Environmental Research

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

October 15, 2025

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 Group Achievement Award as part of the 2024-25 NASA Honor Awards. A new documentary also showcases...

Three Students Chosen to Further Carbon Neutrality Efforts

Three UC Merced undergraduates are the recipients of a new fellowship under University of California President Janet Napolitano’s Carbon Neutrality Initiative. Through the President’s Sustainability...

Floodplain Management Can Increase Groundwater Supply

California’s groundwater is being rapidly depleted because cities and farms extract more than is replenished naturally, compacting local aquifers and decreasing supply in some places in the Central ...

New System Can Help Save Water with a Couple of Clicks

New software developed at UC Merced allows anyone on campus with a smartphone to report water leaks to Facilities in a couple of easy steps. Facilities and Operations in mid-March installed quick-...

Professor to Serve with New Water Policy Center

UC Merced Professor Joshua Viers has been named a member of the new Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) Water Policy Center, established to help meet the state's urgent need for timely...

Community Garden Gets Facelift From Students

Warmer weather gave students the opportunity to spring to action to replant the community garden located next to Little Lake. The “Plant-A-Day” event, held March 18, was a collaboration between...

Sierra Nevada Research Institute Names New Executive Director

Armando Quintero has been chosen as the new executive director of the Sierra Nevada Research Institute (SNRI) at the University of California, Merced. Quintero has served as director of development...

Mitsubishi Gift Will Expand Naturalist Training

A new $103,000 gift from the Mitsubishi Corporation Foundation for the Americas will increase opportunities for students at the University of California, Merced, and community members in the region...

‘Smart’ Plugs Could Help Campus Reduce Carbon Footprint

When you plug in an appliance, chances are you don’t think of the plug as being particularly intelligent. But WattTime, a startup nonprofit developed through the Center for Information Technology...

Professors Share in UC Effort to Study Effects of Climate Change

Several UC Merced faculty members will play important roles in a new UC systemwide effort to study the ecological effects of climate change across varied ecosystems. Funded by a $1.9 million...