In the 21st century the world’s greatest challenge is arresting the rapidly increasing accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that cause climate change. We recognize that the U.S. and China are the two largest producers of greenhouse gases. Consequently, any efforts that attempt to comprehensively address climate change must involve China. The Santa Cruz Energy & Resources Collaborative (SCERC) is a student-led organization whose mission is to connect and educate the University of California, Santa Cruz energy and resources community. SCERC is modeled after and allied with the Berkeley Energy and Resource Collaborative (BERC) at the University of California, Berkeley. SCERC acts as a hub that connects the many departments, programs, and labs affiliated with UC Santa Cruz including the Jack Baskin School of Engineering, Physics Department, Economics Department, Environmental Studies Program, Chemistry Department, Politics Department, UCSC Sustainability Office, University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) at NASA Ames, Science Technology Engineering Policy and Society project (STEPS), Quantum Electronics Group, UC Santa Cruz Silicon Valley Initiatives, Chancellor’s Advisory Council on Climate Change, NASA Ames ARC laboratories, Campus Sustainability Subcommittee, Santa Cruz Campus Sustainability Council, Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology Department, and others.

In an effort to promote productive applications of UC Santa Cruz’s research, technology, and leadership in energy efficiency we forge connections with the larger Green Tech community that is growing in Silicon Valley, the greater Bay Area, and beyond. Thus, in addition to connecting to the best and brightest innovators and supporters of Green Tech in California, SCERC forges strategic relationships with the emerging Green Tech community in China in an effort to develop partnerships that are necessary to appropriately address the scope of the problem of global warming.