Sierra Nevada Research Institute

Professor and Environmental Champion Bales Retires, But Research and Advocacy Continue

November 10, 2025

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 serve California’s future. Now, after more than 22 years of building institutions, mentoring...

Ryan Bart is a disturbance echohydrologist. Photo by Veronica Adrover, UC Merced

Studies Find Sierra Fuel Treatments Benefit Trees and Streamflow, Though Not Together

Predicting the effects of forest fuel treatments is difficult and uncertain — it is unclear whether the treatments are more helpful to forest health or streamflow. According to new research by...

Professor Berhe Nominated to Lead Federal Office of Science

President Joe Biden has nominated UC Merced Professor Asmeret Asefaw Berhe to be the new director of the Office of Science in the federal Department of Energy. In honor of Earth Day, the White...

Engineering Professor Marie-Odile Fortier stands among the solar array that helps power the campus.

CAREER Award will Support Enhanced Renewable Energy Assessments

Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Marie-Odile Fortier’s plan to make more accurate assessments of renewable energy systems’ carbon footprints has made her the fifth UC Merced...

UC Merced Reaches Out with an All-Virtual Research Week

The question: What happens when UC Merced holds Research Week in the middle of a pandemic? The hypothesis: An annual, weeklong presentation of ground-breaking work reaches a big, new virtual audience...

Management of Complex Systems Professor Crystal Kolden is one of UC Merced's experts on wildfire.

Climate Change and Suppression Tactics are Critical Factors in Increasing Fires, Study Shows

The millions of people affected by 2020’s record-breaking and deadly fire season can attest to the fact that wildfire hazards are increasing across western North America. Both climate change...

Prestigious Biennial Grant Program Includes Funding for Ag-labor and Wildfire Research

Two new projects designed and led by UC Merced researchers will address challenges facing many Californians — wildfire recovery and agricultural labor — but will also have global reach...

Berhe Honored with Prestigious AGU Medal and Fellowship

Soil biogeochemistry Professor Asmeret Asefaw Berhe has been recognized by the American Geophysical Union (AGU) as one of this year’s recipients of the Joanne Simpson Medal for Mid-...

With Fire Threatening, National Parks Turn to UC Merced for Help Preserving History

Ward Eldredge warily monitored the fire’s progress. As curator of the archives of the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, he deliberated what would need to be done if the nearby Castle...

Restoring State's Forests to Reduce Fire Risks Will Take Time, Money and Broad Commitment

School of Engineering professors Roger Bales and Martha Conklin have written a new article for The Conversation discussing the changes that need to be undertaken in land-management practices in...