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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...
A new website offers farmers vital growing information.

New Website Offers Farmers Vital Information at Their Fingertips

  When planting crops, farmers confront numerous questions. Among them: Will it get too hot? Is it likely frost will stunt growing? When is the best time to plant? What kind of pests could...
Professor Jeanette Cobian-Iñiguez, front, and her students study heat transfer in fire in her lab.

Experts Recommend a New, More Innovative Approach to Wildfire Research

Fire scientists typically respond to agency opportunities and conduct research in response to past wildfires. But it is time they take more proactive, integrative, predictive approaches toward...
Trees have been placed in four locations for people to select families for whom to buy gifts.

UC Merced Students, Faculty, Staff Help the Needy at the Holidays

Throughout the year, the UC Merced Community Engagement Center (CEC) offers a variety of opportunities for students to work for the betterment of the area. But at the holidays, faculty and staff...
The Give to UC Merced fundraising effort launched Tuesday, Nov. 29.

Month-long Give to UC Merced 2022 Launches on Giving Tuesday

     On Tuesday, Nov. 29, UC Merced will kick off the season of giving by launching Give to UC Merced 2022. The campus’s annual fundraising initiative officially begins on Giving...
A recent demonstration of how biochar is created

Research Reveals an Easy Way Dairy Farmers Can Dramatically Reduce their Climate Impact

Adding even a small amount of biochar — a charcoal-like material produced by burning organic matter — to a dairy’s manure-composting process reduces methane emissions by 84%, a...
Puente Conference

Conference Brings Scores of Prospective Transfer Students to UC Merced

Almost 1,000 community college students representing 39 different campuses in California came to UC Merced to explore the opportunities for transfer to a University of California school. The all-...
Low water levels at the north boat ramp at Lake Mendocino, a large reservoir in Mendocino County, California, October 21. California Department of Water Resources

Continued Drought Conditions Add Billions in California Agriculture Losses, UC Merced Report Finds

Losses to California’s ag industry have continued to mount as the state’s drought stretched into a third straight year, according to a report released Tuesday by researchers from the...
Rakesh Goel is the new dean of the UC Merced School of Engineering

Q&A with the new Dean of Engineering at UC Merced

Rakesh Goel developed an interest in earthquakes at an early age — and rather abruptly. As a small boy in India, one of his first memories is of experiencing an earthquake....

Dual Language Bobcat Day Connect Module Earns Modo Award

UC Merced’s commitment to keeping its students and their families informed about all the incredible opportunities the campus offers on Bobcat Day has been awarded first place in the Best...

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