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Faculty

Adeyemi Adebiyi

Assistant Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences

aaadebiyi@ucmerced.edu

Understanding the interactions of aerosols (such as dust aerosols, smoke aerosols, and other carbonaceous aerosols) and their unique impacts on the regional and global climate

Aerosol-climate interactions, aerosol-meteorology interactions, atmospheric physics, air-quality, and aerosol-health impacts.

Keith E. Alley

Keith E. Alley

Professor Emeritus, Molecular & Cell Biology

kalley@ucmerced.edu

Chris Amemiya

Chris Amemiya

Professor, Molecular & Cell Biology

camemiya@ucmerced.edu

David Ardell

David Ardell

Associate Professor, Molecular & Cell Biology

dardell@ucmerced.edu

Computational biology of gene expression systems, including:

  • Structure, function, evolution and coevolution with genomes
  • Functional and evolutionary bioinformatics of RNA and proteins
  • Evolutionary and comparative genomics
 

 

Rebeca Arevalo

Rebeca Arevalo

Assistant Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry

rarevalo8@ucmerced.edu

Miriam Barlow

Miriam Barlow

Professor, Molecular & Cell Biology

mbarlow@ucmerced.edu

 

Evolution of bacteria

Predicting the evolution of antibiotic resistance

Testing evolutionary theory

Ryan Baxter

Ryan Baxter

Associate Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry

rbaxter@ucmerced.edu

Laura Beaster-Jones

Associate Teaching Professor, Molecular & Cell Biology

lbeaster-jones@ucmerced.edu

J. Michael Beman

J. Michael Beman

Associate Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences

mbeman@ucmerced.edu

  • Biogeochemistry
  • Microbial ecology
  • Oceanography
  • Global environmental change

Gordon Bennett

Gordon Bennett

Associate Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences

gbennett2@ucmerced.edu

Asmeret Asefaw Berhe

Asmeret Asefaw Berhe

Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences

aaberhe@ucmerced.edu

Professor Berhe's research is broadly focused on soil science and global change science. The main goal of her research is to understand the effect of changing environmental conditions on vital soil processes, most importantly the cycling and fate of essential elements in the critical zone. She studies soil processes in systems experiencing natural and/or anthropogenic perturbation in order to understand fundamental principles governed by geomorphology, and contemporary modifications introduced by changes in land use and climate.

Professor Berhe's general research themes are:

  • Effect of climate changes (specifically rainfall and temperature) on storage and stabilization of soil organic matter and cation nutrient budgets
  • Nano-scale biogeochemistry of iron oxides, especially how the size and concentration of oxides in soil control stabilization and destabilization of organic matter
  • Erosion and terrestrial carbon sequestration, specifically temporal evolution of the erosion-induced terrestrial carbon sink and reconstruction of environmental history from sediments
  • Political ecology of land degradation and ownership, particularly the contribution of armed conflicts to land degradation and ways people relate to their environment
     

Harish S. Bhat

Harish S. Bhat

Professor, Applied Math

hbhat@ucmerced.edu

  • Machine learning and data science
  • System identification and reduced-order modeling
  • Optimization and optimal control
  • Hamiltonian/Lagrangian dynamical systems
  • Stochastic processes
  • Scientific computing

Francois Blanchette

Professor Blanchette is an applied mathematician primarily interested in problems involving fluid dynamics. A large portion of his research is concerned with problems related to sedimentation. The accumulation patterns, erosion potential and transport properties of such systems are of geophysical and environmental interest. He also studies systems where two immiscible fluids are present and surface tension plays a significant role, such as drops, bubbles and micro-fluidic devices. Professor Blanchette's approach is mostly theoretical and numerical, and he also values interactions with experimentalists so as to paint as complete a picture as possible of a given physical system.

Jessica Blois

Jessica Blois

Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences

jblois@ucmerced.edu

Ecological and evolutionary responses to past, recent and future environmental change, using approaches such as:

-paleoecology

-niche/community modeling

-phylogenetics/phylochronology

Rosemarie Bongers

Assistant Teaching Professor

rosemariebongers@ucmerced.edu

Hui Cai

Hui Cai

Assistant Professor, Physics

hcai6@ucmerced.edu

Camille Carvalho

Camille Carvalho

Assistant Professor, Applied Math

ccarvalho3@ucmerced.edu

Raymond Chiao

Raymond Chiao

Professor Emeritus, Physics

rchiao@ucmerced.edu

Raymond Chiao is a professor jointly in the UC Merced schools of Natural Sciences and Engineering. Previously, he was a professor for 38 years at UC Berkeley, where he earned international acclaim (including the Willis E. Lamb Medal and the Einstein Prize for Laser Science) studying nonlinear and quantum optics. At UC Merced, is pursuing a new line of groundbreaking research on gravitational radiation.

Chih-Chun Chien

Chih-Chun Chien

Associate Professor, Physics

cchien5@ucmerced.edu

Theoretical atomic and molecular physics.

Michael D. Cleary

Michael D. Cleary

Professor, Molecular & Cell Biology

mcleary4@ucmerced.edu

Professor Cleary is interested in how complex tissues develop from relatively small populations of stem cells. Nervous system development in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, provides an excellent model system for studying this process. His lab focuses on how Drosophila neural stem cells, called neuroblasts, which produce the diversity of cell types found in the nervous system. His primary aim is to understand:

  • How cell fate decisions are temporally regulated, so that distinct cell types are made at specific times during development
  • How mitotic activity is regulated, so that neuroblasts stop and start dividing at the proper time
  • How cell fate information is passed from a neuroblast to its progeny and the role of chromatin remodeling factors and other transcription factors in this process

His research team uses the many powerful molecular and genetic techniques available for Drosophila research to address these questions, with the ultimate goal of identifying mechanisms that are conserved in human stem cells.

Michael E. Colvin

Michael E. Colvin

Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry

mcolvin@ucmerced.edu

The past century has seen tremendous progress in determining the biochemical and biophysical processes that constitute life. One exciting consequence of this understanding is the possibility of developing mathematical models of biological function that are accurate and even predictive.
Professor Colvin's research uses a wide range of simulation methods to model biological systems at different levels. Much of his research uses molecular modeling to study biochemical problems, with a particular emphasis on modeling the activity of DNA-binding food mutagens and anticancer drugs. These methods involve computing the structures and energetics of biomolecules using either quantum or classical mechanics, and often require the use of supercomputers.
Other molecular modeling projects include studying:

  • Synthetic analogs to nucleic acids and exotic nucleic acid structures
  • The function of DNA-processing multiprotein complexes
  • The mechanism of cytochrome P450 and other enzymes

More recently, his research interests have expanded to include simulations of biophysical and cellular processes using equations that describe the system as continuous (and sometime stochastic) dynamical systems. These projects include:

  • Simulating the formation mutagenic compounds during cooking
  • The operation of the nuclear pore complex
  • Cell fate decisions

These projects offer a wide range of research projects for students interested in the application of mathematics and computers to understand the living world.

Kinjal Dasbiswas

Kinjal Dasbiswas

Assistant Professor, Physics

kdasbiswas@ucmerced.edu

Michael N. Dawson

Michael N. Dawson

Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences

mdawson@ucmerced.edu

Millions of species demonstrate that evolution happens, but few illuminate the process. Professor Dawson's lab focuses on elucidating the origins, maintenance, and loss of marine biodiversity, from molecular to ecosystem levels. His specific interests are:

 

  • How molecular variation explains and causes differences between individuals, populations, species, and higher taxa
  • How the environment shapes and is shaped by genetic, organismal, population, and community variation

His lab's work scales from micro- to macro-evolution and integrates biological and physical sciences. Topic areas include:

  • Adaptation, ecological genetics and evolutionary ecology
  • Population genetics, phylogeography, biogeography and phylogenetics
  • Speciation, systematics and taxonomy
  • Behavior and morphology
  • Climate change, invasive species and marine protected areas

Elizabeth Dumont

Elizabeth Dumont

Dean and Professor of Life and Environmental Sciences

edumont@ucmerced.edu

Bercem Dutagaci

Bercem Dutagaci

Assistant Professor, Molecular Cell Biology

bdutagaci@ucmerced.edu

Michael Findlater

Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry

michaelfindlater@ucmerced.edu

Melinda Findlater

Assistant Teaching Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences

mindyfindlater@ucmerced.edu

Henry Jay Forman

Professor Forman's laboratory focuses on the molecular biology and biochemistry of signal transduction and cellular adaptation to reactive oxygen species and other electrophiles relevant to the response of the lung to environmental pollution.

A. Carolin Frank

A. Carolin Frank

Associate Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences

cfrank3@ucmerced.edu

The Plant Microbiome, including:

  • Function, diversity, and dispersal 
  • Forest tree microbiomes
  • Nitrogen fixation
  • Bacteria and fungi
  • Genomics and metagenomics
  • Ecosystem implications

Sarah Frey

Teaching Professor, Vice Provost and Dean, Undergraduate Education

sfrey2@ucmerced.edu

Professor Frey’s research interests include effective instructional practices in STEM education. Frey also studies computational modeling of nonlinear elastic systems with applications in planetary science.

Marcos Garcia-Ojeda

Marcos Garcia-Ojeda

Teaching Professor, Molecular & Cell Biology

mgarcia-ojeda@ucmerced.edu

Xuecai Ge

Xuecai Ge

Associate Professor, Molecular & Cell Biology

xge2@ucmerced.edu

We study mechanisms of cell signaling in the developing brain, focusing on primary cilium, the antenna-like organelle that integrate signaling pathways in the cell. Our research aims to shed light on how signaling errors lead to brain developmental disorders.

Publications:

Ge X*, Yang H, Bednarek MA, Galon-Tilleman H, Chen P, Chen M, Lichtman JS, Wang Y, Dalmas O, Yin Y, Tian H, Jermutus L, Grimsby J, Rondinone, CM, Konkar A, Kaplan, DD. (2018) LEAP2 is an endogenous Antagonist of the Ghrelin Receptor. Cell Metabolism. 27(2): 461-469. doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2017.10.01 *Author of correspondence.

Ge X, Milenkovic L, Suyama K, Hartl T, Winan A, Meyer T, Scott MP. (2015) Integration of Neuropilin with Hedgehog signal transduction through control of Phosphodiesterase 4 and protein kinase A. eLife. 4:e07068. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.07068.

Ge X, Frank CL, Calderon de Anda F, Tsai LH. (2010) Hook3 and PCM1 regulate neurogenesis by controlling the centrosome dynamics and interkinetic nuclear migration. Neuron 65:191-203

Teamrat A. Ghezzehei

Teamrat A. Ghezzehei

Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences

taghezzehei@ucmerced.edu

Professor Ghezzehei's research interest is in the movement and transformation of mass and energy in porous media at a fundamental level, as well as their application to environmental- and energy-related problems. The scale of his interest ranges from sub-pore scale dynamics of water-gas interfaces to water flow and solute transport at scales of tens of meters. The scope of his research includes laboratory and field experiments, theory, and computational modeling.

Sayantani Ghosh

Professor Ghosh's research interests span traditional topics in condensed matter physics such as correlated magnetic phases and coupled quantum systems, as well as emerging multi-disciplinary themes such as hybrid solar cells and plasmonics-based opto-electronic devices. Her group focuses on the physics of new materials and using ultra-fast time resolved spectroscopy, develops techniques and protocols to manipulate their properties for applications in energy storage and information processing devices.
The current research topics in her group include:

  • Cooperative energy transfer dynamics in self-assembled nanostructured materials
  • Directed assembly of metallic, magnetic and semiconducting nanostructures using liquid crystal based electro-optically active matrices
  • Hybrid photovoltaic devices including solar cells and luminescent solar concentrators
  • Exotic magnetic phases originating from geometric frustration in doped and undoped systems

In addition, Professor Ghosh is also the founding faculty and advisor of UC Merced Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE@UCM).

Ajay Gopinathan

Professor Gopinathan's research focuses on a variety of problems in biophysics, soft condensed matter and the interface between the two fields. His group uses theoretical and computational techniques from different areas in soft matter and statistical mechanics including polymer physics, elasticity and anomalous transport.

The group's primary research area is Biological Transport which involves understanding how transport occurs in biological systems across different levels of organization and scale -  ranging from macromolecules and vesicles being transported within the cell and across membranes to cells to communities of cells and higher animals across geographical scales. In the cellular context, the environment is structurally complex and exhibits unique dynamical properties. This results in novel types of transport phenomena and effects that in vivo systems manage to remarkably exploit. Examples include polymer transport across membrane pores, macromolecular transport through nuclear pores and motor driven intracellular transport. At higher levels, problems studied include eukaryotic cell motility, bacterial community motility and foraging in higher animals.

In addition, his group is involved in a number of other projects including drug design, colloidal dynamics, self-organization at surfaces, the geometry and dynamics of elastic sheets, transport in disordered systems and fluctuation induced forces.

Juris Grasis

Juris Grasis

Assistant Professor, Molecular & Cell Biology

jagrasis@ucmerced.edu

The Grasis Lab researches in the following areas: viral metagenomics, systems immunology, microbiome regulation, and viral/antiviral discovery. 

Publications:

Grasis JA, Lachnit T, Anton-Erxleben F, Lim YW, Schmieder R, Fraune S, et al. (2014) Species-Specific Viromes in the Ancestral Holobiont Hydra. PLoS ONE 9(10): e109952. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0109952

Grasis JA. The Intra-Dependence of Viruses and the Holobiont. Front Immunol. 2017;8:1501. Published 2017 Nov 9. doi:10.3389/fimmu.2017.01501

 

Stephen Hart

Stephen C. Hart

Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences

shart4@ucmerced.edu

Professor Hart's research explores the controls of biogeochemical processes and productivity in managed and wildland terrestrial ecosystems using methods such as:

  • Ecological genetics to isotopic analyses
  • Computer simulation modeling
  • Elucidate the biotic and abiotic factors that regulate terrestrial ecosystem structure and function

His research group is currently investigating:

  • Biological and geochemical controls on ecosystem development along a three million year, semi-arid soil chronosequence
  • Influence of the genetics of dominant plants on ecosystem processes
  • Effects of forest restoration treatments (e.g., thinning with or without prescribed fire) and wildfire on ecosystem carbon and water balance, soil microbial communities, and belowground processes
  • Efficacy of insect communities as indicators of forest ecosystem health
  • Utility of the 15N natural abundance signature of soil microbes as an integrator of nitrogen cycling processes
  • Impact of climatic change on soil-plant-atmosphere interactions; and the effects of water diversion on riparian forest

Aaron Hernday

Aaron D. Hernday

Professor, Molecular & Cell Biology

ahernday@ucmerced.edu

Professor Hernday's research is focused on the systems control principles and molecular mechanisms that underlie cellular decision making.

Linda S. Hirst

Linda S. Hirst

Professor, Physics

lhirst@ucmerced.edu

Professor Hirst's research interests focus on soft-condensed matter physics, with interests in both biophysics and liquid crystal materials. In general, her research group uses experimental techniques to characterize molecular assemblies and to understand the physics behind why they form. In a wider context, her group tries to uncover the common principles of how self-organization at a molecular level can transfer physical properties across length scales to define complex structures in real biological systems and soft phases.

Professor Hirst's group uses a wide variety of experimental techniques, with significant focus on:

  • X-ray diffraction and scattering (both synchrotron and in-house)
  • Confocal microscopy
  • Atomic force microscopy
  • Transmission electron microscopy

Current research projects include the:

  • Influence of cholesterol and polyunsaturated lipids on cell membrane structure.
  • Controlling Lipid phase behavior and raft formation for "soft microfluidics"
  • Biopolymer networks
  • Bent-core and novel ferroelectric liquid crystal materials

In addition to her research interests Prof. Hirst is also the creator of softmatterworld.org, a new educational networking site for the soft matter community around the world.

Katrina Hoyer

Katrina Hoyer

Associate Professor, Molecular & Cell Biology

khoyer2@ucmerced.edu

Immunological tolerance and autoimmune disease

Cellular and molecular interplay between lymphocytes and dendritic cells

Hrant Hratchian

Hrant Hratchian

Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry

hhratchian@ucmerced.edu

Developments in quantum chemistry and potential energy surface exploration; computational inorganic chemistry; mechanistic study and rational design of transition metal catalysts.
 

Boaz Ilan

Boaz Ilan

Professor, Applied Math

bilan@ucmerced.edu

Professor Ilan's research interest lies in the mathematics involved with real-world phenomena, and its application to areas such as the control of intense lasers beams and harvesting solar energy. His research uses modeling physical systems in terms of ordinary and partial differential equations. Detailed studies are obtained using functional analytic, asymptotic and perturbation analysis, and numerical computation. The over-arching goal of this research is to connect between the mathematical and physical aspects arising from these problems and make useful predictions about physical systems.

Christine Isborn

Christine Isborn

Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry

cisborn@ucmerced.edu

Developing and applying electronic structure theory, molecular dynamics and QM/MM methods to the modeling of:

  • electronic excited states,
  • photochemistry,
  • energy and electron transfer and
  • solvation

Kirk Jensen

Kirk Jensen

Associate Professor, Molecular & Cell Biology

kjensen5@ucmerced.edu

  • Parasite pathogenesis and immunology
  • How Toxoplasma virulence factors manipulate host immune responses
 

Anne Myers Kelley

Anne Myers Kelley

Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry

amkelley@ucmerced.edu

Professor Kelley's research uses the laser light scattering techniques of resonance Raman and hyper-Raman spectroscopy to study the atomic-level details of how materials interact with light. These studies reveal the detailed mechanisms of fast photochemical reactions such as those involved in human vision, photography, xerography, and solar energy conversion. Her group carries out experiments and also develops theoretical and computational tools for analyzing the data.  Currently, her work focuses on using these techniques to understand how the vibrations (phonons) of semiconductor nanocrystals influence and are influenced by, absorption and emission of light in these materials.

David F. Kelley

David F. Kelley

Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry

dfkelley@ucmerced.edu

Professor Kelley's research group uses ultrafast optical spectroscopy to examine the optical and electronic properties of semiconductor nanoparticles. He focuses on layered semiconductors - specifically gallium selenide and indium selenide - which have layered crystal structures and form two-dimensional, disk-like nanoparticles. The optical properties of indium selenide are very well suited for the absorption of sunlight; therefore, its nanoparticles hold considerable promise as the active media in photovoltaics.

Professor Kelley's group synthesizes nanoparticles that have diameters from 2 nm to tens of nanometers -  all of which are four atoms thick -  as the properties of such nanoparticles are strongly size dependent, due to quantum size effects. He is primarily interested controlling  and optimizing the properties of the nanoparticles for solar energy conversion.

Shilpa Khatri

Shilpa Khatri

Associate Professor, Applied Math

skhatri3@ucmerced.edu

  • Numerical Analysis
  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Applied Math
  • Applications in Biology and Oceanography

Changho Kim

Changho Kim

Assistant Professor, Applied Math

ckim103@ucmerced.edu

Sora Kim

Sora Kim

Associate Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences

skim380@ucmerced.edu

Arnold D. Kim

Arnold D. Kim

Professor, Applied Math

adkim@ucmerced.edu

Professor Kim is interested in interdisciplinary research problems at the interface between mathematics, science and engineering. In particular, he studies wave propagation in random media with applications to biomedical optics and wireless communications.

This research includes the study of differential and integral equations, asymptotic analysis, scientific computing and inverse problems.

Dustin Kleckner

Dustin Kleckner

Assistant Professor, Physics

dkleckner@ucmerced.edu

Nicholas Knight

Nicholas Knight

Visiting Assistant Professor, Applied Math

nknight@ucmerced.edu

Petra Kranzfelder

Petra Kranzfelder

Assistant Teaching Professor, Molecular & Cell Biology

pkranzfelder@ucmerced.edu

Jennifer D. Lee

Jennifer D. Lee

Assistant Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry

jenniferlee@ucmerced.edu

Yue Lei

Yue Lei

Teaching Professor, Applied Math

ylei2@ucmerced.edu

Lower-dimensional topology and geometry

Michelle Leslie

Michelle Leslie

Associate Teaching Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry

jmleslie@ucmerced.edu

Bin Liu

Bin Liu

Associate Professor, Physics

bliu27@ucmerced.edu

  • Biofluid dynamics
  • Geo-inspired fluid-structure interactions
  • Nonewtonian flows
  • Computational fluid dyanmics with mobile boundaries
  • Simple models of nonlinear systems
 

Andy LiWang

Andy LiWang

Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry

aliwang@ucmerced.edu

The rising and setting of the sun causes dramatic oscillations in light and temperature each day. Most life forms involuntarily coordinate their lifestyles to these cyclic variations by means of an endogenous clock called the circadian clock. These circadian clocks have been identified in diverse organisms from cyanobacteria to humans, and studies suggest that the circadian clock has adaptive value.

Professor LiWang's laboratory is resolving the structural and biochemical basis of rhythmicity of the cyanobacterial circadian clock. The central oscillator of this clock is composed of only three proteins, which by themselves in a test tube with ATP generate a self-sustained circadian rhythm for several days. Their objective is to develop a comprehensive understanding of how a simple mixture of three proteins keeps time.

Patricia LiWang

Patricia LiWang

Professor, Molecular & Cell Biology

pliwang@ucmerced.edu

  • Biochemistry and biophysics
  • Structural biology of chemokines
  • Applications to HIV and inflammatory diseases

Sarah Loebman

Sarah Loebman

Assistant Professor, Physics

sloebman@ucmerced.edu

Gabrielle Loots

Gabriela Loots

Associate Adjunct Professor, Molecular & Cell Biology

gloots@ucmerced.edu

  • Developmental and comparative genomics
  • Transcriptional regulation
  • Transgenic technologies
  • Skeletal and limb development
  • Bone and cartilage tissue engineering
  • Genetics of bone disease — Sclerosteosis and Van Buchem Disease

 

Claire Lukens

Claire Lukens

Assistant Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences

clukens@ucmerced.edu

Jennifer O. Manilay

Jennifer O. Manilay

Professor, Molecular & Cell Biology

jmanilay@ucmerced.edu

Professor Manilay is a developmental immunologist, with research interest in the mechanisms that control cell fate decisions in the immune system. Her current topic of study is the development of T lymphocytes, important components of immune defense against pathogens.

Roummel Marcia

Roummel Marcia

Professor, Applied Math

rmarcia@ucmerced.edu

  • Large-scale optimization
  • Scientific computation and numerical analysis
  • Compressed sensing and signal processing
  • Computational biology
  • Global optimization

Sylvain Masclin

Assistant Teaching Professor

smasclin@ucmerced.edu

Stefan C. Materna

Stefan C. Materna

Assistant Professor, Molecular Cell Biology

smaterna@ucmerced.edu

Emily Jane McTavish

Emily Jane McTavish

Associate Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences

ejmctavish@ucmerced.edu

Evolution, phylogenetics, genomics, computational biology

Carrie Menke

Carrie Menke

Teaching Professor, Physics

cmenke@ucmerced.edu

Erik Menke

Erik Menke

Associate Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry

emenke@ucmerced.edu

Professor Menke addresses to broad questions through his research:

  • How does one prepare solar cells that are both cheap and efficient?
  • How does one use these solar cells to create chemical fuels?

To address these questions, he uses electrodeposition to prepare a variety of nanostructures to understand how the various properties, such as material, size, shape, and crystallinity, affect either their photovoltaic or catalytic properties.

Reshma Menon

Assistant Teaching Professor

menon@ucmerced.edu

ndrea Merg

Andrea Merg

Assistant Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry

amerg@ucmerced.edu

Juan C. Meza

Juan C. Meza

Professor, Applied Math

jcmeza@ucmerced.edu

Dr. Meza studies nonlinear optimization with an emphasis on methods for parallel computing. He has also worked on various scientific and engineering applications including scalable methods for nanoscience, power grid reliability, molecular conformation problems, optimal design of chemical vapor deposition furnaces, and semiconductor device modeling.

Kevin Mitchell

  • Nonlinear dynamics and classical/quantum chaos, with applications to atomic and molecular physics
  • Semi-classical phase-space techniques
  • Topological and geometric methods for low-dimensional systems
  • Geometric/Berry phase and gauge theory

Emily Moran

Emily Moran

Associate Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences

emoran5@ucmerced.edu

Dispersal, local adaptation and the interplay between ecological and evolutionary responses to environmental change in plants.
 

Son C. Nguyen

Son C. Nguyen

Assistant Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry

son@ucmerced.edu

Photocatalysis of nanomaterials

Spectroscopic and mechanistic studies

Dr. Nguyen's research is focused on understanding and expanding the applications of nanoparticle photocatalyst to novel green synthesis and solar energy harvesting. These nanometer size catalysts have unique chemical reactivities that will lead to potential applications in chemical industry where chemical reactions will be driven by solar energy and hazardous wastes to the environment will be minimized.

 

Michele Nishiguchi

Michele Nishiguchi

Professor, Molecular & Cell Biology

nish@ucmerced.edu

Clarissa Nobile

Clarissa Nobile

Professor, Molecular & Cell Biology

cnobile@ucmerced.edu

Professor Nobile's research is directed toward understanding the molecular and mechanistic basis of microbial communities. Her lab is interested in investigating how transcriptional networks underlie the regulation of gene expression during biofilm development. Much of this work is carried out in the species Candida albicans, the most prevalent fungal pathogen of humans. The lab is also beginning to study interspecies interactions between different fungal and bacterial species. Questions that the lab is currently pursuing include: How are microbial communities regulated? How are microbial communities built? How are their unique and specialized properties maintained? How have microbial communities evolved?

Aleksandr Noy

Aleksandr Noy

Adjunct Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry

anoy@ucmerced.edu

  • Bionanoelectronics
  • Molecular self-assembly in systems with reduced dimensionality
  • Inorganic nanowires and carbon nanotubes
  • Biophysics and measurement of biological forces using scanning probe microscopy
  • Nanofluidics, and molecular transport at nanoscale
  • Nanotechnology

Peggy O'Day

Peggy O'Day

Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences

poday@ucmerced.edu

Peggy O'Day is environmental geochemist who studies the chemistry, reaction, and transport of inorganic contaminants and species, primarily metal and metalloid elements, in surface and subsurface systems.  She specializes in the use of spectroscopic and microscopic methods, especially synchrotron X-ray techniques, to determine element speciation and molecular-scale mechanisms of biogeochemical reactions in natural systems and laboratory analogs.  She develops and applies thermodynamic, kinetic and reactive transport models for synthesis and quantitative description of biogeochemical cycling, reactivity, transport, and bioavailability.

Current research projects include:

  • Characterization of element speciation and solid phases in natural and engineered airborne particulates, and their impacts on human health through cellular response.
  • Surface reactivity of mineral phases with respect to metal ion adsorption using molecular computational methods, spectroscopic characterizations, and geochemical modeling.
  • Environmental influences on mercury speciation and methylation.
  • Novel methods for remediation of soils and sediments through application of reactive amendments.
  • Mechanisms and rates of abiotic and biotic uranium oxidation linked to nitrogen and iron cycling, and dissolution mechanisms and rates of uranyl oxide, silicate, and phosphate phases.

David M. Ojcius

David M. Ojcius

Professor Emeritus, Molecular & Cell Biology

dojcius@ucmerced.edu

Professor Ojcius uses molecular and cell biological techniques to characterize interactions between epithelial cells and intracellular pathogens. He studies the bacteria, Chlamydia, as a model system because its species represent the world's leading cause of preventable blindness, and are a common cause of respiratory and sexually-transmitted infections in humans.
His current projects are focused on how the bacteria modify signal-transduction pathways that affect programmed cell death (apoptosis) and metabolism of the host cell. Whenever possible, the physiological relevance of results obtained with cell lines are tested in a mouse model of infection. Specifically, his group is investigating:

  • Whether host-cell death plays a role in propagation of the infection
  • How molecules released from dying infected-cells are recognized by the host immune system
  • Effect of infection on metabolism of the host cell

Rudy M. Ortiz

Rudy M. Ortiz

Professor, Molecular & Cell Biology

rortiz@ucmerced.edu

Professor Ortiz's research focuses on the regulation of kidney function and metabolism in a variety of animal models, including seals and dolphins, with the intent that the data will have translative value to clinical medicine. These studies are conducted in collaboration with colleagues at:

  • Sonoma State University
  • University of Alaska, Fairbanks
  • University of California, Santa Cruz

His lab -  in conjunction with collaborators at Kagawa Medical University, SUNY Buffalo Medical School, and Tulane University HSC -  investigate:

  • Role of aldosterone plays in exacerbating high blood pressure
  • Effects of aldosterone antagonism and hypercholesterolemia on renal sodium regulation

Professor Ortiz is also pursuing studies that address the link between diabetes and obesity with hypertension.
From an evolutionary perspective, he is interested in the physiological mechanisms marine-adapted vertebrates use to regulate water and electrolytes during a variety of altered environmental conditions, such as prolonged food deprivation or extended fresh water exposure.

Nestor Oviedo

Nestor Oviedo

Professor, Molecular & Cell Biology

noviedo2@ucmerced.edu

  • Tissue regeneration
  • Stem cells
  • Cancer
  • Planarian biology

Noemi Petra

Noemi Petra

Associate Professor, Applied Math

npetra@ucmerced.edu

  • Numerical solution of partial differential equation (PDEs) 
  • Inverse problems
  • Large-scale PDE-constrained optimization
  • Uncertainty quantification

Jennifer Pett-Ridge

Associate Adjunct Professor

jpett-ridge@ucmerced.edu

Aurora Pribram-Jones

Aurora Pribram-Jones

Assistant Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry

apribram-jones@ucmerced.edu

Scott Roy

Scott Roy

Associate Adjunct Professor, Molecular & Cell Biology

sroy5@ucmerced.edu

Tomas Rube

Assistant Professor, Applied Math

trube@ucmerced.edu

Erica Rutter

Erica Rutter

Assistant Professor, Applied Math

erutter2@ucmerced.edu

Rebecca Ryals

Rebecca Ryals

Associate Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences

rryals@ucmerced.edu

Ramen Saha

Ramen Saha

Associate Professor, Molecular & Cell Biology

rsaha3@ucmerced.edu

Epigenetic mechanisms of neuronal gene transcription and their role in mental health.

Michael Scheibner

Michael Scheibner

Associate Professor, Physics

mscheibner@ucmerced.edu

  • Light-matter interactions
  • Nanostructured materials
  • Coupled quantum systems
  • Quantum information

Jason Sexton

Jason Sexton

Associate Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences

jsexton2@ucmerced.edu

  • Plant adaptation
  • Species range limits
  • Biological invasions
  • Biological responses to global change
  • Evolutionary conservation science
  • Human cultural adaptive capacity

Jay E. Sharping

Professor Sharping's research involves building a fundamental understanding of -  and developing technology and applications for -  ultrafast laser technology. These lasers have the potential to capture extremely short snapshots in time, as well as measure frequencies with unprecedented precision and accuracy. The applications are numerous in the areas of environmental science, biotechnology and national security. The research his group pursues will result in transferable technological advances (e.g., new optical sources), which will have a broad impact in:

  • Physics -  e.g., studies of atomic- and molecular-optical interactions
  • Chemistry -  e.g., ultra-sensitive spectroscopy
  • Biology -  e.g., time-resolved studies of biological processes

Kelly Shepardson

Assistant Professor, Molecular Cell Biology

kshepardson2@ucmerced.edu

Liang Shi

Liang Shi

Associate Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry

lshi4@ucmerced.edu

Developing and applying multi-scale modeling methods to understand the structure, dynamics and spectroscopy of complex condensed-phase molecular systems, such as

- novel optoelectronic materials (e.g., organic semiconductors and quantum dots)

- supercritical aqueous solutions

Suzanne Sindi

Suzanne Sindi

Professor, Applied Math

ssindi@ucmerced.edu

  • Mathematical Biology
  • Dynamical Systems
  • Computational Biology

 

Mark Sistrom

Mark Sistrom

Assistant Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences

msistrom@ucmerced.edu

Professor Sistrom works broadly across a number of bacterial and viral systems to explore evolutionary  hypotheses using high throughput sequencing and bioinformatics methods. In particular,  he is interested in:

  • How microbial populations change over space and time.
  • What selective pressures lead to emergent disease.
  • How the evolutionary properties of microbes can be exploited to manage or eliminate disease.

He is interested in collaborative projects that look at pertinent evolutionary questions in a range of biological systems using big data approaches.

E. Maggie Sogin

E. Maggie Sogin

Assistant Professor, Molecular Cell Biology

esogin@ucmerced.edu

David Strubbe

David Strubbe

Associate Professor, Physics

dstrubbe@ucmerced.edu

Theoretical condensed-matter physics and materials science, amorphous materials, photovoltaics, thermoelectrics, scientific code development for high-performance computing

Shahar Sukenik

Shahar Sukenik

Assistant Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry

ssukenik@ucmerced.edu

Maxime Theillard

Maxime Theillard

Associate Professor, Applied Math

mtheillard@ucmerced.edu

Michael Thompson

Michael Thompson

Assistant Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry

mthompson30@ucmerced.edu

Lin Tian

Lin Tian

Professor, Physics

ltian@ucmerced.edu

Quantum optics and quantum coherent effects in condensed matter systems

  • Quantum information
  • Quantum simulation

Mayya Tokman

Mayya Tokman

Professor, Applied Math

mtokman@ucmerced.edu

Professor Tokman's research is focused on building mathematical models of physical phenomena and developing efficient numerical methods for problems in science and engineering. In particular, she has been developing numerical techniques, which allow fast integration of large nonlinear systems of differential equations with widely varying temporal scales. Professor Tokman has worked on modeling large scale behavior of astrophysical and laboratory plasmas, including evolution of coronal loops in the solar atmosphere and plasma configurations arising in fusion related experiments. Her research interests also include computational biology, in particular, modeling experimental manipulations of biomolecular structure of living cells.

Samuel J. Traina

Samuel J. Traina

Professor and Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development

straina@ucmerced.edu

Using a wide range of analytical methods (infra-red spectroscopy, electron microsocpy, x-ray absorption spectroscopy and mass spectroscopy), Professor Traina's group studies:

  • Chemical transformations of pollutants in soils, surface and ground water
  • Linkages between chemical form or speciation of particular pollutants and their relative toxicities in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems
  • Roles of geoparticle surfaces and bacteria in pollutant fate

Current projects include the study of:

  • Contaminants at Department of Energy waste sites (Cr, Pu and U)
  • Role of Fe(II) and HSe- in transformations of nitroaromatic pesticides in wetlands
  • Fate of pharmaceuticals in the surface waters of National Parks

Susannah Tringe

Susannah Tringe

Adjunct Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences

sgtringe@lbl.gov

Chrysoula Tsogka

Chrysoula Tsogka

Professor, Applied Math

ctsogka@ucmerced.edu

Brian Utter

Brian Utter

Teaching Professor, Physics

brianutter@ucmerced.edu

Willem Van Breugel

Willem Van Breugel

Adjunct Professor Emeritus, Physics

wvanbreugel@ucmerced.edu

  • Distant, massive galaxies
  • Effects of central, super-massive black holes on the galaxy-formation process
  • Formation and evolution of the largest structures known in the universe -  clusters of galaxies

Axel Visel

Axel Visel

Adjunct Professor, Molecular & Cell Biology

avisel@ucmerced.edu

Zhong Wang

Zhong Wang

Adjunct Professor, Molecular & Cell Biology

zwang37@ucmerced.edu

Roland Winston

  • Solar power and renewable energy
  • Elementary particle physics
  • Non-imaging optics

Fred Wolf

Fred Wolf

Associate Professor, Molecular & Cell Biology

fwolf@ucmerced.edu

The Wolf lab studies the genetic and neural circuit mechanisms for coding simple behaviors, including motivated seeking and plasticity driven by addictive drugs. We also study the regulation of DNA damage repair.

Publications:

Mef2 induction of the immediate early gene Hr38/Nr4a is terminated by Sirt1 to promote ethanol tolerance. Adhikari P, Orozco D, Randhawa H, Wolf FW. Genes Brain Behav. 2019 Mar;18(3):e12486. doi: 10.1111/gbb.12486. Epub 2018 May 28.

Satiation state-dependent dopaminergic control of foraging in Drosophila. Landayan D, Feldman DS, Wolf FW. Sci Rep. 2018 Apr 10;8(1):5777. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-24217-1.

Perineurial Barrier Glia Physically Respond to Alcohol in an Akap200-Dependent Manner to Promote Tolerance. Parkhurst SJ, Adhikari P, Navarrete JS, Legendre A, Manansala M, Wolf FW. Cell Rep. 2018 Feb 13;22(7):1647-1656. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.01.049.

Stephanie Woo

Stephanie Woo

Assistant Professor, Molecular & Cell Biology

swoo6@ucmerced.edu

The Woo Lab is interested in how dynamic cellular processes such as cell migration and cell adhesion contribute to the formation of the gastrointestinal epithelium, using the zebrafish embryo as our model system. We are also interested in developing new tools to study in vivo cell biology.

Publications:

Woo, S, Housley, MP, Weiner, OD, and Stainier DYR (2012) Nodal signaling regulates endodermal cell motility and actin dynamics via Rac1 and Prex1. J. Cell Biol. 198(5): 941- 952.

Reade, A, Motta-Mena, LB, Gardner, KH, Stainier, DY, Weiner, OD, and Woo, S (2017) TAEL: a zebrafish-optimized optogenetic gene expression system with fine spatial and temporal control. Development. 144(2): 345-355. 

Tanja Woyke

Tanja Woyke

Adjunct Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences

twoyke@ucmerced.edu

Jing Xu

Jing Xu

Associate Professor, Physics

jxu8@ucmerced.edu

  • Experimental biophysics
  • Quantitative biology
  • Optical trapping
  • Single-molecule and small-ensemble experiments
  • Molecular motors

Tao Ye

Tao Ye

Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry

tye2@ucmerced.edu

Professor Ye's research is focused on developing the nanoscale surface chemistry needed to manipulate and measure biomolecules and analogous systems. The nanoscale arrangements of biomolecules, such as proteins and DNA, underlie a wide spectrum of biological functions. Yet our ability to measure and control biomolecules at the nanoscale and single molecule level remains very limited. His group is using and developing sophisticated nanoscience tools to position and measure single molecules with nanometer resolution, dynamically activate the functions of individual biomolecules on surfaces, and develop artificial analogs of biological motors. The greatly improved understanding and control of biomolecules at the nanoscale have implications in unraveling key biological functions, creating artificial functional bimolecular structures, and developing ultra-sensitive biosensors.

Justin Yeakel

Justin Yeakel

Associate Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences

jyeakel@ucmerced.edu

Xuan Zhang

Xuan Zhang

Assistant Professor, Life and Environmental Sciences

xzhang87@ucmerced.edu

Maria-Elena Zoghbi

Maria-Elena Zoghbi

Assistant Professor, Molecular & Cell Biology

mzoghbi@ucmerced.edu