Science

Ants, Endurance and a Ph.D. at the Finish Line

March 18, 2026

UC Merced graduate student Reo Maynard studies a carpenter ant from one of his many ant colonies.

On most days, Reo Maynard’s life swings between two ecosystems: the microscopic world inside an ant’s gut and the sprawling one that stretches from Fresno to the Sierra Nevada mountains. The 51-year-old Navy veteran, dad of two, screenwriter-in-waiting and newly minted Fresno City...

Floodplain Management Can Increase Groundwater Supply

California’s groundwater is being rapidly depleted because cities and farms extract more than is replenished naturally, compacting local aquifers and decreasing supply in some places in the Central ...

New Magnetic Resonance Lab Opens on Campus

Looking at molecules just got easier for UC Merced researchers, now that Professor Erik Menke, Professor Jason Hein and other colleagues have opened a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) lab. “It’s a...

Study: Moral Decisions Can Be Manipulated by Tracking Eye Gaze

Moral decisions can be influenced by tracking moment-to-moment movements of the eyes during deliberation, according to new research published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of...

Professor Contributes to Research on Oil Spills

Researching oceanic oil spills can be difficult when you work at a landlocked university like UC Merced. But thanks to a large consortium of researchers from around the country, that’s exactly what...

Research Week Puts Array of Important Work on Display

Members of the campus and community are invited to learn more about UC Merced research — including work on sustainability, psychology and antibiotic resistance — during the university’s eighth annual...

Sierra Nevada Research Institute Names New Executive Director

Armando Quintero has been chosen as the new executive director of the Sierra Nevada Research Institute (SNRI) at the University of California, Merced. Quintero has served as director of development...

Mitsubishi Gift Will Expand Naturalist Training

A new $103,000 gift from the Mitsubishi Corporation Foundation for the Americas will increase opportunities for students at the University of California, Merced, and community members in the region...

Professors Share in UC Effort to Study Effects of Climate Change

Several UC Merced faculty members will play important roles in a new UC systemwide effort to study the ecological effects of climate change across varied ecosystems. Funded by a $1.9 million...

$100,000 Wells Fargo Gift Supports Engineering Capstone Program

Longtime campus contributor Wells Fargo is giving a $100,000 grant to help students at the University of California, Merced, design technologies that address some of the Central Valley’s water...