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...

New Big Data Program Draws NSF Funding for UC Merced

As the world continues to amass more digital data everyday, thousands of skilled mathematicians will be needed to slice it into meaningful pieces that can help power the information economy. With the...

Graduate Student Finds Work in Sierra Rewarding

Graduate student Ryan Lucas is living a mountain-lover’s dream through his research. As part of engineering Professor Martha Conklin’s meadows-hydrology lab, he gets to spend a lot of time in the...

UC Merced Students Excel at National Science Conference

Two University of California, Merced, students – Viridiana Murillo and Alexandro Perez-Tovar – won first prize in their divisions at the recent Society for Advancement of Hispanics/Chicanos &...

New Blum Center at UC Merced to Focus on Valley Prosperity

UC Merced has a unique opportunity to help the San Joaquin Valley as the university forges the newest branch of the Blum Center for Developing Economies. The $400,000, two-year seed grant through the...

UC Solar Extends UC Merced’s Reach Across the Pacific

Professor Roland Winston’s work has helped take UC Merced and UC Solar global – this time it’s to Singapore. The small city-nation is experiencing a building boom, and developers have plans to use...

Well-known Technology Sees New Use in Solar Collection

Adapting technology that has become the standard in the automotive, aerospace and air-conditioning industries, Professor Gerardo Diaz has designed and is testing the next generation of solar-...

UC Merced Alumnus’s Rim Fire Map Generates Lots of Attention

As the Rim Fire continues to burn in and around Yosemite National Park, a former UC Merced student’s work related to the fire burned up the Internet this week. Paul Doherty, the first Yosemite park...

UC Merced Welcomes Four New Board of Trustee Members

University of California, Merced, welcomes four new members to the UC Merced Foundation Board of Trustees. Representing an expansive and influential network, the newest members are: Gary Kremen,...

Research Gets a New Face in UC Merced Library Exhibits

Not everyone can go out into the Sierra Nevada and experience snowpack research or wildlife conservation firsthand. That’s why Robin Milford, access services librarian and exhibits coordinator for...