Energy & Environment

UC Merced Aerial Picture
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
Forest Carbon: Store it or Burn it? Actually, Both is Best
September 25, 2025
Storing carbon in forests is an essential, nature-based buffer against climate change. Yet forests packed with too many trees increase the threat of severe wildfires, which are becoming all too common in warmer, drier conditions. A team of... Read More
AI-Powered Irrigation System Offers Opportunities for Communications as well as Farming
September 24, 2025
An almond orchard in Parlier provides a look into the future of farming. Researchers at UC Merced and the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources installed an irrigation system powered by artificial intelligence to... Read More
From Soil to Climate Solutions: Berhe Leads Sierra Nevada Research Institute into its Next Chapter
September 11, 2025
When Professor Asmeret Asefaw Berhe arrived at UC Merced in 2009, she and her husband, Professor Teamrat Ghezzehei, were leaving major research institutions to join a brand-new campus in California’s Central Valley. It was a leap of faith... Read More
Research into Hidden Chemistry Shaping Future Air Quality Earns Zhang an NSF Award
September 8, 2025
As nations cut emissions that once fueled urban smog, scientists are discovering unexpected chemistry taking place in the atmosphere. UC Merced Professor Xuan Zhang is leading a project to uncover how these chemical shifts could affect the... Read More
Hellman Fellowships Welcome Three New Members from UC Merced
September 4, 2025
As the Hellman Fellowships celebrate their 30th year, three more researchers, one from each of UC Merced’s schools, have joined the prestigious ranks of recipients. Electrical engineering Professor Qian Wang, sociology Professor Meredith... Read More
Damaging Lightning-Caused Wildfires Likely to Increase in a Few Years, Researchers Find
September 3, 2025
Lightning from thunderstorms rolling through Central California on Sept. 2 ignited numerous wildfires, including several large fires in the Sierra Nevada foothills that had burned more than 19 square miles by Wednesday morning. The... Read More
UC Merced Agricultural Experiment Station Adds Fire, Insect and Soil Researchers
September 2, 2025
Three professors are joining UC Merced’s Agricultural Experiment Station this fall, bringing more expertise and resources to the 3-year-old research center. Management of complex systems Professor Crystal Kolden will focus on the... Read More
UC Merced’s Berhe Joins Scientists in Warning of Global Land Mine Crisis
July 24, 2025
More than 100 million land mines remain buried around the world, posing a threat in approximately 70 countries and territories, and killing or injuring about 5,000 people, most of them civilians, every year.  As the world’s geopolitical... Read More
Professor Dives with Crocs, Displays Megalodon Expertise During Shark Week
July 17, 2025
Shark Week starts Sunday and Professor Sora Kim will be featured again this year in a special airing at 9 p.m. Monday, titled “Jaws vs. Mega Croc,” and the filming allowed her to swim with a Nile crocodile. “I flew to Florida and learned... Read More