Dear readers,

Construction on campus is in full swing this spring, and in the spirit of our ever-evolving university, the BSR team has had the opportunity to cover the ever-evolving science happening inside (and sometimes outside, as you can read in our From the Field by Erin Person) its walls. As Editor in Chief, it has been a pleasure to collaborate with our exceptional team of authors, editors, and designers on my second issue of the Berkeley Science Review. I’ve been working away from campus this semester, and while I’ve missed the construction in person, I’ve found that continuing to be involved with BSR has kept me connected to UC Berkeley and its scientific landscape that we are so lucky to be a part of. I’m excited to share Issue 46 of the Berkeley Science Review with you, and I hope you find the same connection I’ve felt with researchers across campus through the stories we’ve shared here.

I’ve found that each year, the BSR receives pitches that are reflective of the most important concerns and joys that scientists are currently tackling. For this issue, these topics happened to be AI—whether it be in voice training for transgender people, which Irian D’Andrea writes about in “Hey Siri, do I sound like a girl?” or in the mimicking of celebrity voices that is featured in “Mad Bunny”—and entropic materials, which Sam Oaks-Leaf and Christopher Ye tackle in “Bridging the bandgap” and “Woven from chaos,” respectively. Looking for tools to develop your own entropic materials? Check out our toolbox by Dominic Russo, “Material girl in a digital world.”

Outside of these topics, we’ve learned that UC Berkeley researchers are tackling other interesting problems, including the monitoring of Cal’s own falcons in “Swooping into our hearts” by Elizabeth Lineberry and the importance of tracking environmental DNA in “The tip of the iceberg” by Jules Perez. In all, this issue highlights the many scientific challenges that graduate students and post-docs at UC Berkeley find most engaging and important, and our team is incredibly excited to share the trials and triumphs of this research with you.

Along with our incredible authors, we have many other contributors to thank for their contributions to this issue. Our editing team has curated the articles that you’ll read here about the exciting science happening at UC Berkeley. Every piece has been illustrated by our design team, led by our new Art Director, Madeleine Snyder. Our Managing Editor, Héctor Torres Vera, continues to guide our team with excellent insight. Finally, we’d like to thank our generous donors for their support, especially the Karmon family.

Without further ado, we hope you enjoy Issue 46 of the Berkeley Science Review.

Sincerely,

Sheridon Kelly

This article is part of the Spring 2024 issue.