Faculty

Ants, Endurance and a Ph.D. at the Finish Line

March 18, 2026

UC Merced graduate student Reo Maynard studies a carpenter ant from one of his many ant colonies.

On most days, Reo Maynard’s life swings between two ecosystems: the microscopic world inside an ant’s gut and the sprawling one that stretches from Fresno to the Sierra Nevada mountains. The 51-year-old Navy veteran, dad of two, screenwriter-in-waiting and newly minted Fresno City...

Professor Kevin Dawson receives the Harriet Tubman Prize for his book "Undercurrents of Power: Aquatic Culture in the African Diaspora" during an Oct. 10, 2019, ceremony at the Lapidus Center in New York.

Dawson Wins Harriet Tubman Prize for Book on Aquatic Culture of African Diaspora

As a child, Kevin Dawson traveled from California to visit his grandmother in Harlem, where he recalls playing in Jackie Robinson Park. Dawson, an avid swimmer and surfer, would peer through a fence...

Berhe Named to Endowed Chair in Recognition of Her Work in Soil Sciences

Soil biogeochemistry Professor Asmeret Asefaw Berhe has been named the Ted and Jan Falasco Chair in Earth Sciences and Geology. “The Falasco family is engaged in construction and...

Symposium Explores How Biogas Could Fuel California

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas with a global warming potential 104 times greater than carbon dioxide. But what if the methane could be turned into energy? The topic of using waste for power...

Legacy Builders - An Oral History about the Class of 2009

The Class of 2009 were pioneers of the Bobcat spirit, overcoming obstacles and defying the odds. Ten years later, we look back at UC Merced’s formative beginnings from the perspectives of those...

Aldenderfer Discusses Humans’ Deep History at International Mountain Conference

Archaeology Professor Mark Aldenderfer ventured to the Austrian Alps recently to deliver a keynote address at the International Mountain Conference in Innsbruck. Aldenderfer’s...

RadioBio art for episode on misfolded proteins cause human neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer's, ALS, and Parkinson's.

RadioBio Breaks Down Science Through the Airwaves

Audio has become a top form of entertainment over the past several years, in large part due to the rising popularity of podcasts. UC Merced graduate students are seizing the opportunity to help...

Biodiversity Study Indicates Large and Small Organisms React Similarly to Environment

Bacteria and starfish have more in common than people might think. A new study published today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences shows that both single-celled (...

Valley Fever the Focus of Public Event

UC Merced is offering the opportunity for Valley residents to learn what clinicians and researchers know about Valley fever, an airborne fungal infection that can have serious, even fatal,...

Nobile Awarded Kamangar Family Endowed Chair

Professor Clarissa Nobile has been named the newest Kamangar Family Endowed Chair in Biological Sciences and will be honored at a private ceremony with the donors this fall. “I am so...