School of Natural Sciences

Dust is a Danger to Central Valley Health and Will Likely Get Worse, Researchers Find

May 12, 2025

A dust storm rises near Owens Lake. Photo Courtesy of UC San Diego

People don't think about dust much until it's time to clean the house, but a new report by UC researchers could raise awareness of the growing threat of dust and dust storms. Dust affects everything from cardiovascular and brain health to traffic collisions and agricultural yield....

Professor Creates Powerful HIV Inhibitor

In a significant step toward reducing the threat of HIV, UC Merced Professor Patricia LiWang has designed what may be the most effective chemical inhibitor against infection of the virus. “We need a...

Impact: Undergrads Return from Unforgettable Research Trip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8wzG0QWw80A group of students working with Professor Benoit Dayrat learned first-hand this summer about the field research opportunities available to undergraduates at...

Professor Seeks to Understand Chemical Reactions

Professor Jason Hein was lured to UC Merced because of the opportunity to pursue his research, even if it crosses into other branches of chemistry, physics, biology and engineering. “Being a jack of...

Professor Discovers Mechanism Behind Bacteria’s Biological Clock

A discovery by a professor at the University of California, Merced, is providing a deeper understanding of the factors that control biological clocks. Biochemistry Professor Andy LiWang and his...

Study Builds on Plausible Scenario for Origin of Life on Earth

A relatively simple combination of naturally occurring sugars and amino acids offers a plausible route to the building blocks of life, according to a paper published in Nature Chemistry co-authored...

Summer a Fertile Time for Scientific Research

It's not just faculty and students in the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Artswho are conducting groundbreaking research this summer. Those in Engineering and Natural Sciences will be busy...

Campus Names New Dean of Natural Sciences

Juan C. Meza, named one of Hispanic Business magazine’s ‘Top 100 Influentials of 2009,’ is head of high-performance computing research at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory MERCED — The...

Sustainability Research Opportunities Abound for 2010 Grad

Andrea Mercado has a knack for finding opportunity. She left her hometown of Lake Arrowhead in Southern California for college in Seattle, but a year later, her horizons opened up in a different ...

Research Week to Celebrate Work of Faculty, Students

Research Week, the annual celebration of faculty and student research at the University of California, Merced, returns this month with a student research poster competition and a number of lectures...