Student leaders, advisors, campus organizations and athletes were recognized at the annual the Margo F. Souza Student Leadership Center 2017 Leadership Awards celebration on April 23.

A campuswide selection committee chose the winners for their outstanding performance in a variety of student activities and scholarship.

“While today we recognize individuals or individual student organizations, I believe that leadership isn’t about the power of one,” Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Charles Nies said. “It’s the collective actions of many who come together and create a powerful course for positive change.”

This year’s winners include:

• Outstanding Advisor Award: Ala Qattawi

• Inspirational Bobcat Award: Jacob Feitelberg
• Outstanding Graduate Student Award: Maryam Trebeau Crogman
• Outstanding New Student Organization: UC Sprouts
• Cobi Jones Sport Club Male Athlete of the Year Award: Avery Knizek
• Sport Clubs Female Athlete of the Year Award: Jasmine Yslas
• Male Intercollegiate Athlete of the Year: Andy Galvan
• Georgette Ma Kelley Female Intercollegiate Athlete of the Year: Desiree Coles
• Organization President of the Year: Cristhian Gutierrez Huerta
• Social Justice Leadership Award: Violet Barton
• Fraternity and Sorority Council Chapter of the Year: Kappa Sigma
• Professional Fraternity Council Chapter of the Year: Phi Delta Epsilon
• Outstanding New Member of the Year: Morelia Marines
• Outstanding Member of the Year: Mahrukh Mujeeb
• University Friends Circle Community Service Organization: Society of Women Engineers                       
• Margo F. Souza Entrepreneur in Training Team Scholarship: Vibronerv     
• Margo F. Souza San Joaquin Valley Mentor of the Year Award: Justin Yeager
• Distinguished Leader Award: Victoria Arias, Clara Medina Maya, Ariell Smith and Brenda Yu                  
• Program of the Year  “Splash Conference” by Generation to Generation     
• Student Organization of the Year: Lambda Alliance
• Contribution to Student Affairs Award: Christopher Michael Bernal, Andre Frise-Valdez, Mercy Maina
• Legacy Award: Joseph Andrade

The final award of the afternoon, the Carol Tomlinson-Keasey Award, was presented to history major Havilliah “Jake” Malsbury. The award recognizes the “most outstanding graduating student” chosen from the nominees of the Legacy Award.

“Jake has a passion for service and desire for justice for all people and all communities,” Nies said. “This passion fuels his willingness to go above and beyond to support others as they engage, participate and learn.”

During his time at UC Merced, Malsbury distinguished himself among other student leaders and embodied the spirit of the campus’s first chancellor Carol Tomlinson-Keasey. Some of his accomplishments include serving as a mentor for “Lift While You Lead” community service initiative, editor-in-chief of the undergraduate historical journal and as a member of the Native-American Tribe Conservation Project.

“It is my hope that I have left a lasting impact on UC Merced,” Malsbury said. “One that will inspire students to make the most of their time as students.

“As well as inspiring students to serve their communities and to create a cycle of mentorship that will continue to empower students at UC Merced, the Merced community and beyond.”

Get more information about the criteria for individual leadership awards online.

UC Merced’s Classroom and Office Building (COB) has achieved a silver rating from the LEED Building Operations and Maintenance (O+M) sustainability program, the campus’s first certification to come from the LEED Lab Engineering Service Learning class.

“This is the first of many LEED projects on campus that will be certified by the students,” Assistant Director of Sustainability Mark Maxwell said. “Many sustainability initiatives are developed by staff or administrators, but the LEED Lab is a tangible way for the students to be directly involved with sustainability efforts on campus.”

The LEED Lab is a multidisciplinary, hands-on course offered to undergraduate students who are interested in sustainable design and operations, and is taught through the Engineering Service Learning course. The campus piloted the class in Spring 2015 and it’s now in its fourth semester.

The one-unit class gives students from all majors the opportunity to assess the performance of existing campus facilities. The class chooses one building each year and facilitates the certification process for the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED O+M program.

“The course is a living laboratory for them in so many ways,” Maxwell said. “Students want to learn; that’s why they choose UC Merced.”

The class meets two hours a week with Maxwell and Assistant Director of Engineering Service Learning Chris Butler to learn how UC Merced’s buildings are designed and maintained.

Mechanical engineering major Andrew De Los Santos was the project manager for the class’s opening semester and is credited for developing a two-page document for each credit on the LEED O+M certification scorecard. He spent time setting up the systems that are still in place and gained exposure to sustainable building and operations that led to him earning LEED Green Associate accreditation in January 2017.

Moses Chun, who graduated in May 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in materials science and engineering, took the LEED Lab class his last semester at UC Merced.

“As students, we are so proud that all of our buildings are LEED certified, and we wanted to find something tangible to give back to the campus,” he said. “It’s not only about building green buildings, but setting standards for beyond.”

The following semester, Chun and his team began a top-to-bottom audit of the 103,000-square-foot building, including measuring heating, lighting and what was used to clean the building.

The class carried out the bulk of the day-to-day work and Maxwell reviewed and submitted the LEED O+M certification application in October 2015. The process took about a year.

The goal of the certification is to make sure a building operates in an environmentally friendly manner by encouraging owners and occupants to implement sustainable practices and improve operating efficiencies.

The Leo and Dottie Kolligian Library was the first campus building to receive the operations and maintenance certification, which was submitted by Facilities Management and earned a gold certification in 2015.

“The certification demonstrates that we’re operating the campus in a sustainable manner; the same way that we build,” Maxwell said.

This semester, the LEED Lab team is working on certification for the Science and Engineering Building. As the current project manager, student Stephen Schug is learning skills that he is able to apply now and in the future.

“LEED Lab has been a great opportunity to not only develop my leadership abilities, but also to learn all of the challenges that accompany running a multidisciplinary team,” the management and business economics major said. “As a U.S. Marine, a lot of the personal skills I'm learning in the class are transferring over to my military career.”

Jocelyne Fadiga and Havilliah “Jake” Malsbury traveled from different worlds to study at UC Merced.

The youngest sister of 13 children, Fadiga grew up in Côte d’Ivoire (the Ivory Coast) in West Africa before immigrating to the United States about eight years ago. Malsbury came to UC Merced from Santa Cruz to become the first in his family to earn a bachelor's degree.

Their paths as undergraduates are unique, yet they are linked by a strong desire to help others, an appreciation for their alma mater, and as the two student speakers at UC Merced’s upcoming commencement ceremonies.

“It is a tremendous honor to be able to speak and represent my class,” said Malsbury, a history major who will talk at the May 14 ceremony for the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts.

Fadiga, a chemical sciences major, speaks May 13 to students from the School of Natural Sciences and School of Engineering. Fadiga applied to speak at commencement to honor her mother and is hopeful she will be able to travel from the Ivory Coast to attend the ceremony.

The journey has been long for Fadiga, who left home for the U.S. as a young adult with no specific plan but a keen sense of adventure. “I needed something more outside the boundaries of my country,” she said.

Fadiga settled in Oakland. But it took years to learn English, adjust to American culture and connect with people. At times, she was homeless, depressed and hungry.

She chose to pursue higher education and persevered partly with the help of people who cared and provided support. That was an important factor at UC Merced, where Fadiga transferred several years ago.

“I’m very proud of myself,” she said. “Beyond the degree that I’m getting, I’m also proud of the person that I’ve become.”

At UC Merced, Fadiga performed undergraduate research and participated in symposia and conferences, worked as a lab assistant, and helped mentor students in the Degree Attainment for Returning and Transfer Scholars (DARTS) program. She joined organizations ranging from the National Society of Black Engineers to the Merced County Project 10%, which aims to improve local high school graduation rates, and often served in leadership roles.

Fadiga credits UC Merced with helping to build her confidence, connect her to research opportunities and provide the chance to develop new relationships.

“UC Merced offered a lot of opportunities to explore and grow both professionally and as a person,” she said. “I had the ability to connect to people in a way that I wouldn’t get at a larger university.”

After graduation, Fadiga plans to work in stem cell research at UC San Francisco. She also envisions doing some kind of humanitarian work that would allow her to travel and meet people.

Making a difference in the world also is a priority for Malsbury, who recently received the Carol Tomlinson-Keasey Award— UC Merced’s most prestigious leadership award.

Malsbury’s campus activities include working as a civic leadership intern in the Office of Student Life, serving as editor-in-chief of the Undergraduate Historical Journal, working as a student researcher for the Native American Tribe Conservation Project, and serving as president of the Historical Society at UC Merced.

Through a study abroad program in 2016, Malsbury spent several months in Cape Town, South Africa. There, he worked with nonprofits to help youth in high-poverty areas and mentor high school students.

“That was one of my most memorable experiences,” Malsbury said. He hopes others similarly will leave their comfort zones to take advantage of the many opportunities available to students.

“Make the most of every moment and every year,” he said. “That’s the best way to grow and learn what kind of potential you have.”

Malsbury praised UC Merced’s sense of community and civic engagement along with the accessibility of professors and staff. He said the university helped him define a path in life that involves working for human rights. He’ll start in Australia after graduation and may consider graduate school or law school.

“I’m ready for adventure,” he said. “UC Merced has definitely helped prepare me in so many ways.”

Mark T. Harris, J.D., has been appointed to the California Fair Employment and Housing Council by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Harris is a continuing lecturer of management and business economics at UC Merced since 2008 and a practicing attorney in Sacramento.

From 1999 to 2001, Harris served as undersecretary for the California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency under former Gov. Gray Davis. Under his newest appointment by Gov. Brown, he will focus his efforts on promoting employment and housing anti-discrimination laws.

“It is a high honor to serve the governor and the people of the State of California for the second time in my career,” Harris said. “It is greatly gratifying to continue the fight for social justice for the underserved, particularly in the Central Valley who are largely among California's most forgotten residents when it comes to fair treatment in employment and housing.”

Harris served as chief deputy at the Alameda County Treasurer and Tax Collector’s Office from 1985 to 1988 and was a member of the Sacramento County Planning Commission from 1988 to 1994. He was deputy chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Commerce from 1990 to 1992. 

Harris was a visiting professor at the Shanghai Normal University, Tianhua College School of Education from 2011 to 2014, and an adjunct professor at the University of the Pacific Benerd School of Education from 2009 to 2014 and at the University of Southern California School of Policy, Planning and Development from 2000 to 2008. 

UC Merced Professor Rick Dale is a recipient of the Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences (FABBS) Early Career Impact Award from the Society for Computers in Psychology.

Dale, a cognitive scientist in the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts, studies how our bodies reveal clues to our thoughts and social interactions that are otherwise invisible. These cues can be subconscious and subtle — a quick eye movement, a change in the pitch of a voice, the way we hold a computer mouse — but can reveal whether people will work well together on a project, how much we do or don’t agree with a coworker, or how well students understand classroom material.

The FABBS Early Career Impact Awards recognize scientists who are in the early stages of their professional careers and have already shown promise as leading researchers. In selecting honorees, FABBS draws upon the expertise of its member scientific societies to identify early career candidates who have made significant contributions to their areas of science.  

In honor of his recognition, Dale’s work was recently featured on the FAABS website in the article, “Deciphering Clues in Human Behavior.” 

Por James Leonard, Comunicações Universitárias
Traduzido por Gracy Durães Mantoan

Chris Fradkin, professor e ex-aluno da Universidade da Califórnia em Merced, está indo para o Brasil em busca de “ciência perdida.”

O termo, “ciência perdida,” criado pela primeira vez em 1995 por W. Wayt Gibbs em um artigo da revista Scientific American, refere-se à quantidade incalculável de pesquisas científicas viáveis ​​que não são lidas ou descobertas devido às dificuldades e barreiras enfrentadas pelos pesquisadores nos países em desenvolvimento ao redor do mundo.

Esse é um assunto preferido de Fradkin, que recentemente foi agraciado com uma bolsa do Programa Fulbright para continuar sua pesquisa sobre os muitos fatores que impedem os cientistas brasileiros — e, por extensão, os de outras nações “emergentes” — de disseminar com êxito seu trabalho para o mundo científico em geral.

Em 2014, depois de completar seu Ph.D. na UC Merced, Fradkin iniciou uma bolsa de 14 meses no Brasil. Durante esse período ele teve a oportunidade de editar um número especial de uma revista cujos artigos foram traduzidos do português brasileiro para o inglês.

“Os artigos foram supostamente traduzidos profissionalmente para o inglês, mas eles eram quase ilegíveis para mim,” disse ele. “A versão em português estava clara, mas a tradução não transmitia as mesmas idéias, a mesma visão. Estava sofrível em muitas maneiras.”

No entanto, a tradução de artigos não é o único fator que explica a batalha que cientistas das nações BRICS — Brasil, Rússia, Índia, China e África do Sul, consideradas pelos economistas como nações “emergentes,” que logo poderiam ser consideradas “desenvolvidas” — tem enfrentado ao longo dos anos.

Por exemplo, a Alemanha — uma nação desenvolvida — não usa o inglês como uma linguagem padrão para a ciência ou o comércio. Mas está na proximidade de várias nações europeias que o fazem, por isso a maioria dos cientistas aprendem a usar Inglês, a fim de comunicar em conferências e com seus colegas.

O mesmo não pode ser dito dos cientistas das nações BRICS mais isoladas, que devem percorrer grandes distâncias para colaborar com colegas de língua inglesa. Sem essas colaborações e a notoriedade que poderiam receber entre esses colegas, os cientistas brasileiros lutam para colocar seu trabalho em revistas de alto nível.

Fradkin já começou a pesquisar os fatores que bloqueiam os cientistas brasileiros na “internacionalização” de seu trabalho — ou em criar um impacto a nível internacional.

Em um estudo recente, ele descobriu que simplesmente fornecer traduções em inglês não era suficiente, indicando que a qualidade dessas traduções deve melhorar. Além disso, ele descobriu que um dos preditores mais significativos do impacto internacional de uma revista brasileira não é o número de contribuidores que falam inglês que colaboram em seus artigos, mas o número de membros de língua inglesa de seu conselho editorial.

“A análise de Chris sobre as revistas de psicologia do Brasil foi precisa, imparcial e crítica,” disse Lilian Calò, coordenadora de comunicação científica do Centro Latino-Americano e do Caribe de Informação em Ciências da Saúde. “A comunidade científica não pode tratar os autores brasileiros de maneira condescendente quando submetem um artigo a uma revista internacional. Acho que a pesquisa que Chris está conduzindo nos faz um tremendo favor em mostrar nossas contribuições e, mais importante, nossa capacidade de continuar contribuindo.”

Enquanto ele continua desenvolvendo e aperfeiçoando sua pesquisa, Fradkin espera ajudar a descobrir a “ciência perdida” do Brasil — algumas das quais poderiam ter um grande impacto internacional se comunicadas da maneira correta e nos lugares certos.

“Pode haver descobertas em uma revista brasileira que ligue a poluição da água aos defeitos congênitos, por exemplo, nas favelas de São Paulo,” disse Fradkin. “Isso pode ser de enorme valor para cientistas nos EUA, no Reino Unido ou na França. Mas há tanta coisa para ler que os cientistas não estão procurando em revistas que publicam esses artigos, e eles não têm tempo para tentar decifrar uma tradução mal feita. Torna-se uma enorme barreira.”

O Programa Fulbright, que visa aumentar o entendimento mútuo entre os povos dos EUA e os povos de outros países, é o principal programa internacional de intercâmbio educacional patrocinado pelo governo dos Estados Unidos.

“O Fulbright permite que estudantes internacionais façam uma imersão nos Estados Unidos, e envia pessoas como eu para outros países para participarem e colaborarem com pessoas menos fluentes em inglês,” disse Fradkin. “Promove o alargamento da nossa experiência e o desenvolvimento de relações, que neste dia e idade é essencial.”

Since 2006, 10 UC Merced undergraduates have been awarded the prestigious Donald A. Strauss Foundation scholarship. This year, two more joined their ranks.

The Strauss Foundation selected biological sciences major Pranuthi Kanneganti and public health major Akhila Yechuri as recipients of this year’s awards.

The Strauss Foundation awards 15 scholarships annually to sophomores and juniors from select California universities who propose public service projects focused on social change. Winners receive $10,000 and mentoring from the Strauss Foundation.

Prospective applicants learned of the scholarship from UC Merced's Calvin E. Bright Success Center, which provides students with mentoring, learning resources and access to a variety of competitive scholarships, including the Strauss.

Bright Center Associate Director James Barnes identified qualified students and invited them to Strauss Scholarship information sessions. According to Barnes, this year’s applicant pool was exceptionally strong.

“They are achieving at levels as good or better than students at other universities,” Barnes said. “These are students with records of service, high GPAs and big ideas. We want every student who fits this profile to apply.”

Applicants met with Barnes regularly. Together they developed a timeline to ensure that students met important application milestones. This included coordinating with members of the community to identify a project, obtaining recommendations from community partners, and attending application coaching sessions.

Winners were informed of the Strauss Foundation’s decision in April. Projects are scheduled to run from September 2017 through April 2018.

Kanneganti’s project, “Stepping Into Science,” encourages female and minority students to pursue STEM careers. Kanneganti will work with approximately 80 sixth-graders at Merced’s Peterson Elementary school and use hands-on activities to help students develop the skills they need to succeed in STEM.

“This project allows me to work with children and get a better understanding of the best ways to interact with them while encouraging them that anything is possible, regardless of what other people tell them,” Kanneganti explained.

But she won’t be working alone. Kanneganti recruited a team of UC Merced undergraduates — biology majors Stephanie Quezada and Leticia Diaz, chemistry major Christian Ramirez, computer science and math major Belinda Vasquez, and psychology major Victoria Sierra — to help her make “Stepping into Science” a reality.

“The project may end in April 2018, but I hope that it leaves a positive, lasting impression on the young students,” Kanneganti said.

For Yechuri, the Strauss Scholarship allows her to continue a project she began in January. As the recipient of a Community Engagement Student Fellowship from the California Campus Compact, Yechuri worked with three teachers at Merced’s Yosemite High School to conduct civics lessons.

With the Strauss Scholarship, Yechuri can expand her earlier outreach efforts into a multi-part civic education program in Merced high schools. Her project, “Civics in the Central Valley,” provides civics education to underrepresented and underserved high school students. It also offers high school students the opportunity to meet with local officials and engage in student-led development projects.

“My goals are to institutionalize this program, as well as to successfully recruit more students for this project,” Yechuri said. “The Strauss ends in April 2018, but I'd like this be continued beyond then.”

According to Barnes, a campus with one Strauss Scholar is rare. But having two winners in one year is a remarkable feat for any university.

“This is a way we’re making a name for the university and building success stories,” Barnes said. “It’s important for the Bright Center and the university to raise the profile of exceptional students here.”

Barnes encourages sophomores and juniors with big ideas to serve others and a 3.7 or higher GPA to contact him at jbarnes@ucmerced.edu for more information about this opportunity.

UC Merced Professor Marcos Garcia-Ojeda and lecturer Kamal Dulai have received Macmillan Travel Awards to learn how to bring more effective teaching into the STEM classroom.

The $500 awards cover lodging and travel to one of the Summer Institutes on Scientific Teaching’s multi-day regional teaching workshops. Garcia-Ojeda attended the Northstar Summer Institute of Scientific Teaching at the University of Minnesota. Dulai attended the Northwest Summer institute at the University of Oregon. Both institutes were funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

The Summer Institute is designed to train university professors from around the country in the principles of scientific teaching by implementing the same principles and pedagogy that scientists use in their research.

Participants work with peers from other colleges and universities under the mentorship of a trained facilitator. They develop and test instructional materials based on the best practices found in the scientific and pedagogical literature. This includes designing and adapting instructional materials with clearly defined learning goals and bringing active learning, assessment and inclusive teaching into the classroom.

“The institute provided me the tools needed to help not only my students, but also my fellow faculty members, many of whom had little pedagogical training before coming to UC Merced,” Garcia-Ojeda said.

Both Garcia-Ojeda and Dulai are biologists with an interest in improving the learning outcomes of UC Merced undergraduates interested in the biological sciences. As the number of biology students on campus surpasses 1,500, both faculty members are engaged in designing courses that meet student needs, especially at the upper-division level. They are also committed to addressing the unique educational needs of UC Merced’s large population of first-generation and underserved students.

“I want to use the classroom as my research laboratory to investigate how the implementation of scientific teaching will benefit first generation and underrepresented minority students,” Garcia-Ojeda said. “The Summer Institute provided me the tools to perform these studies, which will help me understand how to prepare our students better for their future.”

UC Merced recently joined the ranks of six other UCs and 70 other universities around the country when it was selected as the newest site for the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps program (NSF I-Corps). Now, with application deadlines looming, I-Corps is actively seeking its first cohort of campus-affiliated, STEM-focused entrepreneurs to participate in this startup incubator.

“I-Corps helps researchers liberate their innovations from the lab,” said Cara Baird, program manager for NSF I-Corps at UC Merced.

As part of the Office of Business Development, NSF I-Corps will provide UC Merced’s Venture Lab, the university’s main hub for innovation and entrepreneurship, additional resources to promote new ventures founded by university affiliates.

“The Venture Lab still operates the same, but it now has a new set of tools to help entrepreneurs in a different way than we could before,” Baird said.

I-Corps will connect budding entrepreneurs with experienced business leaders who can help them commercialize their ideas. I-Corps, however, will focus exclusively on STEM-driven ventures, in accordance with the NSF’s primary mission.

Participants work in three-person teams consisting of an entrepreneurial, academic and business lead. While the entrepreneurial lead can be anyone affiliated with UC Merced (other than faculty), the academic and business leads have somewhat stricter requirements.

Academic leads must have an academic appointment and be able to apply for NSF funding as a PI. Business leads are expected to have startup experience that includes an understanding of how to take technology out of the lab and into the marketplace. Beyond that, teams are free to assemble as they choose.

I-Corps is funded by a five-year, $400,000 NSF grant. The money will be used to provide participants with Idea Grants and Member Grants. Idea Grants are $1,000 awards to encourage UC Merced researchers to file invention disclosures with the Office of Business Development. Member Grants of $1,000-$3,000 will enable I-Corps teams to conduct market research.

Teams will also participate in workshops that provide coaching in the fundamentals of business development. The ultimate goal of these workshops is to help participants hone their business acumen and turn their ideas into viable commercial enterprises.

Workshops will center around activities that help participants identify potential customers and pinpoint client needs. Using the information obtained, teams will works with I-Corps leaders to continuously refine their business models until they’re able to realize their ventures.

Although the program has yet to launch, the Office of Business Development is setting an ambitious agenda for I-Corps.

Baird expects that I-Corps will nurture 15 projects its first year while adding five additional projects each subsequent year. By year four, Baird anticipates as many as 30 teams participating.

But she’s quick to point out that I-Corps is not meant to serve as a funding source for basic research, despite the fact that it originates with the NSF.

“People confuse tech development with business development,” Baird said. “This program is meant for business development. It’s for teams to do market research.”

Interested parties are encouraged to attend monthly I-Corps Social Fuse informational events. The first is scheduled for 4-5 p.m. July 13 in KL 397. Additional inquiries about NSF I-Corps can be addressed to Cara Baird at cbaird2@ucmerced.edu. Applications for the first I-Corps cohort must be submitted online by August 4. Workshops begin September 5.

Winona LaDuke has dedicated her life to social change, working nationally and internationally on issues of justice, equity and the environment alongside indigenous communities.

That’s why a UC Merced committee has selected LaDuke as the 11th recipient of the Alice and Clifford Spendlove Prize in Social Justice, Diplomacy and Tolerance. Ceremonies will be held Nov. 13 in the Dr. Lakireddy Auditorium on the UC Merced campus; details will be announced at a later date.

“UC Merced is pleased to recognize Ms. LaDuke, especially for her outstanding activism toward social justice for Native Americans and their sacred lands, cultures and heritage,” Chancellor Dorothy Leland said. “She is an example for all of us who strive to put our talents to their highest and best uses.”

A Harvard University graduate, LaDuke is an educator, economist, environmentalist and writer. She could most recently be seen speaking on behalf of the resistance camps in North Dakota as people stood against the Dakota Access Pipeline project, trying to protect water, land and sites that are sacred to indigenous people. LaDuke is also known as a leader on the issues of cultural-based sustainable development strategies, renewable energy and sustainable food systems.

Her work drew the attention of the Spendlove Prize Committee, which selects honorees from among scholars, authors, artists or other citizens who exemplify, through their work, the delivery of social justice, diplomacy and tolerance in our diverse local and global society.

Professor Noemi Petra is UC Merced’s newest recipient of the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award, which the NSF describes as its “most prestigious award in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their organizations.”

Petra is the 16th UC Merced faculty member and first in Applied Mathematics to receive the CAREER award, which will provide her with $400,000 over the next five years to undertake an ambitious agenda that includes cutting-edge research and mentoring for students at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

“This is a wonderful accomplishment for Professor Petra,” said Chair of Applied Mathematics Francois Blanchette. “It recognizes the strength and depth of her previous work as well as the potential of her entire research program. At the same time, it acknowledges that the UC Merced Applied Mathematics department provides a fertile environment to conduct cutting edge research. This will contribute to bring motivated students and postdocs here, which in turn will fuel the growth of the department and the campus as a whole.”

Petra will use the award to pursue her long-standing interest in inverse problems governed by differential equations. Though the terms may be unfamiliar, they’re essentially mathematical abstractions that Petra uses to develop computer models of physical phenomena and engineered systems, making them better-suited for prediction and decision-making applications. For instance, her work can help predict how ice sheets will contribute to sea level rise, or simulate the U.S. electric power grid to improve its reliability and economic efficiency.

The Merced 2020 Project earned two more awards this week, claiming the top prize for Best Social Infrastructure Project at the P3 Awards in Washington, D.C.

UC Merced earned the Gold Award for social infrastructure, a subset of infrastructure that includes construction projects that benefit the standard of living, quality of life and social fabric of a community. The university has been recognized in recent rankings for the success it’s had in helping first-generation and underserved students succeed beyond expectations.

The university also claimed a Silver Award for Government Agency of the Year, on behalf of the University of California Board of Regents. The P3 Awards, an international competition organized by P3 Bulletin magazine, recognize the year’s best public-private partnership projects.

View a live webcam of Merced 2020 Project construction

“Merced 2020 is an unprecedented project in higher education, and UC Merced and the UC Board of Regents deserve the recognition they’ve received for taking this chance and building the future in the heart of California,” Chancellor Dorothy Leland said. “Once complete, this project will allow us to serve more of our state’s best and brightest students, hire more of the best faculty and staff, and expand our positive impact on Merced and the San Joaquin Valley.”

JUST IN — @Merced2020 Project receives awards for Best Social Infrastructure Project & Government Agency of the Year. #BuildingtheFuturepic.twitter.com/4KqQ35vGLf

— Dorothy Leland (@UCM_Chancellor) September 27, 2017

The National Science Foundation recently awarded Professor Michael Dawson $900,000 to study some rather mysterious marine phenomena.

Dawson received $700,000 — part of a three-year, $1.2 million grant awarded to Dawson and collaborators at UC Santa Cruz, the University of Georgia and Cornell University — to investigate the repercussions of the 2013 outbreak of sea star wasting disease (SSWD), a marine pandemic that killed 90 percent of ochre sea stars along North America’s Pacific coast.

He received an additional $200,000 to collaborate with Professor Michael Beman to study the disappearance and enigmatic re-emergence of jellyfish in Palau’s Jellyfish Lake.

Professor Clarissa Nobile is changing the way we look at microbes. She wants to understand them as they’re found in nature, not as they exist in the laboratory. And she was just awarded a five-year, $1.89 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to bolster her efforts.

Nobile received the Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). Known as the Outstanding Investigator Award, it’s the first of its kind ever awarded to a UC Merced faculty member.

It’s yet another mark of distinction for Nobile, who became UC Merced’s first Pew scholar in 2015, and this year was named part of the Merced Sun-Star’s first 20 Under 40 class.

Nobile’s newest grant allows considerable latitude to pursue projects of her choosing.

“The MIRA gives investigators more flexibility to take risks and explore,” Nobile said. “It’s an investment in the investigator, not a specific project.”

To those unfamiliar with how research funding works, that might not sound like a big deal. But this isn’t how funding typically gets doled out.

Funding agencies prefer to back projects with narrow aims and clearly defined outcomes. Open-ended exploration is seen as too risky to merit investment. According to Nobile, this has its drawbacks.

“The standard funding mechanisms favor small, incremental advances over big breakthroughs,” Nobile said.

But funding agencies are exploring new ways to support scientists. They’re starting to fund open-ended projects in the hope that they’ll lead to major advances. It’s a riskier way of doing science, but funding agencies are betting that some researchers are worth the risk. In Nobile’s case, the NIH is betting that her work will change the way we understand microbes.

Microbes Team Up to Form Biofilms

What do you see when you imagine a microbe?

Most people picture a lone, rod-shaped cell — perhaps with a flagellum attached — swimming frenetically in a drop of murky water. This vision of the solitary microbe is a false construct, an anomaly emerging from a long history of studying bacteria, yeast and other microscopic organisms under artificial conditions.

In nature, microbes are anything but solitary. They aggregate to form biofilms — crowded microbial communities that communicate, collaborate and compete. As biofilms, they secrete chemicals that protect them from the external environment. But these same compounds cause them to stick together, literally linking the fate of the individual to the community.

Traditional UC Merced events — Homecoming, Preview Day and Family Weekend, plus the Chancellor’s Scholars recognition ceremony — came together for a first-of-its-kind bundle of activities that highlighted the campus for current and prospective students, alumni, family members and friends, and the community. Events included a women’s volleyball game, information sessions, women’s and men’s soccer games, a tailgate party and karaoke.

“One of the things I love most about UC Merced is no matter how much we grow, we will never lose the sense of family and community that brings us together,” Chancellor Dorothy Leland said.

UC Merced recently joined the ranks of six other UCs and 70 other universities around the country when it was selected as the newest site for the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps program (NSF I-Corps). Now, with application deadlines looming, I-Corps is actively seeking its first cohort of campus-affiliated, STEM-focused entrepreneurs to participate in this startup incubator.

“I-Corps helps researchers liberate their innovations from the lab,” said Cara Baird, program manager for NSF I-Corps at UC Merced.

As part of the Office of Business Development, NSF I-Corps will provide UC Merced’s Venture Lab, the university’s main hub for innovation and entrepreneurship, additional resources to promote new ventures founded by university affiliates.

“The Venture Lab still operates the same, but it now has a new set of tools to help entrepreneurs in a different way than we could before,” Baird said.

I-Corps will connect budding entrepreneurs with experienced business leaders who can help them commercialize their ideas. I-Corps, however, will focus exclusively on STEM-driven ventures, in accordance with the NSF’s primary mission.

Participants work in three-person teams consisting of an entrepreneurial, academic and business lead. While the entrepreneurial lead can be anyone affiliated with UC Merced (other than faculty), the academic and business leads have somewhat stricter requirements.

Academic leads must have an academic appointment and be able to apply for NSF funding as a PI. Business leads are expected to have startup experience that includes an understanding of how to take technology out of the lab and into the marketplace. Beyond that, teams are free to assemble as they choose.

I-Corps is funded by a five-year, $400,000 NSF grant. The money will be used to provide participants with Idea Grants and Member Grants. Idea Grants are $1,000 awards to encourage UC Merced researchers to file invention disclosures with the Office of Business Development. Member Grants of $1,000-$3,000 will enable I-Corps teams to conduct market research.

Teams will also participate in workshops that provide coaching in the fundamentals of business development. The ultimate goal of these workshops is to help participants hone their business acumen and turn their ideas into viable commercial enterprises.

Workshops will center around activities that help participants identify potential customers and pinpoint client needs. Using the information obtained, teams will works with I-Corps leaders to continuously refine their business models until they’re able to realize their ventures.

Although the program has yet to launch, the Office of Business Development is setting an ambitious agenda for I-Corps.

Baird expects that I-Corps will nurture 15 projects its first year while adding five additional projects each subsequent year. By year four, Baird anticipates as many as 30 teams participating.

But she’s quick to point out that I-Corps is not meant to serve as a funding source for basic research, despite the fact that it originates with the NSF.

“People confuse tech development with business development,” Baird said. “This program is meant for business development. It’s for teams to do market research.”

Interested parties are encouraged to attend monthly I-Corps Social Fuse informational events. The first is scheduled for 4-5 p.m. July 13 in KL 397. Additional inquiries about NSF I-Corps can be addressed to Cara Baird at cbaird2@ucmerced.edu. Applications for the first I-Corps cohort must be submitted online by August 4. Workshops begin September 5.

Winona LaDuke has dedicated her life to social change, working nationally and internationally on issues of justice, equity and the environment alongside indigenous communities.

That’s why a UC Merced committee has selected LaDuke as the 11th recipient of the Alice and Clifford Spendlove Prize in Social Justice, Diplomacy and Tolerance. Ceremonies will be held Nov. 13 in the Dr. Lakireddy Auditorium on the UC Merced campus; details will be announced at a later date.

“UC Merced is pleased to recognize Ms. LaDuke, especially for her outstanding activism toward social justice for Native Americans and their sacred lands, cultures and heritage,” Chancellor Dorothy Leland said. “She is an example for all of us who strive to put our talents to their highest and best uses.”

A Harvard University graduate, LaDuke is an educator, economist, environmentalist and writer. She could most recently be seen speaking on behalf of the resistance camps in North Dakota as people stood against the Dakota Access Pipeline project, trying to protect water, land and sites that are sacred to indigenous people. LaDuke is also known as a leader on the issues of cultural-based sustainable development strategies, renewable energy and sustainable food systems.

Her work drew the attention of the Spendlove Prize Committee, which selects honorees from among scholars, authors, artists or other citizens who exemplify, through their work, the delivery of social justice, diplomacy and tolerance in our diverse local and global society.

Professor Noemi Petra is UC Merced’s newest recipient of the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award, which the NSF describes as its “most prestigious award in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their organizations.”

Petra is the 16th UC Merced faculty member and first in Applied Mathematics to receive the CAREER award, which will provide her with $400,000 over the next five years to undertake an ambitious agenda that includes cutting-edge research and mentoring for students at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

“This is a wonderful accomplishment for Professor Petra,” said Chair of Applied Mathematics Francois Blanchette. “It recognizes the strength and depth of her previous work as well as the potential of her entire research program. At the same time, it acknowledges that the UC Merced Applied Mathematics department provides a fertile environment to conduct cutting edge research. This will contribute to bring motivated students and postdocs here, which in turn will fuel the growth of the department and the campus as a whole.”

Petra will use the award to pursue her long-standing interest in inverse problems governed by differential equations. Though the terms may be unfamiliar, they’re essentially mathematical abstractions that Petra uses to develop computer models of physical phenomena and engineered systems, making them better-suited for prediction and decision-making applications. For instance, her work can help predict how ice sheets will contribute to sea level rise, or simulate the U.S. electric power grid to improve its reliability and economic efficiency.

The Merced 2020 Project earned two more awards this week, claiming the top prize for Best Social Infrastructure Project at the P3 Awards in Washington, D.C.

UC Merced earned the Gold Award for social infrastructure, a subset of infrastructure that includes construction projects that benefit the standard of living, quality of life and social fabric of a community. The university has been recognized in recent rankings for the success it’s had in helping first-generation and underserved students succeed beyond expectations.

The university also claimed a Silver Award for Government Agency of the Year, on behalf of the University of California Board of Regents. The P3 Awards, an international competition organized by P3 Bulletin magazine, recognize the year’s best public-private partnership projects.

View a live webcam of Merced 2020 Project construction

“Merced 2020 is an unprecedented project in higher education, and UC Merced and the UC Board of Regents deserve the recognition they’ve received for taking this chance and building the future in the heart of California,” Chancellor Dorothy Leland said. “Once complete, this project will allow us to serve more of our state’s best and brightest students, hire more of the best faculty and staff, and expand our positive impact on Merced and the San Joaquin Valley.”

JUST IN — @Merced2020 Project receives awards for Best Social Infrastructure Project & Government Agency of the Year. #BuildingtheFuturepic.twitter.com/4KqQ35vGLf

— Dorothy Leland (@UCM_Chancellor) September 27, 2017

The National Science Foundation recently awarded Professor Michael Dawson $900,000 to study some rather mysterious marine phenomena.

Dawson received $700,000 — part of a three-year, $1.2 million grant awarded to Dawson and collaborators at UC Santa Cruz, the University of Georgia and Cornell University — to investigate the repercussions of the 2013 outbreak of sea star wasting disease (SSWD), a marine pandemic that killed 90 percent of ochre sea stars along North America’s Pacific coast.

He received an additional $200,000 to collaborate with Professor Michael Beman to study the disappearance and enigmatic re-emergence of jellyfish in Palau’s Jellyfish Lake.