Developmental biologist Professor Anna Beaudin and her lab are making breakthrough discoveries in a growing field of research that could lead to exciting developments in such medical puzzles as cancer treatments, regenerative medicine and the cause of autism. She examines the mechanisms of how

The fastest-growing public research university in the nation is the fastest-rising university in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges rankings. The University of California Merced, jumped 32 spots in the ranking of National Universities in the 2020 edition of the guide, released today. UC Merced

Soil is one of the foundations of life on Earth and could be an important part of the solution to climate change, if only we can stop treating it like dirt. That’s the message Professor Asmeret Asefaw Berhe shared with a global audience when she became the only current UC Merced researcher to give a

Six faculty members have been named this year’s Hellman Fellows — two from each of UC Merced’s schools. The 2019-20 winners are: • Professor Anna E. Beaudin, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, School of Natural Sciences; • Professor Chih-Wen Ni, Department of Bioengineering, School of

The American media lends too much weight to people who dismiss climate change, giving them legitimacy they haven’t earned, posing serious danger to efforts aimed at raising public awareness and motivating rapid action, a new study shows. While it is not uncommon for media outlets to interview

Since his undergraduate days in Environmental Studies at Humboldt State University, Ivan Soto has aspired to produce research with a positive impact on the public — not just to benefit the academic community. As a doctoral student in the Interdisciplinary Humanities at UC Merced, Soto is doing just

Durable, reliable, affordable solar power is the future of energy, and UC Merced computational physicist Professor David Strubbe is diving into a new area of science to answer the call. Strubbe’s new project aims to understand why two organic materials — that are cheaper and easier to produce than

The most extreme drought event in hundreds of years caused a catastrophic die-off of the Sierra Nevada’s mature trees in 2015-2016. A study published today in Nature Geoscience details how UC Merced Professor Roger Bales and his colleague Professor Michael Goulden from UC Irvine tracked the progress

Climate change is bad news for forests, and a new study by UC Merced Professor Emily Moran demonstrates one aspect of that news. Higher summer temperatures hurt tree seedlings’ growth and survival. But whether that is entirely bad depends on the degree of change in the number of young trees. “One of

It started with a simple off-hand comment, one that would likely be met with a chuckle at any other institution. At UC Merced, it became a ripple that has changed the academic and social strata of an entire school. School of Natural Sciences Dean Betsy Dumont recalled the exchange that took place