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...

In Yosemite, prescribed burning saved the Tuolumne giant sequoia grove from the Rim Fire, the largest-ever Sierra Nevada wildfire.

Wildfire and Water Challenge Solutions Featured in Documentary to Air on KVIE

UC Merced researchers outline solutions to the severe wildfire problems in California’s mountain forests and closely linked water resource challenges in a documentary premiering on KVIE, the...

‘Home for the Holidays’ Gift-Drive Brings Joy to Local Children

The spirit of giving is taking root across UC Merced as the campus collects gifts for Merced County families through the annual “A Home for the Holidays” campaign. Members of the...

UC Merced Emergency Manager Laura Rodriguez-Mascorro

UC Merced's First Emergency Manager Laura Rodriguez-Mascorro Comes Prepared

Emergencies can come in many forms, from a burst pipe that causes a flood, to a major earthquake, to a threat of violence. No matter its character, Laura Rodriguez-Mascorro will make sure the campus...

Dr. Thelma Hurd joins UC Merced as the Director of Medical Education after years working as a clinician, public health researcher and translational scientist.

New Director of Medical Education Ready to Unleash Valley’s Untapped Potential

Dr. Thelma Hurd’s journey in medicine has taken her from New Jersey to Nigeria, with stops in Texas and Buffalo. Along the way, she gathered experience as a clinician, public health researcher...

Nicole Pollack joined UC Merced in August, marking a return to the Valley for the longtime Turlock resident.

New Chief Human Resources Officer Nicole Pollack returns to her Valley roots

Nicole Pollack is happy to be home. After a few years in the Bay Area, the longtime Turlock resident is back in the San Joaquin Valley and diving into her new role as UC Merced’s chief human...

Researchers Aim to Solve the Unsolvable to Predict the Unseeable

A pair of UC Merced researchers are combining computational chemistry and machine learning principles to solve what seems to be an intractable problem at the heart of quantum mechanics: predicting...

Rural Poverty and Health Summit to Feature UC Merced Health Leaders

UC Merced health experts will join other Central Valley medical leaders on Friday, Nov. 22, for the Rural Poverty and Health Equity Summit in Delano. Professor Nancy Burke, chair of the...

Tenure-Track Faculty Merit Reviews Go Paperless Thanks to New System

A new electronic workflow system for tenure-track faculty merit reviews is modernizing and eventually replacing a tedious, time-consuming and paper-heavy process at UC Merced. After a two-year...

Lab Works to Understand Molecular Motors and Cholesterol’s Relation to Alzheimer’s

Professor Jing Xu and her students study extremely tiny motor proteins, but their work could make a huge contribution to the growing body of knowledge about Alzheimer’s and other diseases that...

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