Spending a summer finding ways to make toilet water reusable and trying to extract urine from wastewater might not sound glamorous.
But the results of the work two UC Merced students are doing though a prestigious research partnership could be very important to a state facing a severe drought, as well as for the future of water security.
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.
Large, naturally occurring low-oxygen zones in the Pacific appear to be expanding, and there is a sharp change in the number of bacteria that produce and consume different forms of toxic sulfur, according to a UC Merced researcher’s latest paper in Nature Communications.
These expanding deoxygenated zones could also contribute to climate change, which, in turn, appears to contribute to their growth.
Conserving resources is just a part of the fabric of UC Merced. So it should come as no surprise that university leaders say the campus can not only meet President Janet Napolitano’s call to cut water consumption by 20 percent by 2020, it has already exceeded that expectation – this year.
Like many children on long car trips, Erin Mutch often asked "Where are we?" But instead of telling her, Mutch’s parents gave her a map to figure it out.
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.
Research in the Sierra Nevada central to addressing challenges to California's water security and its link to the health of Sierra Nevada ecosystems will continue into 2018.
The National Science Foundation awarded the University of California, Merced, $5 million to continue this work on the water, forests and climate of the Sierra Nevada for another five years, said Professor Roger Bales, who also heads UC Merced’s Sierra Nevada Research Institute.
Graduate student Ryan Lucas is living a mountain-lover’s dream through his research.
As part of engineering Professor Martha Conklin’s meadows-hydrology lab, he gets to spend a lot of time in the Sierra Nevada in Yosemite and Sequoia-Kings Canyon national parks, collecting data on how much water is flowing through the meadows, how it’s moving and by what process.
Like many children on long car trips, Erin Mutch often asked "Where are we?" But instead of telling her, Mutch’s parents gave her a map to figure it out.
Sustainability being a campus hallmark, it’s no surprise the UC Merced campus takes Earth Day very seriously, even though the events planned are fun.
