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Environment

November 4, 2025

Photo depicts trees that survived a fire, surrounded by ash on the ground.
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 vulnerable to catastrophic fires, drought and pest outbreaks. Beyond destroying homes and...
Jennifer Pett-Ridge addresses dozens of attendees at the Roads to Removal symposium at UC Merced.
Discussions around climate change often center around the bad news - the planet is warming, weather is getting more extreme, resources are increasingly scarce. But there also is cause for...
What does the greater Merced community need to know about climate change? How might the Central Valley play a significant role in discussions and solutions about carbon dioxide removal? What new...
The latest installment of North State Public Radio’s Blue Dot podcast focuses on the UC Natural Reserve System and the national parks and features a segment about the UC Merced ¿field...
A forest fire is pictured in a photo from "California's Watershed Healing"
The new film "California's Watershed Healing" documents the huge benefits that result from restoring forests to healthier densities. UC Merced's Sierra Nevada Research Institute...
As climate warms, the snowline, or rain/snow transition elevation, moves to higher elevations, placing some historically snow-dominated sites in the rain zone. Photo by Roger Bales at Crane Flat in Yosemite National Park
A new study co-authored by UC Merced researchers assesses the effect of a warming climate in pushing the elevation of snow to rain higher during a storm, increasing runoff and the risk of flooding...
Photo shows tree mortality in Sierra National forest, taken by Margot Wholey, December 2015.
In a paper published in Nature Communications, UC Merced Professor Roger Bales, collaborating with an international team, found that the height of neighboring trees strongly influenced whether...
Professor Claire Lukens, right, and recent graduate Kolleen Peyakov measure the geochemistry of a rock using an XRF spectrometer.
Rocks, from ponderous boulders to tiny grains of sand, are subject to the whims of moisture, weather and time as they tumble from surrounding slopes into rivers, pools and lakes. UC Merced...
The ¿field curious? group in Yosemite.
When Carlos Martinez was growing up in Southern California, his experience outdoors largely consisted of the irrigated lawns and tidy trees of his local park. Camping and hiking were not in his...
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Distinguished Professor Martin Hagger from the Department of Psychological Sciences has been awarded one of this year’s Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher awards. He is one of four...

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