In Brief

Ph.D. Student Awarded Fellowship to Advance Environmental Health and Harmful Algal Bloom Mitigation

December 18, 2025

Collage photo of Black male with dark hair and beard wearing blue and gray long sleeve shirt and photo of campus signage and palm trees.

Public health Ph.D. student Felix Agyemang Opoku has been awarded the UC Global Health Initiative Center for Planetary Health Water and Health Summer Research Fellowship. The research fellowships are designed to provide students with funding to conduct research on water and health. Opoku...

Grad Student Awarded Thesis of the Year for Work in Public Health

UC Merced public health graduate student Erendira “Dida” Estrada's master’s thesis, “Development of a participatory health communication intervention: An ecological...

News and Notes: Staff Assembly Hosts Event, Announces Election Results

Dining Partners with Staff Assembly for Salvage Social Hour UC Merced Dining, in partnership with Staff Assembly, will host Salvage Social Hour Wednesday, June 6 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the 17th...

Several hundred UC Merced staff members, seated at tables outdoors, enjoy lunch during Staff Appreciation Week.

News and Notes: Staff Had ‘Rad’ Time During ’80s-Themed Appreciation Week

UC Merced staff members got the time to enjoy the company of their colleagues while being saluted for the tireless work they do to support students, faculty members and the university’s mission...

Children’s Museum Pop-Up Arrives Friday

A team of educators, policy makers and community members are working to bring a children’s museum to Merced. To celebrate the museum’s first pop-up exhibit, Merced For Kids, museum...

A woman in pink scarf and dark jacket stands in front of a table covered with posters and car prototypes.

Qattawi Named Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer

The Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) named Professor Ala Qattawi one of this year’s Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineers. “I am honored to receive this award,”...

Bobcats Can Catch Some Bass

A pair of UC Merced students showed off their bass-fishing skills by winning a Fishing League Worldwide event last weekend, earning themselves a spot in next year’s finals. Herbie LeBlanc of...

Man and woman kneel in grassy field with others in the background.

Calling All Citizen Scientists!

Local community members are invited to serve as citizen scientists at UC Merced’s next CALeDNA BioBlitz, scheduled for Sunday, May 20, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Merced Vernal Pools and...

Engineering Students Get an Inside Look at Wastewater Treatment

Three field trips this semester gave Professor Marc Beutel’s students an up-close understanding of biological wastewater processes used in treatment plants across the country. Most recently...

New Endowment Enhances Alumni Association’s Initiatives

Last month, the UC Merced Alumni Association (UCMAA) established the UC Merced Alumni Association Journey Endowment with $25,000 it collected through fundraising efforts to support initiatives...