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...

UC Merced the Focus of Global Sustainable Design Contest

MERCED, Calif. — A global sustainable architecture competition is turning all eyes to the University of California, Merced, the newest campus in the UC system, and the only one to have all its...

National Science Foundation Grant Supports Biodiversity Research

MERCED, Calif. — A $1.9 million grant from the National Science Foundation will support a five-year investigation by University of California, Merced, researchers into environmental changes in marine...

Snowy, Sandy Research Explores Climate Change

From the white, sugary sands of Hawaii to the white, powdery slopes of the Sierra Nevada, Natural Sciences Professor Stephen Hart has his eye on climate change. For the past two years, the professor...

National Science Foundation Funds San Joaquin River Research

MERCED, Calif. — People talk about climate change all the time. But researchers at the University of California, Merced, are working to find out exactly how it will affect the millions of people who...

Campus Diners Pioneering Zero-Waste Take-Out System

Campus diners who take out their meals are helping save the environment one container at a time. UC Merced is the first campus west of the Mississippi to use the new OZZI container-recycling system,...

River Project Promises Clarity, Security for State Water Resources

MERCED, Calif. — Researchers at UC Merced are taking an important step toward a statewide water-monitoring system by installing wireless sensors across the American River basin. The system, which is...

UC Merced Plasma Lab Turning Leftovers into Cleaner Energy

There’s a reason the UC Merced plasma lab is isolated behind a locking fence near the entrance to campus. There’s some serious heat being produced down there. Engineering professors Gerardo Diaz,...

Korean Students Get UC Solar Experience

They traveled nearly 20 hours by plane and bus across 5,700 miles to spend three weeks in the Central Valley sun. Fifteen engineering students from Dankook University in Yongin, Gyeonggi, South Korea...

'Dynamic Duo' Wins Systemwide Award for Sustainability Efforts

Making an entire campus sustainable takes a lot of planning, education and work. But those efforts are what earned two of UC Merced’s sustainability leaders systemwide recognition. Former Director of...