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...

Study: In-Home Parent Training Levels Field for Low-Income Kids

Home-based interventions that teach parents to engage children in playful interactive learning activities can close the cognitive development gap between disadvantaged children and higher-resource...

New Dean Inspired by Campus’s Innovative Spirit

With two decades of experience at prominent American research universities, Jill Robbins has a good feel for what works and what doesn’t in academia. That’s partly because change comes so slowly to...

Professor Named ‘Rising Star’ in Quantitative Psychology

UC Merced Psychology Professor Sarah Depaoli has been recognized as a Rising Star by the Association for Psychological Science (APS), a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of...

UC Merced Shares in Three of Four UC Catalyst Grants

University of California President Janet Napolitano announced this week the 2016 recipients of the President’s Research Catalyst Awards, and professors from UC Merced are contributors to three of the...

Kids Under 2 Can Spy Deception in Others, Study Shows

In its most positive form, deception — when used in moderation — can be critical to maintaining social relationships. The ability to recognize and use deception is considered point of demarcation in...

Professor Studies Link Between Youth Unemployment, Mental Health

Young people who are neither employed nor pursuing an education are vulnerable to mental health issues like depression and anxiety, but their commitment to finding work is surprisingly strong...

Project Aims to Fight Breast Cancer One Message at a Time

Research indicates that obesity can increase a woman’s risk of developing and dying from breast cancer. But while communication about healthy eating has proven to be effective, a growing and...

Standout Sociology Program Earns Approval for Grad Degrees

Current and prospective graduate students have new degree options at UC Merced, which recently received approval from the UC system and the WASC Senior College and University Commission for both...

Student Examines Role of Gender in Perception of Political Scandals

With the 2016 presidential race already in full swing, political science graduate student Kayla Canelo’s research is particularly timely. This spring and summer, Canelo designed and carried out a...