As the climate continues to change, the risks to farming are only going to increase.
That's the key takeaway from a recent paper published by a team that included UC Merced researchers. The paper dives into what those challenges are, how farmers are working to address them and what should come next.
Construction has begun on a pilot project to install solar panels above two sections of Central Valley canals. This innovative initiative, which studies significant power and water issues, has already garnered recognition.
Project Nexus, a partnership between the Turlock Irrigation District (TID), the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), Bay Area development firm Solar AquaGrid, and UC Merced, received the Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Award from the California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance (CCEEB).
California's agriculture faces challenges from a highly variable climate with temperatures that will increase over the next several decades. Droughts are worsening and the Sierra snowpack, integral to the water supply, is volatile.
However, there are a number of ways to mitigate those changes, as outlined in a new paper coauthored by a group of UC faculty.
"I like research on the Internet of Things because it solves problems in people's lives," said Shijia Pan , a professor of computer science and engineering at UC Merced and a principal investigator at the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society and the Banatao Institute (CITRIS). "You can ask - 'What do I wish to have to make our lives easier?' - and you can build one yourself."
A diverse group of students participated in a stem cell training pilot program at UC Merced this summer.
It was the second summer for the Training Undergrads in Stem Cell Engineering and Biology (TUSCEB) program, funded through the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). It's a collaborative effort between the schools of Natural Sciences and Engineering led by professors Kara McCloskey and Jennifer Manilay and serviced through the university's Health Sciences Research Institute (HSRI).
As California lawmakers consider a package of bills aimed at increasing the production of clean energy, a major question arises: How would we store all this new power?
It is a serious understatement to say Carlos Diaz Alvarenga had a big year: He graduated from UC Merced, successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis and landed a position as an assistant professor at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo.
Oh, and he got married.
"Yeah, those are all big life events and I did them all in one year," Diaz Alvarenga said, laughing. "It's been super difficult, but it's been worth it."
A grant from National Institutes of Health will fund research into using stem cell-derived cells to grow new blood vessels in areas that might have blockages.
The $416,741 grant will fund work by chemical and materials engineering Professor Kara McCloskey, working with co-principal investigator Ngan Huang, a professor in the department of cardiothoracic surgery at Stanford University and principal investigator at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System.
Stem cells hold vast potential to help people live healthier lives. UC Merced researchers have delved into expanded uses of these cells, which can be used to create any cell in the body, to replace damaged cardiac tissue and grow new blood vessels, among other uses.
A $5.4 million grant from one of the world's largest institutions dedicated to regenerative medicine will fund a new facility to support research in vascular models and human stem cells.
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 engineer with Lockheed Martin, has received a Rising Technical Contributor Award from the Society of Women Engineers.
