ACHS

The participants can stay at the UCSB Residence Halls for a low, fixed fee that includes room, breakfasts and dinners; see the Registration Page for details. The participants can also stay in hotels in Goleta and Santa Barbara; the UCSB Conference Services will send you all relevant information.

The lunches will be catered at the conference building for all participants. There will be 2 coffee breaks, one in the morning and one the afternoon between lectures. We have also planned a banquet dinner for all participants and lecturers on Wednesday night in a Santa Barbara restaurant. There will also be a wine and cheese panel and discussion session on Friday afternoon. The workshop registration fee covers all events.

Santa Barbara is accessible via Santa Barbara Airport (SBA) or via several airports in Los Angeles, including LAX. For those who come to Los Angeles may consider using the privately operated bus called Santa Barbara Airbus which runs buses from LAX to Santa Barbara every 2-3 hours.

Santa Barbara is situated on a narrow coastal plain in a setting of great natural beauty. The Pacific Ocean and the Channel Islands lie to the south (the coast runs east-to-west in this part of California) and Goleta, where UC Santa Barbara is located, is to the west. The Santa Ynez Mountains (up to 1300m) rise directly to the north with more extensive mountain ranges and a large wilderness area behind them. The Santa Ynez Valley, is shaped by the Santa Ynez River, which runs from the County’s eastern mountains in the Los Padres National Forest to the ocean west of Lompoc. The Valley has major vineyards and wineries is about a 35 min drive to the northwest. The location and near perfect year round weather make Santa Barbara a popular tourist destination.

Because the coastal plain narrows to the east and the west, the Santa Barbara area is isolated from other populated areas with the nearest communities being more than 50 km away, both down the coast towards Los Angeles and up the coast towards San Francisco. The Santa Barbara metropolitan area has a population of about 210,000 and routinely ranks in the top five or so locations in the US in terms of recreational opportunities because of the proximity of both the ocean and mountains.

This area has a mild, maritime climate, and weather in August is usually sunny and pleasant with low humidity. Average high and low temperatures are 23° and 15° C along the coast but it can be considerably hotter several km inland. It virtually never rains in August (the long term average is < 0.3 mm). Nights can be cool and there is occasional coastal fog in the mornings and evenings. Many people will want a jacket or sweater for morning and night times.

The University of California Santa Barbara is actually near the town of Goleta, 12 km west of downtown Santa Barbara and 150 km from Los Angeles. It has a student body of about 21,000 and is located on 1,055 acres overlooking the Pacific. More than 200 majors, degrees, and credentials are offered through UCSB's five colleges and the Graduate Division. Engineering and the sciences are particularly strong at UCSB, and five faculty members have received Nobel Prizes since 1998. Beaches and natural, protected habitats are on or immediately adjacent to campus.