News

Warming Climate Pushes Rain to Higher Elevations, Raising Flooding Risks

February 5, 2024

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. The study also shows the importance of spatially representative ground measurements of hydrologic...

Can AI Increase Air Traffic Safety?

January 31, 2024

Air traffic controllers sort out three-dimensional space at 600 miles per hour while keeping your flights safe and on time. But as challenges in air traffic increase, the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society and the Banatao Institute (CITRIS) envisions that big data...

Give to UC Merced 2023 Raises Nearly $1.3 Million, Shattering Year-Old Record

January 26, 2024

Hundreds of UC Merced supporters made it crystal clear they believe in the university's mission, giving a record-breaking amount to support current Bobcats and other members of the campus community, through scholarships and fellowships, research projects and more. A total of 692 gifts were made...

Ph.D. Student Pushes for Better Education Benefits for Veterans’ Dependents

January 24, 2024

A new state law will make a difference in accessing education for the dependents of disabled veterans in California, thanks to the initiative of UC Merced Interdisciplinary Humanities graduate student Karla Seijas. Seijas proposed the idea for a bill that would expand the CalVet College Fee Waiver...

Having a Mix of Tree Heights Enhances Drought Resilience in Sierra Nevada Forests

January 19, 2024

In a paper published in Nature Communications, UC Merced Professor Roger Bales, collaborating with an international team, found that the height of neighboring trees strongly influenced whether a given tree survived California's record 2012-15 drought. Using high-resolution maps developed from...

Lukens’ Latest Research Tracks Sediment’s Journey in the Eastern Sierra

January 16, 2024

Rocks, from ponderous boulders to tiny grains of sand, are subject to the whims of moisture, weather and time as they tumble from surrounding slopes into rivers, pools and lakes. UC Merced Professor Claire Lukens is getting more detailed data about these natural processes by using a larger range...

Buhl Named to ASCE Committee

January 16, 2024

Environmental Systems Ph.D. candidate Marie Buhl has been invited to join the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Committee on Adaptation to a Changing Climate (CACC). Buhl, who is from Germany, works in Professor Sam Markolf’s lab focusing on climate change adaption research in the field of...

New Study Suggests Chance Plays a Bigger Role Than One Might Think in Faculty Promotion

January 11, 2024

For professors, it’s up or out when it comes to tenure and promotion: After five years on the job as assistant professors, junior professors’ promise is evaluated by their more senior colleagues. These senior colleagues judge whether a junior colleague has developed a reputation for their research...

¿Field Curious? Smashes Barriers to Outdoor Science

January 8, 2024

When Carlos Martinez was growing up in Southern California, his experience outdoors largely consisted of the irrigated lawns and tidy trees of his local park. Camping and hiking were not in his family’s recreational repertoire. Meanwhile, high school and work kept him too busy to focus on much else...

Researcher Among the World's Most Highly Cited for the Fourth Straight Year

December 19, 2023

Distinguished Professor Martin Hagger from the Department of Psychological Sciences has been awarded one of this year’s Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher awards. He is one of four researchers from UC Merced to receive the award, and the only one from the School of Social Sciences, Humanities...