Lorena Anderson

Professor and Environmental Champion Bales Retires, But Research and Advocacy Continue

November 10, 2025

Professors Roger Bales and Martha Conklin arrived in Merced in 2003, the first non-administrative faculty members at UC Merced. They came with a vision: to create a research university that would serve California’s future. Now, after more than 22 years of building institutions, mentoring...

Professor Tracey Osborne Taking on Complex, Grand Challenges in Climate and Social Justice

The world is a complex place, and humanity faces major challenges. Climate change mitigation might be the most difficult, in large part because of the interdependency of living things and their...

Global Fire Outlook Not Good News, but Mitigation is Possible, Analysis Shows

Wildfire is a natural process necessary to many ecosystems. But wildfires are getting worse and more damaging, and it is our fault, according to new research. A paper by two UC Merced researchers...

Alum Develops Device to Measure and Manipulate Invisible Force

As scientists build smaller and smaller machines, they need to understand the invisible forces that make those machines work. Thanks to research and the initiative of then-UC Merced graduate...

New Grant More than Doubles Campus Supercomputing Power

UC Merced is rapidly gaining a strong reputation for research and scientific computing across many disciplines and a major expansion of its computing infrastructure is about to cement the campus...

Drones captured photogrammatic images of Lake Berryessa for CalTrans.

UC Drone Center Takes on Training and Safety with State Transportation Agency

There is a growing acceptance and adoption of drones — unmanned aircraft systems — by local and state agencies across the U.S. Advocates say there’s good reason: Drones can be a...

Some Immune Cells Appear to ‘Know’ the Coronavirus, Even Though They’ve Never Met

Having had the common cold appears to have programmed some people’s immune cells to recognize the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. That discovery — by an immunology team that includes...

Freeing the state from its dependence on fossil fuels means finding the right combination of renewable solutions, as well as efficient, low-cost energy storage.

New Project Shining a Light on Energy Storage

California’s leaders want the state to reach 100 percent clean energy in the future, including being 60 percent powered by renewable energy by 2030 and being free of fossil fuels entirely by...

Equipment in the Costa Rican rainforest measures the soil emissions.

Precipitation and Drainage Fuel Large CO2 ‘Burps’ from Rainforest Soils, Study Finds

It is said that rainforests are the Earth’s lungs, capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, building it into lush vegetation and releasing oxygen and water back into the air. But every...

Professor Emily Moran, left, and graduate student Mengjun Shu examine seedlings in the research greenhouse.

Reforesting After Wildfires: Which Trees Are Most Likely to Thrive?

Wildfire seasons are intensifying because of climate change. That means reforestation efforts will increase, making it important for scientists and resource managers to understand how to make sure...