Students

Professor and Environmental Champion Bales Retires, But Research and Advocacy Continue

November 10, 2025

Professors Roger Bales and Martha Conklin arrived in Merced in 2003, the first non-administrative faculty members at UC Merced. They came with a vision: to create a research university that would serve California’s future. Now, after more than 22 years of building institutions, mentoring...

Participants in a Secure Water Future expedition raft on the Green River in Utah.

Water Research Goes Deep with Rafting Trip to Utah

The USDA-funded Secure Water Future (SWF) team at UC Merced believes that to fully understand water, you must do more than just study this vital resource. You must immerse yourself in it -...

Campus Adds New Areas of Studies for Students to Choose From

New students or those who have not yet chosen their majors will have an array of options before them. Five new majors and several new emphases, ranging across all three schools, are all coming...

Donor Denise Watkins with her mother, Genelia Phillips.

UC Merced Trustee Denise Watkins Establishes New Scholarship to Encourage Students to Study Abroad

UC Merced undergraduates who dream of expanding their educational horizons by immersing themselves in foreign cultures and far-away countries now have access to vital financial aid for that goal,...

Students, Alums Receive Competitive NSF Fellowships

UC Merced students Brianna Aguilar-Solis, Diane-Marie Brache-Smith, Sierra Lema and Sarif Morningstar, and alumni Diana Cruz Garcia and Anna Maria Calderon were awarded fellowships from the National...

student wearing regalia, getting their diplomas

Inspired by Their Roots, UC Merced Graduates Look to the Future

A sea of blue and gold regalia filled Recreation Field as hundreds of UC Merced Bobcats crossed the stage during commencement weekend. Almost 1,500 students took part in three distinct ceremonies...

Student Jose Sanez undergoes a virtual eye exam developed by a team at UC Merced's Innovate to Grow event, .

Student Projects Provide Real Solutions at Innovate to Grow Event

Dozens of innovative ideas were on display at UC Merced's Innovate to Grow event May 11. The biannual event provides an opportunity for engineering students to showcase their capstone projects,...

UC Merced Among Top Schools in US For Leadership in College Access, Success

Bloomberg Philanthropies has recognized the University of California, Merced, as an American Talent Initiative (ATI) High-Flier, among a group of 28 high-graduation-rate institutions that are...

The students are in New South Wales as part of a research collaborative.

Chemistry Students in Australia for Summer Research Experience

Chemistry Professor Aurora Pribram-Jones is looking for undergrads to help her get the lead out — out of drinking-water pipes. She and a colleague at Harvey Mudd College (HMC) in Claremont...

Fossil Shark Research Draws Prestigious NSF Award

Professor Sora Kim has received a CAREER award for her project that bridges concepts between modern and ancient marine ecosystems by integrating geochemical and modeling approaches with paleobiology...