Civil and Environmental Engineering

Report Reviews How California's Water Projects Balance Needs of People and Endangered Species

December 9, 2025

Photo is a mugshot of Professor Josué Medellín-Azuara depicted on a blue and gold background.

A National Academies committee that includes a UC Merced researcher recently released its findings from a review of the science behind the operations of two massive California water projects. Civil and environmental engineering Professor Josué Medellín-Azuara is a member of an ad hoc committee...

UC Merced graduate programs in the natural sciences and engineering are included in the newest U.S. News rankings of 2023-2024 Best Graduate Schools.

UC Merced’s Graduate Programs Rank Among Best in the Nation

UC Merced continues to be recognized nationally, with some programs leaping forward, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2023-2024 edition of Best Graduate Schools released on April 25...

UC Awards $16.4 Million in Grants to Address Climate, Energy and Health

For the first time, UC Merced faculty members from each of the campus’s three schools have been chosen as principal investigators on some of the 21 exciting new projects that are being funded...

Professors Joshua Viers, left, and Tom Harmon share oversight of the new smart farm being constructed next to campus. The farm will be UC Merced's AES site.

UC Merced Gains Prestigious UC Agricultural Experiment Station Designation

UCs Merced and Santa Cruz became the newest campuses in the system to be named an agricultural experiment stations (AES), UC President Michael Drake announced at today’s Regents’...

Researchers Take New Approach to Quantify Water Use

Like many other researchers, environmental engineering professors Erin Hestir and Joshua Viers are trying to quantify water use in California’s Central Valley. The difference is, they are...

Members of the Fresno-Merced Future of Food Innovation (F3) Coalition pose for a photo on Sept. 2, 2022.

F3 Coalition Awarded $65 Million in Build Back Better Funds

The White House announced today (Sept. 2) a $65.1 million award — the largest federal grant ever awarded to the Central Valley — to the Fresno-Merced Future of Food Innovation (...

A photo shows the Tahoe National Forest.

Study Shows How Restoring California's Overstocked Forests Yields Multiple and Diverse Benefits

Mechanical thinning of overstocked forests, prescribed burning and managed wildfire now being carried out to enhance fire protection of California's forests provide many benefits, or ecosystem...

UC Merced Earns Highest Rating for its Sustainability Efforts

For the first time, UC Merced has been awarded a Platinum rating in recognition of its sustainability achievements under the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (...

Professor Roland Winston and some of his student researchers with a solar collector

In Retiring, Winston Looks Forward to His Busy, Bright Future

Distinguished Professor Roland Winston was among the first eight faculty members at UC Merced in 2003, two years before the campus opened. When he retires July 1, at age 86, he will be the first of...

Students with a drone in a field with cows

Apply Now for a Paid Summer Internship with Real Research Experience

The May 1 deadline is fast approaching for students to apply for the San Joaquin Valley Food and Agriculture Cyberinformatics Tools and Science (FACTS) bridge program, a paid summer research...