Lorena Anderson

Astronomers Reveal Hidden Activity in the Early Universe’s Most Massive Galaxies

January 5, 2026

Spectroscopy at the UC's W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii helped the researchers interpret complex data about ultramassive galaxies. Photo courtesy of the W.M. Keck Observatory.

An international team of astronomers has studied ultramassive galaxies - galaxies containing more than 100 billion stars - as they existed when the universe was less than 2 billion years old. The results show that while some of these ultramassive galaxies, or UMGs, had already shut down star...

Capstone Team’s Designs Could Win DARPA Competition

Improvements for a ubiquitous device that cools high-powered electronics aboard military aircraft could do more than just earn a group of engineering students their senior capstone design credits. It...

Professor’s Passion for Monkey Flower Leads to Genetic Discoveries

The environment affects the way genetic populations move, and similar environments likely play a bigger role in how a species develops than does geographic distance. Those are just two of the...

Professors’ Expertise Tapped for Policy Discussions at Drought Summit

Two researchers from the University of California, Merced, are slated to take part in the UC Drought Science, Policy and Management Summit at the state Capitol this week. School of Engineering ...

Researchers Melt Snow to See Climate Change Impacts

In a megadrought like the one California is experiencing, people tend to look at how much rainfall has come along. But it also matters when the snowmelt releases its cache, because the snowpack is...

Professor’s Paper in Nature Communications Indicates Deep Sea Changes

Large, naturally occurring low-oxygen zones in the Pacific appear to be expanding, and there is a sharp change in the number of bacteria that produce and consume different forms of toxic sulfur,...

McCloskey’s Research Earns Grant from California’s Stem Cell Push

UC Merced Professor Kara McCloskey was recently awarded a highly competitive $500,000 grant to continue tackling significant, unresolved issues in human stem cell biology, as part of an effort to...

Campus Surpasses UC President’s Water Conservation Request

Conserving resources is just a part of the fabric of UC Merced. So it should come as no surprise that university leaders say the campus can not only meet President Janet Napolitano’s call to cut...

Research Week Offers Opportunities to Learn More about Intriguing Subjects

California’s drought is a major topic, including on the UC Merced campus. It will be among the subjects explored during this year’s Research Week, from March 10 through 14. The annual event...

UC Merced Chosen as Pioneer for Entrepreneurial Program

University of California, Merced, was chosen as one of a dozen campuses across the nation to bring to life a new program designed to inculcate innovation and entrepreneurship in undergraduate...