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Bobcats Returning to New Features and Opportunities at UC Merced

UC Merced is preparing to welcome back thousands of students to campus for the start of the university's 19th academic year.

From Aug. 17-20, family and friends will join incoming Bobcats as they arrive on campus throughout move-in weekend. As they settle into the residence halls, student and staff volunteers will be ready to help and answer questions. Almost 4,200 undergraduate students will reside in on-campus housing this academic year.

Students to Present Wide Array of Research at Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium

UC Merced students will present research conducted over the summer at the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Center (UROC) annual Undergraduate Research Symposium.

The research presentations mark the end of the Summer Undergraduate Research Institute (SURI), a nine-week program conducted and hosted by UROC. This summer, over 160 undergraduate students worked alongside UC Merced faculty and graduate students to conduct research in every discipline offered on campus.

Clovis Native Excited to Represent the Central Valley Playing for UC Merced Volleyball Team

UC Merced is highlighting incoming students for fall 2023 — a dynamic, diverse and accomplished cohort of new Bobcats.

When Clovis native and lifelong volleyball player Morgan Wilson first began exploring her options to play at the collegiate level, her path was not clear. She had several out-of-state opportunities, none of which felt like the right fit.

"I didn't even feel a spark with a lot of the schools," she said.

Then she visited UC Merced.

Matlock Retires After Stellar UC Career

In the early days of building UC Merced, founding faculty member Teenie Matlock took on lots of tasks that were well outside her job description. Over the years, she expanded her service to the campus and UC in many ways, from designing and developing courses and majors to co-authoring foundational policies to spearheading new programs to serving in leadership roles.

Fresno Native Takes Next Step to Becoming a Doctor

For Joslyn Conchas, becoming a physician wasn’t always the plan.

“I wanted to be a veterinarian, but that was before I saw firsthand how impactful health disparities are within my community,” she said.

Her grandfather was ill and she witnessed his struggles with the healthcare system while he was in and out of the hospital.

UC Merced graduate student Josiah Beharry appointed as 2024-25 UC student Regent

The University of California Board of Regents has appointed University of California, Merced graduate student Josiah Beharry to be the 2024-25 student Regent.

Beharry is the 50th student Regent, a position established in 1975. He will serve as the student Regent-designate for the coming year, able to participate in all deliberations, and will have voting privileges when his one-year term as a Regent begins in July 2024. Beharry's appointment carries additional significance, as he is the first student from the UC Merced campus to serve as student Regent.

Environmental Research, Working Toward Saving the Planet Among New Bobcat’s Plans

Incoming Bobcat Benji Thier already knows what he wants to do with his college degree: Save the planet.

“I am planning to study Environmental Systems Science because I did some environmental work in high school and I think it is a very important and relevant field,” he said. “I believe we need more people in this field because we need to save our planet.”

Thier, a Tiburon native and graduate of Redwood High School, visited the campus on Bobcat Day and was impressed with how much environmentally related research is being conducted.

Soccer Standout Heads to UC Merced this Fall

Since age 5, Preston Nguyen has been kicking around a soccer ball.

“I have been consumed by the sport ever since,” the Turlock native said. “I can play any role in the midfield, but I usually play as a defensive midfielder.”

The incoming management and business economics major is joining UC Merced this fall as part of the men’s soccer team on an athletic scholarship.

Sociology Student Receives Campus’s First NSF-funded Dissertation Award

UC Merced doctoral student Luis Rubén González Marquez was awarded the American Sociological Association Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant (ASA DDRIG), funded by the National Science Foundation, for his research on renewable energy conflicts in Central America.

The grant started May 15 and helps support his summer research, and the coming fall and spring semesters.

SoCal Student Says UC Merced Will Be a ‘Breath of Fresh Air’

UC Merced is highlighting incoming students for fall 2023 — a dynamic, diverse and accomplished cohort of new Bobcats.

It's the change of pace that Kayla Lopez has been craving. In August, she will leave the busy streets of Southern California and head north to begin her first semester at UC Merced. Lopez is already daydreaming about the scenery around campus where she said she can "take a deep breath of fresh air."