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SCI Active Network CEO and Founder Troy Plunkett and recent UC Merced alumnus Joseph Bello ('21).

Strauss Foundation Winner, Recent Grad Works to Improve Wheelchair Accessibility

June 29, 2021
In July, Joseph Bello will present his findings for the prestigious Donald A. Strauss Foundation scholarship to United Spinal, the longstanding nonprofit dedicated to overcoming the stigma of disability and increasing inclusivity for wheelchair users. It has taken months of work to prepare, but...

Ph.D. Student Named Underrepresented Chemist of Color by Merck

June 25, 2021
Chemistry and Chemical Biology graduate student Ali Abou Taka is one of 12 students to receive the inaugural Merck Research Award for Underrepresented Chemists of Color. Abou Taka, a Ph.D. student in Professor Hrant Hratchian’s lab, studies the transition of metal complexes that play a critical...

From Earth to Space and Back Again: Solar Samples Show Surprising Results

June 17, 2021
When physics graduate student William Delmas made samples of solar energy harvesting perovskite films two years ago, he had no idea that this summer, he’d be analyzing those same samples after they made a round trip to the International Space Station (ISS). “It’s really cool to see this come full...
Victor Muñoz

Engineering Professor Awarded $1 Million NSF Award to Study Protein Folding

June 16, 2021
Proteins operate like biological machines, regulating nearly every major function and organ in our bodies through a still-mysterious shape-shifting process. Bioengineering graduate group chair Professor Victor Muñoz has a new $1,082,356 award from the National Science Foundation to unlock those...
With the support of Mayor Matthew Serratto and others, Adison Martinez's lemonade stand raised more than $1,000 to buy trees for Rahilly Park.

Staff Members’ Daughter Raises $1,000 to Plant New Trees

June 10, 2021
A core tenet of UC Merced’s mission is public service, something staffers Tom and Esmeralda Martinez know all about thanks to their daughter. On June 5, Merced natives the Martinezes and their 7-year-old daughter, Adison, worked alongside community members and city leaders to clean up Rahilly Park...
Elena Bischak

Rotary District Scholar to Conduct Sanitation Research in Haiti

June 9, 2021
With COVID-19 protections lifting, many people are eager to travel again. Among them is graduate student Elena Bischak, who is planning multiple trips to Haiti in the coming months to study improving sanitation and human waste processing in the Caribbean country. Bischak is a third-year...
Professor Erin Hestir (Photo by Veronica Adrover, UC Merced)

Professor Hestir Turns NASA Technology Toward Earth’s Biodiversity

June 1, 2021
Half a world away from California’s Central Valley is a place with similar climate but an unparalleled diversity of plants, marine animals and ecosystems. From deserts to shrubland to montane forests, the diversity of life in South Africa’s Greater Cape Floristic Region (GCFR) is the subject of...
Professor John Abatzoglou coauthored a piece in The Conversation on the risk of high mountain areas subject to burning.

Western Fires Are Burning Higher in the Mountains at Unprecedented Rates, Professor Finds

May 25, 2021
The Western U.S. appears headed for another dangerous fire season, and a new study shows that even high mountain areas once considered too wet to burn are at increasing risk as the climate warms. Nearly two-thirds of the U.S. West is in severe to exceptional drought right now, including large parts...

Report Examines Methods to Monitor PFAS in Environment to Protect Public Health

May 19, 2021
Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are human-made chemicals that for decades have been used in a variety of products, including food packaging materials, nonstick cookware, furniture, carpets and firefighting foams. However, research has shown that these substances can contaminate...

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