San Joaquin Valley

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has awarded a $750,000 grant to the UC Merced Library in partnership with the Center for the Humanities to establish a research archive documenting the Sierra Nevada and Central Valley.

The UC Merced Community and Labor Center (CLC) has received a historic multimillion-dollar award to continue its mission of conducting research and educating the public about low-wage work, immigrant and workers' rights, workplace health and safety, among other issues.

UC Merced’s top 10 Glad Slam finalists went head-to-head earlier this month to share their research in three minutes, in a format meant to share their scholarly work in a manner that is accessible for the general public.

The May 1 deadline is fast approaching for students to apply for the San Joaquin Valley Food and Agriculture Cyberinformatics Tools and Science (FACTS) bridge program, a paid summer research program funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Professor Katrina Hoyer ’s lab is helping UC Merced serve the San Joaquin Valley community through its studies of immune responses to Valley fever and other diseases.

Graduate students Susana Tejeda-Garibay and Nadia Miranda are exploring fungal and host immune interactions in Valley fever, and they have both earned prestigious research fellowships to further their work.

Last year, UC Merced received the largest research grant in its history. The $10 million Secure Water Future (SWF) award, led by Professor Joshua Viers in cooperation with other UC campuses and other partners, is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and aims to improve agricultural and environmental water resilience.

UC Merced's Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center (NCPC) and California State University, Stanislaus, are partnering on a large project as part of California Endgame's goal to end tobacco use in the state by 2035.

The 2021 drought directly cost the California agriculture sector about $1.1 billion and nearly 8,750 full- and part-time jobs, according to estimates in a new analysis led by UC Merced researchers.

Once the effects on other economic sectors are considered, total impacts are estimated at $1.7 billion and 14,634 full- and part-time jobs lost.

A research project conducted by a UC Merced graduate student is becoming a reality as the Turlock Irrigation District (TID) approved piloting the first-in-the-nation construction of solar panels over water canals.

California’s Central Valley is on the front lines of climate change.