San Joaquin Valley

Research Team Focuses on the Next Generations of Scientists

March 4, 2025

Professor Michele Nishiguchi talks to a group of Plainsburg Elementary School students at a science outreach event.

The Biology Integration Institute (BII): The Institute for Symbiotic Interactions, Training and Education in the Face of a Changing Climate, or INSITE, stands out because it is supported by $12.5 million from the National Science Foundation, one of the largest NSF grants UC Merced has ever received...

Bakersfield College, grad student fellowship

With Fellowship, Grad Students Pay It Forward at Community College Level

Their community college experiences occurred hundreds of miles apart, but Kim Arellano Carmona and John Wilson each found the support and inspiration that would propel them to Ph.D. candidate studies...

Student Cathryn Flores poses in front of a University of California, Merced sign.

From Shakespeare to Music Awards Shows: UC Merced Undergrad Hits the Right Notes

This time around, what happened in Las Vegas will not stay there — at least for Cathryn Flores. The fourth-year undergraduate, who's working on a major in English and minor in writing,...

Fourth-graders at a Merced elementary school are introduced to agriculture-related sciences by undergrads in the FARMERS program.

USDA Grant Supports Diverse Ag-related Learning and Training for Students

Students at UC Merced and those who might someday become Bobcats are the focus of FARMERS, Professor Rudy M. Ortiz’s training program funded again for $1 million by the U.S. Department of...

Professor Josué Medellín-Azuara is heading up a new study of drought's effects on agricultural communities.

Researchers to Study, Report on Impacts of Drought on Agriculture and Communities

Just because there has been rain lately doesn’t mean California is drought-free. A new $1.5 million research grant from the California Department of Food and Agriculture is supporting School...

Professor’s COVID-tracking Earns Her a Spot in New Center of Excellence

School of Engineering Professor Colleen Naughton has been selected to be part of a Center of Excellence, along with colleagues at UC Davis, funded by a National Institutes of Health grant. Ceres...

Study: Many Immigrants Perceive Racial Discrimination at Work, in Health Care

In recently published reports, Department of Public Health Professor Maria-Elena Young, Public Health doctoral student Sharon Tafolla and colleagues at UCLA discovered that Latino and Asian...

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...

From left, professors Tom Harmon, David Strubbe, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Michael Scheibner, Sayantani Ghosh and Mehmet Baykara

NSF Grant to Help Grad Students Find Solutions to Environmental Challenges

Graduate students and a convergence of physics, engineering and environmental science could result in not only the next generation of solutions to pressing environmental challenges, but a new group...

Community and Labor Center Accurately Forecasts Voter Preferences in Fresno Within 1 Percentage Point

A partnership among UC Merced's Community and Labor Center and several Fresno area community groups was able to predict accurately the Fresno results for the gubernatorial recall election held...