UC Merced researchers are launching a project that could change how Central Valley growers harness the sun’s energy, using a family of light-active molecules developed at the university to design smarter agricultural greenhouses.
For the second year, UC Merced has partnered with the Campos Foundation to host the Campos ENgage Engineering Summer Bridge Academy, a weeklong summer program aimed at supporting underrepresented minority and female students interested in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
This is part of a series of profiles of new UC Merced Bobcats enrolled for the fall 2026 semester.
Driven by a passion for animal care, incoming biological sciences major student Esperanza Garcia is already well on her way toward a future in veterinary medicine.
This is part of a series of profiles of new UC Merced Bobcats enrolled for the fall 2026 semester.
Incoming UC Merced student Shrihan Lakinana is bringing a growth mindset, a passion for engineering and a deep appreciation for community to the Bobcat experience.
Editor's note: This story is republished from the Spring/Summer 2026 issue of UC Merced Magazine.
Dr. Garima Handa's journey from an undergraduate at UC Merced to a physician specializing in interventional cardiology at Dignity Health in the Central Valley was a full circle one.
Editor's note: This story is republished from the Spring/Summer 2026 issue of UC Merced Magazine.
Yaritza Mora clutched her boarding pass and took a deep breath. Alone at the airport, bound for Barcelona, she wasn't just crossing time zones - she was crossing into a new phase of life.
She had traveled before, but never solo. This time, every step - from navigating terminals to finding her gate - felt like a rite of passage.
Talk about meta: A pop culture phenomenon is using a pop culture phenomenon to undo the results of a pop culture phenomenon.
And for the fourth consecutive year, paleoecology Professor Sora Kim is diving back into the spotlight of the Discovery Channel hit "Shark Week," this time with a K-pop twist intended to rebrand sharks as less frightening.
Kim appears in the new "Shark Week" premiere show, "K-Pop Shark Heroes," which uses the power of K-pop, or Korean popular music, to transform the perception of sharks across the globe.
David Zwart hadn't even finished introducing himself as the keynote speaker for "The Dutch -American Story in the San Joaquin Valley" at the UC Merced event on July 14 before he'd found a connection in the audience.
"Any connections?" the historian and associate professor at Grand Valley State University asked, rattling off the years he'd spent teaching in nearby Visalia in the late 1990s. An audience member called out a name he recognized. It's a parlor game Zwart calls "Dutch Bingo," a version of six degrees of separation that, among Dutch Americans, usually takes one or two.
Yaritza Mora clutched her boarding pass and took a deep breath. Alone at the airport, bound for Barcelona, she wasn't just crossing time zones - she was crossing into a new phase of life.
She had traveled before, but never solo. This time, every step - from navigating terminals to finding her gate - felt like a rite of passage.
She had traveled once before with her mother to Italy, but this was different. This time, she was alone.
Everyone recognizes the sharp, clean fragrance of pine needles.
But that's not just a pine forest or a Christmas tree we're smelling - it's the aroma of thousands of microscopic partners working quietly on every needle, helping shape the health of entire forests.
