Research Excellence

Rising Simultaneous Fire Weather Threatens International Firefighting Efforts

February 18, 2026

Depicted is a scene of burned-out trees and ash in the wake of the Caldor Fire.

High-risk conditions for fires are increasingly happening across countries at the same time, making wildfires even more challenging to tackle, new research reveals. Scientists from UC Merced and the University of East Anglia found this synchronized extreme fire weather — characterized by...

UC Merced graduate programs in the natural sciences and engineering are included in the newest U.S. News rankings of 2023-2024 Best Graduate Schools.

UC Merced’s Graduate Programs Rank Among Best in the Nation

UC Merced continues to be recognized nationally, with some programs leaping forward, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2023-2024 edition of Best Graduate Schools released on April 25...

Graduate student Di An uses drones to assess soil carbon.

UC Merced Invests in the Next Generation of Ag-Tech Leadership

The new UC Merced Farms Food Future innovation initiative is investing in 10 graduate researchers to solve climate and community challenges. Their work is the start of a concerted focus in climate-...

UC Merced researchers will use drones donated by SeekOps Inc. to gather data.

Drones Donated to UC Merced by Start-Up SeekOps Will Monitor Environmental Conditions

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipment donated by Texas-based start-up SeekOps Inc will support UC Merced's research efforts in environmental monitoring and conservation. The gift includes...

NASA mounted samples of solar films developed at UC Merced on a cube outside the International Space Station for 10 months.

First Test of Perovskite Films in Space Indicates More Resilience than Researchers Expected

Solar films developed by a graduate student in the Department of Physics at UC Merced while on an internship at NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) not only survived 10 months in space with minimal...

From left, graduate student John Wilson, alumnus Qiaochu “Michael” Li and Professor Jing Xu.

Graduate Students Help Further the Understanding of Diseases such as Alzheimer's

Student researchers in experimental physics Professor Jing Xu’s lab have played a critical role in a study that will help understand Alzheimer’s and other diseases that progressively...

Sarif Morningstar earned money by doing research in the Learning Aligned Employment Program.

Students Gain Experience (and Money) Doing Career-Oriented Work in New Program

Sarif Morningstar wondered something: "What happens if I grow plants using fog?" The UC Merced student's efforts to find an answer to that question led to a research project they got...

UC Merced Professor Tom Harmon introduces a panel discussion of the university's Experimental Smart Farm at a symposium on the Future of Agriculture.

What's The Future of Agriculture? It's Everyone Working Together, Summit Speakers Say

While UC Merced's Experimental Smart Farm is focused on technology and automation, it's also about machine-human collaboration. That was among the messages UC Merced's...

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...

One of the 2020 Black Lives Matter marches.

Group Conflict Inspires People to Feel Morally Elevated — for Their Side — Study Shows

You know that warm, uplifting feeling you get when you see someone going out of their way to help other people? You might get goosebumps or even a tear in your eye, and something inside you might...

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