Environmental Research

UC Merced Achieves R1: Highest Tier of Research Classification

February 13, 2025

UC Merced has assumed its place in the top echelon of research institutions in the nation by earning R1 status from Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The announcement was made Thursday morning by the American Council on Education and comes less than 20 years after the...

Professor Joshua Viers, coordinator Danny Royer and Professor Tom Harmon describe plans for UC Merced's smart farm.

Ground Tilled, Crops to be Planted at UC Merced’s Smart Farm

Land has been tilled at UC Merced’s smart farm, the first physical step in developing the state-of-the-art project. “Even though it’s just a blank field, we have overcome...

A recent demonstration of how biochar is created

Research Reveals an Easy Way Dairy Farmers Can Dramatically Reduce their Climate Impact

Adding even a small amount of biochar — a charcoal-like material produced by burning organic matter — to a dairy’s manure-composting process reduces methane emissions by 84%, a...

Low water levels at the north boat ramp at Lake Mendocino, a large reservoir in Mendocino County, California, October 21. California Department of Water Resources

Continued Drought Conditions Add Billions in California Agriculture Losses, UC Merced Report Finds

Losses to California’s ag industry have continued to mount as the state’s drought stretched into a third straight year, according to a report released Tuesday by researchers from the...

Professors Joshua Viers, left, and Tom Harmon share oversight of the new smart farm being constructed next to campus. The farm will be UC Merced's AES site.

UC Merced Gains Prestigious UC Agricultural Experiment Station Designation

UCs Merced and Santa Cruz became the newest campuses in the system to be named an agricultural experiment stations (AES), UC President Michael Drake announced at today’s Regents’...

Nishiguchi Joins California Academy of Sciences, Recognized for Contributions to Microbiology

Molecular and Cellular Biology Professor Michele “Nish” Nishiguchi has been inducted as a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences and was recently named president-elect for the...

Professor Linda Cameron is seen in a composite image with the Beginnings sculpture.

Professor Contributes to New Report on Health and Climate Change that Paints Grim Picture

The 2022 report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change warns that global health is at the mercy of fossil fuels. An accompanying policy brief states that an estimated 32,000 people in...

UC Merced Shines In Annual Sustainability Report

In the 2022 Sustainable Campus Index, UC Merced placed Top 10 in several categories including a tie for the No.1 spot in research. The annual report published by the Association for the Advancement...

Environmental Systems Student Earns Prestigious Ford Fellowship

Lillie Pennington has been awarded a Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine for the 2022-2023 academic year. She is one of 38...

Eco-Friendly Vehicle Makes Pit Stop At UC Merced (Slideshow)

The world’s first ever carbon-neutral vehicle was on display at UC Merced. Students, staff and the public were invited to get an up-close look at the prototype, called ZEM, which was built...