Founded in 1868, the University of California is widely respected as the best public university system in the world. UC researchers are pioneers in medicine, computers, biotech and agriculture. The University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), the lead campus for the MBEST Center, has internationally recognized faculty, staff, and facilities in earth and marine science, computer engineering and information science, biodiversity, agro-ecology, and environmental policy. For over a decade, the faculty's published research in the physical sciences has been referred to more often on average than that of any public research university in America. The campus also serves as a conduit to the research strengths and administrative experience of the entire UC system, including the national laboratories UC manages for the Department of Energy (Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore, and Los Alamos).

Technology transfer is the process of converting research into useful applications in society and evaluating the results. The process includes multiple feedback loops between researchers and those who commercialize research results. Technology transfer and regional economic development activities are key to the goals of the MBEST Center, with its focus on bringing together researchers and policymakers from government, industry, and universities in cooperative alliances to transform important technological innovation from the university to the benefit of society.

Some of the research activities facilitated by the MBEST Center:

Managing Habitat as Part of an Integrated Base Reuse-Over 55% of the UC lands at Fort Ord are designated as habitat and are considered a key reserve within the basewide habitat management plan.  This model of integrated habitat management is enabling successful base reuse through the preservation of the 605 acres of land at Fort Ord for teaching and research by the UC Natural Reserve System (NRS). Now an NRS Reserve, this land includes important maritime chaparral habitat for several rare and endangered species of plants and animals.

University Partners with Army for Environmental Technology Development -National labs and UCSC scientists are developing new technologies for environmental remediation at the former Fort Ord military base. Initial research spun out of this MBEST initiative includes geophysical and real-time hydrological studies of ground water; real-time environmental sensor development; and ecological studies related to landfill caps.

Marine Technologies-Several faculty and researchers at UCSC's Institute of Marine Sciences and the UCSC Baskin School of Engineering are developing a proposal to create a new, interdisciplinary marine technology center that would catalyze the development of, deployment of, and data integration from marine sensing technologies.   Initial discussions have focused on an interdisciplinary approach to design and implementation of applications of Marine Technologies that would include increased coordination with regional research partners around the Monterey Bay Crescent.

Vice Chancellor Margon oversees the Office of Research at UCSC and is responsible for the coordination and executive leadership of research administration and planning; development of research funding opportunities and growth strategies across all of UCSC's academic divisions; development of research policies; management of technology transfer activities; oversight of contracts, grants, and research compliance matters; and advocacy with local, state, and federal agencies for UCSC. He oversees programmatic activities of the UC MBEST Center.

Bruce Margon
Vice Chancellor for Research at UCSC