Regional Answers Best Option to Address Global Water, Energy Problems

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine calls for the U.S. Department of Energy to develop innovative technology and infrastructure at the intersection of the nation's water and energy systems.

The country's energy and water systems are profoundly interconnected, and disruptions can cascade rapidly across both, says the report from the Committee on Enabling DOE Regional Energy-Water Technology Pilots.

Can AI Help Predict and Manage Drought? UC Merced Researchers Explain in New Book

After a couple of years of sufficient water, much of California is showing "abnormally dry" conditions in spring 2026, according to the state drought monitor.

And as climate change adds more swings between wet and dry conditions, researchers are working on ways to better identify, predict and manage drought.

Toward that end, a UC Merced team contributed a chapter on "Artificial Intelligence for Multiscale Drought Modeling and Decision Making," in the new book "Global Drought and Sustainability."

State's First Solar Canal Project Moves from UC Merced Lab to Real World

What started as a premise in a UC Merced lab culminated with a commemoration of Project Nexus, California's first solar canal project.

On Wednesday, state leaders gathered at the Project Nexus sites in Hickman and Keyes to celebrate the completion of the construction pilot, which demonstrates how covering operational irrigation canals with solar panels can help save water, generate clean energy, and conserve natural lands.

UC Merced Sees Strong Gains in U.S. News Grad School Rankings

UC Merced saw broad gains in the U.S. News and World Report 2026 Best Graduate Schools rankings with graduate programs rising in national standing, reflecting the campus’s growing academic and research profile.

Innovative Solutions Turn Rural Energy Challenges Into Opportunities

One of the biggest hurdles facing local farmers is the rising cost of doing business.

However, some innovative solutions are in the works, as highlighted at the Central Valley Rural Energy Systems Workshop at UC Merced in early December.

Professor and Environmental Champion Bales Retires, But Research and Advocacy Continue

Professors Roger Bales and Martha Conklin arrived in Merced in 2003, the first non-administrative faculty members at UC Merced. They came with a vision: to create a research university that would serve California’s future.

Now, after more than 22 years of building institutions, mentoring and pioneering environmental research, Bales has retired from UC Merced.

Multinational Effort to Map South Africa’s Biodiversity from the Air Earns NASA Award

BioSCape, a multinational research project co-led by UC Merced, the University at Buffalo and the University of Cape Town, which monitored Earth’s biodiversity from the air, has received a Group Achievement Award as part of the 2024-25 NASA Honor Awards.

A new documentary also showcases the project’s impressive results.

AI-Powered Irrigation System Offers Opportunities for Communications as well as Farming

An almond orchard in Parlier provides a look into the future of farming.

Researchers at UC Merced and the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources installed an irrigation system powered by artificial intelligence to deliver the precise amount of water needed and measure the results.

From Soil to Climate Solutions: Berhe Leads Sierra Nevada Research Institute into its Next Chapter

When Professor Asmeret Asefaw Berhe arrived at UC Merced in 2009, she and her husband, Professor Teamrat Ghezzehei, were leaving major research institutions to join a brand-new campus in California’s Central Valley. It was a leap of faith — one made easier by the Sierra Nevada Research Institute.

Buhach Valedictorian Pursues Environmental Engineering at UC Merced this Fall

This is part of a series of profiles of new UC Merced Bobcats enrolled for the fall 2025 semester.

Drake Ledford was an exemplary high school student, earning a 4.29 GPA. The Merced Union High School District (MUHSD) recognized him as one of its top scholars. He was also honored as valedictorian for his class and a California Scholarship Federation Sealbearer, the highest level of recognition for academic achievement, at his graduation in June.