Crown Provost
Vision for Crown
Provost Camps has a deep commitment to undergraduate and graduate education. His goal as the academic director of Crown is to promote an inclusive environment that fosters the personal and academic growth of students with a wide diversity of interests and identities. A critical element
in Provost Camps’ vision is the promotion of cross-disciplinary, skills-based, project-oriented instruction through elective classes in entrepreneurship, communication, and scientific modeling. A second element in Provost Camps’ vision is connecting students with the real world through experiential learning opportunities, both as a way of “learning by doing” and as a way to facilitate our student’s transition into professional careers. This involves partnerships with UCSC’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Development (CIED), the KZSC radio
station, and our Division of Global Engagement (offering Crown-sponsored summer classes abroad, see Global Seminars). Finally, Provost Camps also looks for ways to support student creativity (see Creative Corner tab) and to connect Crown’s dedicated alumni with current students (see Alumni tab).
Dr. Manel Camps
Origins and Evolution
Provost Manel Camps is a Full Professor in Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology and an affiliated faculty member of the Department of Biomolecular Engineering. He graduated with honors from the Autonomous University of Barcelona with a degree in Veterinary Medicine. With the support of a prestigious “La Caixa” Scholarship, he went on to obtain a Ph. D. in Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford under Dr. John Boothroyd’s mentorship. Before joining the faculty at UC Santa Cruz, Manel Camps completed postdoctoral work with Dr. Larry Loeb at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he established the basis for his current research on molecular mechanisms of evolution. See Dr. Camps’ research profile.
Teaching
Depending on the year, Provost Camps teaches or co-teaches the following undergraduate
classes: Human Anatomy (METX135), Human Anatomy Lab (METX135L), Human Cadaver
Dissection (METX135C), and Physiology of Disease (METX41). He also co-teaches the
following graduate classes: Advanced Prokaryotic Biology (METX206), Molecular Pathogenesis (METX238), and Mechanisms of Antibiotic Resistance (METX215).
Leading Next-Gen Entrepreneurs
In 2021 Provost Camps was appointed Director for the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Development (CIED), which promotes the development, research, and teaching of innovation and entrepreneurship at UC Santa Cruz. CIED works in close partnership with the Innovation and Business Engagement Hub and with the Student Creativity Empowerment and Entrepreneurship association (SCEE).
METX Camps Laboratory
In the Department of Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology (METX), Provost Camps directs a team of scientists that studies molecular mechanisms of evolution. The Camps laboratory provides a comprehensive scientific training that prepares students for future careers in science, health-related professions, or medicine.
The Camps laboratory research program focuses on the following five areas: 1) laboratory models of adaptive evolution, 2) evolution of antibiotic resistance at the genomic level, 3) laboratory models of horizontal gene transfer, 4) multicopy plasmid replication and maintenance, and 5) toxin-antitoxin systems. See Dr. Camps’ list of publications.
