Sierra Nevada Research Institute

September 15, 2026

Members of the Earth Institute posed next to a branded sign
UC Merced is deepening its investment in the fight against climate change, uniting scientific expertise across campus to help confront the effects of a changing planet.  Leading that effort is the Sierra Nevada Research Institute (SNRI), UC Merced's first Organized...
A landscape of burned-out trees near Lake Almanor in October 2025.
Wildfire is reshaping the forests of California's Sierra Nevada and affecting the water those forests supply to downstream users. A paper published in Hydrology and Earth System...
Professor Asmeret Asefaw Berhe and 'Groundswell' co-Director Joshua Tickell
A leading expert in soil biogeochemistry and environmental engineering, UC Merced Professor Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, brings her research and perspective to a global conversation about the future of our...
Leah Stokes, a political scientist, energy expert and climate communicator from UC Santa Barbara, speaks from the stage at UC Merced.
It's time to think bigger about mitigating climate change. Measures such as recycling, turning off lights and reducing energy use are great, but making a real impact is going to take systemic...
The sign reads University of California, Merced
Professors Asmeret Asefaw Berhe and Ming-Hsuan Yang have been named 2025 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest general scientific society and...
Depicted is the sun in an orange sky framed by palm leaves.
Temperatures in the 90s are nothing new to the northern San Joaquin Valley. But having them in March, as expected this week, is unusual and potentially dangerous. An exceptionally strong ridge of...
Depicted is a scene of burned-out trees and ash in the wake of the Caldor Fire.
High-risk conditions for fires are increasingly happening across countries at the same time, making wildfires even more challenging to tackle, new research reveals. Scientists from UC Merced and...
Photo depicts an attendee speaking into a microphone to ask a question at the Rural Energy Summit at UC Merced.
One of the biggest hurdles facing local farmers is the rising cost of doing business. However, some innovative solutions are in the works, as highlighted at the Central Valley Rural Energy Systems...
Photo depicts climate scientist Michael Mann speaking at a podium at UC Merced.
The global climate crisis was entirely predictable and impacts nearly every facet of life. But we still can slow its progress and mitigate the effects we already see. That was the message...
Professor Roger Bales
Professors Roger Bales and Martha Conklin arrived in Merced in 2003, the first non-administrative faculty members at UC Merced. They came with a vision: to create a research university that would...

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