Research

Graduate Students Highlight Research and Campus Life to Encourage Transfers

December 5, 2025

Three Ph.D. students recently visited Madera Community College to share research findings and highlight opportunities available to transfer students at UC Merced. Emily Rivera Mondragon, a second-year environmental systems Ph.D. student, joined sociology graduate students Justin Barnes...

‘Diverse’ Magazine Names Groundbreaking Professor an Emerging Scholar

The magazine Diverse: Issues in Higher Education has named UC Merced Professor Ala Qattawi an Emerging Scholar of the Year in its first issue of 2017. Qattawi, with the School of Engineering, is the...

Bird Researcher Expands Knowledge About Reserve’s Kestrels

Kestrels are a fixture among the birds on the Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve adjacent to campus. Though they are not endangered, the small falcons’ population has declined by...

Genetic Changes Made Native Americans Susceptible to Smallpox, Study Shows

A new study identifies genetic changes in Native Americans that came about when Europeans settled in the Pacific Northwest and might have played a major role in why so many natives died of infectious...

Cognitive Scientist Earns Early Career Impact Award

UC Merced Professor Rick Dale is a recipient of the Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences (FABBS) Early Career Impact Award from the Society for Computers in Psychology. Dale...

Study: Early High-Altitude Settlers Were Hunter-Gatherers, Not Farmers

A new paper by UC Merced Professor Mark Aldenderfer begins to settle a longstanding debate over when people began permanently occupying higher elevations of the Tibetan Plateau, and shows communities...

Scientists Build Synthetic Cell-Sized Membranes Out of Paper

Scientists have been synthesizing lipid membranes from a variety of materials, making them as lifelike as possible to learn more about how cells work and how they can be manipulated. UC Merced...

Professor’s Himalayan Archaeological Finds Documented on ‘NOVA’

Join UC Merced Professor Mark Aldenderfer as he and his colleagues explore the world’s highest cave tombs, revealing new details about the lives of the people who settled the Himalaya, in the season...

Researchers to Discuss Strong Family Relationships in Symposium

UC Merced will host its fourth annual Symposium on the Child and Family from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Jan. 28, offering a day of talks by researchers on the theme of “Strong Families: Fostering Healthy...

Robots and People Working Together to Save Water and Enhance Agriculture

A nearly $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is helping University of California researchers refine collaborative robotic technology that could change the way crops are...