UCSC has given rise to Pulitzer Prize winners, Pew Scholars, All-American athletes, and National Academy of Sciences members.
Now the campus can also boast that it has a tree-climbing champion.
Staff tree trimmer Jessica Petrini won the women's division of the Western Chapter International Society of Arboriculture Tree Climbing Championships, held June 13-15 in Elk Grove.
"I was totally amazed," said Petrini, 34, of her win. "But really, it was just icing on the cake for me, because regardless of the outcome, I learned so much."
Her interest started in high school when she joined the Student Conservation Association, a nonprofit that offers conservation internships and summer trail crew opportunities to more than 3,000 people each year. She volunteered on a wilderness trail crew, then was hired onto a crew in Idaho.