Staff & Faculty News

Championing the Transition to Clean Energy

June 11, 2025

Image depicts UC Merced mechanical engineering Professor Ricardo Pinto de Castro talking to students near a small robot.

Mechanical engineering Professor Ricardo Pinto de Castro has turned a penchant for systems-level thinking and a longtime love of cars into a climate-resilient research mission. From electric vehicles (EVs) traversing San Francisco's busiest streets to electric appliances such as...

Hurricane Bud left some surprising changes in its wake, UC Merced researchers found.

Hurricanes Create Powerful Changes Deep in the Ocean, Study Reveals

With careful planning and a little luck, researchers found a surprising upside to hurricanes after a Category 4 storm disrupted their expedition off the coast of Mexico. The team was able to...

Dunham Named Cal Pac Athletic Director of the Year

UC Merced Executive Director of Recreation & Athletics David Dunham has been named California Pacific Conference Athletic Director of the Year for the second straight year and for the third time...

The Central Valley is a major contributor to a growing dust problem, in large part because of agriculture, researchers say.

Study Indicates Human-caused Dust Events are Linked to Fallow Farmland

An average of more than 1 million acres of idled farmland a year is a significant contributor to a growing dust problem in California that has implications for millions of residents’ health and...

Hmong American Celebration Honors UC Merced Pioneers

UC Merced’s campus community was represented at Merced County’s Hmong American Day, which celebrated a people’s 50-year journey from war and oppression to acceptance and achievement...

A dust storm rises near Owens Lake. Photo Courtesy of UC San Diego

Dust is a Danger to Central Valley Health and Will Likely Get Worse, Researchers Find

People don't think about dust much until it's time to clean the house, but a new report by UC researchers could raise awareness of the growing threat of dust and dust storms. Dust affects...

A Picture of Kindness: Campus Photographer Adrover to Retire

Through the lens of Veronica Adrover we have seen buildings rise, graduates cheer and lasers glow. We’ve seen governors, a First Lady and a former U.S. president. We’ve glimpsed a young...

NSF Award Supports Young Faculty Member’s Research into Building Blocks of the Universe

Cosmology Professor Anna Nierenberg has received a CAREER award for a project that will vastly improve the study of the nature of dark matter in the universe. She is the 42nd researcher from UC...

For the First Time, All Avian Evolutionary Relationships Revealed Through Collaboration

Professor Emily Jane McTavish and colleagues at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have mapped the evolution of every known bird species. They created a complete evolutionary tree of bird species by...

Students Zeyi Moo, back left, and Yaying Wang, right, work with Professor Xuan Zhang, center, on her Alzheimer's-related research. Photo courtesy of Kate Marsh.

Link Between Dementia and Air Pollution Drives Research Collaboration

California’s Central Valley, famous for producing much of the food Americans eat, is also infamous for its inferior air quality and its high rates of poverty, housing insecurity and at-risk...

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