Sustainability

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...

UC Solar Working to Meet State’s Renewable Energy Goals

MERCED, Calif. — The solar energy industry is emerging as a key player in the multi-pronged approach California will take in leading the nation in renewable energy, experts say. And the University of...

Students Battle for Sustainability Supremacy

UC Merced’s 2,100 resident students are gearing up for a month-long battle in which no one will get hurt. They might have greasy hair, though. The 2014 Water Battle – to see which residence hall...

Campus Expands with New Science and Engineering Building

The long-awaited Science and Engineering Building 2 officially opens today, providing more space for instruction, research and offices. The ribbon-cutting ceremony begins at 1 p.m. Thirty months in...

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...