All Stories

UC Merced Aerial Picture
SNRI Sees a Leadership Transition
July 29, 2020
Change is everywhere at UC Merced this year, from hiring a new chancellor to the completion of a major campus expansion. The Sierra Nevada Research Institute (SNRI), an early hallmark of research excellence at UC Merced, is also making a... Read More
Summer Research Program Continues to Serve Students Remotely
July 29, 2020
While the COVID-19 pandemic has kept most students and faculty mentors off campus, UC Merced’s commitment to providing research experiences to undergraduate students has not wavered. Over the past 14 years, the Summer Undergraduate... Read More
UC Merced Grad Student, Alumnus Play Significant Role in Mars 2020 Mission
July 29, 2020
NASA’s fifth exploratory rover is scheduled to head for Mars later this month to try and answer key questions about the potential for life on the red planet. Before the rover leaves Earth, current and former members of UC Merced’s... Read More
Zatz Aiming for R1 Status as Interim Head of Research, Economic Development
July 27, 2020
Graduate Dean Marjorie Zatz has a new title, at least for now. Starting this summer, she is serving as interim vice chancellor for Research and Economic Development, filling the slot left open when Vice Chancellor Sam Traina stepped down... Read More
$3.5 Million Hellman Endowment Expands Future of Research at UC Merced
July 26, 2020
Since 2011, the Hellman Fellows Fund has provided close to 60 UC Merced assistant professors with much-needed research support in the form of seed funding. The prestigious Hellman Fellowship has launched countless careers at UC Merced and... Read More
Low-Wage Work Is Linked to Spread of COVID-19, Study Finds
July 21, 2020
California counties with high numbers of low-wage workers are seeing higher incidence of COVID-19, suggesting a link between so-called “worker distress” and spread of the virus, according to a new study by UC Merced’s Community and Labor... Read More
New Project Aims to Advance Understanding of Immune Cells as they Develop
July 20, 2020
Maybe now more than ever, scientists need to understand the immune system. A new National Institutes of Health grant is funding a cross-disciplinary collaboration between bioengineering Professor Joel Spencer and immunology Professor... Read More
Professor Mark Aldenderfer Closes His Time at UC Merced and Seeks New Mountains to Climb
July 14, 2020
Esteemed archaeologist and anthropologist Mark Aldenderfer, the new Edward A. Dickson Emeriti Professorship endowed chair, brings his distinguished time on campus to a close this month, as he steps away from daily life of the university.... Read More
UC Merced Welcomes Juan Sánchez Muñoz as Fourth Chancellor
July 6, 2020
The University of California, Merced, is nearing the completion of an unprecedented campus expansion project and raising its reputation across the nation and the world, all during a time in which the COVID-19 pandemic has upended nearly... Read More
NASA Renews Campus Research Center for Another Two Years
July 3, 2020
The Merced nAnomaterials Center for Energy and Sensing (MACES) —UC Merced’s NASA-funded center for nanomaterials-based research and education — has received a two-year, $1.8 million renewal from the federal space... Read More
Professor and Falasco Chair Berhe Recognized as a Carnegie Corporation Distinguished Immigrant
July 1, 2020
Every Fourth of July, the Carnegie Corporation of New York honors the legacy of its founder Andrew Carnegie, by recognizing an extraordinary group of immigrants, who are now naturalized American citizens, and who have made notable... Read More
UC Merced Rises to No. 3 in Young University Rankings
June 25, 2020
UC Merced’s reputation as a world-class research university continues to grow, as the university rose to No. 3 among U.S. universities in the 2020 Times Higher Education Young University Rankings released this week. The list ranks the best... Read More
New Grant Helps Assess Benefits of Satellites for Determining Water Quality
June 24, 2020
Summertime means fun in the water, but as temperatures increase, algal blooms can grow in freshwater and marine ecosystems. Some algae are natural and life-giving, while others are the result of life out of balance and can have harmful... Read More
New Bridge Program Involves Incoming Students in the Future of Agriculture
June 22, 2020
Incoming first-year and transfer students will have a new resource for success and an introduction to research starting next summer, thanks to a four-year, $400,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Civil and environmental... Read More
DACA Decision
June 18, 2020
Re: DACA Decision To: All students, faculty and staff June 18, 2020 Dear Campus Community, In a time of great challenges for all of us, but particularly those among us with the greatest need and the least access to resources, it... Read More
Paper Microscopes Enable Materials Science and Engineering Project to Move Forward
June 17, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic has upended everything, including UC Merced’s classes and research. But materials science and engineering Professor Christopher Viney and recent graduate and independent study student Jasmine Nava are working on... Read More
Study Reveals How Chemicals in Flame Retardants Interfere with Brain Development
June 15, 2020
Many of the items people use in their everyday lives, from baby clothes and Halloween costumes to furniture, are doused with chemical flame retardants designed to make the items safer. But a new study from Cellular and Molecular Biology... Read More
Researcher Offers Guide to Coping with COVID-related Stress, Part II
June 10, 2020
Professor Matthew Zawadzki is with the Department of Psychological Sciences in the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts. His research examines social psychological processes as applied to health. This is the second of two parts.... Read More
Bacteria Use the Physics of Twist to Measure Their Own Size and Shape
June 9, 2020
Theoretical physics Professor Ajay Gopinathan has been working over the past decade to model a submicroscopic mystery. Now, he and a team of colleagues have verified an important piece of the puzzle of how tiny, intrinsically twisted... Read More
Researcher Provides Helpful Guide to Coping with Stressful Times, Part I
June 3, 2020
Professor Matthew Zawadzki is with the Department of Psychological Sciences in the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts. His research examines social psychological processes as applied to health. This is the first of a two-part... Read More