Staff & Faculty News

For the First Time, All Avian Evolutionary Relationships Revealed Through Collaboration

April 29, 2025

Professor Emily Jane McTavish and colleagues at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have mapped the evolution of every known bird species. They created a complete evolutionary tree of bird species by combining data on 9,239 species published in nearly 300 studies between 1990 and 2024 and...

Linda Chang is pictured at a Lions Club leadership forum.

Merced Native Makes Her Mark at the University and in the Community

Family is everything to Linda Chang. Chang, a 30-year-old administrative officer with the UC Merced Police Department, was a quiet high school freshman when she joined the Leo Club, the youth...

Stargazing and Lecture Offer Unique Perspectives on Stars and Exoplanets

The night sky is filled with countless mysteries and worlds yet to be explored but that someday might be visited by spacecraft. In a free event titled “Celestial Tales: Stars, Exoplanets and...

Physiological Society Recognizes Rudy Ortiz for Mentoring Underrepresented Students

Physiology Professor Rudy M. Ortiz has been named this year's winner of the A. Clifford Barger Underrepresented Minority Mentorship Award by the American Physiological Society. The UC Merced...

Professor Winston with his research team and a solar collector.

Founding Faculty Roland Winston Remembered for Pioneering Solar Energy

Distinguished Professor Emeritus Roland Winston, a pioneer in solar energy, engineering and physics, died Feb. 8 at the age of 88 at his home in Merced. A founding faculty member in the schools of...

A fluorescence microscope image of one kind of active matter being studied. Image courtesy of Amanda Tan, UC Merced

UC Awards Support Tackling Big Questions in Health, Physics, Agriculture and Climate

Faculty members at UC Merced are taking the lead on four Multicampus Research Program Initiatives (MRPI), working with colleagues around the University of California system to address challenges...

Photo depicts a scene of UC Merced and a mugshot of Professor Emeritus Ariel Escobar.

Recognizing Late Professor Emeritus' Contributions

On Friday, the campus community will hold a remembrance to celebrate the life and contributions of bioengineering Professor Emeritus Ariel Escobar, who died in December. He joined UC Merced in...

Lilly Uvalle is pictured outside of the Merced on Main building

Program Helped Her Finish a Degree After 14 Years. Now She's Helping Others

It took Lilly Uvalle a few tries to complete her education at UC Merced. Uvalle started her collegiate career in the fall of 2010 after graduating from Buhach Colony High School in Atwater....

2024: The Year in Photos

A lot happened in 2024. Thankfully, we have some very talented photographers to document it all! Enjoy this look back at some of the images of the past year.

2024 Year in Review

2024 was a remarkable year for UC Merced. From groundbreaking research and academic excellence to inspiring student achievements and impactful community engagement, it has been a year of growth,...

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