Brenda Ortiz

Students Awarded Prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

June 4, 2025

Two UC Merced graduate students wearing blue

Two UC Merced graduate students and an alum from the School of Natural Sciences were recently awarded fellowships from the highly competitive National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program. This year, NSF awarded 1,000 GRFP fellowships compared to about 2,000 in previous years...

Undocumented Student Makes History With Ph.D.

A doctoral degree is the culmination of years of study and hard work — a mark of determination, willpower and excellence in research and scholarship. For Quantitative and Systems Biology graduate...

Student Laura Showalter is Commited to Excellence

Editor’s note: This story originally appeared in the spring 2016 issue of UC Merced Magazine. Laura Showalter will represent the schools of Natural Sciences and Engineering as student speaker at this...

Awards Ceremony Honors Campus Leaders

Each spring, the Margo F. Souza Student Leadership Center recognizes and celebrates students, staff and faculty members, and student organizations demonstrating outstanding leadership to the campus...

Campus Hosts First UC-Wide Chess Tournament

Chess players from across the UC system— ranging from beginners to international masters — convened for the 2016 UC Chess Championship held April 23 at the Joseph Edward Gallo Recreation Center ...

Internship Program Enhances Students’ Academic Experiences

Last fall, the Division of Student Affairs and the Office of Undergraduate Education launched an internship program with the goal of providing undergraduate students an opportunity to build...

Bobcat Day Brings Admitted Students to Campus

Students from across California and their family members will converge on the UC Merced campus April 16 for Bobcat Day. The day is an opportunity for admitted students to visit campus, and talk with...

Two Alumni Create Legacies Through Scholarship Endowments

Jessica “JaeJae” Julian (2010) and Marko Zivanovic (2014) are proving that giving back shortly after graduation can be possible. During the campus’s Giving Tuesday fundraising efforts last December...

Bad Break Left Alum With Questions; UC Merced Answered

Erik Olstad started down the path to becoming a veterinarian by accident. After high school, the now 32-year-old attended California State University, Fresno, to get a political science degree. But...

Recovery Group Supports Students Dealing With Addiction

Last fall, UC Merced’s first peer-led recovery program — known as Bobcats for Recovery — began meeting weekly to help support undergraduate and graduate students in recovery from substance use ...