A few months ago, Adesh Johal wanted to join Patti LiWang's research group.
"At the time, he was loaded up on credits so it didn't seem like he would have enough time to get much done in lab," said LiWang, a professor of molecular biology at UC Merced.
Two UC Merced-affiliated scientists have joined University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Lauren Hale, a soil microbiologist in UC Merced's Department Life and Environmental Sciences, and Mohammad Maharlooei, an assistant professor of UC Cooperative Extension in agricultural waste management and bioenergy production, are among a number of recent hires by UC ANR as the organization works to address the pressing needs of people across California.
A team of UC Merced researchers has shown that tiny artificial cells can accurately keep time, mimicking the daily rhythms found in living organisms. Their findings shed light on how biological clocks stay on schedule despite the inherent molecular noise inside cells.
Pictures accompanying Professor John Abatzoglou's presentation on the 2025 fire season were blurry. That was intentional, he said, because so much about wildfire is unpredictable.
"There's a lot that we know, and a lot we don't know," he said.
Conducting research can be daunting.
UC Merced, like its sister University of California campuses, prides itself on the opportunities it provides its students to conduct research as part of their educational experiences. But the idea of looking into a concept and producing new results can seem intimidating. Where do you even start?
A new study co-authored by UC Merced researchers assesses the effect of a warming climate in pushing the elevation of snow to rain higher during a storm, increasing runoff and the risk of flooding.
Three UC Merced researchers have recently received the prestigious Hellman Fellowship.
Computer science and engineering Professor Shijia Pan, economics Professor Briana Ballis and life and environmental sciences Professor Xuan Zhang have all been named Hellman Fellows.
UC Merced researchers will tackle climate changes in multiple ways through more than $4 million in grants recently awarded from within the university.
The Office of Research and Economic Development (ORED) issued nine awards totaling $4,096,197 for proposals that range from studying methane gas emissions to making electronic vehicles more accessible to people.
Bioengineering Professor Eva de Alba has been awarded a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to study a potential process to reduce inflammation. The $405,375 grant will fund de Alba's project through 2025. David Gravano, Technical Director of UC Merced Stem Cell Instrumentation Foundry, is a collaborator on the project.
Christina Georges didn't choose UC Merced because of the opportunities she would have to conduct research as an undergraduate.
"When doing my own research on UC Merced in high school, I learned that UC Merced was a younger university," said the fourth-year biological sciences major from La Mirada. "I believed that being part of this university would allow me to grow with the university, as well. I was also intrigued by all of the student-run organizations on campus. I knew these organizations would give me the chance to be involved."
