Faculty

Professor Dives with Crocs, Displays Megalodon Expertise During Shark Week

July 17, 2025

Professor Sora Kim swam with a Nile crocodile for this year's Shark Week special, which focuses of sharks versus prehistoric reptiles. Photo courtesy of Kruger National Park, South Africa.

Shark Week starts Sunday and Professor Sora Kim will be featured again this year in a special airing at 9 p.m. Monday, titled “Jaws vs. Mega Croc,” and the filming allowed her to swim with a Nile crocodile. “I flew to Florida and learned about crocodiles – their evolution...

Study: In-Home Parent Training Levels Field for Low-Income Kids

Home-based interventions that teach parents to engage children in playful interactive learning activities can close the cognitive development gap between disadvantaged children and higher-resource...

New Lecture Series Draws Distinguished Maya Scholars

UC Merced Professor Arturo Arias, recently named one of the campus’s first John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Chairs, has established a new lecture series to further critical race issues and ethnic...

Study Shows How Plants Could Adapt to Changing Climate

If you want to understand how plant populations will respond as the climate changes, just examine the plants in different locations. That’s one of the conclusions drawn by UC Merced School of Natural...

Events Planned to Increase Sexual Assault Awareness

UC Merced’s Campus Advocacy, Resources and Education (CARE) Office will kick off Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) on April 1 with numerous events. The month of education is an...

Pine Bacteria Getting a Closer Look From Scientists

Professor Carolin Frank’s research into the nitrogen-fixing properties of bacteria inside the needles of some high-elevation pine trees is the topic of a new paper in the journal New Phytologist....

Message From the Provost and EVC on Professor William Shadish

To the campus community: I am sad to report that William Shadish, professor of quantitative psychology and a founding faculty member at UC Merced, died at his home on Sunday, March 27. Professor...

Wells Fargo Gift Increases Focus on Critical Regional Projects

An increased gift from longtime campus partner Wells Fargo is allowing more engineering students at the University of California, Merced, to focus on solutions to problems related to water, energy...

Campus Celebrates LGBT+ Culture During Pride Week

UC Merced’s Pride Week kicks off March 28. The weeklong celebration is hosted by Lambda Alliance and LGBTQ+ Initiatives in the Office of Student Life. It’s a collaborative effort to affirm the LGBT+...

Study: Fishing Industry a Bigger Polluter than Previously Known

Many studies have shown that raising cattle and pigs for food is hard on the environment, and fish has long been considered a better alternative. But the work of UC Merced graduate student Brandi...