Management of Complex Systems

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...

Graduate students stand before the Beginnings sculpture.

Grad Students Invited to UC Merced’s First ‘Nanoengineering Environmental Sensors’ Incubator Program

Graduate students who are passionate about their research, concerned about the environment and eager to reach across disciplinary boundaries are invited to apply for a three-week summer program in...

Last Year’s Drought Cost Ag Industry More Than $1 Billion, Thousands of Jobs, New Analysis Shows

The 2021 drought directly cost the California agriculture sector about $1.1 billion and nearly 8,750 full- and part-time jobs, according to estimates in a new analysis led by UC Merced researchers...

Celebrate National Engineers Week with the Nine UC Engineering Schools and Programs

Founded by the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) in 1951, National Engineers Week is dedicated to ensuring a diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce by increasing...

Hotter, Drier Nights Mean More Runaway Fires

Thanks to the warming climate, the potential for more severe nighttime wildfires is increasing, and warmer nights mean firefighters will not be able to rely on cooler temperatures to help them get a...

Study Shows Climate-Driven Forest Fires on the Rise

An upside of the increase in forest fires in the West is that they reduce the amount of fuel available for other burns. That might provide a buffering effect on western fires for the next few decades...

Biochar is high in carbon and created by heating biomass at moderate temperatures in a process called pyrolysis.

Keske Publication Shows Central Valley Ripe for Biochar Studies

Central Valley natives are accustomed to seeing plumes of smoke from burning tree piles after harvest. This is the traditional way farmers dispose of crop waste, such as trees, nut shells and pruned...

UC Merced received a generous donation to establish an endowed scholarship from OMRON Robotics and Safety Technologies, a global leader in intelligent robotic systems based in Pleasanton.

OMRON Endowed Scholarship to Help Engineering Students in the Robotics Field

Many UC Merced students are first-generation college students, meaning they are the first in their families to pursue college degrees and the types of careers having a degree affords. UC Merced...

NSF-CREST Center members, including faculty, staff and students, as well as center contributors and affiliates.

NSF Awards CCBM Center $5 Million to Continue STEM Research

UC Merced’s NSF-CREST Center for Cellular and Biomolecular Machines (CCBM) has been awarded an additional $5 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to continue its mission. In total...

Professor Joshua Viers stands near a canal on the UC Merced campus.

UC Merced Leads Innovative Effort to Secure Water for Agriculture and Ecosystems

UC Merced’s largest research grant in its 16-year history aims to improve agricultural and environmental water resilience. The new $10 million collaborative focuses on water banking, trading...