Our Faculty
ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS
John Abatzoglou
Prof. Abatzoglou's work spans many topics - from addressing questions on climate variability, to understanding climate impacts on natural resources and society, to developing climate datasets and tools to inform decision-making. The Abatzoglou lab works to better connect climate information and science to a variety of disciplines and improve the accessibility of climate information to assist decision-makers and other scientists, as well as to better communicate the importance of climate variability to the general public.
Email: jabatzoglou@ucmerced.edu
Adeyemi Abediyi
Prof. Adebiyi's research group focuses on understanding the impacts of atmospheric particles, like mineral dust and smoke aerosols, on our environment and the climate. Studying these atmospheric particles is important because they directly impact the air quality around us and contribute to the uncertainties in our understanding of how the climate will change.
Email: aaadebiyi@ucmerced.edu
roger bales
Critical-zone science; water resources; climate applications
Email: rbales@ucmerced.edu
j. michael beman
Microbial ecology and biogeochemistry of aquatic ecosystems
Email: mbeman@ucmerced.edu
asmeret asefaw berhe
Terrestrial biogeochemistry; soil science; soil organic matter dynamics
Email: aaberhe@ucmerced.edu
marc beutel
Surface water quality; mercury and nitrogen cycling; treatment wetlands
Email: mbeutel@ucmerced.edu
jessica blois
Terrestrial paleoecology; niche modeling; phylogeography and phylochronology
Email: jblois@ucmerced.edu
Elliott Campbell
Sustainable bioenergy assessment, ecological design and atmospheric sciences and engineering
Email: ecampbell3@ucmerced.edu
Abel Chuang
Thermal management and electrochemistry; loop heat pipes and fuel cells
Email: abel.chuang@ucmerced.edu
michael dawson
Ecological genetics and evolution; stasis and change in marine and terrestrial systems
Email: mdawson@ucmerced.edu
gerardo diaz
Energy conversion systems; dynamic simulation and control of thermal systems
Email: gdiaz@ucmerced.edu
reza ehsani
Automation, robotics, and intelligent machines for agriculture; developing sensors and systems with applications in agriculture, food industry; precision agriculture and horticulture, mechanization and mechanical harvesting systems
Email: rehsani@ucmerced.edu
carolin frank
Microbial genome evolution; community ecology of endophytes
Email: cfrank3@ucmerced.edu
teamrat ghezzehei
Soil physics,agroecology, soil systems modeling, sustainability
Email: taghezzehei@ucmerced.edu
thomas harmon
Fluid flows and mass fluxes in natural and engineered environments
Email: tharmon@ucmerced.edu
erin hestir
Aquatic ecosystems under threat from competing pressures to meet societal needs for water and food security while sustaining biodiversity and other ecosystem services; expertise in geospatial analytics, hyperspectral and satellite remote sensing, and sensor networks in inland and coastal waters and wetlands
Email: ehestir@ucmerced.edu
Matt Hutchinson
Exploring foraging decisions and their effects on individuals, communities, and ecosystems
Email: mhutchinson6@ucmerced.edu
jeffrey jenkins
Natural resource management; public lands and protected areas
Email: jeff.jenkins@ucmerced.edu
Andrea Joyce
Vector ecology, insect behavior, insect population genetics, biological control, and integrated pest management for insects of agricultural and public health importance. Research in the lab and field are conducted to support healthy agricultural communities.
Email: ajoyce2@ucmerced.edu
catherine keske
Applied economics in mountainous and semi-arctic ecosystems; Coupled natural and human systems; Sustainable resource management
Email: ckeske@ucmerced.edu
Safeeq Khan
Climate Change and Water Sustainability, Climate Change and Hydrologic Extremes, Watershed and Regional Scale Hydrologic Modeling, Water Resources Sensitivity and Scenario Analysis, Role of Vegetation Dynamics on Future Water Resources under Climate Change, Agriculture and Forest Management Options for Climate Change Adaptation and Sustainability, Application of Remote Sensing and LiDAR in Hydrologic Modeling and Natural Resources Evaluation and Management
Email: msafeeq@ucmerced.edu
sora kim
Paleoecology; climate change; environmental reconstruction; stable isotope biogeochemistry
Email: skim380@ucmerced.edu
Crystal Kolden
Professor Kolden's research focuses on characterizing and understanding wildfire intersections with the human-environment system through geospatial, temporal, and mixed-methods approaches.
Email: ckolden@ucmerced.edu
Sarah kurtz
Studying the transition to our clean-energy future and how solar, wind, and storage will all fit together to deliver our energy at lower cost than we have today.
Email: skurtz@ucmerced.edu
valerie leppert
Air particulate matter; environmental nanophases; energy nanomaterials
Email: vleppert@ucmerced.edu
Claire Lukens
Prof. Lukens' research focuses on the interactions between climate, tectonics, Earth’s surface, and life through a combination of fieldwork, numerical modeling, and geochemical methods, including tracer thermochronology, cosmogenic nuclides, and soil geochemistry.
Email: clukens@ucmerced.edu
yanbao ma
Energy transport and thermal management in energy systems; water desalination
Email: yma5@ucmerced.edu
Samuel Markolf
Urban Systems, Infrastructure Systems, Social-Ecological-Technological Systems, Sustainability, Resilience, Climate Change
Email: smarkolf@ucmerced.edu
Mark Matsumoto
Water and wastewater treatment, hazardous waste site remediation
Email: mmatsumoto@ucmerced.edu
JosUE Medellin-Azuara
Large scale hydro-economic modeling for water management and policy analysis
Email: jmedellin-azuara@ucmerced.edu
emily moran
Ecological and evolutionary responses of plants to environmental change
Email: emoran5@ucmerced.edu
colleen naughton
Global food and water security; life cycle assessment; geographic information systems
Email: cnaughton2@ucmerced.edu
peggy o'day
Environmental geochemistry; cycling and transport of inorganic contaminates
Email: poday@ucmerced.edu
Alexander Petersen
Data-oriented, focusing on the evolution of large multiscale socio-economic systems by applying concepts and methods from complex systems, statistical physics, management and innovation science to address broad problems calling on multi-disciplinary collaboration
Email: apetersen3@ucmerced.edu
rebecca ryals
Agroecology; Climate Change; Soil Health; Ecological Sanitation; Carbon Sequestration; Greenhouse Gas Dynamics
Email: rryals@ucmerced.edu
jason sexton
Land adaption and species range limits; biological response to global change
Email: jsexton2@ucmerced.edu
joshua viers
Professor Viers is a watershed scientist with expertise in resource management and environmental decision making. His areas of watershed science research include: Agroecology and conservation agriculture planning and implementation, climatic and hydrological change vulnerability assessment and adaptation strategies, ecosystem service and biodiversity inventory, assessment and restoration, geospatial technologies (geographic information systems/remote sensing); Informatics; database design and data mining, water and watershed management; water footprinting
Email: jviers@ucmerced.edu
a. leroy westerling
Applied climatology, climate-ecosystem-wildfire interactions, statistical modeling for seasonal forecasts, paleofire reconstructions, and climate change impact assessments, resource management and policy.
Email: lwesterling@ucmerced.edu
Xuan Zhang
Research aims to gain a predictive and mechanistic understanding of the sources, chemistry, and environmental impact of gaseous and particulate pollutants in the air. Prof. Zhang's research provides a causative link of the chemical signature of air pollution with its climate interactions and adverse health impact in a rapidly changing global environment.
Email: xzhang87@ucmerced.edu
Contact
Emily Moran
Environmental Systems Graduate Program Chair
Email: emoran5@ucmerced.edu
Website: es.ucmerced.edu