School of Natural Sciences

Giving Tuesday at UC Merced: Collective Generosity Transforms Lives

December 1, 2025

Every gift during the Give to UC Merced 2025 campaign supports students on their educational journeys.

When UC Merced launches Give to UC Merced 2025 on Dec. 2, it won’t just be about one day of giving; the month-long campaign will be about hope, opportunity and community impact. For the 12th year, the campus joins the global Giving Tuesday movement, inviting donors to power change through...

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,...

Senior Earns Prestigious Study Opportunities

UC Merced senior Jesse Anaya answered his phone one day to hear an unfamiliar voice ask, “Are you ready to change the world?” “Yes,” he replied. “Now, who is this?” A representative from the Harvard...

Racing Team Puts Classroom Lessons to the Test

UC Merced’s Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) team built its first racecar and exhibited it at a national competition last June. The student club has crafted a more advanced machine this...

Campus' Annual Celebration of Research Continues to Grow

From the campus’ own undergraduate and graduate students to distinguished faculty members from here and abroad, Research Week at the University of California, Merced, will offer a wide range of...

Physics Graduate Student Explores Nanoworld

When Andrea Rodarte began studying physics, she first wanted to look to the stars for answers. Instead, she’s finding them in nanoparticles. “The people I know who went into astrophysics only get to...

Marine Biologist Receives Fulbright Award

Mónica Medina, a professor in the School of Natural Sciences at the University of California, Merced, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to conduct research at the Observatoire Océanologique...