School of Natural Sciences

Students, Alums Awarded Prestigious NSF Graduate Fellowship

April 12, 2024

Four current or incoming UC Merced graduate students and an undergraduate alumnus were recently offered fellowships from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). UC Merced’s 2024 NSF GRFP recipients are: Anthony Alfaro, who graduated with...

New Center, Conference Focus on Mesoamerican Studies

Topics ranging from ethnobotany, public health and feminism to agriculture, urban growth and social movements are among the highlights of the Mesoamerican Studies Center’s upcoming conference...

Professor Clarissa Nobile wearing a blue lab coat, teal-colored gloves, and safety goggles leans against a bench in her laboratory.

Another First for Nobile: NIH Outstanding Investigator Award

Professor Clarissa Nobile is changing the way we look at microbes. She wants to understand them as they’re found in nature, not as they exist in the laboratory. And she was just awarded a five-...

Professor Michael Dawson (seated) with graduate student Karly Higgins (left) and postdoctoral researchers Dannise Ruiz-Ramos (center) and Lauren Schiebelhut.

NSF Grants Will Help Unravel Mysteries of Sea Stars, Jellyfish

The National Science Foundation recently awarded Professor Michael Dawson $900,000 to study some rather mysterious marine phenomena. Dawson received $700,000 — part of a three-year, $1.2...

Mathematicians Making Strides Toward Lifelike Animations

Imagine going to see the latest Pixar movie. You’re sitting in the theater enjoying the film, when you begin to notice the astounding level of detail in the animation. On screen, water is...

A man holds a bright purple instrument in his hands while talking into a microphone headset.

‘Genius’ Award Winner and TED Lecturer to Speak at UC Merced

On Sept. 22, MacArthur "Genius" Award winner and Stanford University bioengineering Professor Manu Prakash will deliver the keynote lecture at the first annual open house for UC Merced...

Professor Noemi Petra in a white shirt and black jacket poses in front of a reflective, opaque glass wall.

Math Professor Receives Prestigious NSF CAREER Award

Professor Noemi Petra is UC Merced’s newest recipient of the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award, which the NSF describes as its “...

Professor Roland Winston and his student researchers

Our First Campus Was a Castle

The University of California, Merced, was established in 2005 — or so the story goes. The main campus officially opened in September of that year, but that particular reading of history elides...

Professor Asmeret Asefaw Berhe stands in front of a wall wearing a light blue lab coat and holding a tray of cake tins filled with soil samples.

Earth Scientist Targets Sexual Harassment With NSF Grant

Professor Asmeret Asefaw Berhe is a biogeochemist who studies the impact of climate change on Sierra Nevada soils. She’s also active in efforts to recruit and retain women in science,...

Synthetic Nanotubes Beat Nature at Water Purification

A new study published in the journal Science may have major implications for the future of water purification. Professor Aleksandr Noy and his research team at Lawrence Livermore National Lab found...