Research Week Highlights Cutting-Edge Work

Researchers at the university in your backyard are delving into issues of great importance to the San Joaquin Valley, the state, the nation and the world.

You can learn more about their work at the eighth annual UC Merced Research Week, from March 4 through 8, on campus and in downtown Merced.

Research at UC Merced encompasses cancer; diabetes; climate change; water, soil and air quality; water availability; nanotechnology and robotics; history; mapping; archaeology; human genes; and much, much more.

“Research is part of our everyday culture at UC Merced. It is one of the main reasons why we are here,” Vice Chancellor for Research Sam Traina said. “Each year, we like to highlight and reflect on the amazing contributions that our faculty and students make toward the creation of new knowledge. We are extremely proud of their work.”

Come out for the kickoff event and breakfast on March 4 in the Bobcat Lair. Guest speakers include Traina, who will talk about why research is a cornerstone at UC Merced, and why what the faculty, staff and students are doing makes a difference.

Stay on campus for a symposium hosted by UC Merced’s premier research group, the Sierra Nevada Research Institute.

Some of UC Merced’s rock-star faculty researchers will explain their latest findings on issues like the Sierra snowpack – which supplies a large portion of California’s water; how to save California’s state parks and keep them accessible to the public; and the economics of electricity in California.

After the symposium, take a tour of UC Merced’s planned nature reserve and learn about the unique animals and plants on the nearly 6,500 acres of land adjacent to the campus.

On March 5, check out what UC Merced’s graduate and undergraduate students are up to at some of the week’s poster competitions held in The Joseph Gallo Gymnasium.

Poster competitions are a long-standing university tradition, and a good way for students to convey what they are working on.

Many of the campus’s undergraduate students are involved in research, and many will display posters that explain their work, be it learning about how students learn to improve outcomes, or archaeology, history, psychology, engineering solutions for real-world challenges or figuring out how DNA can be manipulated to cure diseases and heal injuries.

At the annual poster competition and the Creative Research Exhibition, you can examine the students’ work up close and talk to them in person to learn more about why they are so passionate about their educational careers at UC Merced.

Then, head downtown to the Sam Pipes Room at the Merced Civic Center for a reception and discussion with faculty, students and community members affiliated with the UC Merced Resource Center for Community Engaged Scholarship.

Enjoy some light refreshments, a research-poster gallery and a discussion on the ongoing collaborations between UC Merced and the community, and how the campus’s research benefits the community, from The Overcomers Project and dog therapy to the Teen Pregnancy Project.

First-year chemistry and chemical biology graduate students will present their research project posters, too, on March 8 on the third floor of the Science and Engineering Building, and will be available to discuss their work one-on-one with visitors.

On March 7, you can learn all about the health-related work being conducted through UC Merced’s Health Sciences Research Institute. UC Merced’s stellar researchers are conducting groundbreaking work on health disparities, health-issue outcomes, biomolecular research, cancer, neuroscience, immunity and infectious diseases and health-decision making, just to name a few topics. The HSRI seminar will take place from 1 to 5 p.m. in the conference room known as Half Dome on the third floor of the Social Sciences and Management Building.

Also on March 7, Sigma Xi, the research-based scholars’ group, hosts a symposium that includes a paleoecologist talking about mammals’ responses to climate change, a researcher speaking on evolutionary medicine; and many others.

For a complete schedule of events, visit the Research Week website.