Sustainable Operations

Goats Visit UC Merced to Reduce Fire Fuels, Abate Weeds — and Look Super Cute

July 29, 2024

Two goats eating tall grasses are depicted.

Cattle are a fairly regular sight around the UC Merced campus. They graze along the 6,500-acre Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve and the 40-acre Experimental Smart Farm, and an annual student-run spring event is even named "Cowtopia." But cattle, as effective as they are, can...

Students tend the UC Merced Campus Community Garden.

Campus Earns Kudos for Sustainability Best Practices

UC Merced demonstrated that it’s living up to its reputation for being “green from the ground up” by winning five awards — more than any other University of California campus...

Campus to Tackle Food Waste with CalRecycle Grant

UC Merced is one of the first recipients of the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery’s new Food Waste Prevention and Rescue Grant. As part of the state’s...

UC Merced reveals its new, comprehensive Sustainability Strategic Plan to further advance it goals, including reaching its Triple Zero Commitment.

Campus Launches New Framework for Sustainable Practices

UC Merced has a new Sustainability Strategic Plan to help the campus further advance its sustainability goals. In 2016, the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Sustainability (CACS), and the...

‘Energize Colleges’ Sustainability Internships Available

UC Merced’s sustainability office is seeking undergraduate students who are thinking about careers in energy to fill this fall’s Energize Colleges internships. UC Merced is one of...

Students are a major part of UC Merced's success in sustainability.

Princeton Review Lists UC Merced Among Top Green Colleges

UC Merced is among the nation’s top schools for sustainability for the third straight year, according to the Princeton Review’s Guide to 375 Green Colleges, and achieved its highest score...

Andrew De Los Santos works in the recycling and composting center to help UC Merced attain Triple Net Zero.

New Initiative Helps Students Explore Green Careers

When Chigoziri Ibechem attended her first planning commission meeting in downtown Merced last November, she had no idea where it might lead. After the meeting, the psychology major from Los Angeles...

Campus Named a Top-50 ‘Cool School’ for Sustainability

UC Merced checks in at No. 50 in the Sierra Club’s 2017 "Cool Schools" list, rising more than 30 spots from its previous position in the ranking of sustainable colleges and...

Students Help Campus Earn Latest LEED Certification

UC Merced’s Classroom and Office Building (COB) has achieved a silver rating from the LEED Building Operations and Maintenance (O+M) sustainability program, the campus’s first certification to come...

Campus to Showcase Sustainability Initiatives During Earth Week

Earth Week is UC Merced’s chance to highlight some of the ways the campus community is committed to being good stewards of the environment. From working to divert all waste from the landfill to...