School of Natural Sciences

Study of Sugar Pines Reveals Urgent Issue in Protecting Forests from Climate Change

November 20, 2024

Sugar pines are the tallest pine species in the world, and they only grow along the West Coast of North America. They are a valued source of timber with cones as large as an adult’s forearm. But they face several problems that a new paper argues should be quickly addressed. The sugar pine...

Academic Year Begins with Sharper Focus on Emerging Fields of Excellence, Graduate Programs and Flexible Growth

The University of California, Merced, begins its eighth academic year today with record enrollment of approximately 5,600 students, a 23 percent increase in graduate-student enrollment and 26 newly...

Researchers Spend Summer Working on Projects Near and Far

From the caves of Belize to laboratories in Japan, UC Merced faculty members and students are abroad conducting research this summer across the globe. Though the semester ended in mid-May, the campus...

Transfer Student Triumphs Over Foster Care Odds

Portia Mira considers herself lucky. Although the UC Merced senior was taken from her parents and spent five years in foster care, she said she and her sister are much better off than most. “Most...

Scholarship Supports Student Magician’s Visit to Help Chinese Earthquake Orphans

When a deadly earthquake shook the Sichuan province of his native China in May 2008, John Li watched from Los Angeles and immediately made a connection. He knew his passion for performing magic could...

Professor Studies Alcohol's Neurological Effects

Professor Fred Wolf’s research brings new meaning to the term barfly. In an effort to better understand the neurological effects of alcohol abuse, Wolf gives fruit flies alcohol and studies how their...

Park Leaders Collaborate, Learn at UC Merced Institute

At a time when Californians are dismayed about closures of state parks, and protected lands around the globe are under increasing stress from reduced government resources, an innovative institute is...

Research Lends Insight into Controlling Cells, Addressing Diseases

A discovery by a UC Merced biophysicist has moved science a step closer toward fine-tuning cell functions and combating certain diseases. Professor Jing Xu found that a cell’s nanomotor can be...

Study: Bone Density May Affect Immune System

Researchers at the University of California, Merced, have discovered a new way in which bone health impacts a person’s immune system. The discovery could impact how scientists try to combat bone-...

UC Merced Celebrates Largest Graduating Class

A joyous throng of 776 degree candidates of the University of California, Merced, today marched through the Beginnings Sculpture and onto the campus’ South Bowl to receive their prized degrees,...