Fire scientists typically respond to agency opportunities and conduct research in response to past wildfires. But it is time they take more proactive, integrative, predictive approaches toward mitigating and adapting to this potentially devastating consequence of climate change, a group of scientists advocates.

Land has been tilled at UC Merced’s smart farm, the first physical step in developing the state-of-the-art project.

“Even though it’s just a blank field, we have overcome some pretty big obstacles to be where we are today,” said Danny Royer, Experimental Smart Farm coordinator for the university. He spoke Nov. 16, at the farm, describing the work done so far and what’s next.

Plans call for the farm to grow oats, grain, tomatoes and squash. But the primary crop for the 45-acre property roughly a half-mile south of campus will be data.

Adding even a small amount of biochar — a charcoal-like material produced by burning organic matter — to a dairy’s manure-composting process reduces methane emissions by 84%, a recent study by UC Merced researchers shows.

The dairy industry is one of the main sources of methane in California, making up 50% of the state’s methane emissions. Reducing these emissions is a critical part of state and federal efforts to address climate change.

Losses to California’s ag industry have continued to mount as the state’s drought stretched into a third straight year, according to a report released Tuesday by researchers from the School of Engineering and the Public Policy Institute of California.

Rakesh Goel developed an interest in earthquakes at an early age — and rather abruptly.

As a small boy in India, one of his first memories is of experiencing an earthquake.

"I must have been a few years old and there was a big earthquake," said Dr. Goel. "I clung to the window, thinking that it was a big freight train going by the house."

When it functions correctly, inflammation protects the body from infection and injury. But when it becomes chronic, inflammation is linked to health problems such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, arthritis and bowel diseases, including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

UC Merced’s battle against climate change is traveling south of the border as campus leaders joined UC Alianza MX to help launch a strategic alliance between the UC system and counterparts in Mexico.

Rising juniors this fall will have an unprecedented opportunity for stem cell research training that could lead directly to careers in stem cell science after graduation.

Like many other researchers, environmental engineering professors Erin Hestir and Joshua Viers are trying to quantify water use in California’s Central Valley.

The difference is, they are doing it from the sky.

UC Merced has awarded its second cohort of Chancellor’s Fellowship for Inclusive Excellence to four incoming Ph.D. students from the schools of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts, Natural Sciences and Engineering. Their studies will contribute to the representation of Black scholars in academia and beyond.