All Stories

UC Merced Aerial Picture
Despite Farms, Some in Valley Struggle to Find Fresh Food
February 22, 2017
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It might come as a surprise that, in a region where agriculture is so prevalent, many people in the San Joaquin Valley cannot afford fresh, quality produce or live too far from grocery stores, farmers markets and other sources. A recent... Read More
New Book Focuses on Teaching Writing to Minorities
February 17, 2017
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Teaching writing is both a science and art. As the field of education moves more toward inclusiveness and embracing diversity, however, the art and science of writing — and how to teach it — becomes more challenging. Two new... Read More
Cancer Patients’ Care Requires More Than Written Instructions
February 13, 2017
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The depth and breadth of post-diagnosis care for cancer patients often depends on the resources available to them. But a new paper in the journal PLoS One by UC Merced Professor Nancy Burke shows that care — and how effective it is... Read More
UC Merced Professor Delivers Pellissier Lecture
February 10, 2017
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Everyone is invited to hear UC Merced Professor Clarissa Nobile, this year’s Pellissier Distinguished Speaker, discussing biofilms. “Microbial Films: Why are They Important? How do They Form? And What Does This Mean for You?... Read More
Study: Infants Recognize Surprise in Others Before Age 2
February 8, 2017
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Infants as young as 20 months of age expect adults to display surprise when discovering a false belief, according to a new study from UC Merced Professor Rose Scott. Previous research suggested that children younger than 4 years old could... Read More
Raindrops, Red Wine Inspire Solar Tech Advancements
February 6, 2017
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In recent publications, Professor Vincent Tung proves that inspiration for advancements in materials science can come from anywhere — even the merging of raindrops on a windshield or the sheeting of red wine down the inside of a... Read More
New UC Grant Enables Deeper, Broader Valley Fever Research
February 1, 2017
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Researchers at UC Merced are playing key roles in the new UC Valley Fever Research Initiative, studying how the Valley fever fungus, Coccidioides immitis, causes disease in its mammalian hosts, and identifying the genes involved in this... Read More
Blum Center Relaunching With Focus on Food
January 30, 2017
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UC Merced is relaunching its branch of the Blum Center for Developing Economies with a focus on food security for the first two years of the faculty-led effort. Economics Professor Kurt Schnier, with the School of Social Sciences,... Read More
‘Diverse’ Magazine Names Groundbreaking Professor an Emerging Scholar
January 26, 2017
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The magazine Diverse: Issues in Higher Education has named UC Merced Professor Ala Qattawi an Emerging Scholar of the Year in its first issue of 2017. Qattawi, with the School of Engineering, is the first woman in the United States to... Read More
Bird Researcher Expands Knowledge About Reserve’s Kestrels
January 23, 2017
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Kestrels are a fixture among the birds on the Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve adjacent to campus. Though they are not endangered, the small falcons’ population has declined by 60 percent in California over the past half-... Read More
Artist-in-Residence Brings Theories of Flight to Classroom, Community
January 19, 2017
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Spanish artist Olga Diego blends the concepts of art and engineering into the magic of flight. This semester, Diego is bringing her creativity and expertise to UC Merced as the campus’s newest artist-in-residence and lecturer. Diego... Read More
Campus Provides ‘Inclusive Excellence’ Dialogue, Activities
January 19, 2017
Social Justice Initiatives and the Office of Campus Climate will host “Talking Circles,” a space to create dialogue about inclusive opportunities at UC Merced, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jan. 20. The space is open to the campus... Read More
Genetic Changes Made Native Americans Susceptible to Smallpox, Study Shows
January 18, 2017
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A new study identifies genetic changes in Native Americans that came about when Europeans settled in the Pacific Northwest and might have played a major role in why so many natives died of infectious disease. In a new paper in Nature... Read More
Campus Gets $2.2 Million From State to Expand Entrepreneurial Reach
January 17, 2017
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UC Merced’s share of $22 million in state funds through Assembly Bill 2664 will help the campus fulfill some of its primary goals: transforming the region economically and providing people with greater opportunity. Each of the 10 UC... Read More
Cognitive Scientist Earns Early Career Impact Award
January 13, 2017
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UC Merced Professor Rick Dale is a recipient of the Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences (FABBS) Early Career Impact Award from the Society for Computers in Psychology. Dale, a cognitive scientist in the... Read More
Merced 2020 Project Earns Thomson Reuters Award
January 12, 2017
The Merced 2020 Project — UC Merced’s unprecedented, $1.3 billion campus expansion plan — has been named the “Americas P3 Deal of the Year” in Thomson Reuters’ Project Finance International (PFI) Awards... Read More
Students Building Living Machines Out of Engineered Tissues
January 11, 2017
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There are many labs at UC Merced where visitors can see students huddled over microscopes and petri dishes, using tweezers to extract and examine different items. But no one at UC Merced has ever seen the likes of what’s going on in... Read More
History Professor to Give Talk in Turlock on the Graphic Novel
January 11, 2017
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UC Merced history Professor Mario Sifuentez will present a lecture, “Histories and the Graphic Novel,” at the Carnegie Arts Center in Turlock at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 15. Sifuentez will discuss how the medium of the graphic... Read More
Study: Early High-Altitude Settlers Were Hunter-Gatherers, Not Farmers
January 5, 2017
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A new paper by UC Merced Professor Mark Aldenderfer begins to settle a longstanding debate over when people began permanently occupying higher elevations of the Tibetan Plateau, and shows communities did not have to be based around... Read More
Scientists Build Synthetic Cell-Sized Membranes Out of Paper
January 4, 2017
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Scientists have been synthesizing lipid membranes from a variety of materials, making them as lifelike as possible to learn more about how cells work and how they can be manipulated. UC Merced Professor Anand Subramaniam and his students... Read More