Undergraduate Experience at UC Merced

Student & Alumni Success

UC Merced’s Grad Slam Champion Explores Mucus-Fungus Battle Behind Valley Fever

April 15, 2026

Quantitative and Systems Biology Ph.D. student Tahirah Williams
Nervous but prepared, Tahirah Williams took the stage at UC Merced’s Grad Slam competition in March and delivered her three-minute talk, “More Than Slime: When Mucus Meets the Valley Fever Invader.” By day’s end, she had been announced as the university’s 12th Grad...
Quantitative and Systems Biology Ph.D. student Tahirah Williams

UC Merced’s Grad Slam Champion Explores Mucus-Fungus Battle Behind Valley Fever

Nervous but prepared, Tahirah Williams took the stage at UC Merced’s Grad Slam competition in March and delivered her three-minute talk, “More Than Slime: When Mucus Meets the Valley...
Social Sciences school sign outside UC Merced classroom buildin

New Liberal Studies Major Expands Paths for Degree Completion and Future Teachers

A highly customizable degree that rewards curiosity, reaches out to a diverse set of learners and prepares scholars for people-centered careers has arrived at UC Merced. Liberal studies, a...
Depicted is a collage of UC Merced students taking part in study abroad programs in various locations around the world.

UC Merced's Study Abroad Program Among the Country's Best

Frida Quinto Ruiz went to Sweden with a curious mind. She came home with a plan. "Studying abroad completely reshaped the direction of my college career in ways I never expected," she...
Headshot Jacqueline Garcia

Commuter Student Finds Belonging at UC Merced

Most weekdays, civil engineering major Jacqueline Garcia travels 45 minutes each way from her hometown of Hughson to attend classes at UC Merced. “The perk is being able to pursue my...
Early Childhood Education Center Director Danielle Waite speaks to a group of visiting students

UC Merced Welcomes High Schoolers Studying Jobs that Support Families

Across the Valley, the need for professionals who support children and families continues to grow, spanning fields such as education, health care and social services. At UC Merced, new academic...
UC Merced student Taliyah Miller poses for photo

Her UC Merced Path Changed But Stockton Student Stays on Track

Taliyah Miller would be the first to tell you she arrived at UC Merced with an unwavering, long-range goal: become an anesthesiologist. What she could not have predicted was that a difficult roommate...
An undergraduate students works on a science experiment with two middle school students during a CalTeach Bobcat Summer STEM Academy camp.

CalTeach and Local Schools Team Up to Energize Learning across Merced County

UC Merced’s CalTeach program is opening new pathways for younger students to experience hands-on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) learning, academic support and early exposure...
UC Merced student Grace Grinder in the university library.

Ripon Student Turning Heart and Heritage into a Path of Healing

As a child of the Central Valley and a member of a Native tribe, Grace Grinder developed an early awareness of health care disparities affecting rural regions and underserved communities. While in...
UC Merced graduate student Reo Maynard studies a carpenter ant from one of his many ant colonies.

Ants, Endurance and a Ph.D. at the Finish Line

On most days, Reo Maynard’s life swings between two ecosystems: the microscopic world inside an ant’s gut and the sprawling one that stretches from Fresno to the Sierra Nevada mountains...

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