News

A landscape of burned-out trees near Lake Almanor in October 2025.
August 4, 2026
Wildfire is reshaping the forests of California's Sierra Nevada and affecting the water those forests supply to downstream users. A paper published in Hydrology and Earth System Science reports that the effect of wildfire on potential runoff from the state's main water-supply watersheds has...
Bobcat Bound graphic with headshot of Shrihan Lakinana
August 3, 2026
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. Lakinana says his proudest...
UC Merced graduate student ​Shariful Islam and Sean Dunfield of Tandem PV install a solar panel atop the SE2 building on campus.
July 29, 2026
UC Merced is no stranger to solar panels. The campus, built to be sustainable from the beginning, is home to thousands of them, and they provide a good chunk of the electricity that powers the university. But one very special panel was recently installed on the top of the Science and Engineering...
collage of three graduate students: Brianna Aguilar-Solis, Vanessa Sanchez and Nora Shamoon
July 28, 2026
UC Merced doctoral students Brianna Aguilar-Solis, Vanessa Sanchez and Nora Shamoon have been awarded the 2026-2027 UC President's Pre-Professoriate Fellowship, a University of California Hispanic Serving Institutions Doctoral Diversity Initiative award that supports promising scholars from...
David Miguel
July 23, 2026
When first-generation mechanical engineering student David Miguel arrived at UC Merced, he had no research experience, but a passion for engineering and a desire to learn. A former foster care youth from Los Angeles, Miguel had limited resources to pursue science, technology, engineering and math (...
Students and Professor Ross Greer are pictured in his lab, holding a small car with a processor affixed to the top of it.
July 8, 2026
Step into Ross Greer’s lab — gingerly, because there’s a makeshift racetrack on the floor — and you will see multiple projects aimed at making autonomous vehicles smarter and safer. And these projects are getting global recognition. A team from the lab earned the top prize at the National...
Depicted is student Anthony Savala Alvarez, in a red cap and gown at his high school graduation, with a blue and gold graphic reading
July 6, 2026
This is part of a series of profiles of new UC Merced Bobcats enrolled for the fall 2026 semester. Anthony Savala Alvarez comes to UC Merced this fall with several accomplishments under his belt: He graduated high school with a grade point average of 4.1, earned the California Seal of Biliteracy...
UC Merced researchers extract sewage samples from university system
June 24, 2026
Key points: Researchers successfully tested a technique that uses human sewage to measure the use of nicotine products such as cigarettes and vaping pens in a selected community. The project, led by scientists at UC Merced, can strengthen public health efforts by supplementing surveys about...
UC Merced faculty band G Street Revolution performing
June 22, 2026
An all-faculty rock band formed in a professor’s garage a decade ago has released the first album produced at UC Merced’s digitally advanced recording studio. The album showcases the eight members of G Street Revolution. Their day jobs cross a spectrum of academics: engineering, sociology,...

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