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Campus Lands $1M Howard Hughes Grant to Make STEM More Inclusive

July 3, 2018
UC Merced’s efforts to make science education more inclusive were recently given a huge boost after the campus was awarded its first Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) grant, an impressive mark of distinction that reflects the strong upward trajectory of the campus’s research and teaching...

Soil Can Sequester Planet-Warming Carbon. The Merced River is Helping Scientists Understand How.

July 2, 2018
Soils are carbon sinks, storing more planet-warming carbon than the atmosphere and all animal and plant life combined. But they can also release massive amounts of stored carbon into the atmosphere. Given carbon’s central role in climate change, understanding the forces that govern how soils absorb...

Merced River Helps Explain How Soils Capture and Store Planet-Warming Carbon

July 2, 2018
Soils are carbon sinks, storing more planet-warming carbon than the atmosphere and all animal and plant life combined. But they can also release massive amounts of stored carbon into the atmosphere. Given carbon’s central role in climate change, understanding the forces that govern how soils absorb...

Misbehaving “Killer” Cells Accelerate Progress of Autoimmune Disease

June 29, 2018
In 1998, scientists studying rheumatoid arthritis observed a population of immune cells that weren’t behaving the way they were supposed to. Immunologists noted the strange phenomenon, but decided not to pursue the subject further, and the cells were soon forgotten. But interest in these cells has...

Sifuentez Appointed to Head Center for Humanities

June 28, 2018
As new director of the Center for the Humanities, Professor Mario Sifuentez ’ sights are set on a fuller understanding of rural communities and how best to help them. He’s got a multi-pronged plan for work that will be done through the center during his three-year-term. He wants to focus on...

Librarian’s Book Addresses ‘Fake News’ and Critical Thinking

June 25, 2018
First impressions count, maybe now more than ever. But what if those impressions are based on lies? People’s willingness to believe even the most outrageous “information” they get is so remarkable that researchers have been studying this phenomenon — more recently given the current political divide...

Drawing Graphic Lessons: Comics Teach, Evaluate Difficult Concepts

June 20, 2018
Though illustrations have been used to convey ideas and information since before language existed, after Benjamin Franklin published the world’s first editorial cartoon in 1754, comics emerged a distinct avenue for visual storytelling. Now, comic art has come into classrooms at UC Merced and abroad...

Following a Devastating Pandemic, California’s Sea Stars are Evolving

June 19, 2018
In 2012, Environmental Systems graduate student Lauren Schiebelhut was collecting DNA from ochre sea stars living along the Northern California coast — part of an effort to study genetic diversity in various marine species that serve as indicators of habitat health. She had no idea that just one...

Engaging with Spiritual Allies Increases Confidence in Conflict, Studies Show

June 18, 2018
A new Pew Research survey shows that one-third of Americans have trust in a higher power or spiritual force, whether they call it “god” or not, and two new studies show that people who think they have that force in their corner feel empowered in battle. Two novel experiments by UC Merced Cognitive...

Beaudin Named Campus’ Second Winner of Prestigious Pew Award

June 14, 2018
Biology Professor Anna Beaudin was named a member of the 2018 class of Pew Biomedical Scholars today, one of 22 early-career researchers nationwide to receive this year’s prestigious award. “I am thrilled and humbled to be joining such an accomplished and talented group of scientists as a 2018 Pew...

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