Faculty

For the First Time, All Avian Evolutionary Relationships Revealed Through Collaboration

April 29, 2025

Professor Emily Jane McTavish and colleagues at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have mapped the evolution of every known bird species. They created a complete evolutionary tree of bird species by combining data on 9,239 species published in nearly 300 studies between 1990 and 2024 and...

A graduating student smiles during Spring 2022 Commencement.

10 Things to Do Before Graduating from UC Merced

Final exams are keeping Bobcats busy. The temperature is starting to creep up, ushering in the feeling of summer. Spring 2023 Commencement is fast approaching. For students who are about to...

SIAM Student Chapter Conference Showcases Math Students from Around Region and Coast

After a three-year hiatus, the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) Student Chapter from UC Merced held its fifth annual Central Valley regional conference on campus. The UC...

Chemistry and Chemical Biology Ph.D. student Aneelman Brar

Campus Grad Slam Champion Wows with Talk About Recycling CO2

Aneelman Brar wants to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The Chemistry and Chemical Biology Ph.D. student’s three-minute talk entitled “From Pollutant to Fuel and New Products:...

Outdoor Experience Program staff and participants at Mariposa grove in Yosemite.

Adventures Abound at UC Merced’s Outdoor Experience Program

Zayd Andre doesn’t consider himself outdoorsy, but the second-year computer science and engineering major from Fullerton caught the exploring bug in elementary school. “I believe my...

UC Merced graduate programs in the natural sciences and engineering are included in the newest U.S. News rankings of 2023-2024 Best Graduate Schools.

UC Merced’s Graduate Programs Rank Among Best in the Nation

UC Merced continues to be recognized nationally, with some programs leaping forward, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2023-2024 edition of Best Graduate Schools released on April 25...

Two people are seen in the snow in Yosemite National Park.

Environmental Conservation Takes Center Stage in Shakespeare in Yosemite's 'Romeo and Juliet'

"Romeo and Juliet" is considered William Shakespeare's most famous romantic tragedy. But this Earth Day weekend, it will be transformed into a new production that will offer hope for...

Global Arts Faculty in Concert

Faculty members with the Global Arts Studies Program at UC Merced will present their fifth annual Faculty Concert on Sunday, April 23, 2023, at 3 p.m. at Merced College, 3600 M St. This concert is...

From left, graduate student John Wilson, alumnus Qiaochu “Michael” Li and Professor Jing Xu.

Graduate Students Help Further the Understanding of Diseases such as Alzheimer's

Student researchers in experimental physics Professor Jing Xu’s lab have played a critical role in a study that will help understand Alzheimer’s and other diseases that progressively...

NASA mounted samples of solar films developed at UC Merced on a cube outside the International Space Station for 10 months.

First Test of Perovskite Films in Space Indicates More Resilience than Researchers Expected

Solar films developed by a graduate student in the Department of Physics at UC Merced while on an internship at NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) not only survived 10 months in space with minimal...