Naughton Lab

Tracks COVID-19 Via Wastewater

@COVIDpoops19 is having a moment.

School of Engineering Professor Colleen Naughton led the creation of a dashboard that collects findings of research worldwide on a novel source for tracking the SARS-CoV-2 virus – sewage water.

Naughton and her team created a Twitter account with the humorous handle above to document the findings of universities and public agencies around the globe. Any new information goes on the dashboard, which shares the name of the Twitter account.

The project earned a Grand Prize in University Research this year from the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists.

As a civil engineer in UC Merced’s Environmental Systems graduate group, Naughton has spent much of her recent work studying the intersection of food, energy and water systems as well as sanitation and hygiene in developing communities.

“The pandemic is awful, but it made me want to help and apply my expertise,” Naughton said. “It is a good thing that we are able to monitor community spread in this way.”

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Study Shows How Part of the Brain Affects Sympathy

Throttling down activity in part of the brain increases the sympathy a person can feel for someone else – even if it’s a complete stranger, according to a study by faculty and students in UC Merced's Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences.

In the study, a non-invasive device temporarily turned down activity in the posterior medial frontal cortex (PMFC) of student subjects. The subjects then read two student essays – one critical of the UC Merced community and one praising it. They then were asked to imagine each author had been struck by a car and injured, and to rate the extent to which they felt sympathetic. Down-regulating the PMFC increased the participants' level of sympathy, even toward the critical person.

Cognitive science Professor Colin Holbrook said previous studies show most people have an inclination toward sympathy. The PMFC acts as a brake on that tendency.

“By turning down this brake, we lowered participants' ability to shut down feelings of sympathy when imagining the misfortune of these strangers," Holbrook said.

The findings of Holbrook and his team were published in the journal Social Neuroscience.

Collaborative Research Studies How Fish ‘See’ Electrical Fields

A cross-disciplinary group of UC Merced researchers is studying a sixth sense in certain fish that allows them to “see” electrical fields.

The group is analyzing a gel that fills ampullae of Lorenzini – sensory organs found on cartilaginous fishes such as sharks and skates. The researchers are making discoveries about the organs’ structure that may provide clues to how this sense works.

“Sharks use their electrosense to draw topographical maps of their surroundings the same way we use our eyes,” said biology Professor Chris Amemiya, who is collaborating with physics Professor Linda Hirst and engineering Professor Valerie Leppert.

Working under a seed grant from the Faculty Senate’s Committee on Research, they have begun to break down the gel’s components to better understand the functions of proteins and other molecules. Their paper in the interdisciplinary open access journal iScience explains their latest findings.

“Increasing our fundamental knowledge can advance technology that can help people,” she said. “These transdisciplinary collaborations are what solve mysteries,” Leppert said.

Leading the Way in UC-HBCU Grants

In August, the UC Office of the President awarded seven UC-Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Initiative grants systemwide. Three went to UC Merced faculty members.

  • Soil biogeochemistry Professor Asmeret Asefaw Berhe and environmental physics Professor Teamrat Ghezzehei received the campus’s largest award — $328,710 — to collaborate with HBCU partners to support summer research and graduate admission in the geosciences.
  • Professors Suzanne Sindi and Erica Rutter, mathematicians in a majority female Applied Mathematics department, received a $78,000 grant to establish a Summer Research Internship Program with Benedict College, an HBCU in South Carolina.
  • Literature Professor Nigel Hatton was awarded $44,750 to complete research on the experiences and retention of Black students and alumni in interdisciplinary humanities, and partner with Dillard University in New Orleans to bring summer interns to UC Merced.

The fact that UC Merced faculty were so successful in securing three UC-HBCU grants is a testament to the caliber of work they propose and the momentum our campus is building toward a more inclusive and representative research community.

Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz

Thelma Hurd Named to First Medical Education Chair

Dr. Thelma Hurd, who has led UC Merced’s community outreach and expanded the university’s medical and health science education, has been appointed to the inaugural Thondapu Family Endowed Chair in Medical Education.

It is a five-year appointment for Hurd, the university’s Director of Medical Education.

“I am both gratified and honored,” Hurd said. “It is truly an important step in establishing a long-term medical education program on the campus and for the community.”

Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz said Hurd’s long commitment to public health made her the ideal person for the first appointment.

“The generous gift of the Thondapu Endowed Chair in Medical Education advances our campus mission to improve the health of our community through education,” Muñoz said.

Research Roundup

Seeking Water Resilience

Fueled by the largest research grant in UC Merced history, a new $10 million collaborative will aim to improve agricultural and environmental water resilience. Researchers from numerous universities and government agencies will focus on water banking, trading and improvements in data-driven management practices to benefit water-scarce regions in the United States. UC Merced Professor Joshua Viers is the lead project director.

Test Tube Clocks

How do biological clocks tick? Researchers in labs at UC Merced, UC Santa Cruz and UC San Diego have reconstituted the circadian clock of cyanobacteria in a test tube, enabling them to study rhythmic interactions of clock proteins in real time. The test tube (in vitro) provides a powerful platform for exploring the clock’s mechanisms and how it responds to changes. UC Merced Professor Andy LiWang’s lab was part of the study, which was published in the journal Science.

Health of Latina Teen Mothers

Researchers from UC Merced’s Department of Psychological Sciences and Health Sciences Research Institute studied the link between a good night’s sleep and mental health among teen Latina mothers in the San Joaquin Valley. The results, published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, reflects some of the Valley population’s unique aspects, such as its rural populations and high number of migrant farmworkers, said Professor Alexandra Main.

Proteins Battle Dehydration

Professor Shahar Sukenik of the Center for Cellular and Biomolecular Machines is studying how intrinsically disordered proteins, which perform essential functions in all living cells, provide protection from dehydration. “The proteins seem to turn the cell’s environment into a self-protective one,” Sukenik said. A $2.8 million National Science Foundation grant is allowing Sukenik’s lab to collaborate in an NSF initiative called integrative biology.

Demystifying Calculus

For many students, calculus is a bridge too far – and too abstract – to understand. That is a barrier to STEM careers, and a particularly high one for students of underrepresented communities. A collaboration of UC Merced and Fresno State educators is working to emphasize the “why, what and how” of calculus. Professor Mayya Tokman and her co-researchers are using a state grant to reach more than 11,000 students and engage more than 50 faculty members in taking a more interactive and inclusive approach.

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Academic Personnel

SEPTEMBER 1 - NOVEMBER 1

  • Maricela Aguilar
  • Jaime Alcaraz
  • Jose Benavides
  • Mark Bold
  • Emma Broderick
  • Maria Caballero-Cisneros
  • Edgar Ceja
  • Soledad Chavez
  • Rahma Cohin
  • Marianne Contreras
  • Francisco Correa-Guerrero
  • Violeta De La Cruz Bonilla
  • Sarah DuRoff
  • Antonio Estrada
  • Meredith Fear
  • Toby Fitzpatrick
  • Ericka Garcia
  • Erica Garduno
  • George Glover Jr.
  • Stephanie Grace
  • Jonathan Gutierrez Santiago
  • Saned Hernandez
  • Maribel Herrera de Martinez
  • Christina Hicks
  • Jamy Hilomen Ramos
  • Ellie Honardoost
  • Tamara Isaac Cooksey
  • Gurpreet Kaur
  • Rahma Kohin
  • Jasmin Ledesma
  • Angela Liu
  • Elizabeth Lopez
  • Gozong Lor
  • Dominik Machado
  • Michael McGeary
  • Kim McMillon
  • Erin Meyer
  • Jessica Molina Borda
  • Doris Perez
  • Charles Pirtle
  • John Rivero
  • Cinthia Quesada
  • Cesar Ramirez
  • Maya Ramirez
  • Rogelio Rodriguez
  • Cindy Salcedo
  • David Ruiz Sanchez
  • Jocelyn Shilue
  • Mackenzie Slayton
  • Brandon Takata
  • Donald Thrasher
  • Maria Valencia
  • Angelique Vargas
  • Frankie Vasquez
  • Arturo Velazco
  • Andrea Villarreal
  • Nora Vue