Energy & Environment

UC Merced Aerial Picture
Innovative Solutions Turn Rural Energy Challenges Into Opportunities
January 21, 2026
One of the biggest hurdles facing local farmers is the rising cost of doing business. However, some innovative solutions are in the works, as highlighted at the Central Valley Rural Energy Systems Workshop at UC Merced in early December.... Read More
Climate Speaker Series at UC Merced Kicks Off with Warnings … and Hope
December 16, 2025
The global climate crisis was entirely predictable and impacts nearly every facet of life. But we still can slow its progress and mitigate the effects we already see. That was the message delivered earlier this month by climate scientist... Read More
Challenges, Opportunities Presented at Small Farm Tech Expo
December 10, 2025
The Small Farm Tech Expo brought researchers, farmers, university students and even a group from a Modesto elementary school to UC Merced to talk about agriculture technology and how it can best help those who grow the world's food.... Read More
Ag Tech For Small Farms Highlighted at UC Merced Expo
November 26, 2025
An expo at UC Merced next week will bring together farmers, ranchers, researchers and community organizers to highlight what's possible when agriculture technology is designed for small farms. The Small Farm Tech Expo, scheduled for 9 a.m... Read More
Postdoc Leads Study to Turn Cotton Waste into Climate-Smart Compost
November 12, 2025
UC Merced researchers are collaborating on a two-year research project to develop effective composting methods for cotton textiles. The project explores manufacturing cotton waste scraps from clothing into compost to demonstrate efficient... Read More
Professor and Environmental Champion Bales Retires, But Research and Advocacy Continue
November 10, 2025
Professors Roger Bales and Martha Conklin arrived in Merced in 2003, the first non-administrative faculty members at UC Merced. They came with a vision: to create a research university that would serve California’s future. Now, after more... Read More
UC Merced Earns Perfect Score, Ranks 7th in Nation on Princeton Review’s ‘Top 50 Green Colleges’ List
November 9, 2025
UC Merced was recognized again as a national leader in sustainability, earning a perfect Green Rating score and ranking No. 7 in the nation on The Princeton Review’s 2025 list of Top 50 Green Colleges. The ranking highlights universities... Read More
UC Merced Joins Program Promoting Bees Around Campus
October 29, 2025
UC Merced has long been a place where students can thrive. Now the university has been recognized for its commitment to increase the abundance of native and other pollinators. The campus has become an affiliate of the Bee Campus USA... Read More
Multinational Effort to Map South Africa’s Biodiversity from the Air Earns NASA Award
October 15, 2025
BioSCape, a multinational research project co-led by UC Merced, the University at Buffalo and the University of Cape Town, which monitored Earth’s biodiversity from the air, has received a Group Achievement Award as part of the 2024-25... Read More
Wildfire Disasters Surged in the Past 10 Years, Study Shows
October 2, 2025
Nearly half of the world’s worst wildfire disasters have occurred in just the past decade, new research from UC Merced’s Fire Resilience Center shows. A study published Thursday in the journal Science reveals that 43 percent of... Read More