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...

Professor Kim, left, stands between a model of a megalodon jaw and the jaw of a great white shark in a scene from "Jaws vs. The Meg," airing Sunday night.

Shark Week Highlights Researcher’s Megalodon Expertise

UC Merced 's resident expert on the nightmarishly massive megalodon will play a role in Discovery Channel’s Shark Week, a celebration of the toothy creatures at the top of the oceanic food...

Environmental Research, Working Toward Saving the Planet Among New Bobcat’s Plans

Incoming Bobcat Benji Thier already knows what he wants to do with his college degree: Save the planet. “I am planning to study Environmental Systems Science because I did some environmental...

Professor Findlater visited the Royal Society of Chemistry headquarters in London.

Findlater Named Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry

Professor Michael Findlater has been named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), a U.K.-based learning society that began in 1841 with the formation of the Chemical Society of London...

An artist's rendering of megalodon. Image by Elena Regina, The Australian Museum.

Research Proves Megalodon was Warm-blooded, both an Advantage and an Extinction Factor

Megalodon was the biggest shark in the world — 50 feet long or more — and one of the largest fish ever to exist. It roamed most of the world’s oceans from 23 million to 3.6 million...

Campus Adds New Areas of Studies for Students to Choose From

New students or those who have not yet chosen their majors will have an array of options before them. Five new majors and several new emphases, ranging across all three schools, are all coming...

The students are in New South Wales as part of a research collaborative.

Chemistry Students in Australia for Summer Research Experience

Chemistry Professor Aurora Pribram-Jones is looking for undergrads to help her get the lead out — out of drinking-water pipes. She and a colleague at Harvey Mudd College (HMC) in Claremont...

Scholars Explore Future Careers at National Labs Day

UC Merced’s Graduate Division hosted its third National Labs Day on April 21. The goal of the day-long event is to connect graduate students and postdoctoral scholars with researchers from...

Fossil Shark Research Draws Prestigious NSF Award

Professor Sora Kim has received a CAREER award for her project that bridges concepts between modern and ancient marine ecosystems by integrating geochemical and modeling approaches with paleobiology...

The team was EvapoInspiration won the recent Water Hack Challenge. It included five UC Merced students: Yulin Lin, Luis Fujarte, Carolyn Cui, Joshua Tapia, and Ryan Milstrey

Teams Compete in 48-Hour Water Hack Challenge

Teams of students from throughout California converged on UC Merced the weekend of April 21-23 to spend 48 hours tackling issues surrounding a precious resource: water. The Water Hack Challenge,...