UC Merced

UC Merced Graduate Division's Competitive Edge Summer Bridge program for incoming Ph.D. students was identified as a Program to Watch by Excelencia in Education, a national effort to identify evidence-based programs that improve Latino student success in higher education.

https://ucm.edu/brq3pF

Since its opening, UC Merced has prided itself on providing the opportunity for undergraduate students to take part in research projects.

Christina Georges joined Professor Rudy Ortiz's physiology lab, where she has learned to use lab tools to study how CBD affects metabolic syndrome.

https://ucm.edu/7vIjeV

For the first time, UC Merced made its way to Chavez Ravine for the Bobcats at Dodger Stadium alumni event on Sept. 6. Alums from several classes had the chance to catch the Los Angeles Dodgers take on the San Francisco Giants.

https://ucm.edu/CvoNxp

Neither chilly temperatures nor a thick blanket of dense fog could dampen the smiles and spirits of hundreds of Bobcats as they participated in UC Merced's Fall 2022 Commencement. Nearly 450 graduates took part in three separate ceremonies at the Art Kamangar Center at the Merced Theatre.

https://ucm.edu/6GGCMr

"I've always believed in working for the common good. Whatever small role I can play by sharing my skillset as a chef to make a difference and positive impact in our community, I will."

Mitch Vanagten, an executive chef with Dining Services, teaches techniques in sustainable cooking and advocates for prevention of food waste. Recently, he conducted a class in healthy cooking for the Boys & Girls Club of Merced County in a program sponsored by Dole.

https://ucm.edu/XVG3Sk

This fall, UC Merced's graduate students were honored in their own commencement ceremony at the Art Kamangar Center in the Merced Theatre. Congratulations, Bobcats! 🎉

Watch the replay here: https://ucm.edu/TfI4FX

Physics Ph.D. student Md Mehdi Masud has been named an American Physical Society (APS Physics) Student Ambassador.

Masud is one of 68 students from around the world who received this recognition and opportunity to represent their universities to APS and introduce APS opportunities to their own universities.

https://ucm.edu/eNnRnU

A new study by UC Merced Life and Environmental Sciences Professor Xuan Zhang and colleagues reveals a way to more reliably predict what's going on in the atmosphere. She and her colleagues discovered a new mechanism by which isoprene — the hydrocarbon emitted by plants — is photochemically oxidized, producing ozone and fine particulate matter (PM2.5), two essential ingredients in smoggy air pollution.

https://ucm.edu/cuAq7X

Take a look back at our ceremonies celebrating the Class of Fall 2022 in UC Merced’s Commencement Chronicle. Congratulations, Bobcats! 🎉

https://ucm.edu/hNrLrk

🎓 Grads, we are so proud of you! Congratulations on all your accomplishments, and welcome to the UC Merced Alumni Association! 🌟🎉

Congratulations to our graduates from the School of Engineering and the School of Natural Sciences! 🎊

🎓 Congratulations to our graduates from the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts!

Congratulations to all our Bobcats from the Graduate Division who earned their degrees today! 🎓🎉

Join us today as we cheer on the graduate students, who, for the first time, will have their own ceremony to celebrate their achievements. Watch the livestream on the university's commencement webpage this evening: https://commencement.ucmerced.edu

Life and Environmental Sciences Professor Emily Moran and collaborators at several other universities are set to conduct a continental-scale analysis of climate change effects on tree reproduction.

https://ucm.edu/VjkiMS

"Farmers or agricultural clientele can get information about critical growth stages for a given crop. For example, when would the bud break happen, when would the flowering happen, when would the fruit set happen," said UC Merced professor, Tapan Pathak.

https://ucm.edu/V69cWE via ABC30 Action News

On Saturday, Max Espinoza will speak at both commencement ceremonies for undergraduate students. He is a senior program officer at the Gates Foundation, where he focuses on advancing educational equity and economic mobility in the United States. The first-generation college graduate holds a Bachelor of Arts from UCLA and a master's degree in education from Harvard University.

https://ucm.edu/Nunsx9

Join us for Commencement on Friday, Dec. 16 and Saturday, Dec. 17. Those wishing to cheer on the graduates but unable to attend in person can watch a livestream on the university's commencement webpage: https://commencement.ucmerced.edu

UC Merced’s Brandi McKuin found that covering California's water canals with solar panels could reduce evaporation by as much as 82 percent, saving about 63 billion gallons of water a year. The Turlock Irrigation District is now piloting a first-in-the-nation project to test the idea.

https://ucm.edu/uOeoiV via University of California

"We began the partnership to bring food to Collegeville families, as many of them are unable to get to the food bank themselves. I volunteer because, years ago, I was the child from the family who needed the help."

Amanda Preston-Nelson, associate vice chancellor/controller for Business and Financial Services, goes to Collegeville Elementary in Stockton to help assemble hundreds of bags of goods for families in need.

Learn more about the staff and faculty who volunteer in their communities in : https://ucm.edu/XVG3Sk

Duval Johnson ('14, '18) has been selected as the keynote speaker for the Graduate Division Commencement Ceremony.

The alumnus leads the Applied Tribology Lab at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena and has been instrumental in various missions, including the Mars Perseverance rover. While at UC Merced, he earned bachelor's and doctoral degrees in mechanical engineering, and was also part of the Fundamental Tribology Lab.

https://ucm.edu/Nunsx9

UC Cooperative Extension climate adaptation specialist at UC Merced Tapan Pathak has helped develop an online tool for farmers called CalAgroClimate, which includes tools for heat advisory, frost advisory, pest advisory and crop phenology, or development stages of crop growth from planting to harvest.

https://ucm.edu/UocLZa

Downtown Merced will be covered in a sea of blue and gold over two days as hundreds of UC Merced Bobcats take part in fall commencement. Also, for the first time, graduate students will have their own ceremony to celebrate their achievements.

All three ceremonies will take place at the Art Kamangar Center at the Merced Theatre on Friday, Dec. 16 and Saturday, Dec. 17.

https://ucm.edu/Nunsx9

“We can look at different pest control strategies, different watering strategies, knowing that the smart farm is keeping track of all this background information,” said Professor Tom Harmon, who co-leads the UC Merced smart farm with Professor Joshua Viers.

https://ucm.edu/3PvLIf

UC Merced students came away from a national engineering conference with some big wins — including a first-place finish in a famous design competition and job offers from some of the most prestigious companies in the United States.

https://ucm.edu/bFcENr

Scholarships ensure that all students, no matter their socioeconomic background, can receive a world-class education from a top-notch university.

Help create access for students who need it most. We hope you will help us reach our goal of raising $150,000 by December 31.

https://giveto.ucmerced.edu

A group of scientists advocates that it is time that fire scientists take more proactive, integrative, predictive approaches toward mitigating and adapting to the potentially devastating consequence of climate change.

https://ucm.edu/TapP30

Altogether the consequences from the state's drought total $2 billion in value-added losses this year alone (5.9% reduction with respect to 2019) and a loss of 19,420 jobs, UC Merced researchers calculated.

https://ucm.edu/jxlEe6

"Every parent wants their children to have a memorable school experience, and when the kids find something that interests them, like band, it’s important to do all you can to support it."

Golden Valley High School’s Band Boosters club provides support to the young musicians and color guard. The club meets regularly in the school’s cafeteria and hosts fund-raising bingo games. Club member Sam Yniguez, UC Merced’s director of public relations, calls out the letters and numbers.

http://ucm.edu/XVG3Sk

“Home for the Holidays” is a project hosted by the UC Merced Community Engagement Center (CEC) that provides gifts for families who might otherwise be struggling.

Often, departments will get together to shop for a family, picking up the items they need. Participants have until 4 PM Dec. 20 to return the wrapped gifts either to the engagement center or the Downtown Campus Center.

https://ucm.edu/ObHEB4

Life and Environmental Sciences Professor Emily Moran and collaborators at several other universities are set to conduct a continental-scale analysis of climate change effects on tree reproduction.

Thanks to a new grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the researchers will monitor seed production and assess the establishment of young trees and the correlation of seed and seedling production with the activity of animals.

https://ucm.edu/VjkiMS

The Swarth Fogel NRS Undergraduate Research Scholarship—established by two trailblazers, Christopher W. Swarth and Marilyn L. Fogel—is the first-ever endowed scholarship for the UC Merced Natural Reserve System.

Dr. Jessica Blois, associate professor and faculty director of the UC Merced Natural Reserve System, is offering a match when you and support this scholarship.

https://giveto.ucmerced.edu

Longtime UC Merced supporter and institutional partner the David and Lucile Packard Foundation has made a significant gift to the campus that will catalyze research efforts and scientific investigations focused on climate change and developing sustainable solutions that ensure the planet’s health.

https://ucm.edu/05TNSW

Fire is an integral component of ecosystems globally and a tool humans have harnessed for millennia, but altered fire regimes are a fundamental cause and consequence of global climate change.

Professor Jeanette Cobian-Iñiguez and more than 80 other American researchers wrote a paper entitled "Reimagine Fire Science for the Anthropocene" to look at transdisciplinary ways to move forward in the study of fire.

https://ucm.edu/TapP30

"I volunteer to work alongside my Merced neighbors, many of them chronically underserved but all abundantly resilient, to promote healthy active transportation options in the city and county."

Merritt Writing Program lecturer and founding UC Merced faculty member Tom Hothem is the education and outreach coordinator for The Merced Bicycle Coalition and recently served on the city of Merced’s Bicycling and Pedestrian Advisory Board.

https://ucm.edu/XVG3Sk

Climate adaptation specialist Tapan Pathak has helped develop an online tool to aid farmers in making decisions in real-time. Pathak worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, California Climate Hub, UC Cooperative Extension and UC Agriculture & Natural Resources' Informatics and Geographic Information Systems (or UC ANR IGIS) to launch CalAgroClimate, a free resource for farmers.

https://ucm.edu/UocLZa

The arts and writing students from the Global Arts, Media and Writing Studies courses will have their showcase today, Dec. 8 in the Social Sciences & Management Building (SSM) and Student Services Building (SSB).

Along with the student visual art, dance, film, music, performance and creative writing presentations, there will be food and interactive festivities at the UCM Art Gallery.

https://ucm.edu/Zd6qVQ

"Over the past eight years, has raised more than $2 million in vital funding for the people and programs of our university, and I am confident that the momentum will continue and contribute significantly to the ambitious fundraising goals of both the annual Give to UC Merced initiative and our Boldly Forward campaign," Vice Chancellor for External Relations Ed Klotzbier said.

https://ucm.edu/B4KKhH

Graduating students, current UC Merced students, staff, faculty, and alumni are encouraged to apply to sing the Star-Spangled Banner or My Merced as part of the Commencement ceremony program. Learn more: https://ucm.edu/ePSuRX