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20 Years In, UC Merced Celebrates Achievements, Looks to Future

October 23, 2025
Only 20 years since undergraduate instruction began, UC Merced is a recognized leader in conducting academic research, developing young minds for career success and driving economic growth, the university’s chancellor said Wednesday. Speaking to a gathering of campus and community leaders, along...

UC Merced to Host Stargazing Night with Director of UC Observatories

October 7, 2025
UC Merced invites the public to an evening of cosmic discovery on Thursday, Oct. 23, featuring a free lecture by Bruce Macintosh, director of the University of California Observatories, followed by telescope viewing with the campus Astronomy Club. Macintosh, a leading expert in the search for...

Two Weeks, One Challenge, Lifelong Impact: Bobcats Dive into Data Science Challenge

October 6, 2025
Kathy Chau believed she knew what her future would look like. The first in her family to attend college, she had long been advised to aim for a safe and stable job — one that might not light a fire in her soul but would pay the bills. “I resigned myself to working a corporate job. I didn't like the...

Abigail Gyamfi Honored for Excellence in Mentorship and Community Impact

October 6, 2025
Chemistry and Biochemistry Ph.D. student Abigail Gyamfi was recognized by the California Section of the American Chemical Society Summer Experiences for the Economically Disadvantaged (SEED) Program and the Women Chemists Committee (WCC). “This is the first time a graduate student has been...

From Soil to Climate Solutions: Berhe Leads Sierra Nevada Research Institute into its Next Chapter

September 11, 2025
When Professor Asmeret Asefaw Berhe arrived at UC Merced in 2009, she and her husband, Professor Teamrat Ghezzehei, were leaving major research institutions to join a brand-new campus in California’s Central Valley. It was a leap of faith — one made easier by the Sierra Nevada Research Institute. “...

Research into Hidden Chemistry Shaping Future Air Quality Earns Zhang an NSF Award

September 8, 2025
As nations cut emissions that once fueled urban smog, scientists are discovering unexpected chemistry taking place in the atmosphere. UC Merced Professor Xuan Zhang is leading a project to uncover how these chemical shifts could affect the air we breathe and the climate. The project is supported by...

Hellman Fellowships Welcome Three New Members from UC Merced

September 4, 2025
As the Hellman Fellowships celebrate their 30th year, three more researchers, one from each of UC Merced’s schools, have joined the prestigious ranks of recipients. Electrical engineering Professor Qian Wang, sociology Professor Meredith Van Natta and Earth systems Professor Adeyemi Adebiyi will...

Open Arms, Open Skies: Students Welcomed at Spirited, Soggy Scholars Bridge Crossing

August 26, 2025
Spirits were high and futures bright while all else was soaked in a summer storm that made Tuesday morning’s Scholars Bridge Crossing, UC Merced’s traditional greeting to new students, a welcome unlike any before. Call them Thunder ‘Cats. The ceremony embraced about 2,000 first-year and transfer...

Cal-Bridge Scholar Rolando Ortega Wants to Build the Future

August 22, 2025
This is part of a series of profiles of new UC Merced Bobcats enrolled for the fall 2025 semester.  Rolando Ortega is closing in on his dream of earning a Ph.D. This fall, the Cal-Bridge scholar from Los Angeles County joins UC Merced to start his doctoral journey. With experience spanning national...

A New Adventure for Two Founding Faculty Chemists: Retirement

August 18, 2025
Starting a university from scratch isn’t for the faint of heart — or the slow of foot. Lucky for UC Merced, Anne Myers Kelley and David Kelley are neither. Anne, a former Olympic marathon trials qualifier, and David, a competitive cyclist, were no strangers to long, grueling efforts when they...

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