By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Two dozen scientists and engineers from UC Santa Cruz have earned a spot on the 2024 Highly Cited Researchers list, which was recently unveiled by Clarivate.
The list acknowledges researchers around the globe whose papers rank in the top 1% by citations for their respective fields and year of publication, highlighting their substantial influence in the research community. Six UC Santa Cruz researchers have joined the list since 2023, when 18 UCSC researchers were honored.
Among the UC Santa Cruz faculty honored are Jonathan Fortney and J. Xavier Prochaska, professors of astronomy and astrophysics; Garth Illingworth, distinguished professor emeritus of astronomy and astrophysics; David Haussler, distinguished professor of biomolecular engineering and director of the UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute; Karen Miga, associate professor of biomolecular engineering; Benedict Paten, professor of biomolecular engineering; and Shaowei Chen and Yat Li, both professors of chemistry and biochemistry.
The list also includes Mark Diekhans, technical director of the Genomics Institute’s Computational Genomics Laboratory, and James Kent, creator and director of the UC Santa Cruz Genome Browser, along with 11 other current and former members of the Genome Browser Team: Galt Barber, Jonathan Casper, Hiram Clawson, Maximilian Haeussler, Angie Hinrichs, Robert Kuhn, Brian T. Lee, Matthew Speir, Brian Raney, Kate Rosenbloom and Ann Zweig.
Two researchers who list their secondary affiliation as UC Santa Cruz made the list: Steven Bograd, adjunct professor of ocean sciences and program lead for climate and ecosystem at the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration; and Rychard Bouwens, former UCSC postdoctoral fellow and now an associate professor at Leiden University in the Netherlands.
The 2024 Highly Cited Researchers list includes 6,886 influential researchers hailing from diverse fields and representing 59 countries and regions. The University of California system’s 10 campuses perform exceptionally well.
Go to clarivate.com/highly-cited-researchers/ to see the full 2024 Highly Cited Researchers list and executive summary.
Santa Cruz County Bank hires senior vice president
Santa Cruz County Bank recently announced that it hired Alison Voorhees as senior vice president and director of marketing.
“Alison brings a wealth of bank marketing experience and fresh perspectives to help us continue our mission of serving the community with excellence,” Krista Snelling, Santa Cruz County Bank president and CEO, said in a statement. “We are confident that under her leadership our brand, built over the past two decades, will continue to flourish and evolve in exciting ways that remain true to our roots.”
Voorhees spent more than 20 years in marketing with extensive experience in branding, rebranding and creative direction, business and creative writing, corporate and executive communications, strategic business and marketing campaigns, media partnerships and community relations. She is a certified financial marketing professional, certified digital marketing professional and professional certified marketer in digital marketing.
“Joining a talented team of leaders at such a beloved community banking institution is a dream move for my career. I am honored to be entrusted with taking up the marketing mantle to shape the future of the Santa Cruz County Bank brand and beyond,” Voorhees said in a statement.
Sempervirens Fund welcomes new board member
Dana McRae, a resident of Santa Cruz and the former county counsel for Santa Cruz County, has joined the Sempervirens Fund board of directors. She served as the county’s main legal representative for more than 20 years and remains heavily involved in the Santa Cruz community.
“As a lifelong resident of Santa Cruz, I know the important work that Sempervirens Fund is doing to protect the redwoods in the Santa Cruz mountains and to make our communities more resilient against wildfire,” said Dana McRae in a statement. “I look forward to working alongside the board of directors to make sure Sempervirens is in the best position possible to sustain our work far into the future and maximize our impact for the natural resources and people in our region.”
In 2021, McRae was appointed to the 14th District Agricultural Association (Santa Cruz County Fair) by Gov. Gavin Newsom where she now serves as the vice president on their board of directors. She is active in the University of California’s Master Gardener program and enjoys being outside in nature hiking, riding horses, and taking in the beauty of the Santa Cruz mountains.
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