School of Natural Sciences

Hurricanes Create Powerful Changes Deep in the Ocean, Study Reveals

June 6, 2025

Hurricane Bud left some surprising changes in its wake, UC Merced researchers found.

With careful planning and a little luck, researchers found a surprising upside to hurricanes after a Category 4 storm disrupted their expedition off the coast of Mexico. The team was able to sample the ocean right after the storm passed and found that the storms churn the ocean so powerfully and...

Researchers Dive Into Big Data to Predict NBA Winners

Before you place any bets on the next NBA playoff games, take a look at UC Merced Professor Harish Bhat’s Twitter account. He’s tweeting daily predictions based on an innovative new algorithm, and so...

UC Merced Receives $5 Million for Interdisciplinary Research Center

Researchers at the University of California, Merced, won a $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study how biological matter like proteins or cells come together to perform...

Internship Program Enhances Students’ Academic Experiences

Last fall, the Division of Student Affairs and the Office of Undergraduate Education launched an internship program with the goal of providing undergraduate students an opportunity to build...

Bobcat Day Brings Admitted Students to Campus

Students from across California and their family members will converge on the UC Merced campus April 16 for Bobcat Day. The day is an opportunity for admitted students to visit campus, and talk with...

Two Alumni Create Legacies Through Scholarship Endowments

Jessica “JaeJae” Julian (2010) and Marko Zivanovic (2014) are proving that giving back shortly after graduation can be possible. During the campus’s Giving Tuesday fundraising efforts last December...

Bad Break Left Alum With Questions; UC Merced Answered

Erik Olstad started down the path to becoming a veterinarian by accident. After high school, the now 32-year-old attended California State University, Fresno, to get a political science degree. But...

Oceanic ‘Dead Zone’ Research Earns Campus’s 13th CAREER Award

Professor Michael Beman, with the School of Natural Sciences, became the 13th faculty member to win a National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award since the...

Study Shows How Plants Could Adapt to Changing Climate

If you want to understand how plant populations will respond as the climate changes, just examine the plants in different locations. That’s one of the conclusions drawn by UC Merced School of Natural...

Pine Bacteria Getting a Closer Look From Scientists

Professor Carolin Frank’s research into the nitrogen-fixing properties of bacteria inside the needles of some high-elevation pine trees is the topic of a new paper in the journal New Phytologist....