Science

Southern California Edison has been selected as this year’s recipient of the UC Merced School of Engineering Vanguard Margin of Excellence Award.

“Southern California Energy’s partnership with UC Merced has created countless opportunities for engineering students to positively impact their communities,” School of Engineering Dean Dan Hirleman wrote to the company, calling it a model partner for the university.

The Vanguard Award was created to honor corporate partners that have had a transformational effect on the educational experience of School of Engineering students.

Climate change is creating two problems. One is understanding and addressing its impact on the world. The other is convincing large swaths of the public that it is, in fact, a reality.

In an effort to spur people to take action to prevent ecological disaster, researchers with the new UC Merced Center for Climate Communications are studying the best ways to spread the message.

The environment affects the way genetic populations move, and similar environments likely play a bigger role in how a species develops than does geographic distance.

Those are just two of the discoveries Professor Jason Sexton has made while studying the monkey flower, a California native that is practically in his back yard, now that he has joined UC Merced.

Two researchers from the University of California, Merced, are slated to take part in the UC Drought Science, Policy and Management Summit at the state Capitol this week.

In a megadrought like the one California is experiencing, people tend to look at how much rainfall has come along.

But it also matters when the snowmelt releases its cache, because the snowpack is the state’s natural reservoir.

UC Merced Professor Kara McCloskey was recently awarded a highly competitive $500,000 grant to continue tackling significant, unresolved issues in human stem cell biology, as part of an effort to enhance stem-cell research in California.

This past month, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), and its governing board, approved more than $27 million for Basic Biology V Awards, of which McCloskey’s grant is included. The leads for this center include Stanford University and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

California’s drought is a major topic, including on the UC Merced campus.  

It will be among the subjects explored during this year’s Research Week, from March 10 through 14. The annual event includes a brunch kickoff, a poster competition, live research demonstrations, a smoking symposium presented by the Health Sciences Research Institute, a psychology symposium, a geospatial summit, lectures and a symposium on the drought presented by the Sierra Nevada Research Institute.

The heat generated by smartphones and other electronic devices could be harnessed to also power them, according to compelling research out of the University of California, Merced.

Physics Professor Michael Scheibner’s latest work in the emerging field of phononics – the study of quasi-particles that produce heat – indicates phonons can be harnessed to produce energy.

“Usually, phonons dissipate, but using an electric field, we can keep them in place where they are generated, and make them useful,” he said.

UC Merced researchers will develop solutions to regional problems that arise from balancing three limited resources – water, food and energy – thanks to a $75,000 grant from the Wells Fargo Foundation.

Jose Garcia, a fourth-year student, will spend next summer as the only intern in Chevron Oronite’s Tribology division, with a small group of researchers who delve into lubricants, additives and the relationship between machines and fluids for the multinational corporation.

The past two years, the division has chosen an MIT student for the summer position.

“It’s going to be a great experience,” said Garcia, who hails from Santa Paula and is majoring in mechanical engineering.