom bioinformatics service |
| WM Keck Center for Nanoscale Optofluidics | Tom Yuzvinsky | Scanning electron microscopy & focused ion beam milling |
| ADDNAP | Beth Shapiro, Sarah Ford | Ancient and Degraded DNA Processing and Sequencing center. Illumina Sequencing, Ancient Sample Processing, Omni-C, Environmental DNA |
| Paleogenomics | Sarah Ford | |
| marine analytical lab | Brian Dreyer | Chemical analysis of environmental samples |
| plasma analytical lab | Brian Dreyer | Inorganic mass spectrometry |
| Organic Geochemistry Lab | Pratigya Polissar | |
| UCSC Cell Browser | Matthew Speir / Maximilian Haeussler | Single Cell Sequencing data analysis, repository, hosting and data visualisation |
| stable isotope lab (SiL) | Colin Carney | |
| Keck Isotope Lab | Terry Blackburn | isotopic analysis of trace metals |
| FE Scanning Electron Microscopy | Myriam Telus | high resolution microscopic imaging and elemental composition of samples (rocks, thin films, fibers, etc). |
| Greenhouse | Sylvie Childress | |
| Hydrogeology, Atmospheric Sciences, Glaciology, Fluvial Geomorphology, Active Tectonics, Rock Preparation, Geochronology, Mineral Physics, Paleomagnetism, Seismology, SCZ Seismographic Station |
Core facilities are a central part of the University’s mission. According to the 2024 Strategic Plan, UCSC’s five main growth areas are undergraduate and graduate education, research, community, and sustainability; under research, one major goal is to better “support the physical research infrastructure.” The plan describes how facilities are a part of how we obtain extramural funding and “bolster interdisciplinary, community-engaged, and center-scale work” (page 46). Core facilities also support the University’s other goals, including enhancing educational opportunities, developing areas of excellence, attracting and retaining faculty, and promotes equity. And in the case of the CSC, we reduce the environmental impact of research.