Key points Pregnant women with cannabis use disorder (CUD) had a 10 percent rate of postpartum psychiatric emergency visits, compared to 2.7 percent among those without the disorder. CUD during pregnancy was linked to a 40 percent higher risk of psychiatric emergency visits during the first

When farmworkers decide conditions are so harsh they have to leave the fields, the story doesn’t end there — it moves to another corner of the labor market. UC Merced Sociology Ph.D. candidate Andrés Arias captures that in his article, “ ’It is worse in the fields:’ how racial capitalism disciplines

For Holly Rus, ’17, a passion for health psychology and real-world impact has led to a career at the forefront of consumer sleep research. She is head of scientific research at Sleep.ai, where she directs studies designed to improve health and wellness through better sleep. “I lead a team of

Five faculty members in the UC Merced School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts have been appointed to endowed chairs, recognizing their scholarship and contributions to research that serve underrepresented communities, advance human rights and shape the future of communications. The newly

Digging for stories in a Gold Rush town that vanished in flames 170 years ago. Pinging brainwaves for reactions from sentences that slide between Spanish and English. Fortifying students’ skills and confidence with a practice called powerwriting. These ventures are among nearly a dozen UC Merced

This is part of a series of profiles  of new UC Merced Bobcats enrolled for the fall 2026 semester. Peyton Smith brings a love of water sports, an interest in medicine and a goal to work as a pediatrician to UC Merced. The Fresno student brings a deep resume of public service in high school to her

David Zwart hadn't even finished introducing himself as the keynote speaker for "The Dutch -American Story in the San Joaquin Valley" at the UC Merced event on July 14 before he'd found a connection in the audience. "Any connections?" the historian and associate professor at Grand Valley State

Key points: Researchers successfully tested a technique that uses human sewage to measure the use of nicotine products such as cigarettes and vaping pens in a selected community. The project, led by scientists at UC Merced, can strengthen public health efforts by supplementing surveys about nicotine

An all-faculty rock band formed in a professor’s garage a decade ago has released the first album produced at UC Merced’s digitally advanced recording studio. The album showcases the eight members of G Street Revolution. Their day jobs cross a spectrum of academics: engineering, sociology

Editor's note: This story is republished from the Spring/Summer 2026 issue of UC Merced Magazine. Temnee Wright, ’08 has realized a successful career as legal counsel at several Silicon Valley companies. Her interest in law was forged at UC Merced, where she made the most out of being a student in