Undergraduate Students

From Strawberries to Smart Farm: Alum Adamaris Alvarez Grows Passion into a Career Path

June 18, 2025

Photo depicts UC Merced graduate Adamaris Alvarez in a black hat on a blue and gold graphic background.

Growing up in Watsonville, a vibrant agricultural community on California's Central Coast, Adamaris Alvarez always knew she wanted to work in agriculture. She worked on her family's berry ranch, Alvarez Farms, where she grew a deep appreciation for the hard work agriculture demands. But...

Grad’s Passion for Research Leading Her to Dartmouth College

Asmaa Mohamed’s enthusiasm for research is contagious. Her passion not only radiates through her words, but it is also evident in the research career she has built in her undergraduate years at...

Graduating seniors receive their Alpha Kappa Delta cords for graduation at the symposium. From left to right: Valezka Murillo, Karen Gomez, Lesly Castro, Keila Luna, Rocío Murillo, Anne Oyales, Ellie Robledo, and Professor Sharla Alegria

Sociology Honors Society Hosts First Annual Research Symposium

Finals are a busy time for students, but that didn’t stop UC Merced’s sociology undergraduates from kicking off their first annual Alpha Kappa Delta Research Symposium on April 19....

Professor Sora Kim examines a fossilized shark's tooth.

One Key to Climate Change Could Be Stuck in a Shark’s Tooth

Most people wouldn’t think sharks can teach researchers about the planet’s distant past and its more immediate future. UC Merced paleoecologist Professor Sora Kim isn’t most...

A Night of Community Art Showcases Principles of Community

Fourteen students, faculty and staff members drew upon their artistic skills to create an array of art pieces to showcase at UC Merced’s Night of Community Art on April 19. The event is the...

UC Merced Named NACCU Innovative Technology Award Winner

In May 2016, first-year UC Merced student Harrison Tom realized he had more money left on his prepaid meal plan than he could use up before the semester ended. The balance wouldn’t roll over...

Chancellor Dorothy Leland was joined by UC Merced students, staff, alumni and trustees at the second annual UC Merced Day in Sacramento.

Advocates Bring University’s Story to Sacramento on ‘UC Merced Day’

Just days after visiting the nation’s capital, Chancellor Dorothy Leland trekked to the state capital to advocate for the campus and the UC system as part of UC Merced Day. In the second...

Kumaran Akilan presented his research on using a smartphone to potentially diagnose Alzheimer's disease at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.

Young UC Merced Student Developing Smartphone Diagnostics for Alzheimer’s

Alzheimer’s disease affects people all over the world and Kumaran Akilan’s family is no different. As the first-year student from Cupertino waits to see if his grandfather’s mild...

Alumna Kisha McGuire is a program counselor in the Fiat Lux Scholars Program within the campus’s Calvin E. Bright Success Center.

Alumna Staffer Pours Her Passion into Serving Students

Kisha McGuire has discovered an opportunity to do what she loves for an institution she’s grown to care deeply about. McGuire graduated from UC Merced in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree...

Senior Maria Rivas Reyes was part of a small group of UC Merced students who visited Peru during winter break, serving as translators for medical purposes.

UC Merced Students Explore Peru By Volunteering as Translators

The explorer mentality, public health Professor Stephen Wooding said, is what sets the students of UC Merced apart from anywhere else. A willingness to try something new, to go somewhere they’d...