UC Merced Professor Sora Kim Makes Waves Again on Shark Week

Talk about meta: A pop culture phenomenon is using a pop culture phenomenon to undo the results of a pop culture phenomenon.

And for the fourth consecutive year, paleoecology Professor Sora Kim is diving back into the spotlight of the Discovery Channel hit "Shark Week," this time with a K-pop twist intended to rebrand sharks as less frightening.

Kim appears in the new "Shark Week" premiere show, "K-Pop Shark Heroes," which uses the power of K-pop, or Korean popular music, to transform the perception of sharks across the globe.

From Atwater to UC Merced with a Big Head Start

This is part of a series of profiles of new UC Merced Bobcats enrolled for the fall 2026 semester.

Tayven Tipler won’t travel far from his hometown when he starts at UC Merced and he is already well along on his higher education journey. Tipler completed several courses at Merced College as a high school student.

Where I come from: I live in Atwater, where I was born and raised. I graduated this spring from Buhach Colony High School. 

Research Reveals the Hidden Life on a Pine Needle

Everyone recognizes the sharp, clean fragrance of pine needles.

But that's not just a pine forest or a Christmas tree we're smelling - it's the aroma of thousands of microscopic partners working quietly on every needle, helping shape the health of entire forests.

Victorville Student Pursues Neuroscience at UC Merced

This is part of a series of profiles of new UC Merced Bobcats enrolled for the fall 2026 semester.

After moving from Nigeria to the United States two years ago, Wonderful Ezieme built a new foundation in California, where he distinguished himself as a dedicated student and active member of his high school community. He balanced academics with athletics while nurturing a growing interest in neuroscience.

Where I come from: I went to University Preparatory School in Victorville.

Global Film Highlights Faculty Voice on the Future of Soil

A leading expert in soil biogeochemistry and environmental engineering, UC Merced Professor Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, brings her research and perspective to a global conversation about the future of our planet.

Berhe, the Ted & Jan Falasco Chair in Earth Sciences and Geology and director of the UC Merced Earth Institute (formerly Sierra Nevada Research Institute), is one of the scientists interviewed in the new documentary “Groundswell.”

Elephant Dung Piles are Crucial to Biodiversity, Study Shows

Key Points:

  • Elephants function as a keystone species, producing large amounts of nutrient-rich dung that sustain diverse dung beetle populations and support wider ecosystem health.

  • A 15-year field experiment showed that removing elephants leads to sharp declines in dung beetle abundance, biomass, and species diversity, and other herbivores cannot replace their role.

From Wild Mushrooms to Punchlines, Bobcats Learn in Out-of-the-Box Ways

Editor's note: This story is republished from the Spring/Summer 2026 issue of UC Merced Magazine.

Walk across UC Merced’s campus on any weekday, and you might hear laughter spilling from a classroom, feel the thrum of a wind tunnel or spot students crouched in a field searching for mushrooms.

Not every college course follows a familiar script, and at UC Merced, some of the most talked-about classes are the ones that don’t.

Degrees, Cheers and a Record Number of Graduates Under the Open Sky

UC Merced is abuzz with celebration as students, families, friends, staff and faculty finish last-minute preparations for the largest commencement in university history.

Across three outdoor ceremonies, 1,649 undergraduates and 112 graduate students will walk the stage at Spring Commencement 2026, marking a record-setting milestone for the university. This year’s celebrations are especially meaningful as the university awards its 1,000th Ph.D., highlighting just how far the institution — and its graduates — have come.

Five UC Merced Faculty Members Earn Early Career Research Awards

Five UC Merced faculty members are among the first awardees of a UC-wide honor given for exemplary research in budding academic careers.

The Early Career Faculty Research Excellence Awards, launched last fall, support commitment to scholarship and creative activity across the 10-campus system. The awards build on a range of programs and initiatives across the system designed to support thriving faculty careers at UC. 

UC Merced Alumni to Take the Stage as Commencement Speakers

UC Merced will celebrate the Class of 2026 with three inspiring alumni returning to campus as keynote speakers for commencement ceremonies May 15-17.

Emily Reed, ’07, ’13, a tenured biology professor at Merced College, will share her story with more than 100 master’s and doctoral degree candidates and their guests at the Graduate Division ceremony on May 15.