School of Natural Sciences

Link Between Dementia and Air Pollution Drives Research Collaboration

April 17, 2025

Students Zeyi Moo, back left, and Yaying Wang, right, work with Professor Xuan Zhang, center, on her Alzheimer's-related research. Photo courtesy of Kate Marsh.

California’s Central Valley, famous for producing much of the food Americans eat, is also infamous for its inferior air quality and its high rates of poverty, housing insecurity and at-risk workers. Increasing epidemiological evidence has shown a correlation between long-term exposure to...

A portrait of a smiling professor, Juan Meza, in front of a gray background.

NSF Taps Former Dean Juan Meza to Lead Division of Mathematical Sciences

The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced that they have selected former Dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Applied Mathematics Professor Juan Meza as the new Division Director for the...

Alum Wins Opportunity to Pitch at Venture Summit

UC Merced alumnus Michael Urner is one of five finalists in the University of California new “I am a UC Entrepreneur” contest. Urner was selected from a pool of 169 contestants...

AAAS Fellow Brings Groundbreaking Genetics Research to Campus

Professor Chris Amemiya is new to UC Merced, but he’s a veteran scientist with a long list of breakthroughs to his name. Amemiya’s discoveries have changed the way scientists understand...

Process That Kills Damaged Cells Hints at New Cancer Therapies

Scientists have long known that cells originating from an animal’s anterior — the body’s upper half — tend to grow, divide and survive better than those from the posterior....

A man wearing safety goggles adjusts a laser apparatus with a screwdriver.

Study: Quantum Vibrations Could Help Detect Nuclear Threats

National security and a beautifully resonant violin have found a surprising link — a classic experiment in acoustics, recently replicated at the quantum scale as part of a collaborative project...

Study: Climate Change, Drought Threaten Giant Sequoias

A new study published online in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences finds that the giant sequoia, a fixture of California’s Sierra Nevada forests for the past 2.6 million years...

Campus Voices: Serving Community Brings Benefits to Students

When it came time to apply for college, so many of us scrambled to compile those lists of community service hours to bolster our resumes. Was there enough? Could I explain in my personal statement...

A student stands in front of a sign that reads "NASA Research Park." Above the sign is a model of a NASA space shuttle.

NASA Interns Return With New Prospects, Realized Dreams

Zach Petrek, a second-year doctoral student in chemistry and chemical biology, can usually be found running experiments in the laboratory of his advisor, Professor Tao Ye. But this summer, he did...

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...