Social Sciences

Hellman Fellowships Welcome Three New Members from UC Merced

September 4, 2025

This year's Hellman Fellows: Adeyemi Adebiyi, Qian Wang and Meredith Van Natta

As the Hellman Fellowships celebrate their 30th year, three more researchers, one from each of UC Merced’s schools, have joined the prestigious ranks of recipients. Electrical engineering Professor Qian Wang, sociology Professor Meredith Van Natta and Earth systems Professor Adeyemi...

Ancient DNA Sheds Light on Origins of Himalayan Populations

In a collaborative study by the University of California, Merced, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Chicago and Uppsala University in Sweden, researchers conduct the first ancient DNA...

Dedicated Student Breaks Ground With Ph.D., Autism Research

When Nikko Da Paz decided to go to graduate school, she didn’t limit herself to one degree — or even one campus. The mother of two young children with autism enrolled at UC Merced in 2011, and in May...

New Book Shows Pros and Cons of Helicopter Parenting

So-called “helicopter parents” — those who hover over their children even into and through their college years — are often criticized for creating overly sheltered, unprepared young adults who...

Study: For Moms and Teens, Emotions Matter During Conflict

Parents who reciprocate their children’s negative emotions are less likely to find satisfying resolutions to conflict, according to new research from the University of California, Merced. In a study...

Downtown Center Focuses on Child Development

Parents, caregivers and community members in the Merced area have a new resource for information about childhood development and disorders. The UC Merced Alliance for Child and Family Health and...

Psychology Student Earns Ford Predoctoral Fellowship

Doctoral student Patricia Cabral, who studies adolescent health risk behaviors in the Psychological Sciences graduate group, recently won a highly-competitive Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship...

For GradSLAM Champion, Research Is Personal

Arturo Durazo, winner of this year’s UC Merced GradSLAM! competition, has a personal connection to his research. The fifth-year Ph.D. candidate studies the psychological effects of debilitating...

Symposium Features Faculty Research on the ‘Developing Child’

UC Merced will host its third annual Symposium on the Child and Family on April 30, offering hours of talks by researchers on the theme of “The Developing Child in a Developing World.” The symposium...

Sociologist Shows Human Side of Deportation in New Book

A single mother in Guatemala works at a factory owned by a U.S. company, but doesn’t make enough money to support her family. She immigrates to the U.S. and finds a low-paying job with no benefits...