uc merced magazine, fall 2014

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

RESEARCHERS WANT TO KNOW

What Makes People Tick, Politically

NEW STUDENTS SPEND A WEEK IN THE WILDERNESS

Before Settling in on Campus

STUDENTS IN PROFESSOR KATHLEEN HULL’S CLASS

Spend a Lot of Time Banging Rocks

THE MAGAZINE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, MERCED

FALL 2014

Valley Fever Researchers

Take a 360-Degree Look at a Mysterious Disease

WE WANT YOUR OPINION! Take our online survey

20

DEPARTMENTS

3 FAST FACTS | Enrollment

figures for Fall 2014

show gains

8 IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Catch up

on campus news in brief and check

out the latest videos

11 SPORTS UPDATE | Four student

athletes have helped set the

foundation for campus sports

12 HAVING COFFEE WITH

PROFESSOR JENNIFER LU |

Science is just one of

her passions

30 WHAT’S NEW | the Science and

Engineering 2 building exemplifies

campus sustainability

32 ALUMNI CORNER | Pioneering

classes return for the first

campus reunion

14

FEATURES

CurriCulum | In Professor

Kathleen Hull’s class, being flaky

is a good thing

Donor Spotlight | Southern

California Edison supports

students and research

CoVEr StorY | Valley fever

researchers take a 360-degree

view of the disease

AlSo on thE CoVEr | The 2014 midterm

elections are right around the corner, and UC

Merced’s political science researchers want to

understand why people do what they do

SiErrA ViEwS | A Week of

Wilderness helps ease students’

transition to college

our worlD | Researchers work in the deserts

of Africa and the waters of the South Pacific,

and lots of places in between

FoCuS on unDErgrADuAtE StuDEntS |

Engineering Service Learning team is

spreading the green

CONTENTS

6

26

4

28

31

THE MAGAZINE OF THEUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, MERCED

Fall 2014

FALL 2014 | UC MERCED MAGAZINE 1

Let’s make a deal. UC Merced Magazine needs your help understanding how we can better serve you, our readers. What do you get out of it besides the chance to share your opinions?

We’ll give you an issue packed with great information and the beautiful photography you’ve come to expect!

Just take the survey online. It will take about two minutes to complete, but the feedback we get from you will be priceless.

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So please take a few minutes to tell us what you like, what you don’t like and what you would like to see more of.

Thank you. We look forward to hearing from you very soon!

Give us your opinion!

Letter from University Communications

2 FALL 2014 | UC MERCED MAGAZINE

It’s Fall 2014, the start of UC Merced’s 10th academic year.

Hard to believe, isn’t it? Our young university is earning its reputation

for educating students and researching issues that matter to the state, the

country and the world.

One of those issues, valley fever, affects people in California, Arizona,

Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah and northern Mexico who inhale the

fungus. While most cases resolve themselves or can be treated, sometimes

valley fever proves fatal.

At UC Merced, researchers in a variety of disciplines are examining the

topic, not just from a biomedical perspective, but also from an engineering

one, trying to design equipment that can sense the pathogen in soil to warn

people of risks.

They are also looking at the disease through a social prism, trying to

understand why the disease affects the people it does – most often outdoor

workers – and how to better educate the public about risks and precautions.

UC MERCED MAGAZINE | Fall 2014

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Lorena AndersonSenior Public Information RepresentativeUniversity Communications

PHOTOGRAPHY

Veronica AdroverTrevor HirstElena Zhukova

MAGAZINE DESIGN

Jennifer Biancucci

PUBLISHED BY

University Communications

UC MERCED LEADERSHIP

Dorothy LelandUC Merced Chancellor

Thomas PetersonProvost and Executive Vice Chancellor

Kyle HoffmanVice ChancellorDevelopment and Alumni Relations

Patti WaidAssistant Vice ChancellorUniversity Communications

Cori LuceroExecutive DirectorGovernmental and Community Relations

VISIT US ON THE WEB

Follow UC Merced online at ucmerced.edu

RESEARCHERS STUDYING VALLEY FEVER KNOW THE PATHOGEN IS AIRBORNE, AND OFTEN FOUND IN DUST

KICKED UP DURING AGRICULTURAL OPERATIONS.

It’s also almost time for the mid-term elections. For

political junkies and the political science faculty members

at UC Merced, it’s like the World Cup – sometimes fun,

sometimes frustrating and sometimes heartbreaking to see

how the different contests play out.

In this issue, you’ll read about both topics, as well as a

host of other subjects related to our campus. See the newest

completed construction project: the second science and

engineering building, housing labs, classrooms and offices;

learn about what’s going on in the Sierra and the work that

takes our researchers around the world; and have coffee with

one of our fascinating engineers, Professor Jennifer Lu.

As always, thank you for exploring UC Merced!

UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS


2014 – 15 ENROLLMENT DATA

UC Merced began its 10th academic year with steady demand, showing that students and their families value

the benefits of a UC education in an intimate, personalized environment. Despite being limited by the amount

of classroom, housing and administrative space available, the campus welcomed more than 1,500 freshmen for

the 2014-15 academic year.

Here’s a snapshot of what this year’s undergraduate and graduate student populations look like.

ETHNICITY PERCENTAGE

African-American 1.8%

Asian/Paci�c Islander 10.4%

Hispanic 11.7%

Native American .3%

White 39.1%

Nonresident Alien 29.4%

Two or More Races 4.2%

Unknown/Declined to State 13.5%

GRADUATE STUDENTS BY ETHNICITY

5,884UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

384GRADUATE STUDENTS

TOTAL STUDENTS BY CLASS LEVEL

Engineering 21.7%

Natural Sciences 30.4%

Social Sciences, Humanities 35.7%and Arts

Undeclared 12.2%

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS BY SCHOOL

ETHNICITY PERCENTAGE

African-American 5.7%

Asian/Paci�c Islander 25.2%

Hispanic 45.6%

Native American .2%

White 14.1%

Nonresident Alien 3.9%

Two or More Races 4.4%

Unknown/Declined to State .9%

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS BY ETHNICITYUNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS BY GENDER

GENDER PERCENTAGE

Female 51.5%

Male 48%

Unknown .5%

GRADUATE STUDENTS BY GENDER

GENDER PERCENTAGE

Female 43.5%

Male 56.5%

6,268


F I N D I N G M E T H O D SB E H I N D T H E M A D N E S S

Course: LITHIC ArTIfACT ANALySISKATHLEEN HULL, School of Social Sciences, Humanites and Arts

“i could lecture on this all day long,

but bringing them outside to work

with stones themselves gives

students an understanding that can’t

be duplicated in any other way.”

– PROFESSOR katHleen Hull

C u r r I C u L u M

BY TONYA KUBOUniversity Communications

rchaeology is the study of how humans lived in the past by

examining what they left behind.

Stone artifacts typically stand the test of time and are among the most

common objects found in the cultural landscapes of pre-agricultural

societies. In Professor Kathleen Hull’s Lithic Artifact Analysis class,

undergraduates learn how to identify and analyze flaked and ground stone

tools using archaeological methods.

“It’s a hands-on opportunity for students to understand the decisions

people made in the past based on the technology in practice at the time,”

said Hull, who enjoys using stone-artifact analysis to help students grasp

the research process from beginning to end. “They learn how to start with

nothing and figure out a research question, which methods to use to answer

that question, how to collect data, analyze it and report their findings.”

Hull’s students do this by creating their own collection

of stone artifact samples, which they will compare with

archaeological collections on loan from the U.S. Forest

Service, National Park Service or other entities.

At this stage of the semester, students are learning about

core reduction by using hammerstones to break off sharp

pieces of obsidian – or flakes – that could be further

refined into arrowheads or other types of stone tools.

By making their own flakes, students learn the various

factors past humans had to consider in the process, such

as how far from the edge a rock needs to be struck in

order to produce a large flake and how to angle

the blow.

Flint knappinG is part oF How proFessor katHleen Hull teacHes students about tHe researcH process.


Elia Hernandez, a junior from Tulare who selected a smaller chunk

of obsidian with which to work, learned very quickly that size matters.

“Small stones are difficult because it’s hard to find the right spot to

hit to break off usable flakes,” she said, adding that “trying to create

flakes was a powerful lesson in itself.”

“I could lecture on this all day long, but bringing them outside to

work with stones themselves gives students an understanding that

can’t be duplicated in any other way,” Hull said.

Graduate student teaching assistant Erin Ray agrees that

the process of learning by doing makes the class material

much more meaningful to students.

“Many people are hands-on learners but the social sciences

do not offer much in the way of interactive lessons,” Ray said.

“Lab classes such as this make the subject much more

engaging for students, allowing them to retain more of

what they learn.”

Southern California Edison powers

millions of California homes and

businesses — and it’s also helping

jumpstart the careers of nearly 100 UC

Merced students.

“Having innovative, energetic and

imaginative students to help our company

solve problems is critical,” said Les Starck, the

company’s senior vice president of regulatory

policy and affairs. “Without that, we will not

be successful. That’s why we like to invest

our money in educational institutions like

UC Merced, which produce those kinds of

students.”

Southern California Edison, headquartered

in Rosemead and a subsidiary of Edison

International, is one of the nation’s largest

electric utilities, serving nearly 14 million

Californians in a 50,000-square-mile service

area within central, coastal and Southern

California.

Since 2010, Southern California Edison has

supported UC Merced with nearly $500,000

in donations for undergraduate scholarships,

graduate fellowships and the School of

Engineering’s acclaimed Innovate to Grow

competition.

Eight graduate students and 83

undergraduate students have received

support from the company. Forty-five

student teams participated in last year’s

Innovate to Grow competition, which is

an annual showcase of student creativity,

ranging from partnering with industry to

solve problems to developing mobile apps for

the student community.

UC Merced’s diversity and its focus on

renewable energy and sustainability attracted

Southern California Edison’s attention.

The state has worked to reduce greenhouse

gas emissions, and one key component of

that goal is investing in solar technology,

Starck said.

New this year is the company’s

sponsorship of the University of California

Advanced Solar Technologies Institute

(UC Solar), headquartered at UC Merced.

The partnership supports UC Solar’s

development of energy-generation

technologies; the facilitation of solar-systems

integration at the residential, community

and utility scales; and examining solar energy

economics and policy.

“UC Merced is totally aligned with our

commitment to reduce greenhouse gasses

and integrate solar into our portfolio of

generation technologies,” said Starck, who

also serves on the UC Merced Foundation

Board of Trustees.

School of Natural Sciences graduate

student Phil Saksa is just one of the students

who have benefited from Southern California

Edison’s philanthropy.

Saksa is pursuing his Ph.D. in

Environmental Systems, looking at how

forest-management policies affect the Sierra

Nevada and environs.

“Does it make a difference if we actively

manage the forest by thinning or just let

Mother Nature take its course?” he said.

Forest management has shifted from fire-

suppression efforts beginning about 1900, to

the past 20 years, when forest managers have

let fires run their courses unless they threaten

houses or people in order to restore a natural

cycle that creates healthier forests.

Suppression transformed the landscape,

leaving more brush and denser forests

— fuels that cause fires to burn stronger

and ultimately become more destructive,

Saksa said. The Rim Fire last year — the

largest recorded in the Sierra Nevada — is a

reminder of the policy.

Forest management also changes how

much water comes out of the Sierra Nevada.

Saksa, Professor Roger Bales and other

researchers coauthored a paper suggesting

water runoff could be increased by thinning

forests to historical conditions.

The additional runoff could benefit society

including farmers, residents, wildlife, utilities

and water managers statewide.

The plan could also save taxpayers money.

Management is a relatively small investment

compared to fighting massive fires that

damage property and harm the economy.

Southern California Edison’s support

has been crucial, allowing Saksa to focus on

research and not worry about tuition or take

out loans.

“The support really makes UC Merced

more competitive for graduate researchers,”

Saksa said. “Having these kinds of business-

research relationships is a good way to pursue

scientific questions that can benefit society

and as a result, a company like Southern

California Edison can potentially produce

more reliable, sustainable energy.”

BY SCOTT HERNANDEZ-JASONUniversity Communications

ENErgy CoMpANy powErS


Donor Spotlight

soutHern caliFornia edison’s support is vital to tHe annual innovate to Grow event sHowcasinG students’ creativity, enGineerinG and project manaGement skills.

State, Student SucceSS

In appreciation of UC Merced’s generous and loyal supporters, the

InaUgURaL CELEBRaTIOn OF PhILanThROPIC LEaDERS RECEPTIOn

anD DInnER will be held in early 2015. More information is coming soon.

CElEBrAtion oF philAnthropiC lEADErS

uc merced is totally aligned with our

commitment to reduce greenhouse gasses

and integrate solar into our portfolio of

generation technologies.

– les starck, Southern California ediSon


SCHOLARSHIP MONEY FROM SOUTHERN

CALIFORNIA EDISON SUPPORTS PHIL

SAKSA’S GRADUATE RESEARCH INTO

ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS.

Campus Launches Redesigned, Responsive Website

The campus’s redesigned website

features a responsive layout that looks

great on phones, tablets and laptops,

new and expanded information, a new

color palette and wide photo rotators

that showcase the campus.

University Communications under-

took the redesign last fall, conducting

research and soliciting input and feed-

back from a Web advisory group that

included faculty members, students

and staff members. The design was fi-

nalized in april. Writers, designers and

developers spent most of the summer

building the site so it could launch in

the fall.

READ ThE WhOLE STORy.

Campus’s Direct Investment in Regional Economy Exceeds $1.1 Billion

UC Merced has directly invested

more than $1.1 billion into the San Joa-

quin Valley economy since it opened in

July 2000, an increase of $155 million

over the past 12 months. Statewide,

the university’s direct investment total

now surpasses $2.2 billion.

That includes the cumulative

value of all wages and benefits paid,

construction contracts awarded, and

goods and services purchased within

the San Joaquin Valley through august

2014. Because each dollar invested

typically generates two to three times

as much in indirect economic expen-

diture, the university’s total economic

impact on the region and across the

state is substantially larger.


Solar Power Purchase Positions Campus for Total Renewable Energy Use

UC Merced is moving toward

getting 100 percent of its power from

renewable sources by the end of 2016.

The University of California made

the largest solar energy purchase by

any U.S. higher education institution

to help power its campuses, recently

buying 80 megawatts of solar power

from two solar fields near Fresno.

The solar buy and two planned

projects on campus – rooftop solar-en-

ergy systems on campus buildings

and an expansion of the campus’ solar

farm – would bring the campus to 100

percent renewable energy by the end

of 2016.



This is the start of another exciting year for UC Merced –

its 10th academic year.

The campus, its research, teaching and service missions,

its sustainability goals and its students, faculty and staff

members are thriving here. The campus is growing, as are

its effects on the region, the state and the nation.

If you choose to read the news stories online, you’ll also

notice the campus has a new gateway website – a modern,

mobile-friendly site that is still easy to navigate for anyone,

in any format.

Take a look at some of the stories you might have

missed recently:

In caSe You MISSED IT

Slain Civil Rights Activist Receives This year’s Spendlove Prize

Viola gregg Liuzzo, a

civil rights activist who

was killed by the Ku

Klux Klan while driving

another activist home

from the Southern

Christian Leadership

Conference in March 1965, has been named the 2014

recipient of the alice and Clifford Spendlove Prize in Social

Justice, Diplomacy and Tolerance.

UC Merced will award the prize to Liuzzo’s three daughters

during a ceremony nov. 6. The Spendlove Prize, established

in 2006 through a generous gift to the university from Sherrie

Spendlove in honor of her parents, honors an individual who

exemplifies the delivery of social justice, diplomacy and

tolerance in his or her work.


New Financial Assistance for Middle Class Families

about 24,000 UC students qualify for funding through

California’s Middle Class Scholarship, which was approved by

the Legislature earlier this year and will make its first contri-

butions to eligible students this fall.

Targeted at families with incomes up to $150,000, the

program is designed to shave a bit off the college tab for

those who don’t qualify for other forms of need-based aid.

UC students with family incomes below $80,000 who qual-

ify for financial aid have systemwide tuition fully covered

through the Blue and gold Opportunity Plan, and often

receive state and federal assistance.


Students Battle for Sustainability Supremacy

UC Merced’s 2,100 resident students are involved in a

month-long battle – the 2014 Water Battle – to see which res-

idence hall can save the most water during October. Organiz-

ers said they are excited to see what the students can do just

by making a few simple changes like fewer, shorter showers

and washing only full loads of laundry.

The 4-year-old award-winning competition rewards the stu-

dents who save the most water. The students use a real-time

water monitoring system to keep track of their savings. In

2013, on-campus residents saved 44,000 gallons and detect-

ed 15 leaks, which saved countless gallons more.


Faculty hires Increase Scope of Campus Research Expertise

UC Merced hired 33 faculty

members for the 2014-15

academic year, giving the

campus 212 tenure-track

professors who expand the

depth and breadth of

research expertise.

Excluding student employees, the campus now has about

1,300 total staff and faculty members, which also includes 149

lecturers. The faculty hires reflect areas of rapid enrollment

growth as well as the greatest potential for interdisciplinary

collaboration and research. areas of hire include the cam-

pus’s first hmong studies expert; chemistry; music; biology;

mechanical engineering; economics; English; applied math;

materials science; public health and more.




California Overspends Water Rights by 300 Million Acre FeetCalifornia is deficit-spending its water and has been for a century, according to

data analyzed by researchers from the University of California.

UC Merced Professor Joshua Viers and a colleague explored the state’s database

of water-rights allocations, and found that allocations in California exceed the state’s

actual water supply by five times the average annual runoff and 100 times the actual

surface-water supply for some river basins.

In a good year, the state has about 70 million acre feet of surface water available

for use. Based on active water rights records, a total of 370 million acre feet have

been allocated.


Climate Change Influencing Freshwater Mountain Runoff, Research Shows

Professor

Roger Bales

from UC Merced

and a colleague

found that climate

change is causing

longer growing

seasons in the

upper elevations of the Sierra nevada.

a longer growing season means plants

use more water, leaving less to run off

into meadows and rivers for human and

animal users.

The researchers’ work shows the rela-

tionships between plants’ water usage,

temperature and vegetation growth

were similar across a broader area of

the Sierra nevada, suggesting that the

impact of climate change on freshwater

availability could be widespread.


In caSe You MISSED IT

The school year always starts with the annual Bridge Crossing.

Learn more about the newly revised Principles of Community that guide the UC Merced campus.

UC Merced has an enduring partnership with Yosemite national Park, and congratulates the park on its 150th anniversary.

Campus Seeks Students to Address Critical Food Issues

UC Merced is recruiting three students to be part of the UC global Food Initia-

tive, which aims to address how to sustainably and nutritiously feed a world popula-

tion expected to reach 8 billion by 2025. The campus is giving out three $2,500 food

fellowships to students who make propose the best plans to the UC global Food

Initiative.

Recognizing that the UC is uniquely positioned to play a leading role in

addressing the related challenges of nutrition and sustainability, the UC system

launched the initiative this summer to align the university’s research, outreach

and operations in a sustained effort to develop, demonstrate and export solutions

— throughout California, the U.S. and the world — for food security, health and

sustainability.



he 2014-15 academic year marks the start of the

fourth year of intercollegiate competition for

UC Merced.

Four teams — men’s basketball, women’s volleyball and

men’s and women’s cross country — have laid the foundation

for generations of Golden Bobcats to come.

Four students have been there for the journey, spending all

four of their eligibility years playing for UC Merced.

Director of Recreation and Athletics David Dunham is

impressed with the progress the teams have made since the

campus’s jump to National Association of Intercollegiate

Athletics (NAIA) play.

“Our coaches have done a tremendous job of recruiting

student athletes who have contributed immediately to the

program,” Dunham said.

UC Merced’s first student-athlete recruit, Valeria Martinez,

was tapped for her high school varsity volleyball team as a

freshman, but she never expected to play at the college level.

Her outstanding performance, however, has earned her

a place in the All-California Pacific Conference for the past

three years.

“It’s been a blessing because I was able to make history here

and start something new,” said Martinez, a sociology student

from Madera.

Caroline Mack, who started on the campus’s women’s club

volleyball team before it joined the NAIA, shares the same

pioneering feeling.

“Being able to see the team and program grow over the

years makes me proud to say that I was part of that,” Mack

said.

The psychology major from Los Angeles said competing

has given her a well-rounded educational experience.

“When I have a practice, it’s like a pause in my everyday

school life, a short break from classes, papers and homework,”

Mack said. “I also find that the skills that I learn from

volleyball — like patience and determination — help me with

school.”

Kevin Ellsworth, a biological sciences student from

Clovis, said being part of the inaugural intercollegiate men’s

basketball team has been an honor.

“Few people can and will ever say they were the first one to

do something, but that’s what I was able to do here,” Ellsworth

said. “When I came to campus my freshman year and met the

returning club players, I could see how much work had been

put in to move the team from the club level to NAIA.

“I could also see how excited they were to be finally

recognized as a varsity team.”

For Ellsworth’s teammate Mitch Flores, playing on the team

since its inception has been a life-changing opportunity.

“UC Merced has helped shape me into the person I am

today,” said the biological sciences major from Stockton.

“I have learned a lot about myself and have grown into an

individual who is ready to contribute to the world.”

Since 2011, UC Merced’s athletics program has added

women’s basketball, men’s volleyball, and men’s and women’s

soccer, bringing the total number of varsity sports to eight.

Dunham looks forward to seeing the campus’s enthusiasm

increase as the program continues to grow.

“Our students have supported our athletes through strong

attendance,” Dunham said. “It is great to see school spirit

and traditions begin to develop around our intercollegiate

athletics.”

GOlDEN BOBcaTSBuIldIng a legacY

SPO

RTSU

PDa

TE

T

Men’s basketball

Women’s volleyball

Cross country

Women’s soccer

Women’s basketball

t’s a sunny morning as Professor Jennifer

Lu sits on the patio outside the Leo and

Dottie Kolligian Library, her fingers

moving quickly across her smartphone’s

keyboard.

Lu, with the School of Engineering, talks

about science with excitement. In fact, she’s

enthusiastic about many topics.

“I advise my students to work hard, not

waste time and to find something they’re

passionate about,” Lu said. “And, if you don’t

have a passion, fake it until you make it.

Sometimes it takes time to find what suits you.”

‘EVERYTHING STARTS WITH MATERIALS’

Lu discovered science in college and

specializes in novel nanomaterial design,

synthesis and characterization.

“My research has components of science and

engineering,” Lu said. “Everything starts with

materials. How do we manipulate molecular

and nanoscale arrangements to create man-

made materials that have the properties that

are not offered by nature?”

That question is at the heart of her research.

Lu’s research group is working on materials

that enable the conversion of energy from one

everything starts with materials.

How do we manipulate molecular and

nanoscale arrangements to create man-made

materials that have the properties that are not offered by nature?

– PROFESSOR jenniFer lu

Lu’s Higher Education

1989Graduated from Shanghai

University with a bachelor’s

in materials science and

engineering

1993Earned master’s degree

in materials science and

engineering from Drexel

University

1995Completed second master’s

degree in macromolecular

science and engineering from

the University of Michigan

2006Earned Ph.D. in

macromolecular science and

engineering at the University

of Michigan

2007Joined the faculty at

UC Merced

Having Coffee with JENNIFER LUBY DONNA BIRCH TRAHANUniversity Communications


I

form to another, which is key to a wide

variety of applications in life science,

energy storage, energy conversion and

machine intelligence.

One of the team’s projects involved

generating materials that respond to

low-energy light or room-temperature

fluctuations.

‘NOVEL AND GROUNDBREAKING’

When she joined UC Merced, she had

already developed the basic concept for a

new material, work she started during her

undergraduate studies.

“There was a molecule that I found

interesting during my graduate studies

at the University of Michigan,” she said.

“I wanted to do some synthesis of it,

but at the time, didn’t have the needed

infrastructure and resources to do it.”

But Lu decided to keep at it.

In 2010, her research group

demonstrated how a new, soft material

based on the molecule deformed in

response to infrared light – a lower-

energy and less-damaging trigger than the

ultraviolet light that is usually used.

Lu collaborated with UC Merced

colleagues Professor Erin Johnson,

a theoretical chemist, and Professor

Christopher Viney, an established materials

scientist, to propose a new switching unit.

In 2013, the scientists and Lu’s graduate

student, Xingyuan “Alex” Shen, shared their

findings in a paper published in Nature’s

Chemistry. Peers described the group’s

work as “novel and groundbreaking.”

The experience showed her that

persistence pays off.

“You have to just keep trying,” she said.

“The experience will help you to appreciate

the value of endurance and stamina. It will

help you gain self-confidence and you will

prove to yourself that yes, I can do it.”

LOVE OF SCIENCE DEVELOPED IN COLLEGE

Raised in Shanghai, she was the younger

of two daughters. Her father was an

information technologist and her mother

a materials scientist. But Lu’s venture into

science wasn’t predetermined.

“I was supposed to pursue music or

gymnastics,” Lu said.

She started playing the violin at age 6.

While she developed a deep appreciation

for music that continues today, it wasn’t

her true calling. She also trained for

rhythm gymnastics, but her body wasn’t

quite right for that line of work, she said.

In her later undergraduate years, Lu

discovered science.

“I inherited my curiosity from my father

and my tenacity from my mother,” she said.

“Science suits me. In fact, science can help

you be a good photographer, or a great

chef or a wine maker. Science will help you

better appreciate life.”

Lu’s love of challenges led her to

UC Merced.

“I was fascinated at the thought of

working at a new university,” she said.

“There was only one new, start-up research

university on the whole planet, and I

wanted to go where I could make a big

impact, so I chose UC Merced.”

She enjoys being a mentor and teacher

to students. When she’s not in the lab or

teaching, she likes music, museums and

cooking — from French, Mediterranean

and Spanish cuisine to Indian and Mexican

fare. She also enjoys traveling and yoga.

When asked where she sees herself in the

next five years, Lu doesn’t miss a beat.

“I hope to be making more

contributions to the scientific world,” she

said. “I can be a more mature and effective

scientist, teacher and mentor.”


proFessor jenniFer lu’s lab Focuses on enGineerinG new materials out oF molecular and nanoscale arranGements.


efore it infects humans who

breathe it in, the fungus that

causes valley fever changes shapes

in the environment. Once infected, some

people fight it off while others die.

If scientists can determine how that

shape-shift happens, they might be able to

stop it, said Professor Clarissa Nobile, one

of a large, interdisciplinary team at the

University of California, Merced, working

to tackle the valley fever challenge from

every imaginable angle.

If researchers can figure out why people

react differently to the fungus, it could

lead to better treatments, Professor David

Ojcius said.

Scientists know the fungus is

distributed through dust, but if they can

monitor levels in real time, they can build

a warning system, Professor Wei-Chun

Chin said.

And if researchers can determine where

at-risk groups get information, they can

create social marketing campaigns that

make sure that what people are hearing is

accurate, Professor Carol Sipan said.

These four researchers have expertise

in microbiology, immunology,

bioengineering and public health. They’re

part of the UC Merced team working

toward better treatments and perhaps a

vaccine for what the Centers for Disease

Control calls a “silent epidemic.”

“We’re the glue that pulls this whole

thing together,” said Professor Paul Brown,

director of UC Merced’s Health Sciences

Research Institute.

The glue began to gel about a year after

the institute was established. That’s when

faculty members from all three of UC

Merced’s schools came together to attack

this potentially debilitating, but poorly

understood, illness endemic to the San

Joaquin Valley.

“We haven’t really had a research

university in the region that could do this,

that could pull it all together. We do now,”

Brown said.

Researchers Delve Into

BY DEBRA LEGG

B

ABOUT ThE AUThOR a longtime Central Valley resident and former editor at The Modesto Bee, Debra Legg is a freelance writer now based in Michigan. While at The Bee, she coordinated government and political coverage. Stories she worked with included crimes that drew national attention and in-depth investigations into local agencies.

>> CONTINUED ON THE NEXT PAGE

Valley Fever From all angles


if this were in los angeles or new york city,

people would be donating a lot of money to

find a cure. if it were in san jose or san

Francisco, it would be all over Facebook.

– PROFESSOR WEI-CHUN CHIN

PROFESSOR CLARISSA NOBILE RESEARCHES THE

POSSIBILITY THAT THE VALLEY FEVER PATHOGEN COULD

BE ALTERED SO IT NEVER BECOMES HARMFUL.


MANY QUESTIONS PERSISTThe scientific name for valley fever

is Coccidioidomycosis. People get it

by inhaling spores from the fungus

Coccidioides immitis or Coccidioides

posadasii. These two species are closely

related but behave differently. One fungus,

immitis, is more common in California,

the other in Arizona.

Arizona created the Valley Fever Center

for Excellence at the University of Arizona

in 1996 to increase awareness, promote

better care for patients and encourage

research. Until UC Merced launched the

California Valley Fever Network in 2013,

there was nothing comparable in the

Golden State.

Though diseases involving cocci have

been reported for more than a century,

researchers have a lot to learn.

“The literature goes back to the

1900s, but there are huge holes in it,”

said Professor Katrina K. Hoyer. Her

research team is trying to find out why

some people become gravely ill or have

lifelong problems while 60 percent of those

infected never show symptoms.

On a national scale, the disease barely

registers. Of the 9,438 reported cases in

2013 – the last year for which the Centers

for Disease Control has statistics - 305 were

scattered across 48 states. The rest were in

California and Arizona.

Nationally, the 2013 numbers were down

from the peak of 22,641 reported in 2011.

No one is sure why cases climbed steadily

from 2001 to 2011 then dropped, but there

are theories.

Perhaps it was due to heavy population

growth in California and Arizona, exposing

more people without immunities to the

fungus. Perhaps it was a weather pattern of

rainy years following by dust-generating

droughts.

“There’s some anecdotal evidence, but

we just don’t know for sure,” Brown said.

Officials aren’t even sure how many

cases there really are. Some who have

spent years studying the illness, such as Dr.

Michael Mac Lean of the Kings County

health department, know that many cases

go undetected. That’s in part because most

patients recover quickly and testing isn’t

necessary, he said.

There also are differences in testing rates

among counties in the endemic regions,

where awareness of the illness should be

higher.

“We know there have to be more cases

than are being reported,” Brown said.

Chin believes more physicians would

test patients if it were easier – currently, a

blood sample is sent off and results come

back in a week or two. He’s envisioning an

instrument that’s simple enough that any

doctor’s office could use it and get quick,

accurate results through a direct read-out.

“With early testing, most people will be

OK within a week,” he said.

SERIOUS COMPLICATIONSAnother big puzzle: Why the fungus hits

some people so hard, while 60 percent of

those infected show no signs. Among the

rest, 30 percent have moderate symptoms

similar to the common flu and 5 percent to

10 percent have serious complications. For

less than 1 percent, the illness is fatal.

UC Merced graduate student Karen

Deeming is in the “serious complications”

group. The Los Banos woman contracted

valley fever in 2012 while on an

archeological dig in Mariposa County

that she needed to complete a field-work

requirement for her bachelor’s degree.

Soon after, she started having chest

pain, a cough, joint pain and a rash –

all potential signs of valley fever. She

developed pneumonia – another symptom.

She saw three physicians before a nurse

practitioner agreed to screen her for valley

fever.

“I had to be pushy and forceful,” she

said. “I had to pretty much put my foot

down and say, ‘I need to be tested.’”

Deeming recovered after taking heavy

doses of the antifungal fluconazole for a

year. She’ll have to be monitored every

three months for the rest of her life,

though. If the fungus flares up, treatment

will have to resume.

The monitoring and constant follow-

up can be hard for patients, particularly

the youngest. Erin Gaab is a health

psychologist who’s worked extensively

in pediatric care. She’s researching valley

fever’s impact on children, interviewing

patients and their families to learn more

about the challenges they face.

Though her research is in its early stages,

Gaab is seeing trends, from scheduling and

financial strains to the emotional toll on

children who face regular hospitalization

for follow-up testing.

“There’s a sense of resentment, almost,

because they don’t understand why they’re

there,” she said.

Access to treatment also is a problem,

Gaab said. Pediatric patients in Bakersfield

or Avenal have to travel two hours for

treatment at Children’s Hospital Central

California because the Madera facility is

the only one that handles severe cases.

When those trips are weekly, it takes a toll.

Gaab and Mac Lean both have seen

patients go through the same struggles

Deeming endured to even get a diagnosis.

Deeming and Mac Lean believe all

physicians practicing in the Central Valley

should undergo continuing education so

they’re familiar enough with the disease

that certain combinations of symptoms

raise red flags.

Deeming believes public awareness is a

key, too, though she said there’s a fine line

between educating and scaring.

CONTINUED FROM PAGES 14-15

>> CONTINUED ON PAGES 18-19


PROFESSORS KATRINA HOYER AND AARON HERNDAY,

LEFT, AND RESEARCHER ERIN GAAB, ABOVE, ARE JUST

A FEW OF THE PEOPLE WORKING TO SOLVE A

VARIETY OF VALLEY FEVER CHALLENGES. “if there’s something out there that’s this serious – that can kill

you – you need to be a little concerned. we need to arm people

with the information they need.”

– UC MERCED RESEaRCh aSSISTanT PHUONG “FIONA” BUI

UC Merced graduate student Phuong

“Fiona” Bui muses that a little fear might

be a good thing.

“I know some people might freak out,

but I think it’s OK to freak out a little bit.

If there’s something out there that’s this

serious – that can kill you – you need to be

a little concerned. We need to arm people

with the information they need,” Bui said.

OUTREACH AND EDUCATIONBui, a Bakersfield native who’s watched

a close family member struggle with

valley fever, works with Gaab on pediatric

research. She’s also part of Gaab’s team

that created UC Merced’s first Valley Fever

Awareness Day. The events and exhibits

were designed with two goals in mind: To

explain what valley fever is and how it’s

transmitted, and to show off the efforts at

UC Merced in hopes of attracting more

scholars to the cause.

Gaab also is active in connecting

researchers. She’s helped organize a dozen

seminars in the past year that included

speakers from across the valley and the

University of California system. She’s

created the California Valley Fever Network

website that acts as a central repository for

research and news.

Bui, meanwhile, created the Valley Fever

Advocate page on Facebook. She regularly

posts links to stories about research and

victims, along with event announcements.

“We, as researchers, feel it’s hard to find

information about valley fever. You’ll find

the basic, repetitive information, but we

want to keep it fresh. In a lot of cases where

people are misdiagnosed, it’s because they

just don’t know about it,” Bui said.

Work such as Gaab’s and Bui’s tells

Valley residents that UC Merced is tackling

their problems right now, while also

keeping an eye on the long-term.

“People in the region don’t want to hear

that it needs more research,” Brown said.

“They want to know what we’re doing

right now.”

Brown sees Valley Fever Awareness Day

as a template for a program that can be

taken into the community. Groups

“people in the region don’t want to hear that it needs

more research. they want to know what we’re doing

right now.”

– PAUL BROWN, DIRECTOR OF ThE hEaLTh SCIEnCES RESEaRCh InSTITUTE

researcHers like proFessor david ojcius, riGHt, and tHe students pictured at leFt, are all part oF HelpinG Find solutions to tHe valley Fever puzzle.


CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17

in the south San Joaquin Valley already

have expressed interest in playing host to

presentations, he said.

Sipan is researching how better to

communicate in the future. She’s working

with Lideres Campesinos as well as with

a group in Kern County to find out about

farmworkers’ access to care and

information with an eye toward developing

campaigns that put information where

they need it.

Long-term, many more answers are in

the labs.

Researchers need to understand more

about exposure – they know how the

fungus is distributed but don’t know how

to warn people to protect themselves.

“Telling people to wear a mask and don’t

walk through dust isn’t going to work,”

Brown said. “We have a lot of dust clouds

around here.”

NEW GENERATION OF RESEARCHERSNobile, meanwhile, wonders if it might

someday be possible to alter the fungus

in the environment so it doesn’t become

pathogenic.

Her work ends when the fungus enters

the body, and that’s where other scientists’

research takes over.

Though a vaccine one day might

be possible, Professor Aaron Hernday

speculates that there will be economic

issues between development and

production. It will be challenging for a

company to find a commercially viable

way to develop and produce the relatively

small amount of vaccine than is needed

compared to, say, flu or polio vaccines.

Short-term, the focus is on developing

better treatments. That’s a challenge

because fungi are more similar to the

human body than bacteria or viruses,

which means it’s difficult to develop

medications that kill the fungus without

harming the body.

“A lot of people think the treatment is

worse than the disease,” Hernday said.

It’s possible that a drug cocktail, similar

to the method used to treat HIV, might be

the solution, he speculated.

In order for that to happen, though,

scientists first have to better understand

how valley fever affects the body. Hoyer

and Ojcius recently began working on just

that, through an arrangement that allows

them to study blood samples from 30

patients at Children’s Hospital of Madera.

Hernday calls his colleagues and

himself the new generation of valley fever

researchers, taking over the cause from

scientists now in their 70s.

The collaborations at UC Merced and

beyond also appeal to him.

“It’s exciting to see,” he said. “One lab

can’t move the needle on something like

this on its own.”

For some, the valley fever work is about

more than science. It’s also about social

justice.

“If this were in Los Angeles or New York

City, people would be donating a lot of

money to find a cure,” Chin said. “If it were

in San Jose or San Francisco, it would be all

over Facebook.”



Hows and Whys of PoliticsBY dave lyGHtle

n two small rooms on the University

of California’s youngest campus, far

removed from the epicenters of

American political power, cutting-edge

research offers insight into why voters

sometimes behave the way they do.

Some of the brightest minds in U.S.

political science use biometric feedback

and other data to gauge the influence of

political parties, examine how personality

traits influence political behavior and

measure people’s trust in government.

They’ll also keep a close watch on next

month’s midterm elections with an eye

toward deeper analysis.

At first glance, a relatively remote

California outpost might appear to be an

unlikely location to ponder such weighty

topics. UC Merced, after all, just welcomed

its first students in 2005.

It is a region better known for its bounty

of almonds and much of the fresh produce

consumed in the United States – not for

its contributions to American political

discourse.

But the 11 energetic and relatively young

pioneers in political science at UC Merced

don’t view it that way.

They – like their trailblazing peers in

other disciplines – have embraced the

notion of building something together

from the ground up. Their passion just

happens to be politics.

They believe their mandate is to establish

a research institution with a national

reputation. It is an invigorating concept.

“The promise of creating a new

UC political science program in an

environment promoting intellectual

boundary-pushing and downplaying tired

conventions was very appealing to me,”

said Professor Thomas Hansford, who

joined UC Merced eight years ago from the

University of South Carolina.

Nowhere is that sentiment more evident

than in the political science lab, actually

two small rooms inside a three-story,

polished-concrete building on the east edge

of campus.

Each room is outfitted with computers at

six cubicles to complete implicit awareness

tests. One of the labs also has two private

rooms with Bio Pac monitors to measure

heart rate, blood pressure, respiration

and other physiological reactions to

political stimuli. Skin conductance

calculates emotional arousal, while facial

electromyography shows contractions

of muscles in the face and can indicate

whether a person reacts positively or

theY Want to underStand WhY PeoPle MaKe the PolitiCal ChoiCeS theY do

I

Pioneering Faculty Members Researching The

negatively. “We’re not asking about their

attitude at a particular time. This is not

an opinion survey,” said Professor Nathan

Monroe, the political science chair, explaining

how the lab functions. “We try to measure

attitudes that drive physiological reactions

such as disgust or approval.”

MEASURING GUT REACTIONSThe experiments are designed by political

science faculty members and often overseen

by graduate students. About 150 of UC

Merced’s 6,200 undergraduates pass through

the lab in any given week, responding to

online recruitment and a chance for extra

credits.

Most experiments take about 30 minutes

and the results are catalogued and analyzed

in an ever-growing database. Monroe said

experiments are “manipulated” so about half

the respondents are getting the “treatment”

and others are the control group. No one can

repeat the same experiment. Students are

encouraged to go as fast as they can to allow

the responses to be instinctual.

“We’re trying to get people’s gut

reactions to things,” said Professor Stephen

P. Nicholson, a political scientist and the

lab’s co-director. “A lot of times, we arrive

at decisions and look for reasons to justify

them. These gut responses are our out-of-

conscious reasons. They’re not emotional.

Most people don’t think things through

politically; they just react.”

As an example, Nicholson shared the

story of a national online survey related to

immigration reform he worked on during the

2008 presidential campaign.

Respondents were required to identify

as Democrats or Republicans, then asked

about the Dream Act, a politically charged

proposal to provide a path to citizenship for

immigrants who came to the United States as

children.

One group was told then-Democratic

nominee Barack Obama supported the bill;

the other that Republican nominee John

McCain liked the idea.

“What I found was that partisans were

against it if they thought the opponent

was for it,” Nicholson said. “We see that a

lot with Obamacare. It has his name on

it. It was the same thing with (George W.)

Bush. Democrats then said, ‘Something

Republicans like, I’m against it.’ We call that

cue taking.”


ABOUT ThE AUThOR Dave Lyghtle is a communications expert, writer and former journalist with more than 30 years’ experience in the newspaper industry. he works for a strategic communications, marketing and branding company in Modesto.

“strong democrats watch msnbc and read the Huffington post, while strong

republicans watch Fox news and read drudge. at the extremes, partisan voters

can avoid ever hearing viewpoints that challenge their existing views.”

– PROFESSOR MATTHEW HIBBING

>> CONTINUED ON PAGE 22


AN INCUBATOR FOR POLITICAL TRENDS

The experts at UC Merced also closely

monitor the broader political trends –

hyper-partisanship, low voter turnout, how

information is disseminated, the initiative

process and the effects of technology or

money – that are evident in state and

national campaigns.

Their analysis acknowledges California’s

long history as an incubator for political

ideas – from the tax revolt that swept the

country after Proposition 13 was passed in

1978 to issues such as medical marijuana,

immigration, tougher prison sentences and

gay marriage.

“Historically, California has been an

innovator in public policy and a lot of

the ideas, for better or worse, have been

adopted by other states,” Nicholson said.

Monroe is paying particular attention

to whether Democrats regain two-thirds

majorities in both houses of the state

Legislature this fall. That had been the case

until earlier this year, when legal issues by

two Democratic senators forced them to

step aside.

“If they’re able to win enough seats,

and they’re right on the bubble, the policy

implications are substantial – particularly

the ability to levy new taxes,” Monroe

said. “If they can get two-thirds, they can

effectively negotiate the budget and any

tax changes within their own party. While

that cuts out Republicans, it also empowers

moderate Democrats. … That puts some

extra influence into key moderate areas of

Democrats, especially in the Central Valley.”

Nicholson is most interested in one

of the six statewide initiatives on the

November ballot.

Proposition 47 would make most

nonviolent crimes misdemeanors instead of

felonies. The bottom line if it passes? Fewer

men and women will be sent to California’s

already overcrowded prisons, but more will

serve their time in equally impacted county

jails.

Nicholson believes Prop. 47 is an

extension of a related ballot measure

passed by California voters two years ago

that modified sentencing aspects of the

landmark “Three Strikes, You’re Out” law

from 1994.

“For a long time in California and

the nation, the trend has been to stiffen

penalties. I think with tight budgets and

prison overcrowding, the tide is turning a

little bit,” he said. “Obviously, no politician

today wants to be perceived as soft on

crime, but there’s a discussion on being

reasonable on crime and the realities of

overcrowding in prison.”

“a lot of times, we arrive at decisions and look

for reasons to justify them … most people don’t

think things through politically; they just react.”

– PROFESSOR STEPHEN P. NICHOLSON



Professor Matthew Hibbing looks outside

the state for signals about people’s political

moods. He thinks voters’ perceptions of

the economy will strongly influence which

candidates they support next month.

“The economy is performing pretty well

right now, but at the moment, perception

hasn’t caught up with reality,” said Hibbing,

co-director of the UC Merced lab. “The

Democrats are going to try like crazy to

spread the word about how things have

improved, and Republicans are going to try

to keep the focus off the current state of the

economy and on topics where they see the

Democrats as vulnerable.”

He said history favors Republicans.

“The midterm elections are always tough

on the president’s party, and especially so

for second-term presidents, so I would

expect the Republicans to gain ground

in both houses of Congress with a good

chance that they will retake the Senate,”

Hibbing said.

MORE PARTISANSHIP AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL?

Should Republicans control both houses

of Congress for the next two years, the

confrontation and gamesmanship between

GOP leaders and President Obama that

led to a 16-day shutdown of the federal

government last fall could escalate again.

Many of UC Merced’s political science

faculty members point to other periods in

U.S. history when political polarization was

particularly high.

Monroe and Nicholson mentioned the

period of Reconstruction in the 1860s

and ’70s as well as the Civil Rights era in

the 1960s as being particularly divisive.

Hibbing, who teaches courses on voting

behavior and political psychology, said how

and where people access information today

contributes to the growing perception that

polarization has increased.

“Strong Democrats watch MSNBC and

read the Huffington Post, while strong

Republicans watch Fox News and read

Drudge. At the extremes, partisan voters

can avoid ever hearing viewpoints that

challenge their existing views,” he said. “But

most voters are more moderate, and among

those voters, I don’t think polarization

is nearly as extreme as it is sometimes

portrayed.

“I do think that the extremes get more

attention, but that is largely because most

moderates are not that engaged in politics.”

Research conducted by Professor

Jessica Trounstine shows that in all

regions of the country, voters cast ballots

for different parties at different levels

of government. Democrats dominate

researcHers monitor people’s pHysioloGical reactions to political statements to Help understand wHat motivates people’s decisions.

>> CONTINUED ON PAGE 24


California’s Legislature and statewide office

holders, but plenty of Republicans are elected

to nonpartisan local positions as well as

Congress.

In Texas and Kentucky, she said, most local

officials are Democrats while the states vote

Republican in national contests. The reverse

is true in Pennsylvania.

“I think that this type of partisan splitting

indicates that polarization isn’t nearly as

clear cut as many people believe,” she said.

“In my mind, polarization is largely an elite

phenomenon, with voters following along

when they have little other choice.”

Professor David Fortunato, who studies

legislatures in the U.S. and Europe, believes

polarization has increased with the influence

of the parties themselves over the past two

generations.

“Think of the Democratic Party in the

1960s,” he said. “Ted Kennedy and Strom

Thurmond were both Democrats, but they

were very different politically. … If you were

a voter and you wanted to make a good

decision 50 years ago, you would have had

to find out about what individual legislators

thought. Today, you find out about the party

because you can base your decision on that.”

A SERIOUS SET OF RESEARCHERSA key measure of the growing influence

of the UC Merced political science group is

publication rates. Professors’ research has

appeared in the country’s leading political

science journals or published in book form

just as often as bigger, older schools.

A report Monroe issued in Fall 2013

reveals how well UC Merced compares

against the 20 political science programs

ranked highest by U.S. News and World

Report, plus the five other UC institutions

that offer political science degrees. That list

includes such Ivy League luminaries as Yale,

Harvard, Columbia and Princeton; nationally

renowned universities such as Stanford, Ohio

State, Michigan and NYU; and the UCs in

Berkeley, Los Angeles, Davis, Santa Barbara

and Riverside.

Monroe compared the frequency of

publication in the top six peer-reviewed

academic journals and top six book presses

– what he calls “the most important measure

of faculty success.” UC Merced’s staff ranked

second nationally, trailing only Washington

University in St. Louis.

He even adjusted for the relative youth of

the faculty members, assuming that newer

“in my mind, polarization is largely an elite

phenomenon, with voters following along

when they have little other choice.”

– PROFESSOR JESSICA TROUNSTINE


professors publish more often than those at

the tail ends of their careers. When adjusting

for those who have received their Ph.D.s since

1998 – the year of the oldest Ph.D. in the

discipline – UC Merced still ranked seventh

of the 25 schools evaluated.

Monroe credits an aggressive national

recruitment effort that has landed talented

faculty members from across the country,

joined by a common purpose.

Professor Courtenay Conrad received her

Ph.D. from Florida State University and had a

host of high-profile institutions interested in

her. She chose UC Merced.

“Everyone here is intellectually curious.

They’re very supportive. There are no

artificial borders between those who study

U.S. politics and international institutions,”

said Conrad, who came to UC Merced in

2013 and has done extensive research on

state-sponsored torture.

One project she is working on – as yet

unpublished – will measure Americans’

views toward aggressive interrogation of

suspected terrorists or criminals. She said the

race of suspects and the agencies conducting

interrogations are huge factors in public

perception.

And, given the horror of the Sept. 11

terrorist attacks, the initial responses are

not a surprise.

“We have preliminary evidence to

suggest that Americans are more supportive

of torture when detainees have Arabic

names and when an intelligence agency is

responsible for the abuse,” Conrad said.

Monroe said the value of political science

itself is reflected in the kind of research being

conducted at UC Merced.

“We take the science part seriously,”

he said. “We try to answer questions that

are not based on subjective opinion. We

use quantitative data to shed insight on

important topics.”


GOVERNMENTRELaTIOnS

UC Merced Polling Place Open on Election DayBY CORI LUCEROgovernmental and Community Relations

“Historically, california has been an innovator in public policy and a lot

of the ideas, for better or worse, have been adopted by other states.”

– PROFESSOR STEPHEN P. NICHOLSON

With the November election on the horizon, the Office

of Governmental and Community Relations would like

to remind our campus community and friends that

UC Merced has a polling location available to any voter

registered in Merced County.

Since 2011, students, faculty and staff members and

anyone else registered to vote in Merced County have had

the opportunity to cast their ballots in the California Room.

To date, more than 1,000 ballots have been cast at UC Merced’s polling

location. We have worked hand in hand with Student Housing and

Transportation and Parking Services to secure the room and provide

complimentary short-term parking for voters.

Forging a strong relationship with staff members in the office of the

Merced County Registrar of Voters, we are proud to continue making this

polling location available and encourage our campus community members

and supporters to make their voices heard in this year’s mid-term elections.

The idea of going off to college can be daunting. But a group of freshmen and transfer students

added another challenge to the start of school – a week in the Sierra Nevada wilderness, an experience

many had never imagined they could have.

“It was really awesome,” said freshman Armand Kirshman, of Irvine. “I had never done any of

these things before – hiking, camping, white-water rafting – I had never been to Yosemite before. I

really enjoyed it.”

UC Merced’s Outdoor Experience Program (OEP) offers the Week of Wilderness (WoW) to new

students each year, letting them move in a week early so they can spend a week getting to know each

other under semi-extreme circumstances.

Only 16 students can go each year, and they are led by medically trained OEP student guides and

experienced rangers and who take them as high as the 10,000-foot summit of Mt. Hoffman and as

deep as the American River canyon.

“It helps us introduce people to our region, and we want to inspire them and turn them on to the

outdoors,” Recreation and Athletics Associate Director David Noble said. “We hope it will encourage

them to think about environmental stewardship and expose them to some of the things they can

study here.”

SKILLS THAT WILL LASTThe students learn leadership skills, teamwork and to trust each other, sharing duties with team

partners to carry supplies such as tents and bear canisters full of food. Each pair had to decide

together who would carry what items, and as a group, they all shared the duties of carrying group

items such as cooking gear.

Long days of hiking and rafting gave way to campfires and evening activities such as games that

encouraged the students to open up to each other, becoming fast friends.

“I’m still friends with the students I met on my WoW,” said Daniel Sabzehar, who went on his first

trip as a freshman last year, and is leading trips this year. “You’re out there, it’s raw, you’re learning to

rely on other people. There’s a lot of bonding.”

Some of the students who went this year said they were surprised to find the experience so

enjoyable, and that it lived up to its promise of easing the transition to college.

“It gave me the confidence to go out and make other new friends, too,” said student Faustina

Barnard of San Dimas.


BY LORENA ANDERSONUniversity Communications

“i saw the milky way with

my own eyes for the first

time. it was amazing.”

– STUDEnT ARMAND KIRSHMAN

students like Faustina barnard spent time in tHe oFF-trail areas oF yosemite, backpackinG and learninG to work toGetHer and Get to know eacH otHer.

OUTdOOr ExpEriENcE prOgrAm OFFErs NEw

“you’re out there, it’s raw, you’re

learning to rely on other people.

there’s a lot of bonding.”

STUDEnT anD gROUP LEaDER DANIEL SABZEHAR

In years past, the whole week was spent hiking and camping in

the mountains, but this year’s trip was structured differently. The

students divided up into two groups, and one group spent the first

two days backpacking in the Yosemite high country while the other

spent the first two days rafting on the American River. They met up

on the third day at Lake Alpine in the Stanislaus National Forest,

where they spent the day relaxing by the water, kayaking and hiking,

and then they switched adventures. In their weeklong trip, they went

through 10 state or national parks and forests.

“Over the past couple of summers, we realized that most people

did not want to haul a pack on their back for five days on a trail,

and that offering a variety of outdoor activities would provide more

opportunities to inspire the participants and extend our reach,”

Noble said.

“I really liked all the experiences, but my favorite day was the day

when we all got together,” said student Kevin Kemp from Pacifica.

“We spent the day doing different activities and we really made

personal connections.”

A NEW PERSPECTIVEThe trip lets the students get to know upperclassmen, too, so they

have some resources on campus to give them advice and help them

get to know their new home. Most of the students in this year’s group

are now close friends, said Christopher Reps of Arroyo Grande. They

eat together, hangout in each other’s residence rooms and have a

network of people they know very well.

Reps, an experienced hiker, said he decided to go on the trip

specifically because he wanted to meet people and start the process of

acclimating to college life. Now that he has been, he said, he wants to

take advantage of other OEP trips, back to the Sierra, over to the coast

and elsewhere.

Some students were nervous about being off-trail and away from

civilization, or about whether they could handle the trip’s demands.

For example, Mt. Hoffman is more than 10,000 feet above sea level,

and the air is thin up there.

But no one had any serious issues, Sabzehar said.

“The whole trip was pretty flawless,” he said.

“Overall, roughly 70 percent of the students who participate in

WoW are first-time Yosemite visitors, and there have been trips on

which some of the students had never even heard of the park before,”

Noble said.

Even if they have been there, chances are they’ve never been as far

from the Valley and its tourist destinations as they were on this trip.

Many of them were amazed by the natural beauty and the

sweeping views they encountered. Some students chose to forgo tents

so they could see the sky with no light pollution and no distractions.

“I saw the Milky Way with my own eyes for the first time,”

Kirshman said. “It was amazing.”


andrew betancourt, leFt, and tHi danG prepared to Head out For tHeir week oF wilderness adventure. armand kirsHman, above, said He Had never experienced any oF tHe outdoor activities beFore tHis trip.

many oF tHe students Had never experienced backpackinG beFore.

sTUdENTs A wEEK OF wiLdErNEss & BONdiNg


ReseaRcheRs Dig Into The Desert, Dive Into Jellyfish Lakes To Make Discoveries

rom the drought-ravaged, sandy soil of

Senegal to the abundant waters of the

island nation of Micronesia, UC Merced’s

researchers are working around the globe to

learn more about topics that could change

the world.

Working with professor teamrat ghezzehei,

graduate student nate Bogie spent a good

part of the past three years in the sub-Saharan

region of Senegal, in the villages of Keur matar

Arame and Nioro du Rip, studying two bushes

that dramatically enhance the growth and

productivity of crops planted near them.

In the long run, it could make a big

difference in how people in that area are

able to feed themselves.

Partnering with Senegalese scientists,

students and farmers, Bogie and Ghezzehei

planted different plots of land with millet and

peanuts, and a crop of soil sensors to measure

what’s happening below ground. On some plots,

they also planted two native shrubs — Guiera

senegalensis and Piliostigama reticulatum.

Over the past four growing seasons, Bogie

and his colleagues observed that the crops

planted near the shrubs were “pretty prolific,”

Bogie said. “We saw huge differences in almost

every aspect of the crops’ growth.”

The often famine-plagued 3,400-mile-

wide swath of the Sudano-Sahel, where the

bushes grow, covers parts of Senegal, southern

Mauritania, Mali, southern Algeria, Niger, Chad,

southern Sudan and Eritrea. It is bordered

on the north by the Sahara, on the south by a

less-arid savannah, by the Atlantic Ocean on the

west and the Red Sea on the east.

Bogie already spoke French and he learned

the native language of Wollof, which helped

the team gain people’s trust and establish

relationships with the farmers who allow

research on their lands, Ghezzehei said. Bogie

also trained two master’s students from the

University of Thies in the use of state-of-the-art

research equipment. They are part of the

team regularly monitoring about a

dozen farms.

“people see jellies as

disruptors, but the golden

jellies function much like

trees and plants do,

turning inorganic things

into food and becoming

food themselves for a rare

species of anemone that

lives in the lake, and for

the fish that live

there, too.”

– PROFESSOR mike dawson

BY LORENA ANDERSONuniversity communications

Fpostdoctoral researcHer nate boGie, leFt and riGHt, worked witH several seneGalese researcHers and

residents to conduct soil monitorinG tests.


The team’s sensors indicate the shrubs help stave off soil erosion,

help retain soil moisture, provide some shade from the relentless

sun and, as they die back, contribute biomass that makes the sandy

ground more hospitable to crops.

The researchers hope their data will help them understand how to

use the shrubs to offset the seven or eight months of the year when

the area faces famine-inducing drought, and make the most of the

rainy season.

UNDERWATER STUDIESprofessor mike Dawson and his research colleagues, including

professor Jessica Blois and professor michael Beman, had a

much wetter year than the desert researchers, as they examined

biodiversity and changes to the populations of jellyfish in the lakes

of Palau.

This summer, they took core samples of the sediment in Jellyfish

Lake, named for its hordes of golden jellies. By looking at the lake’s

history through the layers of sediment core samples, researchers can

analyze the long-term effects of climate change on the ecosystem.

Dawson and his colleagues have been working Palau since the

1990s. The lakes have become more popular tourist destinations

because it’s safe to swim with the golden jellies – they don’t really

sting – so the researchers are also looking at the effects of increased

tourism on the ecosystem.

Another part of the work delves into the different functions the

jellies serve in their environments.

“They are a predator, so they may contribute to stability in the

ecosystem,” Dawson said. “People see jellies as disruptors, but

the golden jellies function much like trees and plants do, turning

inorganic things into food and becoming food themselves for a rare

species of anemone that lives in the lake, and for the fish that live

there, too.”

The work adds to a growing body of knowledge about the

biodiversity on our planet and the effects of climate change, which

allows better modeling about what humans can expect as our

current climate shifts.

DIVERSE INTERESTSMany other researchers from UC Merced have been overseas this

year, including physiology professor rudy ortiz who spent time in

Japan with several students in his lab working on furthering diabetes

research; archaeology professor holley moyes, who conducted

field research in Belize; and professor Susan Amussen, a social

and cultural historian of Britain who spent time digging into U.K.

archives and libraries.

professor robin Delugan traveled to the Dominican Republic to

address the 1930’s atrocities of state violence that shaped dominant

ideas of national belonging; professor David Kaminsky went to

Sweden to study social partner dancing in preparation for a book;

and professor Eric walle spent time in Shanghai working on a

collaboration with developmental psychology researchers there.

Biology professor Emily moran examined genetic diversity

and local adaptation in goldenrod, an invasive species of plant in

Europe, by spending time in Switzerland; and School of Social

Sciences, Humanities and Arts Dean mark Aldenderfer conducted

archaeology research in Nepal and the High Himalayas.

0

300

600

900

kg

ha-1

0

250

500

750

kg

ha-1

kg

ha-1

kg

ha-1

0 75 150 225 0 75 150 225 0 75 150 225 0 75 150 2250

1000

2000

3000

0

500

1000

1500

FROM MANAGED NSF RESEARCH PLOTError bars represent ±1SE

NPK application rate kg ha -1 NPK application rate kg ha -1

FROM MANAGED NSF RESEARCH PLOTError bars represent ±1SE

NPK application rate kg ha -1 NPK application rate kg ha -1

CROP + SHRUB

CROP ONLY

CROP + SHRUB

CROP ONLY

CROP + SHRUB

CROP ONLY

CROP + SHRUB

CROP ONLY

2012: NIORO PEANUT POD YIELD

2013: NIORO MILLET PANICLE YIELD

2012:KEUR MATAR PEANUT POD YIELD

2013:KEUR MATAR MILLET PANICLE YIELD

BOGIE’S RESEARCH PROVES BETTER RESULTS FOR CROPS WHEN PLANTED NEAR THE TWO NATIVE BUSHES THAT HAVE LONG BEEN THOUGHT TO HELP CROPS THRIVE IN THE HARSH SENEGAL CLIMATE.

RESEARCH RESULTS DEMONSTRATE DIFFERENCES IN CROP GROWTH


the science and engineering 2 (s&e2) building opened for faculty members to occupy labs and offices in the summer, and is occupied by students for the first time this fall.

HERE ARE FIVE FACTS ABOUT THE NEWEST SUSTAINABLE BUILDING ON CAMPUS:

the u.S. Green Building Council is expected to give s&e2 a platinum leed certification, the highest rating a building can earn. all of uC Merced’s building projects have earned leed certification for their sustainable designs, and this will be our third platinum certification.

labs in S&e2 will use 39 percent less energy than a typical university lab.

a 52 kilowatt photovoltaic structure on the building will generate 81,957 kilowatt hours each year to help power the building.

the building uses solar energy to heat water for research, and there’s room to expand that capability.

40 percent of the materials used in building S&e2 are recycled.

Science and Engineering 2


foCuS oN uNDErgrADuATE STuDENTS BY lorena andersonUniversity Communications

SErviCE-lEArning tEAm SEEkSgrEEn EntrEprEnEurS Who nEED FunDing

t’s no secret that UC Merced is a

green school. From its landscaping

and building design to its purchasing

practices and growing solar-energy systems,

sustainability is simply a part of the

campus’s fabric.

People might not expect that standard

to flow over into projects outside the

university, but it does.

The Kiva Green Team in Engineering

Service Learning is a group of students

working on solving some challenges for

Kiva, the microfinance company that

helps people around the globe create

opportunities for themselves, while looking

out for Central Valley entrepreneurs who

want to make green improvements to their

businesses.

Kiva connects people willing to lend

money to those who need it to improve or

grow their business ventures. Its newer Zip

program lets people loan as little as $5 to

help entrepreneurs borrow up to $5,000 at

zero interest for two years.

The organization, formed in 2004, has so

far facilitated almost $600 million in loans

to almost 2 million people in 78 countries.

The loan repayment rate is 98.8 percent, the

organization said.

But borrowers have to be endorsed by

“trustees.”

That’s part of where the service-learning

team comes in.

“We’re going to be trustees for the Central

Valley,” said student Eric Chu, the Kiva

Green Team leader this year. “We’re getting

to know businesses here, and developing

relationships with entrepreneurs.”

STAYING ENGAGEDEngineering Service Learning teams mix

undergraduate students of all levels with

each other to solve real problems presented

to them by their community-partner

businesses or nonprofits. The challenges

teams have worked on so far range from

medical apparatuses for Children’s Hospital

in Madera to developing interactive kiosks

for a restoration project along the San

Joaquin River.

“The Kiva Green Team is helping

Kiva expand into the United States,” said

Professor Elliot Campbell, the team’s faculty

mentor.

One of the criteria by which the team

will decide to endorse potential borrowers

is whether they are requesting money for

something that is environmentally friendly

or contributes to societal good, Chu said.

The team will stay engaged with the

borrowers to help encourage them to repay

the loans.

“There are no consequences if they don’t

pay it back, except bad karma,” Campbell

said. But Chu said he and his teammates

will do the best they can not only to vet the

borrowers they endorse, but to make sure

the loans are repaid — because the better

the borrower does, the better the team

scores as a trustee.

INCREASING SUSTAINABILITY The team will also help businesses

with energy audits to try and find ways to

increase sustainability and save money. The

focus on green projects could attract more

lenders from around the globe to Valley

businesses, Campbell said.

“People could get loans for more energy-

efficient equipment, or hybrid vehicles

– there are a lot of really positive impacts

businesses can have on the environment for

not a lot of money,” Campbell said. “But

there are millions of people who don’t have

access to credit. This is one way to help

them while helping the environment and

giving the students hands-on experience.”

Chu’s team is almost all new to him this

fall, so he will have to get everyone up to

speed on the project.

“It’s a challenge because I don’t know

everyone’s strengths yet,” said Chu, who’s in

his second semester on the team, “but it’s

also an advantage because everyone comes

and looks at the project with fresh eyes.”

i

“there are millions of people who don’t have access to credit. this is one way to help them

while helping the environment and giving the students hands-on experience.”

– PROFESSOR ELLIOT CAMPBELL

tHe kiva Green team Features almost all new members tHis semester, and tHose FresH eyes will take a look at onGoinG cHallenGes.

“This place changed my life,” she said. “Every high, every

low, every in-between helped shape me into the woman I am.”

After graduation, Shay joined the Peace Corps and served

for two years in Morocco, where she developed a Peer Health

Education program modeled after her college experience as a

student supporter of the HEROES program.

Shay is now in her second year as a master’s candidate in

mycology at San Francisco State University, and she hopes to

return to UC Merced as a professor of mycology to continue

her contributions to the campus’s growth and success.

After the reunion, many alumni continued celebrating

downtown, where several area businesses offered specials

and discounts in celebration of the classes – including the

UC Merced alumni-owned businesses J&R Tacos (Janna

Rodriguez, mechanical engineering/2012) and Coffee Bandits

(Kurt Winbigler, literatures and cultures/2009) on Main Street.

“Seeing everybody, it’s like we never left,” dancer Chahal

said. “This is where we grew up essentially. We’re all back here

to see the growth.”

The Office of Alumni Relations has already started

recruiting alumni volunteers for the 2010 Class Reunion

scheduled for April 2015. All alumni are welcome to share in

the celebration. If you are interested in volunteering, email

[email protected].


UC Merced’s pioneer scholars – the students enrolled

when the campus opened in 2005 – came together this

year for the first campus class reunion.

More than 150 alumni and guests gathered to celebrate

the classes of 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.

The campus celebrated the founding classes, their

diverse skills and experiences and the legacy they left at

UC Merced, so it was only fitting that the reunion was

held in the Wallace-Dutra Amphitheater – the realization

of the Class of 2009’s gift to campus of an outdoor event

space – honoring the legacy the founding classes have left

for UC Merced.

The reunion was the first event hosted there, and it was

held on Bobcat Day, a day when prospective students and

their families are welcomed to campus to learn about all

that UC Merced has to offer.

The reunion was just one of many events designed to

encourage alumni to return to campus to see how much it

has grown, evolved and matured since they graduated.

A dedicated group of alumni volunteers organized

the reunion, which included an original song and

performance by Socorra Camposanto (biological

sciences/2009) and an original dance performance by

Dance Coalition alumni, including Sanjeev Chahal

(psychology/2009), Erika maldonado (social and

cognitive science/2009), Ashley nand (psychology/2009),

toni Chantharangma (biological sciences/2009) and

therese Anderson (psychology/2009).

Founding Class members donated more than $2,400 to

UC Merced over their reunion year, primarily to support

the growth of the UC Merced Alumni Association and

scholarship and financial-aid support for current students.

UC Merced Alumni Association Vice President Jackie

Shay (biological sciences/2009) served on the Founding

Classes Reunion Planning Committee because, she said,

it’s important for UC Merced’s founding alumni to stay

connected to their alma mater.

ALU

MN

ICO

RnER

tHe pioneer students return to tHeir alma mater.

uc merced alums Have not lost tHeir scHool spirit or tHe bonds tHey ForGed by beinG tHe First students at tHe brand-new campus.

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