Campus Community

Open Arms, Open Skies: Students Welcomed at Spirited, Soggy Scholars Bridge Crossing

August 26, 2025

Spirits were high and futures bright while all else was soaked in a summer storm that made Tuesday morning’s Scholars Bridge Crossing, UC Merced’s traditional greeting to new students, a welcome unlike any before. Call them Thunder ‘Cats. The ceremony embraced about 2,000...

Graduate Student’s Immune-system Research Attracts NIH Award

Graduate student Betsabel Chicana ’s research into understanding how the immune system works when there’s a problem inside the bones has earned her a prestigious fellowship from the...

Selina Brinkmann, who will graduate in May with a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, is UC Merced’s first student to earn a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship.

Mechanical Engineering Student Named the Campus’s First Rhodes Scholar

UC Merced master’s student Selina Brinkmann has been awarded a Rhodes Scholarship for study at Oxford University — a first for the campus. “A Rhodes Scholarship being awarded to...

From left to right: Marjorie Zatz, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Tracey Osborne, Sora Kim, Teenie Matlock and Denise Payán.

Female Faculty to Know on International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day is more than a day to celebrate the fantastic females around us. It is a day to reflect on the contributions women have made both socially and politically around the...

Undergrad Experience: Amelia Wood

Name: Amelia Wood Year: Third year Major: Biological Sciences (Human Biology emphasis); Natural Sciences Education minor Hometown: Stockton What is a memorable project that...

"Richard II" is a 12-part web series featuring a range of UC Merced students and faculty with more than two hours of content that can be enjoyed by both English and Spanish speakers.

Bilingual Shakespeare Sets the Stage for Future Productions

Shakespeare can feel stuffy and difficult to understand. Native English speakers often struggle with decoding the Bard’s works, so imagine how difficult it would be to appreciate Shakespeare if...

Computational biology Professor Bercem Dutagaci sitting in the quad.

New Researcher Revealing Important Processes Within Cells

A brand-new faculty member is shaking up the way researchers understand cellular systems. Computational biology Professor Bercem Dutagaci, who started at UC Merced in January, developed...

Undergrad Experience: Gabriel Viramontes

Name: Gabriel Viramontes Year: Fourth year Major: Biological Sciences Hometown: Lodi What is a memorable project that you worked on during your time at UC Merced? One of the most...

Undergrad Experience: Jacqueline Bustamante

Name: Jacqueline Bustamante Year: Fourth year Major: Chemistry Hometown: Atwater What is a memorable project that you worked on during your time at UC Merced? My experience working on...

Undergrad Experience: Anthony Rodriguez

Name: Anthony Rodriguez Year: Fourth year Major: Materials Science and Engineering Hometown: Bell, near Los Angeles What is a memorable project that you worked on during your time at UC...