Brenda Ortiz

Ready, Set, Slam: 10 UC Merced Scholars Battle for Champion Title

March 9, 2026

Group of individuals attending event with grads student presenting on stage

Ten UC Merced graduate researchers are gearing up to deliver the most intense three minutes of their academic careers. Each spring, master’s and Ph.D. students across the campus’s three schools are invited to participate in Grad Slam — a fast‑paced competition that challenges...

Honor Student Gives UC Merced a New 'Cat to Cheer About

This is part of a series of profiles of new UC Merced Bobcats enrolled for the fall 2024 semester. Jenna Hinds, a Central Valley native, is bringing spirit to UC Merced. Hinds discovered a...

Children play and learn at the Kids Discovery Center

Three Years of Learning and Play at Kids Discovery Station Merced

Less than three years ago, the idea of bringing a children’s museum to Merced began to blossom. Since Mayya Tokman and Angelo Kyrilov, both UC Merced professors, opened the doors of Kids...

Training Ph.D. Candidates for Peer Support Roles

As a young institution in the University of California system, UC Merced has placed a strong emphasis on serving students who are the first in their families to pursue graduate education. With its...

UC Merced faculty and graduate students collaborate with the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation to record rock art sites in Mariposa County.

Major Gift to Reimagine Humanities Research, Community-engaged Projects

Humanities education has been under fire on college campuses over the past decade. “There’s a lot of concern nationally about graduate education in the humanities. We’re...

author Jorge Cham speaks to a group of graduate students during a visit to UC Merced.

Author Jorge Cham Simplifies Science in an Entertaining Way

“Raise your hands if you want to know a secret,” acclaimed author and cartoonist Jorge Cham instructed a crowd of young children. Hundreds of tiny arms shot up in unison toward the...

Ph.D. candidate Ambarish Varadan will compete in the UC Grad Slam finale livestreamed starting at 10:30 a.m. Friday, May 3.

Campus Grad Slam Winner Examines ‘Gut Viruses: Friends or Foes?’

Earlier this month, Ambarish Varadan competed in UC Merced’s Grad Slam finals and seized the title of Campus Champion. This was the second time the Quantitative and Systems Biology (QSB) Ph....

Students, Alums Awarded Prestigious NSF Graduate Fellowships

Three UC Merced graduate students and two undergraduate alumni were recently offered fellowships from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). “I am...

Graduate students from UC Merced’s three schools will take the stage to compete in the Graduate Division’s 10th Grad Slam finals on April 8.

Graduate Division Hosts 10th Grad Slam Competition

Who will UC Merced’s Grad Slam champion be? Cheer on the finalists on April 8 and find out. Graduate students from UC Merced’s three schools will take the stage to compete in the...

Riverside City Manager and UC Merced grad student Mike Futrell

Ph.D. Student Juggles Academic Demands with Managing a City

Glancing at Mike Futrell’s resume, one might ask, “What hasn’t he done?” He is a retired United States Navy captain with two submarine tours under his belt and 26 years of...