Health

Study Indicates Human-caused Dust Events are Linked to Fallow Farmland

June 2, 2025

The Central Valley is a major contributor to a growing dust problem, in large part because of agriculture, researchers say.

An average of more than 1 million acres of idled farmland a year is a significant contributor to a growing dust problem in California that has implications for millions of residents’ health and the state’s climate. A new study published in Nature Communications Earth and Environment...

Public Health Society officers pose for a photo at UC Merced.

National Public Health Week Includes Research Symposium and Food Drive

The campus community is invited to take part in the first UC Merced National Public Health Week, from April 3-9. Several events are planned to show students, faculty and staff the importance of...

Field researcher at California's tidal pools.

Research Week Highlights Solutions to Urgent Environmental Issues

It's time for the campus and the community to celebrate UC Merced’s high-level research during Research Week, March 6 through 10. The annual research showcase, hosted by the Office of...

Study Finds Childhood Exposure to Weed Killer May Increase Risk of Disease in Young Adulthood

Children who are exposed to glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide worldwide, may suffer from liver inflammation and metabolic disorder in early adulthood, according to a new study by a team that...

Alumna Credits UC Merced for Inspiring Her Interest in Cancer Research

After transferring from a Sacramento community college to UC Merced in 2007, Maxine Umeh-Garcia was unsure of her future career. She admits she hadn’t looked at the majors the newest UC offered...

Several farmworkers are seen in a field.

Community and Labor Center's New Study Highlights Farmworkers' Health Challenges

A new landmark study by the UC Merced Community and Labor Center shows farmworkers across California are facing serious health challenges on a daily basis. The goal of the Farmworker Health...

Professor Stephanie Woo, left, and graduate student Leesa Strasser are trying to unlock the mechanics of endodermal cells.

Award Supports Study of Fish Embryos to Understand Process that Affects Birth Defects

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has given Professor Stephanie Woo the CAREER award to help her delve into congenital birth defects by looking at the embryonic cells of zebrafish. Woo is...

UC Awards $16.4 Million in Grants to Address Climate, Energy and Health

For the first time, UC Merced faculty members from each of the campus’s three schools have been chosen as principal investigators on some of the 21 exciting new projects that are being funded...

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’...

Webinar on Health Effects of Hookah to Include Doctoral Student's Research

A doctoral student in the Public Health program will be among the presenters taking part in a webinar on the health effects and policy implications of hookah smoking. Sarah Alnahari will...