Patty Guerra

How Did the COVID-19 Pandemic Fuel Record-Breaking Wildfires in 2020? New Study Explains

May 5, 2025

Photo depicts a firefighter and flames from the 2020 Apple fire in California.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted many facets of life, including health care, schools and the work environment. A new study by UC Merced researchers shows evidence that the pandemic also fueled an elevated number of wildfires in the United States that year. How? With schools...

Ashlie Martini is the associate director for the Center for the Mechanical Control of Chemistry.

UC Merced Among Institutions Awarded $20 Million NSF Investment for Mechanical Chemistry

Understanding the atomic-scale mysteries of "crushing" chemistry is the goal of an expanding research center with a newly awarded $20 million investment from the U.S. National Science...

Paper on Online Object Tracking Earns Award 10 Years Later

UC Merced electrical engineering and computer science Professor Ming Hsuan-Yang recently won an award for a paper he co-authored 10 years ago. Yang was awarded the Longuet-Higgins Prize at the...

Members of the UC Merced team at the Design/Build/Fly drone competition in Tucson, Arizona.

UC Merced Drone Team Soars to New Heights in Global Competition

After seven months of working for hours each weekend to design, build and fly a drone, it all came down to a nervous moment for UC Merced students taking part in a worldwide competition. Their...

Hayden Elliott of Turlock will start at UC Merced in the fall.

New Bobcat Brings Wealth of Experience to College Career

Incoming first-year student Hayden Elliott will hit the UC Merced campus this fall with quite a bit of college already under his belt. A 2023 graduate of Turlock High School, Elliott has earned...

Josh Viers, Rakesh Goel, Yosuke Yamashiki, Hrant Hratchian, Sarah Naumes and Chase Yamauchi at the MOU signing. Photo by Leigh Bernacchi

Collaboration Across Continents: Agreement Brings Merced, Kyoto Campuses Closer

Merced, California, and Kyoto, Japan, are nearly 5,500 miles apart, but their research universities' shared goals to improve society is bringing them together. A new agreement between...

Participants in a Secure Water Future expedition raft on the Green River in Utah.

Water Research Goes Deep with Rafting Trip to Utah

The USDA-funded Secure Water Future (SWF) team at UC Merced believes that to fully understand water, you must do more than just study this vital resource. You must immerse yourself in it -...

Fellowship Will Allow Professor to Continue Telling Impactful Stories

Professor of Literatures, Languages and Cultures Mai-Linh K. Hong has been awarded a 2023 ACLS Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies. The ACLS Fellowship Program...

Professor Ahmed Sabir Arif is pictured with PhD students Tafadzwa Joseph Dube, Laxmi Pandey (graduated Spring 2022), Gulnar Rakhmetulla (graduated Spring 2022), and Yuan Ren.

CAREER Award Funds Research Into Lip Reading for Mobile Devices

Professor Ahmed Sabbir Arif has received a CAREER award for his research into non-acoustic, image-based speech input on mobile devices. He is the 35th researcher from UC Merced to earn a...

Student Jose Sanez undergoes a virtual eye exam developed by a team at UC Merced's Innovate to Grow event, .

Student Projects Provide Real Solutions at Innovate to Grow Event

Dozens of innovative ideas were on display at UC Merced's Innovate to Grow event May 11. The biannual event provides an opportunity for engineering students to showcase their capstone projects,...