Faculty

Graduate Students Highlight Research and Campus Life to Encourage Transfers

December 5, 2025

Three Ph.D. students recently visited Madera Community College to share research findings and highlight opportunities available to transfer students at UC Merced. Emily Rivera Mondragon, a second-year environmental systems Ph.D. student, joined sociology graduate students Justin Barnes...

Researcher Brings Billions of Years of Information to UC Merced

From the microbes in the guts of living things to the idea of life elsewhere in the universe, Professor Marilyn Fogel is pondering some of life’s deepest questions. When and how did life originate on...

Research Explains Why Electric Fields Puncture Biological Cells

An exacting nanosecond jolt of electricity can briefly open a cell’s wall, allowing for the delivery of drugs or DNA. This procedure — called electroporation — is widely used in biology,...

Summer Research Program for Undergrads Aims for the Experience of a Lifetime

Many universities offer the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program, but they don’t have what UC Merced has to offer. “Yosemite really draws people in,” said Professor Stephen Hart, one...

Emotional Flexibility of Infant Sounds Proves Critical to Language Development

The squeals, vowel-like sounds and growls made by infants are critical to the development of human language, according a recent paper coauthored by a cognitive scientist at the University of...

Book Reveals Sobering Consequences of the Party Pathway

Many large state universities fail in their mission to create social mobility, instead perpetuating inequality by catering to privileged students rather than focusing on student success, according...

Applied Math Professors Expanding Knowledge About Biology

Professor Suzanne Sindi found her calling in seventh grade, while reading “Jurassic Park.” “I liked the idea that math is a tool for understanding the whole world,” she said. Her School of Natural...

Service Learning Team Working to Increase Kids’ Enthusiasm for Science

One group of engineering students is focusing on tiny ways to make big strides in education. A 10-member Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net) team is developing a piece of...

Campus Hosts Two Commencement Ceremonies to Accommodate Growth

Retired astronaut and engineer Jose Hernandez and acclaimed author and organic farmer David Mas Masumoto will deliver keynote addresses at the University of California, Merced’s eighth commencement...

Professor and Students Study Deformations to Increase Health

People don’t often think of deformation as a good thing. But when it comes to biofilaments – such as strands of DNA – it’s not only good, it’s necessary for the biofilament to complete its functions...