Faculty

Postdoc Leads Study to Turn Cotton Waste into Climate-Smart Compost

November 12, 2025

three stages of cotton textile composting

UC Merced researchers are collaborating on a two-year research project to develop effective composting methods for cotton textiles. The project explores manufacturing cotton waste scraps from clothing into compost to demonstrate efficient composting with the right recipe, and the compost’s...

Study Builds on Plausible Scenario for Origin of Life on Earth

A relatively simple combination of naturally occurring sugars and amino acids offers a plausible route to the building blocks of life, according to a paper published in Nature Chemistry co-authored...

Study: Climate Change to Increase Yellowstone Wildfires Dramatically

An increase in wildfires due to climate change could rapidly and profoundly alter the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, according to a new study authored by environmental engineering and geography...

Engineering Service Learning Links Students with Community

Mix up a few buckets of goo, and what do you have? A messy and fun science lesson for local schoolchildren — courtesy of UC Merced students who help the community through an innovative engineering...

Cap-and-Trade Trumps Carbon Taxes for Clean Tech Adoption

A cap-and-trade system is more likely than a carbon tax system to trigger the adoption of clean energy technologies, according to a study by Professor Yihsu Chen at the University of California, ...

Political Science Students Experience Legislative Process

UC Merced students took to the floor of the California Senate last week, sitting in the seats of the legislators they have portrayed all summer as a part of their Government in Action course. The...

Global Sustainable Engineering Network to Move to UC Merced

The University of California, Merced, will become the new headquarters of Engineers for a Sustainable World effective July 1, the university announced today. Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW)...

Study: Urban Rail Reduces Carbon Monoxide Air Pollution

The opening of a major urban rail system in Taiwan caused a meaningful reduction in air pollution, according to a forthcoming study by two professors at the University of California, Merced. “Despite...

Human Rights a Passion for Literature Professor

Just after graduating college in 1995, Nigel Hatton showed up for the first day of his journalism internship with the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia. That afternoon, he was assigned to go with...

Self-Identified Social Smokers Less Likely to Try to Quit

Self-identified social smokers are less likely to try to quit and to avoid smoking for more than a month, according to a national study in the American Journal of Public Health conducted by...