Environmental Research

Challenges, Opportunities Presented at Small Farm Tech Expo

December 10, 2025

Photo depicts a vendor demonstrating a drone on the UC Merced campus.

The Small Farm Tech Expo brought researchers, farmers, university students and even a group from a Modesto elementary school to UC Merced to talk about agriculture technology and how it can best help those who grow the world's food. Sponsored by the Community Alliance with Family Farmers,...

Lab members Zabir Mahmud and Farzan ZareAfifi are pictured on either side of electrical engineering Professor Sarah Kurtz.

As California Develops More Clean Energy, Researchers Delve Into How to Store it

As California lawmakers consider a package of bills aimed at increasing the production of clean energy, a major question arises: How would we store all this new power? Storage is a vital...

Enthusiasm High for Debut of Environmental Humanities Major

More than 170 students have enrolled this fall for classes in UC Merced’s new environmental humanities major, a degree that will prepare them to be advocates and storytellers for the living...

Lions consume a giraffe carcass in Ruaha National Park, Tanzania.

Researchers Accurately Model Animals’ Hunting, Scavenging Behavior

A group of UC Merced researchers modeled predation behaviors, as well as changes in those behaviors, among large carnivores, developing a new theory that will help biologists assess the health of...

Ecologists’ Meeting Showcases UC Merced Student Researchers and Faculty

Students and faculty are converging on Long Beach this week for the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America. Seven students will present their research and Professor Asmeret Asefaw Berhe...

Photo depicts UC Merced environmental engineering Professor Josué Medellín-Azuara.

Climate Change is Transforming California Agriculture — But There are Ways to Adapt

California's agriculture faces challenges from a highly variable climate with temperatures that will increase over the next several decades. Droughts are worsening and the Sierra snowpack,...

NSF-Funded Project Promotes Reuse of 'Greywater' in Households Integrating AI Toward Equity

Almost 3 billion people worldwide are projected to suffer from severe water scarcity by 2025. Thousands have already been affected in California alone, where more than 1,200 wells ran dry in...

A great white shark passes the diving cage holding Professor Sora Kim.

UC Merced Researcher Dives with the Big Sharks on Shark Week

UC Merced's resident shark expert, Professor Sora Kim, will be featured on the prime-time, premiere-night episode of Discovery’s Shark Week discussing an enormous, legendary sea creature...

Just How Hazardous is it to Live by a Freeway? UC Merced Researchers Issue Report for Fresno

When the city of Fresno and the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District wanted specifics about the impacts of truck traffic on the health of some of the city's most vulnerable residents...

Attendees look at posters of projects at the Internet of Things for Ag meeting at UC Merced.

National Ag Research Center Meets at UC Merced

Agriculture is in a time of daunting challenge: The world's population is growing and climate change is impacting every area of the food supply chain. Researchers from across the country who...