Sunday 22 December 2024
Anthropology and Heritage Studies
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
Holley Moyes (she, her, hers) is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology and Heritage Studies. She is an archaeologist specializing in the Archeology of Religion who studies cross cultural ritual cave use. Her field research is conducted primarily on ancient Maya cave sites where she has advanced mapping and imaging methods using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), LiDAR, and other 3D visualization techniques. Most recently, she has collaborated with the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation in recording rock art sites in Mariposa and Merced Counties.
Life and Environmental Sciences
School of Natural Sciences
Dr. Adeyemi Adebiyi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences. His research focuses on understanding the impacts of atmospheric aerosols, such as dust and smoke, on air quality, agriculture, and our changing climate at local, regional and global scales. Dr. Adebiyi teaches engaging courses about air pollution, meteorology, clouds and climate.
Molecular and Cell Biology
School of Natural Sciences
I grew up on a pineapple plantation in rural Hawaii. My parents did not attend college, however, my father was a very curious fellow who helped foster my love of the ocean and of the natural world. I discovered genetics and evolutionary biology in college, and after working in a research lab, I became hooked on genetics research and never looked back on my original intention of pursuing a career as a veterinarian. These days my lab studies how organismal diversity arose and how developmental processes have contributed to the diversity we see in the natural world.
Computer Science and Engineering
School of Engineering
Ahmed Sabbir Arif is an Associate Professor of Computer Science & Engineering at UC Merced, leading the Inclusive Interaction Lab. His research spans computer science, cognitive science, human factors, applied machine learning and more, aiming to improve computer system accessibility through innovative input and interaction techniques. He has earned several accolades, including a Hellman Fellowship and an NSF CAREER award. Previously, he held postdoctoral positions at Toronto Metropolitan University and York University, was a Research Intern at Microsoft Research, and earned a PhD from York University, an MSc from Lakehead University, and a BSc from Trent University.
Merritt Writing Program
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
Daniel Ayala is a highly experienced composition instructor who has had the pleasure of living and teaching throughout the United States. Drawing upon an extensive multidisciplinary academic and professional background, Daniel encourages students to develop new connections and expand ideas through an iterative, recursive writing process. In his teaching, Daniel aims to provide an engaging introduction to the world of ideas that students will encounter during their undergraduate education. His selection of readings introduces students to the diverse intellectual traditions of the humanities, including imaginative, expository, and argumentative texts. Daniel is passionate about guiding students through this transformative stage of their academic journey, striving to cultivate a spirit of curiosity and love of learning that students will carry into the future.
History/Critical Race and Ethnic Studies
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
I’m an Associate Professor of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies. My scholarship and teaching focus on the intersection of race and gender, with an emphasis on Black feminism and film/media. I’m the author of the books Black Women Directors, Contemporary Black Women Filmmakers and the Art of Resistance, and the edited collection Kasi Lemmons: Interviews.
Cognitive and Information Sciences
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
I study how humans use sensory information to perform actions in the world. My work has been in the area of rhythm processing and the ability that humans exhibit in synchronizing their actions to external auditory and visual events. In recent years, I have been focused on the role of the motor system in music perception and cognition.
Bioengineering
School of Engineering
The de Alba lab focuses on the study of the molecular and mechanistic bases of the inflammatory response: an essential mechanism of the innate immune system. We are interested in investigating how pattern recognition receptors, which are protein sentinels that detect pathogenic molecules and stress cues, recognize these alarm signals and trigger a series of interactions with adaptor and effector proteins to alert the cell of the presence of danger. We apply the gained knowledge from these studies to design proteins and biological materials for different applications. Our studies combine insights from the Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Bioengineering disciplines.
Chemistry and Biochemistry
School of Natural Sciences
Development of new synthetic methods and chemical reagents for organic chemistry. Synthesis of light-emitting molecules for use in energy storage and agricultural applications
Life and Environmental Sciences
School of Natural Sciences
Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, a Professor of Soil Biogeochemistry at the University of California, Merced. Her cutting-edge research investigates how soil carbon and nutrient cycles respond to environmental changes, including climate change, land-use changes, erosion, and wildfires. Berhe's contributions to understanding the pivotal role of soil in the global carbon cycle have earned her numerous accolades and honors. With her deep expertise and contagious passion for soil science, Berhe's course promises to be an engaging and insightful exploration that will deepen students' understanding of the intricate soil system and its critical role in regulating ecosystem processes.
Merritt Writing Program
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
Alex Block joined UC Merced's Merritt Writing Program in 2013. She holds a doctorate in English from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with a focus on non-dramatic early modern English literature, and previously taught literature and scholarly writing at Bucknell University, Duke University, and her graduate institution. She is a past director of UW-Madison's Online Writing Center and a past assistant director of the Duke Writing Studio.
Psychology
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
My research research focuses on language development in infants and young children, and perceptual processing more generally. I use behavioral and neurophysiological measures in my lab.
Public Health
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
Asa Bradman is an expert in exposure assessment and epidemiology focusing on occupational and environmental exposures to pregnant women, children, and farmworkers living in agricultural communities. In 1998 he co-founded the Center for Environmental Research and Children's Health (CERCH) at UC Berkeley and in 2020 Bradman joined the faculty at UC Merced. Bradman leads exposure and epidemiologic studies examining pesticides, flame retardants, metals, emerging pollutants, VOCs, air quality and other contaminants. He participates in extensive community outreach and education and interfaces with other scientists, state and federal agencies, policy makers and industry. He is past member and Chair of the California Biomonitoring Scientific Guidance Panel (appointed by Governors Schwarzennegger in 2007, Brown in 2013), and in 2017 he was appointed to a five-year term on the USDA National Organic Standards Board. Early in his career, Bradman harvested grapefruits and apples for export, worked on a chicken farm, and was the produce manager for a small grocery store.
Literatures, Languages, and Cultures
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
Professor Brokaw specializes in eco-theatre, Shakespeare, and medieval and Renaissance literature. She is co-founder, producer, and artistic director of Shakespeare in Yosemite, which produces free Shakespeare in Yosemite National Park every April with a combination of student, professional, and community actors, and of the EarthShakes Alliance, which brings together eco-minded theatres from around the world. Professor Brokaw is the author of Shakespeare and Community Performance (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023), and Staging Harmony: Music and Religious Change in Late Medieval Early English Drama (Cornell University Press, 2016).
Merritt Writing Program
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
John Bultena grew up and was raised in Merced. His teaching focuses on writing in the field of Engineering. In addition, his SPARK seminar, “Dungeons & Dragons Skills IRL?” has allowed students to delve into inquiry regarding tabletop roleplaying games, including their therapeutic applications, marketing, critiques of statistical models, question of AI, play in adults, and many more while bringing in speakers from the professional world of tabletop games. John is also a part-time academic librarian. He is also an avid streamer of his actual play series, Abraxas’ Precipice.
Economics and Business Management
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
I am a behavioral and experimental economist who studies culture and decision-making with a particular focus on inequality.
Global Arts, Media, and Writing Studies
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
At UC Merced, Dr. Camfield leads a research group dedicated to exploring strategies for developing student resilience in the face of compounding adversities. She also has general research interests in pedagogy and administration. (Since 1997, she has served as an instructor, curriculum designer, and faculty pedagogy coordinator. She spent five years as director of a university writing program and subsequently worked as the Executive Director of Student Academic Success Services.) Eileen’s abiding commitment to advancing equity, diversity and inclusion connects with her primary research interests pertaining to student success, writing self-efficacy development, anti-racist pedagogy, and authentic assessment.
Management of Complex Systems
School of Engineering
Professor Castro is interested in the capacity of attention under cognitive workload, particularly in the context of technology and multitasking. His research encompasses workload measurement and modeling in human-machine systems, especially within human-computer interaction, driving, automation, and data visualization and manipulation. He also employs advanced cognitive modeling techniques to examine the mechanisms of attentional capacity, multitasking, and performance. His recent multidisciplinary collaborations were published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied and IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics. He has also co-authored review chapters in The Psychology of Learning and Motivation and The Handbook of Human Multitasking.
Molecular and Cell Biology
School of Natural Sciences
Generally, I am a microbiologist with a specialization in virology and developing microbial-based biotechnologies.
Art & Architectural History/Visual Culture
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
Aditi Chandra teaches art history at the University of California, Merced and specializes in the Islamic world, with a focus on South Asia. Her research shows how, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, physical transformations and subaltern actors disrupting statist narratives rendered the monument unruly even as the State attempted to order it. Her book Unruly Monuments: Disrupting the State at Delhi’s Islamic Architecture is forthcoming with Cambridge University Press. She is co-editor (with Vinita Chandra) of Nations and its Margins: Re-thinking Community (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2019). She has curated exhibitions showcasing colonial visual travel ephemera.
Electrical Engineering
School of Engineering
Dr. Eric Cheng earned his PhD from the University of Bath in UK. Before transitioning to academia, he served as Principal Engineer at Lucas Aerospace, leading significant power electronics projects. Renowned as a pioneer in electric vehicles, he designed one of the first charging networks and commercial EVs. He has received numerous international awards in EV components and Energy. A prolific author of over 500 papers and 7 books, he has also conducted more than 500 industrial projects. He is a chartered engineer and a fellow of IEEE and IET, cementing his reputation as a leading expert in electrical engineering.
Management of Complex Systems
School of Natural Sciences and School of Engineering
I am Pooja Chopra, a lecturer at UC Merced with a Ph.D. in experimental Biophysics. My research focuses on the geometric effects in bacterial transport, specifically how size and structural geometry influence bacterial movement in fluid environments. This interdisciplinary work bridges physics and biology, applying mathematical and physical principles to understand real-world biological processes. With over 10 years of teaching experience, I am passionate about fostering dynamic, inclusive learning environments where students can engage with complex scientific concepts. I look forward to contributing to the academic community and mentoring future scientists at UC Merced.
Chemistry and Biochemistry
School of Natural Sciences
I'm one of the founding faculty who joined UC Merced in summer 2003. My research is in the area of computational chemistry, simulating the properties of proteins in collaboration with other faculty at UC Merced. I've taught a wide range of classes, from general chemistry to thermodynamics to Spark seminars on simulations.
Public Health
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
My name is Professor Crawford and I am a passionate advocate for inclusive and effective educational practices. As an Assistant Teaching Professor of Public Health, I blend my expertise in memory and education to enhance teaching and learning experiences in higher education.
Political Science
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
Professor Aditya Dasgupta is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and Director of the Political Economy of Agriculture and Rural Societies (PEARS) lab at the University of California, Merced. His research is on comparative political and economic development, with a focus on technology, governance, democracy, and agriculture. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from Harvard University.
Life and Environmental Sciences
School of Natural Sciences
Mike is an evolutionary ecologist applying genomic tools to understand the origins, maintenance, and loss of biodiversity. His lab explores a wide diversity of taxa (crustaceans, fishes, jellyfishes, molluscs, sea stars, and more) in a variety of places (Indonesia, Palau, Thailand, West Coast of the USA). We are developing approaches to genomic conservation. We are intrigued by exploring biogeographic similarities and differences among marine and non-marine systems. We are committed to greater accessibility to rigorous scientific publishing.
Anthropology and Heritage Studies
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
I am a sociocultural anthropologist and an ethnographer whose research focuses on questions of community well-being and belonging. I am passionate about supporting undergraduate research, in particular to connect UCM's research mission to community engaged research.
Merritt Writing Program
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
I have been a lecturer in the Merritt Writing Program since 2009. My research and teaching interests include writing studies, rhetoric, peer tutoring, science writing, first-year composition, grammar and style, games and culture, and information literacy. I have an English M.A. with a double-concentration in Literature and in Rhetoric and the Teaching of Writing and enjoy assisting students in developing their writing skills. I also have a Masters of Information and Library Science degree and love helping students engage with the research process.
Anthropology and Heritage Studies
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
As a Ph.D. holder in Interdisciplinary Humanities, specializing in Heritage Studies, I am deeply involved in ongoing community-based archaeological research. Currently serving as Project Director at Proyecto Arqueológico Cerro de En Medio, Mexico, my focus lies in unraveling subsistence strategies along the Northern Mesoamerican border. Proficient in remote sensing techniques, particularly drone photogrammetry and LiDAR data interpretation, I actively contribute to developing immersive virtual experiences for heritage visualization and dissemination, including digital historical reconstructions. My work not only enriches scholarly understanding but also fosters public engagement with cultural heritage.
Psychology
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
My research has covered topics of implicit cognition and group perception. I am currently working on education research investigating the impact of service learning.
Merritt Writing Program
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
Christa Fraser is a Continuing Lecturer in the Merritt Writing Program. She specializes in teaching writing for historic and emergent contexts and creative, professional, and hybrid writing. She is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and has been a fiction fellow at both MacDowell and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. She has been a fiction and creative nonfiction instructor for the International Writing Program's and has also taught six-week young writers' Fiction and Creative Nonfiction courses for several U.S. Embassies. She was born and raised in the Central Valley of California, where she has deep roots.
Molecular and Cell Biology
School of Natural Sciences
Xuecai Ge studied embryonic neurogenesis for this PhD thesis at Harvard University, and her work revealed how psychiatric disease-related proteins affect neuronal production in the brain. As a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford, She investigated Hedgehog signaling and its implications in pediatric brain tumors. Her lab studies cell signaling in neurodevelopment and neurological disorders, focusing on the primary cilium, a miniature hair-like organelle at the cell surface. She is passionate about nurturing the next generation scientists.
Life and Environmental Sciences
School of Natural Sciences
Teamrat A. Ghezzehei is a professor of soil physics at the University of California, Merced. He received a B.Sc. in Soil and Water Conservation from the University of Asmara, Eritrea, and a Ph.D. in Soil Physics from Utah State University. Before joining UC Merced, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Dr. Ghezzehei's research focuses on innovative soil management strategies to optimize productivity, enhance soil health, and improve water use efficiency. He regularly teaches courses on hydrology, climate, and sustainability.
Global Arts, Media, and Writing Studies
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
Paul Gibbons focuses teaching and creative time on implementing creative writing pedagogy, gathering data on and strategizing for teaching multilingual first-year writers, and synthesizing approaches to disciplinary and interdisciplinary writing.
Merritt Writing Program
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
Mechanical Engineering
School of Engineering
Professor Sachin Goyal’s research group at UC Merced delves into fundamental mechanical engineering research. Their focus lies at the intersection of mechanics, dynamics, and controls, driven by applications in biology and medicine. They emphasize physical modeling, mathematical analysis, and computational simulations. Their investigations span human biomechanics to the structural dynamics of micro-scale biological filaments. For example, they explore the biomechanical symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, aiming to transform early diagnosis and treatment strategies. Additionally, their work bridges engineering applications with cross-disciplinary impact.
Economics and Business Management
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
Prof. Gray conducts research and teaches upper division classes in the economics and economic history of labor market change and inequality as well as urban problems including crime, policing, and housing markets.
Mechanical Engineering
School of Engineering
I am a teaching professor in Mechanical Engineering focused on professional development, inclusive pedagogy, and social mobility. I oversee the professional development engineering track and the engineering capstone design program.
Civil and Environmental Engineering
School of Engineering
Dr. Erin Hestir is an Associate Professor at the University of California, Merced, specializing in environmental remote sensing for biodiversity, species invasions, biogeochemistry, and water quality.
Economics and Business Management
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
Applied Microeconomist studying innovation, knowledge creation, and knowledge proliferation using patent data.
Physics
School of Natural Sciences
Professor Hirst's research focuses on soft-condensed matter physics. This field of research includes the study of a wide range of everyday materials, biomedical applications and different phenomena in fluid dynamics and biomaterials. Some current research interests include cell membranes in viruses and the lungs, self-driven flows in biological fluids and self-assembly of biological protein filaments. In general, her research group looks at fundamental phenomena using lab-based in-vitro experiments. The group is trained in a variety of different microscopy techniques, materials characterization methods and x-ray scattering - probing how matter is put together both in and out of the body! In addition to her research interests Prof. Hirst is also the author of the interdisciplinary textbook, Fundamentals of Soft Matter Science.
Psychology
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
Dr. Jennifer Howell is an associate professor of health psychology at the University of California, Merced. She received her undergraduate degree in psychology from Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX, and her MS and PhD from the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL. Her research focuses on the intersection of social psychology and health. She is particularly interested in how processes surrounding the self (e.g., defensiveness, social comparison) influence health decision-making and behavior.
Chemistry and Biochemistry
School of Natural Sciences
A product of an enriching honors community and transformative undergraduate research experience, Prof. Hratchian is a strong advocate for honors studies and undergraduate research opportunities. Prof. Hratchian is a theoretical chemist specializing in computational molecular quantum mechanics. Research in the Hratchian Group lies at the intersection of chemistry, mathematics, physics, and computer science. The group’s work includes the development and application of efficient computational chemistry methods to explore interesting questions in chemistry and spectroscopy. Recent studies have focused on mechanism elucidation, electron detachment spectroscopy simulation for transition metal and lanthanide systems, and developing new electronic structure theory models.
Psychology
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
Dr. Bobby Hutchison (he/him) lectures in the psychological sciences program at the University of California, Merced. He holds graduate degrees in biological sciences, health sciences, sociology, psychology and neuroscience, with further training in genetics/genomics, public health, and infectious diseases. Dr. Hutchison’s academic interests are broadly in the biological underpinnings of behavior, sexual and reproductive health, and infectious disease prevention research. He has most recently completed a study on Truvada (emtricitabine and tenofovir disiproxil fumarate) and Descovy (emtricitabine and tenofovir alafenamide) prescribing by advanced practice providers as pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention. He has published articles and edited a number of volumes in the areas of sexuality, gender, and health.
Global Arts, Media, and Writing Studies
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
An Assistant Teaching Professor in Writing Studies, Dr. Emily Rónay Johnston (she/her/hers) researches the relationship between writing, trauma, and resilience. Dr. Emily has published on writing about adversity and on teaching writing about adversity, in College Composition and Communication (2023), Writers: Craft & Context (2022), Rhetoric of Health and Medicine (2020), and elsewhere, and in the edited collections Systems Shift: Creating and Navigating Change in Rhetoric and Composition Administration (2023) and Composing Feminist Interventions: Activism, Engagement, Praxis (2018) published by University Press of Colorado.
Public Health
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
I am an entomologist, an insect scientist. I work with insects of public health importance such as mosquitoes, and I research how to use beneficial insects to control pests. My research supports healthy agricultural communities.
Chemical and Materials Engineering
School of Engineering
I'm an applied economist and social scientist who studies environmental and natural resource issues. I utilize both qualitative and quantitative research methods. My recent work has included measuring the economic impact of biochar on the California economy, the impact of wolves on sense of place, and the willingness to pay for pollinator conservation. I teach Energy Policy, and Technical and Professional Writing for Engineers and Scientists.
Economics and Business Management
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
Dr. Lee is an Associate Teaching Professor at UC Merced. He currently teaches a wide range of courses including Introduction to Economics, Statistical Inference, Intermediate Macroeconomics, Money and Banking, Economics of Sports and Economics of Investments. Dr. Lee's fields of interest include economic history and economic growth.
Materials Science and Engineering
School of Engineering
I'm a materials scientist and engineer who researches nanometer scale materials in the electron microscope. Some of the research projects I've been involved with include feline vaccine adjuvants, energy materials, and air particulate matter. I'm happy to work with Honors students interested in taking MSE 196H (MSE Honors Thesis) or honors by contract.
Molecular and Cell Biology
School of Natural Sciences
Professor Patti LiWang is a biochemist studying protein-protein interactions, particularly as they relate to viral inhibition (HIV, SARS-CoV-2) and for anti-inflammatory strategies.
Literatures, Languages, and Cultures
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
Felicia Rhapsody Lopez (she, her, they, them) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Literatures, Languages, and Cultures. Their research focuses on the writings and culture of Indigenous people of Central Mexico. She teaches courses on Mesoamerican culture and religion, on the Nahuatl language, and on Chicanx culture and literature.
Computer Science and Engineering
School of Engineering
Dr. Xiaoyi Lu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of California, Merced (UC Merced), where he leads the Parallel and Distributed Systems Laboratory (PADSYS Lab). His research interests include parallel and distributed computing, high-performance communication and I/O technologies, big data analytics, cloud computing, deep learning, digital twin technology, and interdisciplinary research. He has published more than 100 papers in prestigious international conferences, workshops, and journals, and has received nine Best (Student) Paper Awards or Nominations. He received NSF CAREER Award, DOE DRS Award, Research Awards from Amazon, Google, and Meta.
Mechanical Engineering
School of Engineering
I am working on Heat and Mass Transfer in Energy and Water Systems.
Cognitive and Information Sciences
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
Tyler Marghetis studies the lulls and leaps of human imagination. He is interested in how cognition and communication are accomplished by systems that vary in scale, from brains, to small groups, to large sociocultural systems.
Materials Science and Engineering
School of Engineering
Kara E. McCloskey, PhD, is a Founding Professor in the School of Engineering at the University of California, Merced (UCM). She received her BS and an MS in Chemical Engineering from the Ohio State University and her PhD through a joint Biomedical Engineering Program with the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and the Ohio State University. Her doctoral studies examined the magnetic separation of stem cells from cancer patients’ apheresis products for potentially faster cancer cell-free reconstitution of the immune system after chemotherapy. Her postdoctoral training focused on vascular stem cell and tissue engineering with Dr. Robert Nerem at the Georgia Institute of Technology. In her faculty position, Dr. McCloskey was the founder and first chair of the Biological Engineering and Small-scale Technologies (BEST) graduate program at UC, Merced and served as the university liaison for the UC Systemwide Bioengineering Multi-campus Research Unit for over 10 years. Her research is in the field of cardiovascular tissue engineering with a specific focus on deriving and characterizing functional cell products from stem cells. As a young investigator, Dr. McCloskey earned a New Faculty Award II from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) for studies towards developing cardiac tissue from stem cells followed by a Basic Biology Award from CIRM to study “Directing Endothelial Sub-phenotypes from Embryonic Stem Cells” and is currently directing a new CIRM-funded Stem Cell Training Program at UCM. She has become most recognized for her work in endothelial cell (EC) fate, including tip-specific ECs emerging from stem cells. She has co-authored ~50 articles on vascular and cardiovascular stem cell differentiation, cell characterization, magnetic cell separation, and integrating stem cell-derived products with biomaterials for developing functional tissue platforms.
Psychology
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
I use experiential and transformative pedagogy to teach introductory psychological concepts, as well as more advanced psychosocial explorations into culture and the nature of social inequity. In line with this focus, my research examines sociocultural and family processes that play into health disparities in pediatric chronic illness management. I am also the co-founder of Speed Diversity Dialogue, a low-cost multicultural excellence training workshop designed to improve diversity awareness and promote social inclusivity.
Political Science
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
Prof. Menon’s work examines how vulnerability (real or perceived) shapes sociopolitical and economic outcomes. Prior to joining UCM, he was a Klarman Postdoctoral Fellow (2022 - 2023) in the Government Department at Cornell University. Prof. Menon completed his PhD in Political Science at the University of Michigan, an MSc. in Economic History (Research) at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a B.A. in Economics and History at Middlebury College. He is also an alumnus of the United World Colleges initiative.
Physics
School of Natural Sciences
My research addresses fundamental questions in nonlinear dynamics and their application to classical, semiclassical and quantum physics, with an emphasis on chaotic transport. My current work can be classified into four main focus areas:
(i) Theory of phase space transport and symbolic dynamics;
(ii) Applications of nonlinear dynamics to AMO (atomic, molecular, and optical) physics;
(iii) Geometry of front propagation and swimmer transport in fluid flows;
(iv) Nonlinear dynamics of active materials.
My work is highly interdisciplinary, bridging areas of physics, engineering, and mathematics.
Political Science
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
Nathan (Nate) Monroe is Professor of Political Science, Tony Coelho Endowed Chair of Public Policy, Director of the Center for Analytic Political Engagement (CAPE), and a research affiliate at the UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC). Much of his research focuses on legislative process--especially agenda setting--at the state, federal, and international level. Nate teaches a broad range of courses on American politics, including a unique course, developed with former California Assembly Member Adam Gray, that simulates a legislative session of the California State Senate.
Political Science
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
Courtenay R. Monroe is Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science. Monroe’s research and teaching interests include political violence and human rights, particularly on how repressive agents make decisions in the face of domestic and international institutional constraints. She is also interested in international organizations, with a particular focus on legislative procedure in the United Nations. Her most recent work focuses on the effect of law on police violence in the United States and abroad. Her book, Contentious Compliance: Dissent and Repression Under International Human Rights Law was published in 2019 by Oxford University Press. Monroe’s research has been published in the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Conflict Resolution, and Journal of Peace Research, among others.
Life and Environmental Sciences
School of Natural Sciences
My research focuses on forest ecology and genetics, particularly conifer responses to climate change.
Bioengineering
School of Engineering
I am a Professor of Bioengineering and my research focuses on the development of biotech applications in the fields of biosensors, disease diagnostics and therapeutics using protein engineering and design. I also work on protein biophysics to understand protein folding, misfolding and function as well as the control of gene expression.
Molecular and Cell Biology
School of Natural Sciences
My laboratory studies the mutualistic association between sepiolid squids (Mollusca: Cephalopoda) and their Vibrio symbionts which provides a versatile and experimentally tractable model system to study the population dynamics and cospeciation between bacterial species and their diversity among host squids.
Cognitive and Information Sciences
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
Dr. David C. Noelle is Associate Professor and Department Chair of Cognitive and Information Sciences at the University of California, Merced. He is also a member of the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science graduate group. He received his Ph.D. in Cognitive Science and Computer Science from the University of California, San Diego, and he completed postdoctoral training at the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition at Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Noelle's research largely involves the fabrication, analysis, and testing of computational models of brain function, with a focus on the prefrontal cortex and its role in learning, memory, and the control of behavior.
Writing Studies
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
Samantha Tetangco Ocena (she/her) is an Associate Teaching Professor in Writing Studies where she teaches creative writing, first-year writing, and professional writing with a focus on sound and audio storytelling, collaborative storytelling, and anti-racist pedagogy. She received her BA from UC Berkeley and her MFA, with Distinction, from the University of New Mexico. Her poetry, short stories, and creative nonfiction have appeared in dozens of literary magazines, and her first collection of poetry, Hope You Blend In: Studies in Color & Light (Broadstone Books, 2024) was a finalist for the 2023 National Poetry Series Prize.
Political Science
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
Christopher Ojeda studies how citizens think about and engage with politics. He is especially interested in how poverty and mental health shape citizen engagement. His current book project, The Sad Citizen, explores how contemporary democratic politics makes citizens feel depressed.
Molecular and Cell Biology
School of Natural Sciences
My research is focused on regulation of metabolism during adapted/evolved and perturbed metabolic conditions.
Electrical Engineering
School of Engineering
Ayush Pandey is interested in research on control theory, computational modeling, and AI for the formal design of large-scale physical systems. Over the past few years, his research has focused on the development of robustness metrics and new inference tools for biological systems. He is also actively extending his research on computational tools to build scalable and open-source educational technologies that make classroom learning more interactive and engaging. As a faculty member at UC Merced, he is leading the pedagogy and curriculum design effort for the new Electrical Engineering department.
Mechanical Engineering
School of Engineering
My research focuses on electric and robotic vehicles. I am interested in combining power conversion with advanced control and optimization methods as a means of achieving high energy efficiency, durability and reliability of energy storage systems. Vehicle automation is another area of my research, with particular emphasis on safe motion planning and resilient control.
Chemistry and Biochemistry
School of Natural Sciences
Aurora Pribram-Jones is an electronic structure theorist, with a focus on density functional theory (DFT). In particular, the PJ Group focuses on analysis of exact theories using model systems, as well as developing ensemble and thermal extensions of ground-state DFT. A key project in the group is re-referencing thermal DFT to an infinitely interacting system, using the finite-temperature strictly correlated electron approach. Other projects in the group involve compositionally complex alloys, warm dense matter, and complicated ground and excited states.
Public Health
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
As an infodemiologist, Dr. Susana Ramírez applies communication science to advance public health goals. She is a nationally recognized expert on media, inequality, and health. Her research—published in Social Science & Medicine, American Journal of Public Health, Journal of Health Communication, and other journals—has examined the development and effectiveness of culturally tailored messages for Latinas, centering an interrogation of “culture” and acculturation processes in message effectiveness studies. Her current work examines policy discourse and media advocacy strategies pertaining to population health and public policy.
Political Science
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
I study topics in comparative political behavior and political economy with a focus on Mexico. I use a variety of techniques such as field experiments, surveys, interviews, and observational data.
Merritt Writing Program
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
I am a published author in Writing Studies with several publications and experience as the initiator of the online version of the UC Merced Undergraduate Research Journal.
Computer Science and Engineering
School of Engineering
Florin's research interests lie in the area of databases and large scale data management in general, with a particular focus on designing and building infrastructure for Big Data analytics. Specific topics include query processing and optimization, approximate and randomized algorithms, and scalable machine learning. Scientific data processing as another facet of Big Data receives considerable attention in Florin's research through topics such as multi-dimensional array data management and in-situ data processing. Florin is interested both in theoretical aspects as well as system design issues. His research has been funded by UC Merced, US Department of Energy (DOE), National Science Foundation (NSF), California Department of Education, Hellman Foundation, LogicBlox, and TigerGraph.
Anthropology and Heritage Studies
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
I am a historical geographer interested in the mapping and study of Buddhist heritage sites in Asia. Courses I teach include HS 150 Geographic Information Systems for Cultural Heritage.
Anthropology and Heritage Studies
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
As an anthropological bioarchaeologist, I explore what drove major human dietary and residential change, as recorded in skeletal biogeochemistry—what pushes and pulls us to move, and how do those journeys shape individual and community outcomes? I use isotopic and geospatial analyses in field and laboratory settings to document diet, residence, health, and violence-related trauma relative to past movement networks. My study contexts are characterized by conflict, climate stress, ‘collapse’, and contact—throughout South America and the Southeast. As a former prosecutor, I aim to highlight examples of cooperation from our shared human past to inform today’s problems.
Cognitive and Information Sciences
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
I study how behaviors emerge and evolve in response to social, cultural, and ecological pressures, as well as how those pressures can themselves evolve. I also have broad interests related to cultural evolution, cooperation, and complex systems. Much of my work involves building and analyzing mathematical models and computer simulations. Some of my current projects involve the emergence of identity signaling strategies, the role of identity in social learning, the role of diversity in innovation, the cultural evolution of analogies, and the population dynamics of scientific norms.
Merritt Writing Program
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
Dr. Matt Snyder’s research focuses on writing, representation, and the Holocaust.
Anthropology and Heritage Studies
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
My research interests include language learning within the school context, enhancing and developing academic supports and resources for under-represented students, both in and out of school, and expanding ways in which partnerships are developed between communities, families, and schools. I am interested in how we bridge the ‘gap’ between school, home, and community, and how we expand opportunities for under-represented students in the pursuit of higher education. I am also interested in how students create a ‘sense of belonging’ when transitioning from home and community to college/university settings.
Chemistry and Biochemistry
School of Natural Sciences
My lab studies protein biophysics, focusing on the relationship between their physical-chemical environment and their function.
Applied Mathematics
School of Natural Sciences
My research focuses on mathematics pedagogy. Specifically, in designing course materials with an applied focus in an active learning framework, and pursuing validation of the effectiveness of these instructional tools in preparing students to use mathematics in practical contexts.
Anthropology and Heritage Studies
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
I am fascinated by people's economic decision-making, especially in contexts of intense uncertainty. As an economic anthropologist, I study people's strategies of investment and trade in the Horn of Africa, and I am now focusing on how climate change affects investment behavior.
Anthropology and Heritage Studies
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
Christina Torres (she/her/ella) is a bioarchaeologist with work focused on northern Chile. She is currently a professor and Chair of the Department of Anthropology and Heritage Studies. She has led a number of research projects, all focused on the people who lived in the deserts of northern Chile. Her research and publications have focused on the body and its intersection with society and culture. Her focus is on body modifications and patterns of violence and the traces these leave on the skeleton. At UC Merced she teaches Anthro 5, and upper division courses focused on the skeleton and mortuary archaeology.
History/Critical Race and Ethnic Studies
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
Born and raised on Guam, I am, at heart, an islander, a factor that informs my research interests and approaches to the greater Pacific region. My interests are in transnational tourism and urban development in the Pacific Rim region from the mid 20th century to the present. In particular I examine in the parallel development of the "sister islands" of Jeju, South Korea and the Hawai'ian Islands. Beyond this long-term research, I am also interested in urban humanities and cross-Pacific vernacular cultures.
Physics
School of Natural Sciences
Brian Utter is a Teaching Professor in the Department of Physics. His research interests focus on two areas:
(1) Experimental studies on the flow of granular materials and suspensions: Though seemingly straightforward, collections of discrete particles are nonlinear, complex materials that exhibit unpredictable emergent phenomena, such as avalanching, jamming, and even the clogging of pedestrians in evacuation scenarios.
(2) Pedagogy and Physics Education Research: The way we teach and learn physics is similarly complex, as we attempt to gauge how best to foster intrinsic motivation, break incorrect preconceptions, reach conceptual change, and engage in teaching and learning effectively.
Global Arts, Media, and Writing Studies
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
Since joining UC Merced in 2007, she has been active in the Writing Studies Minor, including founding the UC Merced Creative Writing Collaboratorium, a multi-campus conference, and curating the Write! Look! Listen! reading and workshop series. She has also been active in general education, assessment and review processes, the UC Merced Undergraduate Research Journal, student clubs and events, as well as other campus initiatives and projects. These areas of engagement and inquiry stem from her teaching and research interests in collaborative, integrative, and empowering pedagogy and praxis, creative writing, interdisciplinarity, poetry, and creativity studies. Her poems have appeared in numerous publications, including journals such as Arts and Letters, Spoon River Poetry Review, Cimarron Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, and in the anthology, A Face to Meet the Faces: Contemporary Persona Poetry.
Chemical and Materials Engineering
School of Engineering
Christopher Viney (he, him, his) has held teaching and research appointments at the University of Cambridge (Materials), the University of Washington (Materials, Bioengineering), the University of Oxford (Materials), Heriot-Watt University (Chemistry), and UC Merced (Engineering). His interdisciplinary research has been mostly in biomolecular materials (Nature’s lessons for engineers), and, more recently, at the interface of materials science and epidemiology. His less formal interests include languages (German, Afrikaans, Dutch, Spanish), professional photography (nature, architecture, abstract), wilderness hiking, music (choral, classical organ, bells), history (especially as it relates to science and engineering), extremely spicy cuisine, and science outreach.
Global Arts, Media, and Writing Studies
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
ShiPu Wang is the Coats Family Chair in the Arts and professor of art history at UC Merced. His scholarship has centered around rediscovering and reevaluating the work and legacy of diasporic American artists of Asian descent in the first half of the twentieth century, during the Exclusion Era. An awards-winning author of four books and numerous journal articles, Dr. Wang has also curated two internationally and nationally touring art exhibitions: Chiura Obata: An American Modern (2018–2020), and Pictures of Belonging: Miki Hayakawa, Hisako Hibi, and Miné Okubo (2024–2027). Dr. Wang has served on the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery’s Board of Commissioners, the editorial board of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s academic journal, American Art, and as a Terra Foundation Senior Fellow at both the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Brooklyn Museum of Art.
Psychology
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
Deborah Wiebe received her PhD in Clinical Health Psychology and her Master’s in Public Health from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She joined UC Merced in 2013. Her research aims to understand how people regulate their physical and emotional well-being when dealing with health problems, and how social relationships interface with these self-regulation processes across development. Much of her work has focused on adolescents and emerging adults, which is a risky time for youth with diabetes. The research findings have been used to develop novel interventions for young people with diabetes that are currently being tested.
Merritt Writing Program
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
I am a proud UCM faculty member who strives to help students meet learning outcomes and larger life goals through engaging in research, writing and critical thinking.
Molecular and Cell Biology
School of Natural Sciences
Molecular and neural circuit mechanisms for simple behavioral actions: How alcohol changes the brain and behavior; The neural coding of thirst motivation; Homeostatic coping mechanisms for environmental stress. Graduate student academic and professional development.
Physics
School of Natural Sciences
In the Xu lab, we use physics, optics, and math to solve important open problems in biology.
Global Arts, Media, and Writing Studies
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
Yiran Xu is an Assistant Professor of Writing Studies. Her research interests include multilingual writing, second language acquisition and bilingualism, corpus linguistics, and writing assessment. She used mixed-methods approaches to understand how multilingual learners develop writing and language skills over time across various contexts.
Philosophy & Cognitive and Information Sciences
School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts
I am a professor in the the departments of Cognitive and Information Sciences and Philosophy. I study the relationship between the dynamics of consciousness and the dynamics of neural activity in an embodied brain. As part of this, I model neural networks (I am the creator of Simbrain, www.simbrain.net), create mathematical models of embodied agents, and study Husserl (see Husserl.net, which I maintain). I have many other projects besides...I just can't help myself, I find almost everything to be interesting! A broad theme in all my work is finding ways to visualize complex processes to facilitate scientific reasoning and education.
