Staff & Faculty News

Astronomers Reveal Hidden Activity in the Early Universe’s Most Massive Galaxies

January 5, 2026

Spectroscopy at the UC's W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii helped the researchers interpret complex data about ultramassive galaxies. Photo courtesy of the W.M. Keck Observatory.

An international team of astronomers has studied ultramassive galaxies - galaxies containing more than 100 billion stars - as they existed when the universe was less than 2 billion years old. The results show that while some of these ultramassive galaxies, or UMGs, had already shut down star...

Is a Great Lecture Better Than Active Learning? Students May Think So But Study Says Otherwise

Students who take part in active learning — engaging directly with the instruction process — learn more than they would from an excellent lecture, though they think they learned less,...

Professor Rebecca Ryals, left, talks to students in her lab.

Research is Clarifying Benefits of Transforming Human Waste into Useable Resources

Human waste isn’t a topic most people want to talk about. But environmental systems Professor Rebecca Ryals embraces the subject, especially when it comes to mitigating climate change,...

From left, professors Tom Harmon, David Strubbe, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Michael Scheibner, Sayantani Ghosh and Mehmet Baykara

NSF Grant to Help Grad Students Find Solutions to Environmental Challenges

Graduate students and a convergence of physics, engineering and environmental science could result in not only the next generation of solutions to pressing environmental challenges, but a new group...

Sharim's "Central Valley Portraits" Exhibit Showcased Online and at UC Merced Library

After a two-month run at the Merced Multicultural Arts Center, a UC Merced professor's exhibit is now available for viewing across the globe. "Central Valley Portraits," an...

Hirst Selected for Prestigious Fellowship in the American Physical Society

Physics Professor Linda Hirst has been elected a fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) by the APS Council of Representatives at its most recent meeting. This is the second consecutive year...

Trounstine to Speak on Race and Regulation in University of Pennsylvania Lecture Series

Department of Political Science Chair and Professor Jessica Trounstine will deliver remarks on race and regulation as part of a lecture series hosted by the University of Pennsylvania Law...

Professor Stephen Hart, left, Professor Martha Conklin, right, and researcher Jian Lin, seated.

Researchers Investigate Land Management Role in Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Carbon Sequestration

A group of UC Merced researchers are working with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to find out how much greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced just through land-management strategies....

Professor Joshua Viers stands near a canal on the UC Merced campus.

UC Merced Leads Innovative Effort to Secure Water for Agriculture and Ecosystems

UC Merced’s largest research grant in its 16-year history aims to improve agricultural and environmental water resilience. The new $10 million collaborative focuses on water banking, trading...

Biosafety Officer Helps Steer UC Merced Through Pandemic

Aparupa Sengupta, Ph.D., was talking to her staff when her phone rang. It was the police chief. Could she join him today for a working lunch? On that warm, cloudless February day in 2020, the...

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