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

Harrison Duran has always wanted to discover ‘the land before time,’ and his desire to dig up dinosaur bones led him to the Badlands of North Dakota, where Alice the Triceratops was waiting for him. Duran is a fifth-year biology student with an emphasis in ecology and evolutionary biology. A

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

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

The opportunity to participate in cutting-edge scientific research as an undergraduate is one of the most exciting aspects of a UC Merced education. One of the best preparation opportunities for graduate school is to engage in research as an undergraduate, but at many universities, it’s not until

At the northern tip of the UC Merced campus, an unremarkable aluminum gate leads into a field that extends, seemingly, into infinity. Perpendicular to the gate, the LeGrand Canal, drawn from Lake Yosemite, snakes around campus into the emerald pastures, through farm rows and almond orchards across

Hundreds of students join the UC Merced campus each year intent on health-related careers. What they might not know, though, is that there are resources on campus that can be critical in helping them achieve their goals. “If it weren’t for the Pre-Health Advising program, I might not be where I am,”

Three big UC Solar projects are poised to be the next big breakthroughs in low-cost, accessible sustainable commercial and residential energy in California and far beyond. Researchers are building working models of one project developed through a grant from the California Energy Commission for a