A pandemic year in 20 photos

In August, two graduate students discussed their work on opposite sides of one of several barriers constructed from stainless steel garment racks and sheets of polycarbonate. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)

A close-up photo of University Health Services infection control manager Lisa Polley readying a syringe for the vaccine clinic in Pauley Ballroom at the MLK Jr. Student Union. She's wearing a Cal face mask and purple protective gloves.

Lisa Polley, infection control manager for University Health Services, readied a vaccine syringe last month. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)

Two students walk toward Sather Gate on a virtually empty campus during the coronavirus pandemic.

The few students who returned to Berkeley in August found a desolate campus. (UC Berkeley photo by Irene Yi)

Berkeley’s athletic venues were empty most of the year. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)

With dining facilities closed for eating, Cal Dining staff members prepared takeout boxes so students could eat in their rooms. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)

Copy-of-20201007_NobelDoudna_bhs_022-scaled

In October, professor Jennifer Doudna took questions from the media at a socially distanced press conference after winning the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)

Supria Sharma, a first year student, sticks a swab up her nose doing a self-administered COVID-19 test at a University Health Services tent before school starts. SHe is wearing a red mask

Students living in residence halls were required to be regularly tested for COVID-19. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)

MinorHallCOVIDfacialrecognitiondevice750

Many buildings, like Minor Hall, pictured here, could only be accessed after a temperature screening. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)

Residents of Hillegass Parker House, a student co-op in Berkelely, sit at their dining room table and assemble face masks. A Christmas tree is in the background.

In December, a group of students constructed masks as part of a mutual aid effort begun at Berkeley. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)

Connor Tsuchida, a graduate student in Doudna's lab

Soon after the pandemic hit, the lab at the Innovative Genomics Institute began conducting tests for COVID-19. (UC Berkeley photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)

When the annual commencement ceremony in May was canceled, a simulated event was held in Blockeley University, a fantastical recreation of Berkeley built by a group of students and alumni using Minecraft. (Image by Blockeley University)

Early in 2021, students, staff and faculty could get a drive-through COVID-19 test at Underhill Parking Gararage. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)

After a brief hiatus, all of Cal’s 30 intercollegiate athletic programs competed under COVID-19 protocols. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)

Two men in yellow safety vests stand outside on either side of an open sewer drain. Between them sits a wastewater autosampler, a large grey plastic cylinder about the size of a trashcan.

In October, UC Berkeley researchers launched a pop-up lab to monitor Bay Area sewage for COVID-19. (UC Berkeley photo by Irene Yi)

Many essential workers continued to work on campus, being sure to stay socially distant. (UC Berkeley photo by Irene Yi)

Despite the pandemic, many students still found community and friendships. (UC Berkeley photo by Irene Yi)

In April, UC Berkeley begin offering drive-thru COVID-19 tests. (UC Berkeley photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)

A student in a mask wheels his belongings onto campus near Sather Gate, with smoke from the Northern California wildfires visible in the air.

In a mask protecting himself not only from COVID-19, but from smoke caused by California’s raging wildfires, a student wheels his belongings through the UC Berkeley campus in August. (UC Berkeley photo by Irene Yi)

Much of UC Berkeley’s research work continued under COVID-19 guidelines. (UC Berkeley photo by Irene Yi)

Everyone who was on campus was required to wear a mask. (UC Berkeley photo by Keegan Houser)