Students

A character in a very famous movie about a great white shark once said all sharks do is “swim and eat and make little sharks.”

It turns out they do much more than that. Sharks have roamed Earth’s oceans for more than 400 million years, quietly recording the planet’s history.

Professor Sora Kim has been named one of this year’s Emerging Scholars by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education magazine.

Only 15 researchers, out of hundreds of nominees, have been selected.

There was an undeniable feeling of optimism and excitement in January 2020, as the calendar turned to a new year at the University of California, Merced. The university would be welcoming its fourth chancellor in the summer, and celebrating its 15th anniversary and the opening of a slew of shiny new buildings in the fall. By any measure, it was to be a momentous year for UC Merced.

There was an undeniable feeling of optimism and excitement in January 2020, as the calendar turned to a new year at the University of California, Merced. The university would be welcoming its fourth chancellor in the summer, and celebrating its 15th anniversary and the opening of a slew of shiny new buildings in the fall. By any measure, it was to be a momentous year for UC Merced.

The University of California announced today that it is planning for a return to primarily in-person instruction systemwide starting in fall 2021. The announcement is intended to provide prospective and current students and their families time to understand the University’s goals and plans amid the uncertainties of the pandemic.

With robust research and COVID-19 vaccines soon becoming available to students, staff and faculty, the UC continues to prioritize the health and well-being of the University community and to remain vigilant in all critical prevention efforts.

Professor Tao Ye and colleagues have received a $1.18 million grant from the Department of Energy to study how DNA molecules can arrange themselves into nanostructures that could form the basis of nanoelectronic circuits.

UC Merced’s premier experiential learning expo, Innovate to Grow (I2G), is providing students, faculty and staff with a new set of experiences to learn from this year, as the event continues in a virtual format to comply with pandemic safety guidelines.

Health psychology Professor Jennifer Hahn-Holbrook and incoming grad student Jessica Marino have a new study suggesting that the breastmilk of mothers who have recovered from COVID-19 contains strong antibodies to the virus.

After a lengthy and rigorous review by independent auditors, UC Merced can proudly announce it is the first public research university in the country to achieve carbon neutrality, two years ahead of its goal.

“UC Merced has been on the cutting edge of sustainability in higher education since its inception. We are proud of our many achievements in reducing our impact on the environment, and this recognition of our carbon neutrality stands among the most meaningful we have yet received,” Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz said.

About 70 percent of people with COVID-19 suddenly lose their sense of smell, although fewer of them seem to realize it, according to a new “living analysis” by a research team that includes a UC Merced graduate student.