Energy & Environment

UC Merced Aerial Picture
Campus Earns Fourth Platinum LEED Certification
December 8, 2014
The Student Services Building earned a platinum LEED certificate from the U.S. Green Building Council.
The University of California, Merced, received another Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) platinum certification, this time for the Student Services Building. The award brings the campus total for LEED certifications... Read More
Researchers Delve into Valley Fever from All Angles
November 24, 2014
One of the ways people contract valley fever is by breathing in agricultural dust from soil where the fungus is present.
Note: This story originally appeared in the Fall 2014 issue of UC Merced Magazine. Before it infects humans who breathe it in, the fungus that causes valley fever changes shapes in the environment. Once infected, some people fight it off... Read More
Professor’s Soil Research Digs Up Many More Questions
November 5, 2014
Professor Hart measures soil emissions in the Sierra.
When people get near California’s giant sequoias, they usually look up.   But Professor Steve Hart looks down, and what he finds beneath the trees has intrigued him.   The trees, some of which could be more than 3,000... Read More
Solar Power Purchase Positions Campus for Total Renewable Energy Use
October 22, 2014
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The University of California, Merced, will get 75 percent of its power from renewable sources by the end of 2016, and is on its way to being 100 percent renewably powered by then.   The University of California earlier this month... Read More
Students Battle for Sustainability Supremacy
October 1, 2014
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UC Merced’s 2,100 resident students are gearing up for a month-long battle in which no one will get hurt. They might have greasy hair, though.   The 2014 Water Battle – to see which residence hall can save the most water... Read More
Pine Needle Bacteria Earn Professor Second NSF Grant of the Year
September 22, 2014
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Professor Carolin Frank will collect $1.6 million over the next four years to continue researching the nitrogen-fixing bacteria that live in pine needles and to work with the Sierra Foothill Charter School, which she helped found. The... Read More
Students Expand Build Skills in New Souza Leadership Center
September 16, 2014
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Shy in high school, Rachel Fang didn’t want to follow the same pattern as a UC Merced student. “I decided that I was going to change,” Fang said. “I wanted to be more outspoken.” Fang found the confidence,... Read More
Extreme Changes in Seasonality Affect Soils’ Ability to Store Water and Carbon, Research Shows
September 10, 2014
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Extreme changes in seasonality in the Sierra Nevada can have lasting impacts on meadow health and could mean less water and carbon storage in high elevation wetlands, according to research conducted at UC Merced. The results of work by... Read More
Climate Change Influencing Freshwater Mountain Runoff, Research Shows
September 8, 2014
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As the climate warms, sources of the water so critical to life everywhere on Earth are drying up. By the end of this century, communities dependent on freshwater from mountain-fed rivers could see significantly less water, according to a... Read More
Campus Expands with New Science and Engineering Building
August 27, 2014
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The long-awaited Science and Engineering Building 2 officially opens today, providing more space for instruction, research and offices. The ribbon-cutting ceremony begins at 1 p.m. Thirty months in the making, the building is designed to... Read More