Research Excellence

Research into Hidden Chemistry Shaping Future Air Quality Earns Zhang an NSF Award

September 8, 2025

As nations cut emissions that once fueled urban smog, scientists are discovering unexpected chemistry taking place in the atmosphere. UC Merced Professor Xuan Zhang is leading a project to uncover how these chemical shifts could affect the air we breathe and the climate. The project is supported...

Professor Colleen Naughton (center) poses with first-year doctoral student Ana Grace Alvarado (left) and fourth-year undergraduate student Fernando Adali Roman, Jr (right). Photo by Veronica Adrover, UC Merced

Naughton Lab Creates Dashboard to Track Global Wastewater Testing for Covid-19

After the COVID-19 pandemic struck, scientists across the globe realized they could track the virus by testing sewage water. School of Engineering Professor Colleen Naughton pioneered a dashboard to...

$2.2M NIH Grant Designed to Produce Highly Trained, Diverse Ph.D. Workforce

A five-year, $2.2 million training grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will assist UC Merced with the development of diverse cohorts of doctoral students in interdisciplinary...

Ryan Bart is a disturbance echohydrologist. Photo by Veronica Adrover, UC Merced

Studies Find Sierra Fuel Treatments Benefit Trees and Streamflow, Though Not Together

Predicting the effects of forest fuel treatments is difficult and uncertain — it is unclear whether the treatments are more helpful to forest health or streamflow. According to new research by...

Female applied mathematics graduate student

Shayna Bennett Wins Grad Slam at UC Merced

Applied Mathematics graduate student Shayna Bennett will represent UC Merced at the University of California Grad Slam finals on May 7. For the campus’s Grad Slam final round, Bennett...

Public health Professor Asa Bradman conducted research to examine a link between childhood development and food dyes. Photo by Veronica Adrover, UC Merced

Public Health Professor Shows Food Dye Linked to Childhood Behavior in California EPA Study

Public health Professor Asa Bradman contributed to a new report that examines the relationship between synthetic food dye — found in everything from juice to cupcakes — and child...

The Manilay and Spencer lab groups sit together on campus.

Collaboration Furthers Understanding of Immune Cell Development

Immunology Professor Jennifer Manilay and bioengineering Professor Joel Spencer are using a new grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expand a project they’ve been working...

Federal Grant Preserves Critical Equipment for Molecular Exploration

An important and expensive piece of equipment that was nearing the end of its life is getting a vital upgrade, thanks to a new grant awarded to Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry Professor...

Two New Faculty Members Expand Physics Department and Bring the Cosmos to Campus

UC Merced occupies just one small corner of the world. But through the research, teaching, experience, and connections of two new Department of Physics faculty members, students can access and begin...

Psychology Professor Debora Wiebe in the Social Sciences and Management Building.

Wiebe Honored with Lifetime Achievement Award for Child and Family Health Research

The Society of Behavioral Medicine Child and Family Health Special Interest Group has recognized Professor Deborah Wiebe with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to child and family...

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