Faculty

NSF Award Supports Young Faculty Member’s Research into Building Blocks of the Universe

May 1, 2025

Cosmology Professor Anna Nierenberg has received a CAREER award for a project that will vastly improve the study of the nature of dark matter in the universe. She is the 42nd researcher from UC Merced to earn a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation (NSF). CAREER awards are among...

New Precision Ag Project Would Help Farmers Measure Plant Moisture

One of the biggest challenges in managing crops, especially in large fields, is knowing how much water each section of a field needs. Determining that accurately is a cumbersome process that requires...

Researchers Seek to Understand Messy Proteins that are Critical to Cellular Function

Biophysical chemistry Professor Shahar Sukenik and the graduate students in his lab are trying to make sense out of what might seem to some to be chaos. They aim to better understand how a series of...

Ph.D. student Megha Suswaram was instrumental in assisting the Graduate Division transition its Graduate Orientation Week to an online format.

Grad Services Bolstered to Better Support Students Remotely

UC Merced’s Graduate Division provides many programs throughout the year to ensure students succeed academically, including faculty and peer mentoring programs, free tutoring, and social and...

California deemed agriculture an essential business amid the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning many farm workers have worked during the harvest season under unusual and stressful conditions.

Public Health Professors Study COVID-19 Impact on Rural, Latinx Health

The coronavirus has impacted everyone in different ways and three public health professors are examining specifically how rural, Latinx communities in California have been affected in a new study...

Virtual Summer Academy, Other Sessions, Reached Students Around the Country

Students and faculty worked with a record number of schoolchildren from Merced, the Bay Area and southern California all the way to Washington, D.C., enriching their learning and increasing their...

Statewide Coalition Forming to Bring COVID Awareness to At-Risk Communities

A new coalition of universities and community partners across the state — including UC Merced —aims to address the COVID-19 pandemic in communities that are disproportionally affected...

Hard Shells and Electrosensory Gels: Lab Makes Surprising Discovery

Molecular biology Professor Chris Amemiya and his former graduate student Molly Phillips have made a discovery that upends traditional ideas about a structural polysaccharide called chitin that is...

EECS Student Named ‘Rising Star’ for Computer Vision Work

UC Merced doctoral student Xueting Li was selected to participate in Rising Stars 2020 Academic Career Workshop for Women in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, which will be hosted by UC...

Restoring State's Forests to Reduce Fire Risks Will Take Time, Money and Broad Commitment

School of Engineering professors Roger Bales and Martha Conklin have written a new article for The Conversation discussing the changes that need to be undertaken in land-management practices in...