School of Natural Sciences

Professor Dives with Crocs, Displays Megalodon Expertise During Shark Week

July 17, 2025

Professor Sora Kim swam with a Nile crocodile for this year's Shark Week special, which focuses of sharks versus prehistoric reptiles. Photo courtesy of Kruger National Park, South Africa.

Shark Week starts Sunday and Professor Sora Kim will be featured again this year in a special airing at 9 p.m. Monday, titled “Jaws vs. Mega Croc,” and the filming allowed her to swim with a Nile crocodile. “I flew to Florida and learned about crocodiles – their evolution...

New Magnetic Resonance Lab Opens on Campus

Looking at molecules just got easier for UC Merced researchers, now that Professor Erik Menke, Professor Jason Hein and other colleagues have opened a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) lab. “It’s a...

New Hybrid Courses Combine Live Learning with Online Enhancements

For the past two semesters, Introduction to Earth Systems Science — a large lecture and lab course at UC Merced — has been morphing into a hybrid of live lab and online “lecture.” The course is a...

Research Shows Increased Risk of Toxoplasmosis

A third of all humans carry the parasite that causes toxoplasmosis — a disease commonly associated with cats, HIV-AIDS patients and pregnant women — with scientists long believing healthy immune...

Sierra Nevada Research Institute Names New Executive Director

Armando Quintero has been chosen as the new executive director of the Sierra Nevada Research Institute (SNRI) at the University of California, Merced. Quintero has served as director of development...

Professors Share in UC Effort to Study Effects of Climate Change

Several UC Merced faculty members will play important roles in a new UC systemwide effort to study the ecological effects of climate change across varied ecosystems. Funded by a $1.9 million...

Unprecedented Melanoma Study Maps Cancer Drivers

Researchers at the University of California, Merced, have completed a comprehensive map of the genetic makeup of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. By comparing the genomes of more than 300...

Solar, Water Research Proposals Rewarded with Competitive UC Grants

MERCED, Calif. — Research into sustainable water supplies and viable solar energy solutions won the University of California, Merced, an anticipated $5 million in prestigious and competitive grants...

Undergrads Get One-of-a-Kind Experience through NanoBIO Program

For the University of California, Merced, students in this year’s nanoBIO internships and research program, working with something extremely small could have huge implications. “I had no idea...

Six UC Merced Students Awarded UC Food Initiative Fellowships

As part of the University of California Global Food Initiative, 54 students — including six from UC Merced—have been awarded fellowships to fund projects that will address issues ranging from...