Lorena Anderson

Professor Dives with Crocs, Displays Megalodon Expertise During Shark Week

July 17, 2025

Professor Sora Kim swam with a Nile crocodile for this year's Shark Week special, which focuses of sharks versus prehistoric reptiles. Photo courtesy of Kruger National Park, South Africa.

Shark Week starts Sunday and Professor Sora Kim will be featured again this year in a special airing at 9 p.m. Monday, titled “Jaws vs. Mega Croc,” and the filming allowed her to swim with a Nile crocodile. “I flew to Florida and learned about crocodiles – their evolution...

Professor and Students Study Deformations to Increase Health

People don’t often think of deformation as a good thing. But when it comes to biofilaments – such as strands of DNA – it’s not only good, it’s necessary for the biofilament to complete its functions...

Natural Sciences Dean, Professor Link UC Merced to Knowledge Hub

A collaboration between a dean and a professor and a grant from the National Science Foundation have made UC Merced part of a national nanotechnology-biology hub that will expand both knowledge and...

Postdoctoral Researcher’s Work in International Ecology Journal

The theory that temperature limits how far up in the mountains trees can grow looks like it’s true, but not in the way researchers had expected. Working with Professor Lara Kueppers, UC Merced...

Research Week Highlights Cutting-Edge Work

Researchers at the university in your backyard are delving into issues of great importance to the San Joaquin Valley, the state, the nation and the world. You can learn more about their work at the...

MESA Lab’s Unmanned Planes Could Be Game Changers for Many

Peek in the windows at the Mechatronics, Embedded Systems and Automation (MESA) Lab sometime. You’ll probably see students flying small remote-controlled vehicles at all hours of the day and night....

Graduate Student Bringing UC Merced to Western Pacific

Graduate student Sharon Patris likes spending time at a lake in the middle of the forest on an uninhabited island in the western Pacific. The marine lake named Ongiem’l Tketau and informally known as...

Professor’s Paper, Among Year’s Best, Shows Dramatic Effects of Mountaintop Mining on Climate

UC Merced School of Engineering Professor Elliott Campbell has co-authored a paper showing that mountaintop removal mining will dramatically accelerate the regional effects of global warming by...

Professor’s Design Could Win $50,000 Grant

A UC Merced professor is one of five finalists in an international challenge that could win him a $50,000 research grant and free access to a record-setting, ocean-going robot. Professor Michael...

UC Merced’s Sustainability Practices Include the Whole Campus Community

Sometimes, what goes on behind the scenes is as important as what happens in full view – especially when it comes to UC Merced’s pledge to uphold and develop new sustainable practices. All across...