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...

Pine Needle Bacteria Earn Professor Second NSF Grant of the Year

Professor Carolin Frank will collect $1.6 million over the next four years to continue researching the nitrogen-fixing bacteria that live in pine needles and to work with the Sierra Foothill Charter...

Extreme Changes in Seasonality Affect Soils’ Ability to Store Water and Carbon, Research Shows

Extreme changes in seasonality in the Sierra Nevada can have lasting impacts on meadow health and could mean less water and carbon storage in high elevation wetlands, according to research conducted...

Campus Expands with New Science and Engineering Building

The long-awaited Science and Engineering Building 2 officially opens today, providing more space for instruction, research and offices. The ribbon-cutting ceremony begins at 1 p.m. Thirty months in...

Rare Flower Variant Discovered by Professor Offers Insight into Evolution

The discovery of a new, rare species of monkey flower by Professor Jason Sexton provides clues as to how new species are born. Sexton, who researches the monkey flowers that grow wild throughout...

Professor Discovers Key Elements for Biofilm Spreading

A biology professor at the University of California, Merced, discovered mechanisms that allow a potentially fatal biofilm to spread and resist drugs. The research was published last month in mBio, an...

Class of 2014 Bids Farewell, Begins Next Chapter

At two weekend ceremonies, UC Merced conferred degrees on more than 1,000 commencement candidates who said goodbye to the campus they called home for the past four or more years of their lives....

NSF Early Career Award Honors Professor’s Research and Potential

The National Science Foundation is honoring UC Merced Professor Asmeret Asefaw Berhe with a Faculty Early Career Development Award to support her examination of how soil helps regulate the climate....

Professor’s Passion for Monkey Flower Leads to Genetic Discoveries

The environment affects the way genetic populations move, and similar environments likely play a bigger role in how a species develops than does geographic distance. Those are just two of the...

Researchers Melt Snow to See Climate Change Impacts

In a megadrought like the one California is experiencing, people tend to look at how much rainfall has come along. But it also matters when the snowmelt releases its cache, because the snowpack is...