School of Engineering

UC Merced Breakthrough Could Transform How California Monitors Toxic Algae

July 10, 2025

Photo depicts Brittany Barreto Martinez pouring liquid into a test tube in a lab.

San Luis Reservoir in Merced County - one of California's largest artificial lakes - not only irrigates Central Valley farmland and supplies drinking water across Silicon Valley and the South Bay, but also draws swimmers, boaters and anglers year-round. Yet for months at a time, forest-green...

Graduate programs in engineering are included in the newest U.S. News rankings of Best Graduate Schools.

Engineering Grad Programs Ranked Among Best in the Nation

UC Merced’s graduate programs in engineering had a strong showing in U.S. News & World Report’s 2020 edition of Best Graduate Schools, released today. Overall, UC Merced’s...

Leaf-cutter ants in the tropical rain forest of Costa Rica carry cut leaves back to their colony.

Study: Tiny ‘Ecosystem Engineers’ Are an Overlooked Source of Carbon Dioxide Emissions

It’s estimated that a leaf-cutter ant colony can strip an average tree of its foliage in a day, and that more than 17 percent of leaf production by plants surrounding a colony goes straight...

Research Week Offers Events, Education, Tours and More

This year’s Research Week, March 4-8, promises more community connections than ever before. Research Week , sponsored by the Office of Research and Economic Development, focuses on the...

Scientists Simulate Forest, Fire Dynamics to Understand Area Burn of Future Wildfires

Climate change and wildfire make a combustible mix with deadly and costly consequences. Scientists have been trying to understand that link for many years, studying the effects of climate and...

I Am a UC Engineer: Alumni Jeffrey Aceves

Jeffrey Aceves is an excellent student. Always has been. He graduated high school with a 4.3 GPA and an Eagle Scout ranking. He graduated from UC Merced in 3 ½ years, having come to the campus...

Several UC Merced professors will research how biochar can help reduce methane emissions from manure on dairies.

Researchers Hope to Tackle Methane Emissions in Manure Through Use of Biochar

You can smell them a mile away; there’s no mistaking the smell of cows and their methane emissions. The odor, of course, comes from tons of methane-spewing manure. Thanks to a multimillion-...

When she’s not designing the next engineering solution, alumna Janna Rodriguez enjoys mountain climbing around the world.

I Am a UC Engineer: Alumna Janna Rodriguez

Janna’s Rodriguez’s achievements exemplify the entrepreneurial spirit and drive shared by many UC graduates. Rodriguez not only launched a successful business in her hometown of Merced as...

New Project to Build Climate Resilience through Improved Land Management

A $4.6 million grant to UCs Merced and Irvine will help researchers develop new tools and methods for better managing the state’s forests, shrub lands and grasslands. The Innovation Center...

EECS Ph.D. Student Wins Facebook Fellowship

UC Merced Electrical Engineering and Computer Science graduate student Yijun Li was recently selected as a 2019 Facebook Fellowship winner. The Facebook Fellowship program is designed to support...