Materials & Matter

Grant Funds Research into Fungal Structures

December 4, 2024

Photo depicts Professor Debora Lyn Porter and a blue and gold background.

Mushrooms are pretty amazing. They are light and porous yet have a high strength-to-weight ratio. They are absorbent. They can serve as filters. Manufacturing a material that mimics mushrooms and other fungal structures could provide opportunities in any number of areas, ranging from aerospace...

From left, professors Linda Hirst, Chris Amemiya and Valerie Leppert.

Researchers Unraveling Mysteries of Electrosensory Gel in Sharks, Skates

Cartilaginous fishes such as sharks and skates have a sixth sense, but it’s not ESP — it’s electrosense. Such fishes use hundreds or thousands of specialized organs to sense prey...

Professor Joel Spencer (far right) and members of his lab at UC Merced.

Spencer Lab Publishes New Technique for Live Imaging

Some scientific discoveries are a happy accident (think: penicillin). Others have been there all along, they just take a keen eye to notice, which was recently the case in Professor Joel Spencer...

Five Years in, CCBM Looking to Expand Research and Student Opportunities

From graduate student Jose Zamora’s perspective, the CREST Center for Cellular and Biomolecular Machines (CCBM) has been a spectacular success. “There is so much value to being part...

Federal Grant Preserves Critical Equipment for Molecular Exploration

An important and expensive piece of equipment that was nearing the end of its life is getting a vital upgrade, thanks to a new grant awarded to Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry Professor...

Two New Faculty Members Expand Physics Department and Bring the Cosmos to Campus

UC Merced occupies just one small corner of the world. But through the research, teaching, experience, and connections of two new Department of Physics faculty members, students can access and begin...

Physics Professor Dustin Kleckner studies structure in fluid and soft matter systems.

With Kleckner’s Award, Physics Department Nabs its Third CAREER Grant This Year

Physics Professor Dustin Kleckner has received a prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER award for his research — the third in his department this year. He studies how optical and...

Physics Professor Daniel Beller is investigating how biological matter is able to self-organize.

Active Matter Organization Earns Beller a CAREER Award

Physics Professor Daniel Beller has received a CAREER award for his research into how complex organization arises from simple physical interactions for biological cells or polymers assembled in...

UC Merced Reaches Out with an All-Virtual Research Week

The question: What happens when UC Merced holds Research Week in the middle of a pandemic? The hypothesis: An annual, weeklong presentation of ground-breaking work reaches a big, new virtual audience...

Undergrad Experience: Jacqueline Bustamante

Name: Jacqueline Bustamante Year: Fourth year Major: Chemistry Hometown: Atwater What is a memorable project that you worked on during your time at UC Merced? My experience working on...

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