Skip to content

Environment

Professor and Environmental Champion Bales Retires, But Research and Advocacy Continue

November 10, 2025

Professor Roger Bales
Professors Roger Bales and Martha Conklin arrived in Merced in 2003, the first non-administrative faculty members at UC Merced. They came with a vision: to create a research university that would serve California’s future. Now, after more than 22 years of building institutions, mentoring...
Photo depicts trees that survived a fire, surrounded by ash on the ground.

Thinning, Burning Forests Provide Multiple Benefits, Some of Them Surprising

Wildfires are growing more frequent and severe across the western United States, and California's Sierra Nevada is ground zero. Decades of fire suppression have left these forests overstocked and...
Photo depicts Professor Erin Hestir boarding a plane with a NASA logo on it in South Africa.

Multinational Effort to Map South Africa’s Biodiversity from the Air Earns NASA Award

BioSCape, a multinational research project co-led by UC Merced, the University at Buffalo and the University of Cape Town, which monitored Earth’s biodiversity from the air, has received a...
Photo depicts an irrigated field.

AI-Powered Irrigation System Offers Opportunities for Communications as well as Farming

An almond orchard in Parlier provides a look into the future of farming. Researchers at UC Merced and the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources installed an irrigation system...
Professor Asmeret Asefaw Berhe

From Soil to Climate Solutions: Berhe Leads Sierra Nevada Research Institute into its Next Chapter

When Professor Asmeret Asefaw Berhe arrived at UC Merced in 2009, she and her husband, Professor Teamrat Ghezzehei, were leaving major research institutions to join a brand-new campus in California...
UC Merced and Almond Board officials are pictured underneath letters that spell out "University of California Merced"

New Technology, New Opportunities, New Varieties: UC, Almond Board Sign Agreement

A new partnership focused on a popular snack nut will offer exciting opportunities for students, research potential for faculty and the latest technology for farmers. Representatives of the...
Professor Xuan Zhang

Research into Hidden Chemistry Shaping Future Air Quality Earns Zhang an NSF Award

As nations cut emissions that once fueled urban smog, scientists are discovering unexpected chemistry taking place in the atmosphere. UC Merced Professor Xuan Zhang is leading a project to uncover...
This year's Hellman Fellows: Adeyemi Adebiyi, Qian Wang and Meredith Van Natta

Hellman Fellowships Welcome Three New Members from UC Merced

As the Hellman Fellowships celebrate their 30th year, three more researchers, one from each of UC Merced’s schools, have joined the prestigious ranks of recipients. Electrical engineering...
Photo depicts a silhouette of California firefighters battling a lightning-caused fire in 2020.

Damaging Lightning-Caused Wildfires Likely to Increase in a Few Years, Researchers Find

Lightning from thunderstorms rolling through Central California on Sept. 2 ignited numerous wildfires, including several large fires in the Sierra Nevada foothills that had burned more than 19 square...
Photo depicts mugshots of professors Andrea Joyce, Josh Garcia and Crystal Kolden on a background of the Beginnings sculpture at UC Merced.

UC Merced Agricultural Experiment Station Adds Fire, Insect and Soil Researchers

Three professors are joining UC Merced’s Agricultural Experiment Station this fall, bringing more expertise and resources to the 3-year-old research center. Management of complex systems...

Pages

Subscribe to Environment