Research Excellence

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Solar Canal Project Earns Environmental Award as Construction Begins

Construction has begun on a pilot project to install solar panels above two sections of Central Valley canals. This innovative initiative, which studies significant power and water issues, has already garnered recognition.

Project Nexus, a partnership between the Turlock Irrigation District (TID), the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), Bay Area development firm Solar AquaGrid, and UC Merced, received the Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Award from the California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance (CCEEB).

Paper Highlights How Climate Change Challenges, Transforms Agriculture

As the climate continues to change, the risks to farming are only going to increase.

That's the key takeaway from a recent paper published by a team that included UC Merced researchers. The paper dives into what those challenges are, how farmers are working to address them and what should come next.

NSF-Funded Project Promotes Reuse of 'Greywater' in Households Integrating AI Toward Equity

Almost 3 billion people worldwide are projected to suffer from severe water scarcity by 2025. Thousands have already been affected in California alone, where more than 1,200 wells ran dry in 2022.

It's never been more important to find ways to make the best use of this precious resource.

UC Merced Researcher Dives with the Big Sharks on Shark Week

UC Merced's resident shark expert, Professor Sora Kim, will be featured on the prime-time, premiere-night episode of Discovery’s Shark Week discussing an enormous, legendary sea creature that takes on different forms in different cultures but has a basis in science.

At 9 p.m. EDT Sunday, audiences all over the world can watch Kim as she dives with great white sharks off the southern coast of New Zealand for the episode titled “Jaws vs Leviathan.”

Just How Hazardous is it to Live by a Freeway? UC Merced Researchers Issue Report for Fresno

When the city of Fresno and the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District wanted specifics about the impacts of truck traffic on the health of some of the city's most vulnerable residents, officials turned to UC Merced's Community Labor Center (CLC) and public health Professor Sandie Ha.

National Ag Research Center Meets at UC Merced

Agriculture is in a time of daunting challenge: The world's population is growing and climate change is impacting every area of the food supply chain.

Researchers from across the country who are working to address that challenge met at UC Merced this week. They are part of the Internet of Things for Ag, a National Science Foundation-funded research center uniting the University of Pennsylvania, UC Merced, Purdue University and the University of Florida.

Physics-based Modeling Reveals Surprising Behavior of Blood Clots

A group of researchers, including physicists from UC Merced, has made discoveries about the mechanics of blood clots that could help in the development of biomaterials for tissue engineering and improved surgical adhesives.

Many materials around us, including those in cells and tissues, are made of networks of elastic fibers that resist deformation. These biological fibrous networks determine the fine balance between health and disease.

Study Examined How Jewish Israelis React to Human Rights Criticism. Then Oct. 7 Happened.

A UC Merced professor and his co-researchers set out to measure how Jewish Israelis react to different sources of criticism about Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. Does disapproval from internal voices move public opinion? Voices from abroad? What about reproval from the diaspora — people who live outside Israel but have religious, ethnic or national ties?

They collected data from a carefully designed survey of more than 2,000 and submitted the findings for peer review in December 2022. Months later, the paper was returned for edits.