Faculty

From Soil to Climate Solutions: Berhe Leads Sierra Nevada Research Institute into its Next Chapter

September 11, 2025

When Professor Asmeret Asefaw Berhe arrived at UC Merced in 2009, she and her husband, Professor Teamrat Ghezzehei, were leaving major research institutions to join a brand-new campus in California’s Central Valley. It was a leap of faith — one made easier by the Sierra Nevada Research...

Undergraduate Experience: Habibatu Mboka

Name: Habibatu Mboka Year: Graduating May 2021, School of Engineering Commencement Student Speaker Major: Computer Science and Engineering Hometown: Turlock What clubs or...

Public health Professor Asa Bradman conducted research to examine a link between childhood development and food dyes. Photo by Veronica Adrover, UC Merced

Public Health Professor Shows Food Dye Linked to Childhood Behavior in California EPA Study

Public health Professor Asa Bradman contributed to a new report that examines the relationship between synthetic food dye — found in everything from juice to cupcakes — and child...

The Manilay and Spencer lab groups sit together on campus.

Collaboration Furthers Understanding of Immune Cell Development

Immunology Professor Jennifer Manilay and bioengineering Professor Joel Spencer are using a new grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expand a project they’ve been working...

Conference to Provide Research Findings on Farmworker Health and Safety

For the first time in 20 years, researchers from across the country, UC Merced officials, local and state leaders and community members will take part in a conference stemming from an active study to...

Five Years in, CCBM Looking to Expand Research and Student Opportunities

From graduate student Jose Zamora’s perspective, the CREST Center for Cellular and Biomolecular Machines (CCBM) has been a spectacular success. “There is so much value to being part...

The FACTS Bridge Program is a new internship designed to immerse students in agricultural science and research.

First-Year and Transfer Students Can Dig into Research this Summer with Paid USDA Internships

Many students don’t think about internships until later in college, but at UC Merced undergraduate students can take advantage of hands-on training with faculty before even starting regular...

Federal Grant Preserves Critical Equipment for Molecular Exploration

An important and expensive piece of equipment that was nearing the end of its life is getting a vital upgrade, thanks to a new grant awarded to Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry Professor...

Two make graduate students sitting in residence hall

Graduate Student Association Provides Collective Voice for Grad Students

Graduate school is tough, but graduate students have a place to turn to for advocacy and support on campus. Since it was established in 2005, UC Merced’s Graduate Student Association (GSA)...

The U.S. News & World Report Rankings included the debut of two UC Merced graduate programs, Political Science was ranked No. 63 and history discipline of the Interdisciplinary Humanities program was ranked No.127.

U.S. News & World Report Rankings Showcase Growing Engineering Program, Debuts Interdisciplinary Humanities and Political Science

For the first time, UC Merced’s Political Science and Interdisciplinary Humanities (history discipline) graduate groups made national rankings. US News & World Report’s annual...