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Research

UC Merced Breakthrough Could Transform How California Monitors Toxic Algae

July 10, 2025

Photo depicts Brittany Barreto Martinez pouring liquid into a test tube in a lab.
San Luis Reservoir in Merced County - one of California's largest artificial lakes - not only irrigates Central Valley farmland and supplies drinking water across Silicon Valley and the South Bay, but also draws swimmers, boaters and anglers year-round. Yet for months at a time, forest-green...
A man holds a bright purple instrument in his hands while talking into a microphone headset.

‘Genius’ Award Winner and TED Lecturer to Speak at UC Merced

On Sept. 22, MacArthur "Genius" Award winner and Stanford University bioengineering Professor Manu Prakash will deliver the keynote lecture at the first annual open house for UC Merced...
Andrew De Los Santos works in the recycling and composting center to help UC Merced attain Triple Net Zero.

New Initiative Helps Students Explore Green Careers

When Chigoziri Ibechem attended her first planning commission meeting in downtown Merced last November, she had no idea where it might lead. After the meeting, the psychology major from Los Angeles...
Professor Noemi Petra in a white shirt and black jacket poses in front of a reflective, opaque glass wall.

Math Professor Receives Prestigious NSF CAREER Award

Professor Noemi Petra is UC Merced’s newest recipient of the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award, which the NSF describes as its “...
Aerial photograph of green farmland being watered by dozens of sprinklers.

Water Documentary Featuring SNRI Researchers to Premiere in Merced

A full-length documentary highlighting the relationship between water, food security and, ultimately, global security, features UC Merced researchers and is scheduled to premiere Sept. 14 in downtown...
Two men pose with an oversized check on stage at a check presentation ceremony for the PG&E award to SNRI.

PG&E Funds Critical SNRI Work on Sierra Forest Resiliency

A team of UC Merced researchers was recently awarded $100,000 from Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) to identify ways to improve drought resilience and reduce the risk of wildfire in Sierra...
The monks take tea with Professor Noelle and continue discussing concepts in neuroscience.

Researchers Take Cognitive Science to Buddhist Monks

Two UC Merced cognitive scientists spent part of their summer in India this year, teaching neuroscience to a group of exiled Tibetan Buddhist monks. Professors Ramesh Balasubramaniam and David...
A man in a blue jacket, blue jeans and sunglasses stands in a snowy forest repairing an electronic sensor device.

Massive Sensor Network Helps Scientists Monitor Mountain Water Resources

Scientists from the Sierra Nevada Research Institute, UC Merced, UC Berkeley and the USDA Agricultural Research Service have designed the first ever wireless sensor network (WSN) capable of...

Synthetic Nanotubes Beat Nature at Water Purification

A new study published in the journal Science may have major implications for the future of water purification. Professor Aleksandr Noy and his research team at Lawrence Livermore National Lab found...

Critical Race and Ethnic Studies is Campus’s Newest Major

Starting this semester, students in the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts (SSHA) will have a new major option: Critical Race and Ethnic Studies (CRES). Led by professors Ma Vang and Kit...

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