As crops go, agave holds a lot of promise for the northern San Joaquin Valley. The succulents thrive in hot sun, don't require much water and can be grown in the region's sandy soils. And though agave, mainly grown in Mexico, is best known as the source of tequila and mezcal, it has other uses that...
News
April 15, 2026
Rahim Moulanazada’s path from Modesto to major construction projects across California has been shaped by persistence, family and a deep appreciation for collaboration.
Moulanazada, 24, graduated from UC Merced in spring 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. He now works as an...
April 15, 2026
Nervous but prepared, Tahirah Williams took the stage at UC Merced’s Grad Slam competition in March and delivered her three-minute talk, “More Than Slime: When Mucus Meets the Valley Fever Invader.” By day’s end, she had been announced as the university’s 12th Grad Slam Campus Champion.
“It feels...
April 8, 2026
It's no secret that artificial intelligence uses a lot of electricity.
A standard ChatGPT query consumes approximately 0.34 watt-hours - roughly 10 times more than a Google search. According to the Pew Research Center, U.S. data centers consumed 183 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2024 - more than...
April 7, 2026
UC Merced saw broad gains in the U.S. News and World Report 2026 Best Graduate Schools rankings with graduate programs rising in national standing, reflecting the campus’s growing academic and research profile.
UC Merced’s School of Engineering broke into the top 100 in the rankings, securing No....
March 31, 2026
Most weekdays, civil engineering major Jacqueline Garcia travels 45 minutes each way from her hometown of Hughson to attend classes at UC Merced.
“The perk is being able to pursue my undergraduate degree while still having a tie to home. It's been great having the campus here in the Valley,” she...
March 31, 2026
State Sen. Anna Caballero recently honored UC Merced bioengineering Professor Sushma Shrinivasan among the “Women Who Inspire” in 2026 for District 14.
According to the senator’s office, Shrinivasan was honored for her continued contributions to education and for serving as an inspiration to girls...
March 26, 2026
Professors Asmeret Asefaw Berhe and Ming-Hsuan Yang have been named 2025 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the Science family of journals.
They are among the nearly 500 scientists, engineers and...
March 17, 2026
Temperatures in the 90s are nothing new to the northern San Joaquin Valley. But having them in March, as expected this week, is unusual and potentially dangerous.
An exceptionally strong ridge of high pressure will bring record-breaking heat to the entire region, the National Weather Service said....
