News

Leah Stokes, a political scientist, energy expert and climate communicator from UC Santa Barbara, speaks from the stage at UC Merced.

It's time to think bigger about mitigating climate change.

Measures such as recycling, turning off lights and reducing energy use are great, but making a real impact is going to take systemic change, said Leah Stokes, a political scientist, energy expert and climate communicator from UC Santa Barbara.

The cover of the October edition of Science is depicted in front of a UC Merced sign and palm trees.
Fast-growing fires were responsible for nearly 90% of fire-related damages despite being relatively rare in the United States between 2001-2020, according to a new study. "Fast fires," which thrust embers into the air ahead of rapidly advancing flames, can ignite homes before emergency responders...
female with brown hair and white shirt
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...
Photo depicts drones delivering water to crops.
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...
Pooja Chopra, a former student in Professor Bin Liu’s lab, holds an example of a design fabricated on a silicon substrate using photolithography.
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...
Spendlove Prize winner Tsitsi Dangarembga
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...
From left to right: Professors Tao Ye, Hui Cai, Sayantani Ghosh and Michael Scheibner are core members of the VISION team.
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-...
A forest fire in Canada is pictured.
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...
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 has received the 2024 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award, making it the second straight year the university has earned the distinction. The award, given by Insight Into Diversity magazine, recognizes institutions of higher education for their outstanding commitment to...
Annaliza Perez Torres is pictured on campus at UC Merced.
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...
Philanthropist and community leader Ed Kashian was awarded the UC Merced Chancellor’s Medal, the university’s highest honor, at the campus’s State of the University event on Oct. 9. Established in 2005, the Chancellor’s Medal recognizes individuals who epitomize exemplary engagement, unwavering...
uc merced chancellor munoz state of university speech
UC Merced is being recognized from coast to coast as an institution that “redefines academic excellence, Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz said Wednesday in the annual State of the University address. “As chancellor of this magnificent institution, I tell you that the state of our university is strong...
UC Merced Professor Christiana Spitzmueller
Black and Hispanic faculty members seeking promotion at research universities face career-damaging biases, with their scholarly production judged more harshly than that of their peers, according to a groundbreaking initiative co-led by UC Merced that aims to uncover the roots of these biases and...
Illustration for UC Merced home price database research
A groundbreaking database that tracks 13 decades of annual changes in U.S. home sales and rental prices provides a clearer picture of economic shifts through the 20th century and will be a valuable resource for homebuyers, housing policymakers and the real estate industry, a UC Merced researcher...
In recognition for its continuing efforts to advance Latino student success, UC Merced has earned recertification of the prestigious Seal of Excelencia. The Seal is a national certification for institutions that strive to go beyond enrollment and more intentionally serve Latino students. The...

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