News

Dedicated Student Breaks Ground With Ph.D., Autism Research

June 13, 2016

When Nikko Da Paz decided to go to graduate school, she didn’t limit herself to one degree — or even one campus. The mother of two young children with autism enrolled at UC Merced in 2011, and in May she became the university’s first African-American student to earn a Ph.D...

Scientists Unveiling the Complexity of Mysterious Protein Folding

June 1, 2016

Imagine trying to reverse engineer a car when all you have is a finished product or a box full of parts — no instructions. That’s what scientists have been trying to do with proteins, the mysterious and powerful molecules in every living organism that are responsible for thousands of tasks every...

Brainstorm: Professors Take Holistic Approach to Study Thinking, Learning and Neuroscience

May 27, 2016

The following article is the main story in a six-piece package that appeared in the spring issue of UC Merced Magazine focusing on the research performed at UC Merced that relates to the brain. You can read the other stories, on consciousness, machine learning and artificial intelligence,...

Wildfire Increasing in the West Because of Climate Change, Research Shows

May 25, 2016

The number, size and duration of large mountain forest fires in the Western United States has increased dramatically in the past 40 years, according to research from UC Merced Professor LeRoy Westerling. Warming temperatures and the earlier onset of spring and the spring snowmelt — the results of...

Campus Getting Greener with New Research Growing Spaces

May 23, 2016

Everyone knows UC Merced is growing, but pretty soon, the campus will be growing lots of plant specimens for research, too. The School of Natural Sciences is buying a pair of greenhouses that will be installed at the eastern end of campus near the North Bowl parking lot. The greenhouses will allow...

Campus To Get New Research Growing Spaces

May 23, 2016

Everyone knows UC Merced is growing, but pretty soon, the campus will be growing lots of plant specimens for research, too. The "X" marks the spot where the new greenhouses will be built, near the southeast corner of campus. The School of Natural Sciences is...

Professor Recounts Lost History of Migrant Workers in New Book

May 18, 2016

When UC Merced Professor Mario Sifuentez was a graduate student, he didn’t have to look far to find a subject to research — members of his family had been migrant workers in Oregon for many years, but he could find very few texts documenting how such workers got there and what their lives were like...

Congratulations to #UCM2016, UC Merced's 11th Graduating Class

May 17, 2016

The campus posted 122 updates to social media over the weekend. Here is a curated collection of those and ones shared by members of our community. [View the story “Commencement 2016” on Storify]

Study Links Cancer Cell Growth to Nervous System

May 17, 2016

Cancer cells divide with more frequency and are more resilient when they are closer to the brain, indicating a potential link between cell growth and the nervous system, according to new research from Professor Néstor J. Oviedo of the University of California, Merced. The study, published today (...

UC Merced to Honor 11th Graduating Class at Commencement

May 12, 2016

This weekend, more than 900 degree candidates are expected to take part in the 11th commencement ceremonies at University of California, Merced, and commemorate the hard work that led to their momentous day. “Commencement marks a significant milestone in a student's life,” Chancellor Dorothy Leland...