News

Professor Brings Course-Based Research Experiences to Physics

October 25, 2024

Conducting research can be daunting. UC Merced, like its sister University of California campuses, prides itself on the opportunities it provides its students to conduct research as part of their educational experiences. But the idea of looking into a concept and producing new results can seem...

Public Health Grad Student Selected for Prestigious Award

October 24, 2024

Second-year public health Ph.D. student Sarina Rodriguez was named as a Health Policy Research Scholar by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The HPRS program supports doctoral students from underserved and underrepresented demographics and brings together students from various fields to apply...

Research Center Aimed at New Ways to Make Natural Rubber

October 23, 2024

Natural rubber is used in a wide range of products used throughout the globe. Lab-produced rubber works for many applications but is insufficient for vital items like airplane tires and specialty medical products. Natural rubber also is a precious resource; 90% of the plants that serve as its...

Grant Provides New Equipment with Diverse Applications

October 22, 2024

A new instrument that can fabricate extremely small features and devices could have a very big impact on several STEM programs at UC Merced. Parveen Kumar of the university's Office of Research and Economic Development leads a team that secured a grant from the Army Research Office, the Office of...

Zimbabwean Filmmaker, Activist Chosen for Spendlove Prize

October 21, 2024

Tsitsi Dangarembga, a renowned Zimbabwean filmmaker, novelist and cultural activist, was selected as the 16th recipient of the Alice and Clifford Spendlove Prize in Social Justice, Diplomacy and Tolerance. Tsitsi Dangarembga is best known for her critically acclaimed 1988 debut novel, “Nervous...

NSF Grant Opens Opportunities for Students in Materials Research

October 21, 2024

A group of faculty members at UC Merced has been awarded a $1 million seed grant from the National Science Foundation to form a research collaborative to expand participation and access to materials, research-focused facilities, education, training and careers. The Venture for Innovation in Self-...

Global CO2 emissions from forest fires increase by 60%

October 17, 2024

A major study publishing Friday in Science reveals that carbon dioxide emissions from forest fires have surged by 60% globally since 2001, and almost tripled in some of the most climate-sensitive northern boreal forests. UC Merced faculty John Abatzoglou and Crystal Kolden were part of a research...

Study: Climate Change Extends Drought Recovery by at Least Three Months

October 17, 2024

A group of researchers at UC Merced has found that climate change means it takes about three months longer for California to recover from drought, and probably longer. “Climate change has fundamentally changed the odds of getting out of drought. It has weighted the dice,” said Emily Williams, a...

UC Merced Grad Honored by Society of Women Engineers

October 16, 2024

Annaliza Perez Torres has already accomplished plenty. A 2019 graduate of UC Merced, Perez was named the School of Engineering's Outstanding Student in Materials Science and Engineering and earned Research Excellence recognition from the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Center. Now Perez, an...

Valley Air Quality, Public Health the Focus of UC Merced Conference

October 15, 2024

Scientists, policymakers and concerned community members will gather at UC Merced this week to compare notes and chart new directions to improve air quality and public health in the San Joaquin Valley. The Conference on Air Quality and Health on Thursday and Friday, Oct. 17-18, at the UC Merced...