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Meet the Norris Center Team

    Ingrid M. Parker

  • No alternative text

    Faculty Director
    Email: imparker@ucsc.edu
    Phone: 831-459-5017
    Office: CSC Coastal Biology Building, 260
    Mailstop: CBB/EE Biology

    I am an evolutionary ecologist who loves plants. I do research at the boundary between basic and applied science, collaborating with practitioners to restore and protect native biodiversity. I am also interested in how students develop a sense of belonging and research identity in the classroom and in field courses, and I incorporate natural history into my teaching wherever possible! I owe a boundless debt of gratitude to Ken Norris and Steve Gliessman, who introduced me to the magic of California nature through Natural History Field Quarter in 1987.

    • Karolina Karlic

  • Karolina Karlic

    Art + Science Faculty Director
    Email: kkarlic@ucsc.edu
    Phone: 831-459-1379
    Office: Digital Arts Research Center, DARC # 239
    Mailstop: DARC
    UCSC Directory

    I am an artist and the inaugural Art + Science Faculty Director of the Norris Center. My goal in this role is to strengthen connections between the arts and the natural world. I have a mission to cultivate a thriving community passionate about natural history in all aspects of life. I am interested in bringing new prospects for enriching the integration of the arts and sciences within the Norris Center at UCSC, offering valuable opportunities for students, faculty, and the community to explore and grow. I have a mission to share my achievements as an arts scholar, a Guggenheim Fellow, a social practice facilitator and as a principal faculty in the Arts MFA program in Environmental Art + Social Practice Program with our community at UCSC.

    I am the founder and director of Unseen California, an arts research initiative which engages with artist-researchers, humanities scholars, scientists, and the public land of UC Natural Reserve System (UCNRS) to produce urgent creative research that frames California’s cultural histories and ecological landscapes beyond colonial perspectives while supporting new opportunities for public engagement

  • Chris Lay

  • Picture of Chris LayNorris Center Director
    Email: cml@ucsc.edu
    Phone: (831) 459-4763
    Office: Natural Sciences 2, Room 241
    Mailstop: ENVS

    • Gizelle Hurtado

  • Photo of Gizelle Hurtado

    Norris Center Assistant Director
    Email: gimhurta@ucsc.edu
    Phone: (831) 459-4763
    Room: Natural Sciences 2, Room 239
    Mailstop: ENVS

    I am Latina, with Mayan and Spanish hertiage. I have studied wildlife, natural history, and ecology in many parts of Northern California and in Southern New Mexico. My academic background is in urban ecology, mammals, oak woodlands, behavior, population genetics and wildlife diseases. I have a passion for teaching natural history and ecology, and I am excited to be here at the Norris Center!

    • Christian Schwarz

  • Christian Schwarz

    Research Associate and Fungal Museum Curator
    Email: cschwarz@ucsc.edu
    Phone: (831) 459-4763
    Office: Natural Sciences 2, Room 241
    Mailstop: ENVS

    Christian is a lecturer for ENVS 19- Natural History of Fungi, Introduction to Community Science.

     

    • Andy Kulikowski

  • Norris Center Research Fellow
    Email: akulikow@ucsc.edu
    Room: Natural Sciences 2, Room 239
    Mailstop: ENVS

     

    Dr. Kulikowski has been the primary entomologist working with the Norris Center for the last five years. He has led much of the effort to curate the Randall Morgan Insect Collection (RMIC) with a taxonomic focus on flies in the family Syrphidae. He has also mentored numerous Norris Center undergraduates and is currently leading research on long-term trends in plant-pollinator communities of California’s coastal dune ecosystems. He serves as the primary instructor for ENVS 108 General Entomology at UCSC.

    • Al Keuter

  • Al Keuter

    Herbarium Vascular Plants Curator
    Email: norris@ucsc.edu
    Phone: (831) 459-4763
    Office: Natural Sciences 2, Room 241 (Thursdays)
    Mailstop: ENVS

    Driven by a lifetime quest to learn what things are and how they work, I'm lucky enough to spend time at the Norris Center each week with a wonderful crew of highly qualified and equally motivated fellow community volunteers.

    • Suzanne Schettler

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    Herbarium Volunteer
    Email: norris@ucsc.edu
    Phone: (831) 459-4763
    Office: Natural Sciences 2, Room 241 (Thursdays)
    Mailstop: ENVS

    I have been a plant nerd since I was a child.  I am a life member of the California Native Plant Society.  I have been active - and president - in three different chapters of CNPS and was the state president for three years.  Over time I have become a decent botanist and really enjoy mounting plant specimens.  It's an aesthetic exercise and educational process.