Sustainability

From Soil to Climate Solutions: Berhe Leads Sierra Nevada Research Institute into its Next Chapter

September 11, 2025

When Professor Asmeret Asefaw Berhe arrived at UC Merced in 2009, she and her husband, Professor Teamrat Ghezzehei, were leaving major research institutions to join a brand-new campus in California’s Central Valley. It was a leap of faith — one made easier by the Sierra Nevada Research...

Engineering Students Working on Water Issues for Summer Research Project

Spending a summer finding ways to make toilet water reusable and trying to extract urine from wastewater might not sound glamorous. But the results of the work two UC Merced students are doing though...

Facilities Management Seeks Campus’s Help in Attaining Sustainable Certifications

UC Merced is one of the greenest campuses in the nation, with 100 percent of its new construction having earned LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Those certifications have been...

Campus Surpasses UC President’s Water Conservation Request

Conserving resources is just a part of the fabric of UC Merced. So it should come as no surprise that university leaders say the campus can not only meet President Janet Napolitano’s call to cut...

UC Merced Chosen as Pioneer for Entrepreneurial Program

University of California, Merced, was chosen as one of a dozen campuses across the nation to bring to life a new program designed to inculcate innovation and entrepreneurship in undergraduate...

Campus Expecting Big Sustainability Honors in 2014

The California Architectural Foundation gave UC Merced the Owings Award for Environmental Excellence, adding to the slew of awards the campus has already won. The group recognized the campus’s first...

UC Merced Heating Up Mongolia’s Harsh Winter

One of the world’s oldest civilizations – with the worst air pollution and the coldest capital city – will employ cutting-edge technology from the newest UC campus starting in February. Professor...

Natural Reserve Earns Regents’ Approval

The protected land adjoining the northeast corner of campus is officially part of the UC Natural Reserve System now that the UC Board of Regents gave the proposed reserve final approval today at its...

Wells Fargo Grant Supports Water, Energy, Food Projects

UC Merced researchers will develop solutions to regional problems that arise from balancing three limited resources – water, food and energy – thanks to a $75,000 grant from the Wells Fargo ...

UC Merced Wraps Another Record Year

Between record enrollment and research expenditures, a massive economic impact on the San Joaquin Valley, new buildings and a visit from the new UC president, the University of California, Merced,...