In The Community

Founding UC Merced Staffer Wraps Up 45 Years in Law Enforcement

August 28, 2025

A collage of photos depicting Tamela Adkins and other staff during the past 20 years.

On Aug. 12, 2005, less than one month before UC Merced opened its doors to undergraduate students, Tamela Adkins joined the campus’s Police Department as support services manager. Intially, her role included managing records and evidence, overseeing the police dispatch center and hiring....

Toloma 5K Honors Native American Heritage at UC Merced

Ahead of Native American Heritage Month, the Toloma 5K will return to UC Merced on Saturday, Oct. 28 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event has been held since 2021, and not only raises money...

UC Merced Project Scientist Rosa Manzo, Ph.D. (center) with Camarena Health’s Claudia Fabian Chavez (left) and Maria Meraz (right)

Genentech Grant Supports New UC Merced Center for Health Equity

UC Merced was recently awarded a significant grant from Genentech, a member of the Roche group, to create the UC Merced Center for Health Equity. The initiative will focus on eliminating health...

Free Discussion, Reception at UC Merced Centers on Climate Change Messaging

Climate change is a very real - and very scary - threat. Climate change and its underlying primary cause - burning fossil fuels - are arguably the world's leading causes of preventable death...

Mark Arax and Ellen Hank discuss water at UC Merced.

Future of Water in California - Bleak or Promising? A Discussion

Water is the most valuable resource in the world. And it's a particularly important commodity in the Central Valley, historically a desert but also home to some of the richest agricultural soil...

Aguirre-Muñoz Brings Biliteracy Education Resources to Livingston

Cognitive Science Professor Zenaida Aguirre-Muñoz has a passion for biliteracy that has driven her to improve the quality of learning in both English and Spanish at schools in Texas and Central...

Retired NASA astronaut Jose Hernández speaks to media ahead of a screening of "A Million Miles Away" at UC Merced.

Regent/Astronaut Shows UC Merced Students Their Dreams Aren't 'A Million Miles Away'

The new feature film "A Million Miles Away" is a universally relatable story of resilience and achievement, depicting Jose Hernández's journey from working the fields of the San Joaquin...

UC Merced and Riverbank Unified Announce Automatic Admissions Partnership (Slideshow)

UC Merced and Riverbank Unified School District (RUSD) have signed an agreement for a new guaranteed admissions partnership. Through the Merced Automatic Admissions Program (MAAP), RUSD students...

UC Merced to Host Inaugural Safety Conference

The inaugural UC Merced Safety Conference is an effort to bring nationally recognized subject matter experts to the San Joaquin Valley to share critical safety information, best practices, and the...

Second Year of College Corps Expands Service Opportunities for Students

Dozens of UC Merced students took their oaths as members of the College Corps recently. The program, which provides stipends to students in exchange for working with community partners, is in its...