http://www.ucmerced.edu/sites/www/files/news/images/120601miltonchennpi.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 254px; " title="Milton Chen, an international authority on mass media and education, speaks to participants of the National Parks Institute Executive Leadership Program in April.
http://youtu.be/AVZS22SFLVgGraduate student Alexandra Paxton finds opinionated students, puts them in a room together and tells them to argue about a hot-button issue.
Then she records what happens.
Paxton, who is earning her doctoral degree in cognitive science, studies interpersonal synchrony — the phenomenon of how people in a conversation subconsciously synchronize their movements, such as nodding or gesturing. Specifically, she is seeking to understand what happens to that synchrony when people are at odds.
It’s no surprise UC Merced graduate student Siyu Wu’s research — rooted in mechanical engineering — has veered toward the environmental. Wu, who grew up in China, was raised by parents who felt strongly that the environment should be protected and all efforts should be made to reduce one’s footprint.
Researchers at the University of California, Merced, have discovered a new way in which bone health impacts a person's immune system.
The discovery could impact how scientists try to combat bone-related disease, as drugs to improve bone quality could weaken a person's immune system.
"The bone does have an influence on the basic biology of blood development," immunology Professor Jennifer Manilay said. "This interdisciplinary research shows the need to look at the whole organ."
When Trevor Albertson (’09) started as the California deputy secretary for veterans services last summer, his longtime focus on higher education came in handy right away.
Considering his department’s goal to help veterans achieve stability, he quickly saw that higher education was the key to the jobs that would underpin that life.
From the campus’ own undergraduate and graduate students to distinguished faculty members from here and abroad, Research Week at the University of California, Merced, will offer a wide range of events and information from April 16 to 19.
More than two dozen students are stretching their imagination and building entrepreneurial skills in the first-ever Mobile App Challenge at UC Merced.
Representing each of the university’s three schools, 28 students in seven teams are developing innovative and custom “apps,” or applications, for wireless devices. Most teams are tackling students’ real-life problems, such as tracking bus schedules or getting an early crack at classes during registration.
Professor 
It’s no surprise UC Merced graduate student Siyu Wu’s research — rooted in mechanical engineering — has veered toward the environmental. Wu, who grew up in China, was raised by parents who felt strongly that the environment should be protected and all efforts should be made to reduce one’s footprint.
UC Merced senior Jesse Anaya answered his phone one day to hear an unfamiliar voice ask, “Are you ready to change the world?”
When Trevor Albertson (’09) started as the California deputy secretary for veterans services last summer, his longtime focus on higher education came in handy right away.
UC Merced’s Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) team built its first racecar and exhibited it at a national competition last June.
