Life and Environmental Sciences

UC Merced’s Berhe Joins Scientists in Warning of Global Land Mine Crisis

July 24, 2025

A sign posted on a tree in Eastern Europe warns of active land mines.

More than 100 million land mines remain buried around the world, posing a threat in approximately 70 countries and territories, and killing or injuring about 5,000 people, most of them civilians, every year. As the world’s geopolitical landscape shifts, nine scientists studying...

Undergrad Experience: Allen Kalampukattussery

Name: Allen Kalampukattussery Year: Third year Major: Biological Sciences, Human Biology emphasis Hometown: San Jose What is a memorable project that you worked on during your time at UC...

From left to right: Marjorie Zatz, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Tracey Osborne, Sora Kim, Teenie Matlock and Denise Payán.

Female Faculty to Know on International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day is more than a day to celebrate the fantastic females around us. It is a day to reflect on the contributions women have made both socially and politically around the...

GROW Grants Nurture Vital Projects During Pandemic

Two faculty members and three graduate students who are working on food systems, food security and food sustainability research have received small grants through the UC Global Food Initiative (GFI...

Shark Teeth Provide Clues About Ancient Global Change

A character in a very famous movie about a great white shark once said all sharks do is “swim and eat and make little sharks.” It turns out they do much more than that. Sharks have...

Life and Environmental Sciences Professor Sora Kim studies climate change by examining the isotopes in fossilized shark teeth.

Paleoecology Professor's Research and Teaching Earns Recognition

Professor Sora Kim has been named one of this year’s Emerging Scholars by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education magazine. Only 15 researchers, out of hundreds of nominees, have been selected...

Prestigious Biennial Grant Program Includes Funding for Ag-labor and Wildfire Research

Two new projects designed and led by UC Merced researchers will address challenges facing many Californians — wildfire recovery and agricultural labor — but will also have global reach...

Berhe Honored with Prestigious AGU Medal and Fellowship

Soil biogeochemistry Professor Asmeret Asefaw Berhe has been recognized by the American Geophysical Union (AGU) as one of this year’s recipients of the Joanne Simpson Medal for Mid-...

New Project Focuses on Life in Soil in the Earth’s Critical Zone

Since 2007, UC Merced researchers have been extremely productive in the Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory (CZO), delving into investigations of hydrology, climate change, geology, biology and...

Equipment in the Costa Rican rainforest measures the soil emissions.

Precipitation and Drainage Fuel Large CO2 ‘Burps’ from Rainforest Soils, Study Finds

It is said that rainforests are the Earth’s lungs, capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, building it into lush vegetation and releasing oxygen and water back into the air. But every...