Faculty

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....

New Provost Shares Vision for Campus

Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Tom Peterson assumed his leadership role at UC Merced on Dec. 3 and has been meeting with various campus groups to learn more about the university. Before coming...

Gaming Graphics Changing How Computational Science is Conducted

Professor Christine Isborn is doing quantum chemistry at the speed of graphics. Isborn is using the same graphics computer cards (graphical processing units, or GPUs) that make your Playstation...

Applying Creative Solutions to ‘Impossible’ Problems

The tougher a problem, the more creative a solution it needs, from the increasing power in orbiting satellites and saving tigers to saving state parks and catching thieves. And when a problem seems...

Internship Gives Undergrads Journal Experience

The undergraduate students in Professor Linda Hirst’s new internship course are getting an advanced education in science communications that could serve them well in their future careers. By...

UC Merced Researcher, Graduate Student, Contribute to Inventory of All Marine Life

Counting the number of species that live in the Earth’s oceans sounds as impossible as counting the grains of sand on a beach. But a global collaboration involving a UC Merced researcher and a...

New Grant to Help Prepare Grad Students for Faculty Careers

UC Merced is one of only seven universities nationwide to receive a grant from the Council of Graduate Schools to develop new approaches for enhancing graduate student skills for assessing...

Building the Future

California is Home to Extreme Weather, Too

MERCED, Calif. — California isn’t going to face a superstorm like Hurricane Sandy because the Pacific Ocean is too cold to feed that kind of weather system. But that doesn’t mean California won’t see...

Chemistry Professor Making the Most of his Waste

Chemistry Professor Jason Hein and his students make a lot of compounds in the lab. They also make a lot of chemical waste. But Hein found a way to clean up the waste and reuse it, saving money and...