Research

Professor Dives with Crocs, Displays Megalodon Expertise During Shark Week

July 17, 2025

Professor Sora Kim swam with a Nile crocodile for this year's Shark Week special, which focuses of sharks versus prehistoric reptiles. Photo courtesy of Kruger National Park, South Africa.

Shark Week starts Sunday and Professor Sora Kim will be featured again this year in a special airing at 9 p.m. Monday, titled “Jaws vs. Mega Croc,” and the filming allowed her to swim with a Nile crocodile. “I flew to Florida and learned about crocodiles – their evolution...

Staff member Cassie Gunter was named "Woman of the Year" candidate by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Gunter Set on Making a Difference for Cancer Research

Twelve years ago, Cassie Gunter was fighting for her life. Now she wants to give back to the group that helped her survive. At age 22, she went to the emergency room with what she thought was...

Graduate student Warren Nanney was awarded a three-year NASA fellowship to continue his research engineering portable biosensors for health monitoring in space.

NASA Fellowship Lifts Grad Student’s Cardiac Biosensor Research

Warren Nanney, who’s pursuing a Ph.D. in Chemistry and Chemical Biology, received a three-year NASA fellowship that’s creating a unique opportunity for him to develop biosensors that...

Researchers Assess Western Forests’ Ability to Survive Next Drought

UC Merced researchers have evidence that California’s forests are especially vulnerable to multi-year droughts because their health depends on water stored several feet below ground. “...

Innovative Partnership Aims to Restore Sierra Nevada Forest Health

The French Meadows Forest Restoration Project, an innovative collaboration approved this week, aligns the expertise of the Sierra Nevada Research Institute at UC Merced, the U.S. Forest Service, the...

Environmental Engineers Devising Plan to Save Humanity

The Earth is changing, and humans face major challenges if they hope to adapt, survive and preserve any semblance of the world as it is now. Humans will need to create sustainable food, water and...

Ancient Genomes from the Andes Highlands Reveal Novel Adaptations

The genomes of ancient Andean settlers reveal a complex picture of human adaptation, including when they became able to digest starches and how evolutionary modifications allowed them to live at such...

Psychologists Look to Partner with Merced Babies, Moms for National Study

Psychology Professor Eric Walle ’s Interpersonal Development Lab will recruit local infants and mothers as an important and unique part of a large-scale study focusing on the development of...

Health Communication Researcher Working to Improve Internet-based Medical Information

If you’re an American with Internet access, you’ve probably done it. You get a headache, a sniffle or a mystery bruise, and instead of seeing your doctor, you consult “Dr. Google....

CAREER Award Will Help Professor Advance Organic Chemistry Education

Chemistry and chemical biology Professor Ryan Baxter recently became the campus’s 22nd recipient of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) prestigious early CAREER awards for untenured...