Academics

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Research


Faculty researchers are forging new paths of knowledge, delving into subjects that are important to the San Joaquin Valley and beyond. Subjects range from climate change to water quality to the movement of electrons. Here’s a sampling of their work.

TED Audiences get the Dirt on Soil and Climate Change from Berhe

Professor Asmeret Asefaw Berhe is the only current UC Merced researcher to give a TED talk. At the TED2019 conference in Vancouver, Canada, Berhe told a global audience that soil is one of the foundations of life and could be an important part of the solution to climate change. In her Soil Biogeochemistry Lab at UC Merced, Berhe and the students and postdoctoral scholars she mentors study how soil regulates the composition of the Earth’s atmosphere by controlling the flow of greenhouse gases between land and the atmosphere. In October, Berhe was named the Ted and Jan Falasco Chair in Earth Sciences and Geology.

Researchers Look to Wetlands to Increase Delta Water Quality

UC Merced is conducting a study of Merced County wetlands that could lead to improved water quality in California’s Delta region. The three-year study of wetlands that drain into the San Joaquin River and, eventually, the Delta is being led by Peggy O’Day, a UC Merced geochemistry professor.


The Delta is sort of the heart
and lungs of Northern California.


Professor Peggy O’Day

Researchers Aim to Solve the Unsolvable to Predict the Unseeable

Christine Isborn and Harish Bhat, both professors with the School of Natural Sciences, are trying to predict the movement of electrons. Their work could lead to advancements in the design and development of materials for photovoltaics and photocatalysts that provide renewable energy.

Lab Works to Understand Molecular Motors and Cholesterol’s Relation to Alzheimer’s

Professor Jing Xu’s study of tiny motor proteins could make a huge contribution to knowledge about Alzheimer’s and other diseases that progressively destroy brain tissue. Dysfunction of a protein called tau is the hallmark of Alzheimer’s. Xu’s lab is working to understand how motor proteins navigate around abnormally high levels of tau and keep the cells healthy.

Valley Fever the Focus of Public Event

Professor Katrina Hoyer is one of several UC Merced researchers looking for ways to identify Valley fever patients who will develop the airborne infection’s worst symptoms. Hoyer organized an Oct. 25 summit of UC researchers and clinicians who shared their insights about Valley fever.

welcome new facultY

AUGUST - NOVEMBER 2019


  • Juan Camilo Sanchez Arcila
  • Jane A. Brittell
  • Anna M. Buttrey
  • Maria Celeste Castillo
  • Casie C. Cox
  • Madhurima Das
  • Beverly J. Delk
  • Marisol Espino
  • Erick Gonzalez Garcia
  • Arturo Gonzalez Jr.
  • Carin J. Heidelbach
  • Thelma C. Hurd
  • Kitae Kim
  • Yesenia L. Maldonado
  • Zois T.L. Moitier
  • Shijia Pan
  • Sriram Poyyapakkam Ramkumar
  • Luna Luisa Sanchez Reyes
  • Kimberly F. Richter
  • Richard Rios
  • Aude J. Robert
  • Sheila I. Ryskamp
  • Fabian J. Schwarzendahl
  • Meenakshi Sharm
  • Megan E. Smith
  • Patrick M. Staten
  • Iris Y. Turner
  • Zhen Xie
  • Wenjing Xuan
  • Andrei Zakharov
  • Julio C. Zepeda
  • Sarah R. Zepeda
  • Yue Zhang