Undergraduate Students

As a founding student at UC Merced, Justin Duckham, ’09, trudged up the hill every day for classes. Now, he spends many of his days on a different hill — Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

On his first tour of UC Merced almost five years ago, Andy Luhrs decided the campus was the right place for him.

“The tour guide made an impression,” said Luhrs, who is from Danville. “Everyone I met had a good vibe — open and passionate about the school.”

This year isn’t the first time Maxine Umeh-Garcia has walked across the commencement stage at the University of California, Merced. She was part of the campus's graduating class in 2010.

But this time will be markedly different. Umeh-Garcia is receiving a master’s degree in quantitative and systems biology, and she will represent the Class of 2013 at one of two commencement ceremonies scheduled for May 18 and 19.

Stephanie Toledo didn't want anything to get in the way of her academic success when she arrived at UC Merced.

The shy freshman wasn’t ready to consider clubs, social activities or other campus opportunities. But Toledo soon realized that she needed more than classwork to get the most from her college experience.

Tyler Shaddix’s house looks like most of the other houses on his block in a subdivision not far from the UC Merced campus.

It’s what’s inside that’s different – the home office of a startup company offering a web service that has, in less than a year, become very popular with government agencies, large companies and universities across the country and around the world.

After six months of intense planning and programming, the winning team of the Mobile App Challenge at the University of California, Merced, will be announced during a showcase finale April 26.

Many universities offer the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program, but they don’t have what UC Merced has to offer.

“Yosemite really draws people in,” said Professor Stephen Hart, one of the REU program leaders. “Other REUs might take students into the field, but not into a national park.”

Spurred by a gift from a prominent dairy woman, the University of California, Merced, announced plans today for a center to promote leadership qualities among its diverse student population.

Margo Souza, former president and CEO of Turlock’s Circle H Dairy Ranch Inc., has pledged $1 million to establish The Margo F. Souza Leadership Center — a multi-faceted leadership program — housed within UC Merced’s Office of Student Life.

Students Leanne McKenzie and Mustafa Nawabzada are getting an up-close look at the legislative process as the first-ever UC Merced interns in the California State Assembly chief clerk’s office.

One group of engineering students is focusing on tiny ways to make big strides in education.

A 10-member Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net) team is developing a piece of curriculum that is good enough to become part of the national NISE Net catalog – a hub for anyone to access and learn more about nanoscale technology.