First. Further. Forward

Damaging Lightning-Caused Wildfires Likely to Increase in a Few Years, Researchers Find

September 3, 2025

Photo depicts a silhouette of California firefighters battling a lightning-caused fire in 2020.

Lightning from thunderstorms rolling through Central California on Sept. 2 ignited numerous wildfires, including several large fires in the Sierra Nevada foothills that had burned more than 19 square miles by Wednesday morning. The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services recorded...

UC Merced graduating students pose for a photo with their regalia.

Fall 2022 Commencement to Include First Graduate Division Ceremony

Downtown Merced will be covered in a sea of blue and gold over two days as hundreds of UC Merced Bobcats take part in fall commencement. Also, for the first time, graduate students will have their...

Researchers Look at Tree Reproduction and Effects of Climate Change Across North America

Life and Environmental Sciences Professor Emily Moran and collaborators at several other universities are set to conduct a continental-scale analysis of climate change effects on tree reproduction...

Professor Jeanette Cobian-Iñiguez, front, and her students study heat transfer in fire in her lab.

Experts Recommend a New, More Innovative Approach to Wildfire Research

Fire scientists typically respond to agency opportunities and conduct research in response to past wildfires. But it is time they take more proactive, integrative, predictive approaches toward...

A recent demonstration of how biochar is created

Research Reveals an Easy Way Dairy Farmers Can Dramatically Reduce their Climate Impact

Adding even a small amount of biochar — a charcoal-like material produced by burning organic matter — to a dairy’s manure-composting process reduces methane emissions by 84%, a...

Conference Brings Scores of Prospective Transfer Students to UC Merced

Almost 1,000 community college students representing 39 different campuses in California came to UC Merced to explore the opportunities for transfer to a University of California school. The all-...

Dual Language Bobcat Day Connect Module Earns Modo Award

UC Merced’s commitment to keeping its students and their families informed about all the incredible opportunities the campus offers on Bobcat Day has been awarded first place in the Best...

Professors Joshua Viers, left, and Tom Harmon share oversight of the new smart farm being constructed next to campus. The farm will be UC Merced's AES site.

UC Merced Gains Prestigious UC Agricultural Experiment Station Designation

UCs Merced and Santa Cruz became the newest campuses in the system to be named an agricultural experiment stations (AES), UC President Michael Drake announced at today’s Regents’...

UC Merced, Fresno City College Create New Transfer Pipeline for Students

On Monday (Oct.31), UC Merced and Fresno City College (FCC) signed the Merced Promise Pathway Program memorandum of understanding (MOU). The signing of this MOU further extends access for transfer...

Nishiguchi Joins California Academy of Sciences, Recognized for Contributions to Microbiology

Molecular and Cellular Biology Professor Michele “Nish” Nishiguchi has been inducted as a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences and was recently named president-elect for the...