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...

Students Present the Face of Yosemite to the First Family

For many UC Merced students, visiting Yosemite is a relaxing way to spend a weekend. But for several UC Merced students, the past weekend was extremely hectic and a little nerve-wracking — but full...

Studying the ’Saurs: New Class is a ‘Gateway to Science’

One of the campus’s newest professors is teaching one of its newest classes on one of the world’s oldest subjects: dinosaurs. But there’s much more to Professor Justin Yeakel’s Natural History of...

Bioengineering Student Wins Strauss Scholarship to Help Visually Impaired

Harkanwalpreet Sodhi, a third-year bioengineering student, won a $10,000 Donald A. Strauss Foundation scholarship to help visually impaired people in Merced. The scholarship will help Sodhi start a...

Scientists Unveiling the Complexity of Mysterious Protein Folding

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...

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

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...

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

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...

Campus Getting Greener with New Research Growing Spaces

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...

Greening the Campus Earns Gold in Sustainability Ratings

The UC Merced campus is getting greener and earning gold as it does — gold ratings, that is. UC Merced improved its rating through the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher...

Innovate to Grow is Fertile Ground for University and Community Entrepreneurs

As a senior engineering student, Michael Urner selected a capstone project he related to. Little did he know that his 2013 Innovation and Design Clinic (IDC) project would lead him to start his own...