Life and Environmental Sciences

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Professor Berhe delivers her TED talk.

Professor Berhe Nominated to Lead Federal Office of Science

President Joe Biden has nominated UC Merced Professor Asmeret Asefaw Berhe to be the new director of the Office of Science in the federal Department of Energy. In honor of Earth Day, the White House today announced nominations for a variety of federal posts in the departments of Energy

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From left to right: Marjorie Zatz, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Tracey Osborne, Sora Kim, Teenie Matlock and Denise Payán.

Female Faculty to Know on International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day is more than a day to celebrate the fantastic females around us. It is a day to reflect on the contributions women have made both socially and politically around the world. Women across the globe have used their gifts and talents to help others in myriad ways, and UC Merced

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Shark Teeth Provide Clues About Ancient Global Change

A character in a very famous movie about a great white shark once said all sharks do is “swim and eat and make little sharks.” It turns out they do much more than that. Sharks have roamed Earth’s oceans for more than 400 million years, quietly recording the planet’s history. If a researcher like

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Life and Environmental Sciences Professor Sora Kim studies climate change by examining the isotopes in fossilized shark teeth.

Paleoecology Professor's Research and Teaching Earns Recognition

Professor Sora Kim has been named one of this year’s Emerging Scholars by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education magazine. Only 15 researchers, out of hundreds of nominees, have been selected. Each scholar is selected based on their research, educational background, publishing record, teaching record

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Berhe Honored with Prestigious AGU Medal and Fellowship

Soil biogeochemistry Professor Asmeret Asefaw Berhe has been recognized by the American Geophysical Union (AGU) as one of this year’s recipients of the Joanne Simpson Medal for Mid-Career Scientists. Two or three medals are given each year to “exceptional mid-career scientists who have made

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New Project Focuses on Life in Soil in the Earth’s Critical Zone

Since 2007, UC Merced researchers have been extremely productive in the Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory (CZO), delving into investigations of hydrology, climate change, geology, biology and more. But the National Science Foundation, which funded the CZOs, is decommissioning the sites and