Patty Guerra

Multinational Effort to Map South Africa’s Biodiversity from the Air Earns NASA Award

October 15, 2025

BioSCape, a multinational research project co-led by UC Merced, the University at Buffalo and the University of Cape Town, which monitored Earth’s biodiversity from the air, has received a Group Achievement Award as part of the 2024-25 NASA Honor Awards. A new documentary also showcases...

Global CO2 emissions from forest fires increase by 60%

A major study publishing Friday in Science reveals that carbon dioxide emissions from forest fires have surged by 60% globally since 2001, and almost tripled in some of the most climate-...

Annaliza Perez Torres is pictured on campus at UC Merced.

UC Merced Grad Honored by Society of Women Engineers

Annaliza Perez Torres has already accomplished plenty. A 2019 graduate of UC Merced, Perez was named the School of Engineering's Outstanding Student in Materials Science and Engineering and...

Pictured are RESTORE facility leaders Jennifer Manilay, Kara McCloskey, Changqing Li, and David Gravano.

New Facility Will Expand UC Merced's Groundbreaking Stem Cell Research

Stem cells hold vast potential to help people live healthier lives. UC Merced researchers have delved into expanded uses of these cells, which can be used to create any cell in the body, to...

Depicted are mouse embryonic stem cell derived-tip endothelial cells with nontip endothelial cells

UC Merced Research on Growing Blood Vessels Earns NIH Grant

A grant from National Institutes of Health will fund research into using stem cell-derived cells to grow new blood vessels in areas that might have blockages. The $416,741 grant will fund work by...

UC Merced Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz is shown speaking to academy attendees.

1300 Campaign Students Hosted at UC Merced Academy

Dozens of high school students stepped off buses at UC Merced on a toasty Monday last summer, coming from Stockton, Modesto and Merced to spend a few days exploring college opportunities. They...

A colorful piece by artist Gronk, depicting a figure standing in front of a wall, is pictured.

UC Merced Curates Sweeping Chicano Art Exhibit at 3 Galleries

A three-site exhibit is celebrating Chicano art in a collaboration between a university and a community - the culmination of a professor's nine years of effort. "Alma, Corazón, y Vida:...

Carlos Diaz Alvarenga and his wife, Rocio Medrano Calderon, are pictured.

UC Merced Graduate Ends Exciting Year with Professorship at Cal Poly

It is a serious understatement to say Carlos Diaz Alvarenga had a big year: He graduated from UC Merced, successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis and landed a position as an assistant professor at Cal...

Lab members Zabir Mahmud and Farzan ZareAfifi are pictured on either side of electrical engineering Professor Sarah Kurtz.

As California Develops More Clean Energy, Researchers Delve Into How to Store it

As California lawmakers consider a package of bills aimed at increasing the production of clean energy, a major question arises: How would we store all this new power? Storage is a vital...

Photo shows people using carts to move items into dorms at UC Merced.

UC Merced Welcomes Students For Fall 2024 Semester

As classes begin Wednesday for UC Merced's 20th academic year, the campus and its offerings continue to grow to meet the needs of students and the community at large. Edwin Lopez was so...