Until recently, scientists were fixated on the free-floating cultures they grew in labs. They studied microbes in their planktonic form to the exclusion of biofilms. They were just easier to study. As a result, little is known about microbial communities. How they form, how they’re maintained and how they differ from their free-floating counterparts remain open questions.

But biofilms are everywhere. Single-species biofilms like those formed by the yeast Candida albicans are the main cause of the common yeast infection. Multispecies biofilms are responsible for many of the infections people pick up in hospitals, with pathogenic biofilms forming on implanted devices like pacemakers and heart valves. There are even biofilms that form on our teeth and comprise many thousands of microbial species. And that’s just dental plaque.

In most cases, the medical and ecological significance of biofilms is just beginning to be understood, largely because studying biofilms required a new approach.

“People used to study one gene at a time to understand what that one gene did,” Nobile said. “We take a systems approach. We study the networks that control the genes that lead to the development of microbial communities”

Biofilms Find Strength in Numbers, Communication

It’s an approach that’s already proved fruitful for Nobile.

Her lab found that the biofilm form of Candida produces proteins that free-floating Candida do not, demonstrating that biofilms not only manage their genomes differently, but also suggesting that these yeast somehow “know” when they’re members of a community and “behave” differently in that context. Nobile also showed that even distantly related microbes, like bacteria and yeast (which are much more closely related to animals than bacteria), can form biofilms together.

“This means different kingdoms are somehow communicating with each other and forming communities,” Nobile said.

Nobile also believes that studying biofilms might provide insight into how life went from single-celled to multicellular.

“Single-celled organisms form communities where cells signal each other,” Nobile said. “Certain microbial biofilms also exhibit compartmentalization of function.”

Cell-to-cell communication and cell specialization were once thought to be hallmarks of complex multicellular life. But since biofilms seem to exhibit many of these same traits in species considered more primitive, they may provide insight into how multicellularity emerged in the first place.

“Very little is known about how we became multicellular,” Nobile said. “Studying microbes, which have been on this planet for billions of years and have had billions of years to evolve, might be the place to figure that out.”

Part of Homecoming’s success was the sense of connection built between Merced and the campus.

“We are a city on the rise, and that’s in big part due to UC Merced and what you bring to our community,” Mayor Mike Murphy said during the weekend’s kick-off. “We are happy to be here and part of this celebration.”

Many UC Merced alumni returned to their academic home. In addition to attending events held on and off campus, they remained true to the campus’s mission by cleaning up Bear Creek during “Bobcats Give Back.” 

Just about every school, department, club and organization at UC Merced was represented at the Community Showcase with demonstrations, performances, educational games and more to celebrate all the campus has offer.

More than 1,000 prospective students and their family members visited UC Merced, some for the first time. About 400 family members returned to campus to reunite with their students, and community members toured what is now a point of pride in their hometown. And nearly 200 Chancellor’s Scholars were honored at a special event held downtown, attended by their friends and families.

“We hope you feel welcome here as students,” Murphy told the crowd. “We hope that you stay here after you graduate and are contributing members of our community here in Merced.”

Studying the coelacanth (a prehistoric fish thought to have gone extinct 70 million years ago, until a living specimen popped up in 1938) and cartilaginous fish (sharks, skates, rays and other species with skeletons made of cartilage rather than bone), Amemiya found that these ancient vertebrates organize their immunoglobulin genes — genes that produce a variety of pathogen-fighting proteins — differently from the way mammals organize the same genes.

Amemiya further upended the field of comparative immunology with his studies of lampreys and hagfish, jawless fishes that are among the most primitive vertebrates still in existence. His studies demonstrated that immunoglobulins, essential to virtually every vertebrate immune system, from sharks to humans, were absent from the more ancient immune systems of jawless fishes and supplanted by an analogous antibody-like toolkit. This shows that the requisite components of the immune system followed two separate paths during the evolution of vertebrates.

While studying these ancient immune systems, Amemiya discovered something else entirely unprecedented: programmed genome rearrangement. During embryonic development, lampreys systematically shuffle their DNA, discarding 20 percent of their genome in the process. The reasons for this are not fully understood, but may have implications for cancer and aging.

Though he plans to continue studying primitive vertebrates and their genomes, Amemiya is also turning his attention to chitin, the polymer that gives crustaceans and insects their hard outer shells. Long believed to be absent from vertebrates, Amemiya found that fish and amphibian genomes contain chitin-producing enzymes that synthesize bona fide chitin. Equally surprisingly, this chitin exists in forms that are much more viscous and gel-like than in an insect’s exoskeleton.

Amemiya believes that understanding the structure and function of vertebrate chitin demands more than just genetic expertise — it’s an interdisciplinary problem that requires input from biophysicists and material scientists, in addition to biologists. Having access to experts in these fields is what excites Amemiya most about coming to UC Merced.

“We never would have discovered vertebrate chitin without our genomic approach,” Amemiya said. “But we need biophysicists and material scientists to help us understand chitin’s ultrastructure and its unique material properties. From that standpoint, UC Merced is a great fit for me.”

UC Merced’s other AAAS fellows are School of EngineeringDean Mark Matsumoto, Sierra Nevada Research Institute Director Roger Bales, Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic DevelopmentSam Traina, and Professor and former Dean of Natural SciencesJuan Meza.

“Latinos are, at the moment, almost 18 percent of the U.S. population, but it’s a growing group, and they already account for 25 percent of children under age 18,” Ramirez said.

Because the Latino population skews young, Ramirez worries that we have yet to grapple with the full impact of the community’s present-day health problems.

“It’s a young population, so we’re not seeing a huge burden of diseases associated with older populations, like dementia, stroke and cancer — yet,” Ramirez said. “But given the demographic patterns, combined with risk factors related to obesity, we know there’s a looming epidemic of these diseases.”

This looming epidemic is what Ramirez is hoping to prevent. She’s starting locally, with a focus on Merced’s health information environment.

“It turns out there’s very little health information available in Merced. Even less so for Spanish speaking populations,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez wants to change this. Recognizing that communication interventions can produce behavioral changes that improve health outcomes, Ramirez is working on new ways to disseminate information to target those behaviors that contribute to adverse health outcomes in the Latino population.

“Communication can serve as a social determinant of health, and it’s something I’d like to improve on,” Ramirez said. “I want to create a way to disseminate health information that’s informative and actionable, and that reaches the most vulnerable populations. We want to work towards preventing the diseases we know we can prevent.”

“We wanted an interactive virtual studio session like at architecture schools,” Lercari said. “Students present their work and have faculty and students comment on it.”

Over the course of the semester, Lercari asks his students to complete three projects of increasing complexity using Autodesk 3ds Max, a software platform widely-used for 3-D graphics. The students create 3-D models of Palenque’s Temple of the Cross and present their renderings on the LibraryCAVE, receiving feedback from Lercari to help them improve their digital drafting skills.

The LibraryCAVE is one of four CAVE kiosks in the UC system. Others are located at UC Berkeley’s Hearst Museum, UC San Diego’s Geisel Library and UCLA’s Fowler Museum. All four installations are part of the “At-Risk Cultural Heritage and the Digital Humanities” project, funded by a 2016 UC President’s Research Catalyst Award. According to the project abstract, its aim is “to use cyber-archaeology and digital humanities to document and safeguard virtually some of the most at-risk heritage objects and places.“

But the LibraryCAVE is also part of a broader trend reflecting the evolving role of libraries in the digital age.

“There’s lots of movement to digital and technological innovations happening in libraries nationwide,” University Librarian Haipeng Li said. “Libraries, particularly academic libraries, are changing from the traditional role of keeping books to broader roles that support teaching, research and learning. In the U.S., academic institutions are designing library spaces driven by technology to support these expanded roles.”

The library already offers digital curation and scholarship services. They also administer the Spatial Analysis and Research Center (SpARC), which consults on projects related to spatial data management, cartography and web mapping.

“In the future, we hope for an expanded role in data management,” Li said. “Data management is what librarians are good at.”

Though World Heritage 110 is the first class to employ the LibraryCAVE, both Lercari and Li look forward to helping other faculty incorporate it into their own syllabi.

“We wanted to make sure that it works for classes,” Li said. “This semester is like a pilot run. If successful, we can push the CAVE to other faculty who might find it useful.”

Meneses likes to stay busy, juggling academic, leadership and athletic pursuits. The key, she said, is staying organized and working with others who are similarly motivated.

Unsurprisingly, Meneses has earned praise for her efforts on and off the field. She has a healthy list of accomplishments including multiple appearances on the dean’s and chancellor’s lists, leadership positions with the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and the Association of Student Athletes, and jobs in the recreation and athletics department.

That’s in addition to her key role on the soccer team.

Meneses, a midfielder who wore No. 22 all four years on the team, helped the Bobcats to a 43-14-10 record and two conference championship games. This year, she played in all 19 games and tied a career high with three goals.

Last fall, Meneses received the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics' Dr. Leroy Walker Character Award for the California Pacific Conference. The award honors a student-athlete who demonstrates outstanding academic and athletic achievement, campus and community leadership, and future ambition.

“She’s just a fantastic kid,” said Hannah Brown, women’s soccer head coach. Brown helped recruit the speedster after watching her play at a Las Vegas showcase.

Meneses has been a positive force on the team and worked hard to polish her skills, her coach said. She’s also the first to help — whether that means giving a teammate a ride, lending a hand with homework or introducing herself to a recruit.

“She’s already helping before you even need to ask,” Brown said. “We are really proud of her for her academic success, but we will really miss her on the field.”

Marie Supanich, assistant women’s soccer coach and associate director for Recreation and Athletics, also knows Meneses as president of the SAAC.

“She’s an energetic and passionate leader,” Supanich said. “She’s never going to ask anyone to do something that she wouldn’t do herself.”

Meneses takes pride in achievements that extend into the Merced community. As a longtime member and current president of the SAAC, Meneses helped launch a fundraiser that bought Christmas gifts for needy children, participated in a canned food drive that netted roughly 250 pounds of food and collected socks for the homeless.

Meneses aimed to broaden the image of student athletes through community service efforts like the sock project. The group tapped into the competitive spirit of UC Merced athletes who bought bulk socks online and repeatedly cleared the shelves of discount stores. More than 2,200 pairs of socks were donated.

With commencement fast approaching, Meneses looks back fondly on the experiences she had at UC Merced.

“I’m really happy with how I spent my time at UC Merced and that I was able to do all of those things,” Meneses said.

Bermudez, from Berkeley, earned her bachelor’s degree in feminist studies with a minor in global studies from UC Santa Barbara in 2013. A faculty mentor at Santa Barbara, Professor Horacio Roque Ramirez, suggested Bermudez pursue graduate studies at UC Merced. Bermudez began work with Professor Robin Maria DeLugan, who has been with UC Merced since 2006 and is well-known for her research into community collective identity; migration and transnationalism; political anthropology; and indigenous peoples of the Americas.

Bermudez earned her master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Humanities at UC Merced, and through her work with Professor Arturo Arias, she became more familiar with research on El Salvador. She grew up in the United States, but her family is from El Salvador and emigrated during the civil war in the 1980s. She said she still has family members in El Salvador, and they are excited about her doctoral research.
Bermudez spent three weeks there in 2015 on a research trip which introduced her to many faculty members and students in El Salvador, as well as government officials and representatives from various cultural organizations.

She participated in a community vigil for the beatification of Monseñor Oscar Romero, a Catholic archbishop who spoke out against poverty, social injustice, assassinations and torture during the war and was assassinated in 1980 while offering Mass. She attended witnessed delegations from around the world at Romero’s ceremony. She also attended a sociocultural anthropology conference, visited world heritage and archaeological sites, met with indigenous and community leaders, observed a Nahuat blessing of the corn ceremony and met the secretary of Culture to discuss the country’s initiatives around indigenous rights. 

“These experiences were transformational to my personal and professional journey, as El Salvador publicly reckons with past violences and its intersections with the present,” Bermudez said.
She particularly thanked professors DeLugan, Arturo Arias, Paul Almeida, David Torres-Rouff, Anneeth Kaur Hundle and Nigel Hatton for having been integral to her work at UC Merced and for helping her earn the Fulbright award.

Fulbright scholarships are extremely competitive. Arkansas Sen. J. William Fulbright passed federal legislation to establish the program in 1946, and the program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The Fulbright Program awards approximately 8,000 grants annually. About 370,000 people have participated in the program since its inception.
The program provides Bermudez with monthly stipends to live abroad and connects her with a network of Fulbright winners, alumni, other scholars and diplomats. She is also sponsored by an affiliated university in El Salvador.

When she returns, she plans to share her research findings with the campus community. After she finishes her dissertation, she said, she aims for a tenure-track faculty position at a research university through which she can research and teach courses on El Salvador related to gender, indigeneity and social memory to further promote cultural exchange and mutual understanding transnationally.

“I hope other students apply to the program,” Bermudez said. “The Fulbright program provides an opportunity for students to connect with others around the world. Students at UC Merced are brilliant, and I believe we have much to offer.”

Banuelos grew up in a single-parent household with an older brother and younger sister. His mother worked in the fields, and his brother worked in a warehouse to help make ends meet. Even so, the family moved often due to financial hardship.

In high school, Banuelos contributed by working in the cafeteria and then a law office after school. He would arrive home around 6 p.m., take a short break and then start his homework.

With the help of his boss at the law firm, Banuelos applied for and received a Gates Millennium Scholarship, available to outstanding minority students. The program, established in 1999 through a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, pays for an undergraduate education and helps scholars pursue graduate studies in specific disciplines, including mathematics.

Banuelos graduated from high school in 2008 and went on to Fresno State, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in math in 2012. He then earned a teaching credential from California State University, Bakersfield, and taught high school for one year in Delano. He was drawn to teaching, but also wanted to explore math further.

“I really wanted to do research in higher math,” Banuelos said. “I wanted to continue pursuing higher math but also stay in a region where I knew the students.”

Banuelos considered a master’s program at Fresno State but felt drawn to UC Merced during a campus visit. He loved the enthusiasm of the faculty, the collegial atmosphere and the interdisciplinary approach of the applied math program.

“The people and the research were the top reasons I chose UC Merced,” Banuelos said. “It was an environment where you could grow.”

Banuelos now studies how DNA differs between related individuals — mainly parents and their children – and he uses math to sift through data and identify genetic changes that make each individual genetically distinct. His research may help doctors create personalized treatments for diseases like cancer.

Banuelos is a member of Professor Suzanne Sindi’s applied mathematics research group and has also served as her teaching assistant. Sindi described Banuelos as an intelligent, dedicated student who appreciates a challenge and can manage the ups and downs of research.

“Mario is very good at soliciting feedback and responding to feedback,” she said.

Sindi said it is rare for a new Ph.D. in applied math to go from graduate school directly into a university post — a sign of Banuelos’ academic accomplishments.

“It really speaks to his maturity and research — the strength of his research plus his great record of teaching and working with undergraduates,” she said. “I’m so excited that he has the commitment to stay in this region and to contribute to the growth of education in this region.”

Pirtle has already finished drafting several chapters of her book and plans to travel to South Africa for a month later this year to flesh out her findings so she can complete her manuscript.

Her fellow sociologists are excited for her.

“The sociology faculty are thrilled about Pirtle’s prestigious Ford fellowship,” Sociology Chair Professor Paul Almeida said. “This kind of recognition for research raises the national visibility of our department and the university.”

Pirtle’s fellow sociologist Professor Zulema Valdez won a Ford fellowship at a previous university, and said it was a great experience.

“As a first-generation college student and a woman of color, I did not have the insider knowledge or resources that other academics sometimes enjoy; the Ford Foundation fellowship helped me bridge that gap and as a consequence, was — and continues to be — integral to my success,” Valdez said. “Also, I am overjoyed that Whitney Pirtle's ground-breaking research was acknowledged by the Ford, and I can't wait to read her forthcoming book.”

The Ford Foundation , through the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, has several fellowship programs. The aim is to increase the diversity of the nation’s college and university faculties to enrich students’ education.

This is the second time Pirtle has been a Ford winner, although the first time was for the dissertation award while she was finishing graduate school. She declined the fellowship to accept her assistant professor position at UC Merced.

“I had to choose between taking the job or the award,” she said. “I’m really excited to be able to take it now.”

The award recognizes outstanding students who have the knowledge, skill and resourcefulness to conduct exemplary research using the tools and resources provided by the library.

Becerra, from West Covina, is a peer instructor at the Bright Success Center and helped found the Young Artists Movement. Her winning application included a paper she wrote, “Mental Health and Academic Performance of First-Generation College Students and Continuing-Generation College Students,” and a reflective essay about the research process.

Parmeter, from Fresno, majored in political science and double-minored in history and economics. He submitted a paper entitled “Obstinate Anger and Pessimism: An (Academic) History of Right-Wing Populism” and a reflective essay about his research process.

The students’ papers will be placed in eScholarship, the University of California’s open access repository.

Barton plans to spend a year researching how Nahuat women survived through the Salvadoran Civil War (1979-1992), and what remains after war given that the impact of violence and war on indigenous communities is under-studied. Under Professor Ma Vang, Barton will work mainly with a group of Nahuat women who lead a new human rights movement since the country’s constitution first declared indigenous peoples’ rights in 2014.

“Nahuat identity, language and religious and cultural practices have survived in El Salvador despite colonialism, empire and war. Although as many as one-third of Salvadorans were forcibly displaced by the war — including Nahuat families — understanding how they have survived and demonstrated cultural resiliency is critical, as the country reckons with ongoing violence,” Barton said.

“What does it mean to protect your culture in the aftermath of war and forced migration, when families are separated? I remember what it was like, enduring the violences of war. People are resilient and still get up and go to work every day and live their lives. I’m trying to understand that resiliency,” she said. “What allows people to come out on the other side of such trauma envisioning a different future for themselves and their children?”

She likens Nahuat struggles for “survivance” to that of Kurdish stateless communities in Syria that have been forcibly displaced and dispossessed by colonialism, empire and war for decades and said she is juxtaposing the experiences of both indigenous groups in her dissertation.

The intersections of indigeneity and “refugee-ness” in El Salvador and Syria haven’t been the site of much scholarship, she said, so there are many opportunities to understand what is like for indigenous communities to survive the violences of war. But having left her Salvadoran home in the 1980s as a teenager and only having gone back once since, this research trip will be a new experience.

“It will be like getting to know my homeland all over again and writing about it firsthand through my research,” she said. “This is going to be a transformational journey for me.”

According to Berhe, New Voices appointees will work on personalized goals that align with and advance the National Academies’ overall mission. For Berhe, that includes promoting an understanding and appreciation of ecosystem services provided by soil systems and increasing the recruitment and retention of women and underrepresented minorities in STEM fields, especially the geosciences, where only 20 percent of tenure-track positions are filled by women — a number that drops to 7 percent for women of color.

As a New Voice for the National Academies, Berhe will have a powerful platform that can help her pursue these goals and reach a larger, more diverse audience.

“The National Academies are an authoritative voice when it comes to standards for quality of science, as well as education, research, policy and standards of how we operate as scientists,” Berhe said.

Founded in 1863, the National Academies work to educate the public and provide scientific expertise and guidance on policy matters. The Academies are considered among the most prestigious and influential voices in the world of science. They count many of the world’s most distinguished scientists among their ranks, including 300 Nobel laureates.

For Berhe, the National Academies are familiar territory. She has chaired the Academies’ Committee for Soil Sciences since 2016 and served as a member since 2011. She’s also served on the Academies’ Board on International Scientific Organizations since 2015.

"I am delighted to be among the first cohort of National Academies New Voices in Science, Engineering, and Medicine,” Berhe said. “I am honored by the recognition of my scientific work and service to my community that comes with this selection. I am excited to engage with member of the Academy and other New Voices in the coming two years."

Beaudin is the second UC Merced faculty member to receive the award. She joins biology Professor Clarissa Nobile, who became UC Merced’s first Pew Biomedical Scholar in 2015.

The Pew is awarded annually to promising early-career biomedical researchers who have held the rank of assistant professor for three years or less. Beaudin — who joined the UC Merced faculty in 2016 after completing postdoctoral work at UCLA and UC Santa Cruz — was selected from a competitive pool of 184 candidates nominated by leading research institutions around the country.

Beaudin joins a community of more than 600 prior Pew winners, many of whom are among the world’s most distinguished scientists, including Nobel Laureates and Lasker Award winners.

“This award is a testament to the quality and vision of Professor Beaudin’s research program,” Dean of Natural Sciences Betsy Dumont said. “She exemplifies the strength of our faculty and their capacity to move whole fields of science forward.”

The revised curriculum will emphasize active classroom participation and inquiry-driven laboratories. This approach allows faculty to assess and respond to students in real time, in stark contrast to the professor-at-podium lectures and follow-the-recipe labs that dominate most undergraduate biology programs.

“There’s growing shifts toward active learning and recognizing the assets that students bring to the classroom,” said Dean of Natural Sciences Betsy Dumont, administrative lead on the grant. “Research has demonstrated that retention and graduation rates can be increased by making relatively simple changes in approaches to classroom teaching.”

New approaches include the “flipped classroom,” which biology faculty members like Michael Dawson, Marcos García-Ojeda and Kamal Dulai have already implemented and will continue to develop under the new grant. The “flipped” approach has students watch video lectures before coming to class so that classroom time is used for active discussion and participatory exercises that reinforce lectures and dive deeper into the material.

The approach also includes a revised lab curriculum centered around CURES — Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences — that provide students with more realistic lab experiences. In traditional teaching labs students follow relatively rigid sets of instructions to achieve a predetermined result. Recent innovations in lab teaching promote a hypothesis-based, trial-and-error approach that drives discovery and, sometimes, unexpected results. CURES provide students with immersive lab experiences that are less prescribed and more reflective of real-world science.

Supporting faculty development is a key component of the grant. The new curriculum isn’t just targeted at biology students — it will also help faculty learn how to bring their own expertise and passion for research into their classrooms.  

“Most faculty never received training in pedagogy,” Manilay said. “Teaching is not emphasized at the research institutions where most STEM faculty completed their doctorates.”

Because of the research-first approach that defines most STEM doctoral programs, many faculty aren’t familiar with current best practices in teaching. Many are even of the opinion that research and teaching are at odds with one another, a view that Dumont does not share.

“Excellence in teaching and research are not mutually exclusive," she said. "Both are about logical thinking and clear, compelling communication. This grant is about giving students, staff and faculty the tools and support they need to succeed in both of these realms.”

Measuring the success of the new approach are Associate Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning James Zimmerman and Student and Program Assessment Manager Amy Moffat. They’ll develop tools to assess instructor efficacy and determine whether students have met the new curriculum’s learning objectives. Therefore, this project will not only connect research in the biological sciences to the undergraduate curriculum, but could also contribute significantly to biology education research beyond UC Merced.

And biology faculty member Laura Beaster-Jones will lead an effort to bridge the cultural divide between biology faculty and underrepresented students. Surveys of students and faculty revealed that their goals and values were imperfectly aligned. The grant will help create social networks where faculty connect with students in small group settings to exchange ideas and perspectives.

“Our goal is to institute cultural change,” Manilay said. “Students and faculty who go through the new curriculum will improve learning outcomes. We’re hoping this becomes the way we do all of the sciences at UC Merced.”

Large-Scale Sustainable Planning: Sustainability Strategic Plan

The Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Sustainability and the Office of Sustainability worked with campus administration to facilitate a series of workshops to inform the development of UC Merced’s Sustainability Strategic Plan. The plan provides a high-level overview of campus sustainability goals through 2022 and defines the roles of campus stakeholders. It was designed as a living document to be reviewed annually with a progress report that outlines accomplishments.

This award recognizes innovative planning documents and efforts that include multiple areas of sustainability and honors plans that institutionalize sustainability at the campuswide level.

Overall Sustainable Design: Classroom and Office Building 2

The three-story, LEED Platinum-certified Classroom and Office Building 2 won this award for best overall design for energy efficiency in a new building or major building renovation.

Opened in 2016, COB2 was designed with some of the newest sustainable technologies and features to date. The biggest contributor to its Platinum certification is its passive solar design for windows, walls and floors that were designed to collect, store and distribute solar energy in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer.

Multi-Campus Partnership Award: Energize Colleges

UC Merced was one of 12 campuses honored as part of Energize Colleges, a unique network of two- and four-year public and private institutions from across California that work to collaborate on a uniformly designed yet flexible sustainability internship program for students. With help from numerous collaborators, students have established lasting sustainability features at their respective campuses through their internship projects. Not only do projects result in energy and cost savings, but they also successfully engage multiple stakeholders in learning about sustainability.

Ruiz, chairman emeritus and co-founder of Ruiz Foods, is a founding member of the UC Merced Foundation Board of Trustees and served as regent on the University of California’s governing board from 2004 to 2016.

His financial support to the university includes several endowments, including the Ruiz Family Chair in Entrepreneurship; the Fred and Mitzie Ruiz Endowed Fellowship for graduate students who contribute to diversity; and the Rose R. Ruiz Endowed Scholarship and Fellowship Fund to support undocumented and first-generation college students.

In addition, Ruiz was the lead donor in establishing a $1 million UC Merced Foundation Board of Trustees Presidential endowed chair, which will recognize an outstanding scholar at the campus.

“For more than three decades, I have served in numerous leadership roles within higher education, and I have rarely witnessed the kind of leadership, generosity, and commitment that Mr. Ruiz embodies,” Chancellor Dorothy Leland said. “Fred is one of those exceptional individuals that truly leads by example, and the University of California and UC Merced specifically have greatly benefited from his thoughtful and enthusiastic engagement.”

The center is designed to serve the Valley and includes researchers from the region. Professor Mariaelena Gonzalez, one of the center’s lead researchers, grew up in Calaveras County, and postdoctoral fellow Anna Epperson is a long-time Stanislaus County resident and one of the first recipients of a UC Merced Ph.D.

NCPC researchers will work in Valley communities with regional partners — including the American Heart Association (AHA), Healthy House Merced and local public health departments — to study issues such as smoking bans, smokeless tobacco, e-cigarettes, vaping and marijuana use to produce empirical research that informs tobacco and cannabis policy and accurately reflects real issues facing Valley residents.

“The American Heart Association works for everyone to live longer, healthier lives,” said Lisa Jones Barker, AHA senior vice president for Health Strategies. “As part of this amazing project, we are here to listen to the community and find out what obstacles exist to either quitting tobacco and vaping products, or never picking them up in the first place. If, through this project, the community can share thoughts and ideas on how to prevent the harm caused by tobacco, it will mean more years of wellness for those throughout the Valley.”

Extra emphasis will be placed on understanding the factors that influence tobacco and cannabis habits among the Valley’s ethnically diverse teens and young adults. The center will also engage youth to serve as advocates for tobacco and cannabis control, communicating the center’s findings to peers and policymakers.

“I applaud UC Merced’s efforts to bring much-needed resources to our area and a deeper focus on how we can improve health outcomes in the Central Valley,” said California Assemblyman Adam Gray, who represents Merced and Stanislaus counties. “I have every confidence that the NCPC will forge key community partnerships to successfully engage participants in a way that reflects the unique and diverse needs of those who live in our region.”

If you would like more information or have questions, please contact NCPC manager Alex Mellor at 209-355-9280 or amellor@ucmerced.edu.

By probing the fossil record and exploring how animal communities and genetic diversity changed in different locations over the past 21,000 years, Blois hopes to find patterns that govern how species respond to warming temperatures and changing environments. Identifying these patterns might help scientists predict how species alive today will respond to the warming climate.

“The ideal outcome is that we’re able to predict with high accuracy how species change across space and time in response to climate change,” Blois said.

However, Blois said, past climate change events aren’t entirely analogous to what species and ecosystems are experiencing today, and that means that patterns that held true in the past might not hold into the future.

“The factors causing climate to change today are different from what we’ve seen in the past,” Blois said. “Back then, the world was shifting from cold to warm and back. Today, it’s going from warm to hot. In the past, climate change was caused by natural processes only. Today, changes result from the same natural processes, but with human activity — like the intensive burning of fossil fuels and human modification of natural landscapes — layered on top.”

Research isn’t the only facet of Blois’s work that the CAREER will support. The award will also fund her education and outreach efforts. Working with UC Merced’s CalTeach program, Blois will develop “Research in Action” modules to help local teachers explain some of the trickier concepts in paleoecology and paleogenetics to their students.

Blois will also develop modules targeted toward UC Merced undergraduates. She hopes to add a lab to the undergraduate paleoecology course in which students will work with real scientific data.

“We want to give students the real paleo experience,” Blois said. “Working with real data gives students practice using the actual tools of the trade. They might even ask a question or discover something that we never thought to look for.”

Her work drew attention and opposition. Her family was accused of taking part in guerrilla activities and Menchú Tum’s father was imprisoned and tortured. After his release, he joined the Committee of the Peasant Union, as did she. That year, her brother was arrested, tortured and killed by the army, and the following year, her father was killed when security forces in the capital stormed the Spanish Embassy where he and other peasants were staying. Shortly after, her mother died after being arrested, tortured and raped. Menchú Tum became increasingly active in the CUC, and taught herself English, Spanish and Mayan languages other than her native tongue.

She helped lead farm-worker strikes and demonstrations, and as part of the radical group 31st of January Popular Front, she helped teach the indigenous peasant population to resist massive military oppression.

In the early 1980s, Menchú Tum went into hiding and Guatemala and fled to Mexico, becoming an organizer to resist oppression in Guatemala and advocating for indigenous peoples’ rights. She helped found the United Representation of the Guatemalan Opposition and joined the National Coordinating Committee of the CUC.

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 the diverse local and global society.

Campus friend Sherrie Spendlove established the prize in 2005 through a gift to the university in honor of her parents, lifelong Merced residents Alice and Clifford Spendlove, who dedicated their lives to education and public service.

“The Spendloves left us a legacy that exalts education through their teachings,” Menchú Tum said. “It is an honor for me to be part of this legacy that will continue to illuminate future generations.”

Menchú Tum’s work has earned her recognition across the Western Hemisphere generally and several international awards, including the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize.

She also narrated a film about the struggles of the Maya called “When the Mountains Tremble” and is the subject of a book entitled “I, Rigoberta Menchú.”

She returns sometimes to Guatemala to plead the cause of the indigenous peasants, but death threats keep her in exile.

“Rigoberta Menchú is a courageous crusader, at great personal peril, for basic human rights for her people — the indigenous populations of Guatemala. She has campaigned against the cruelty, greed and ignorance of those in power who deny them the basic right to exist, to eat, work and live,” Spendlove said. “The government authorities have done this by the theft of their native land, the destruction of the natural ecosystem upon which their civilization depends, by the mass murder and widespread rape and torture of the indigenous population, and by wiping out entire families and communities, their centuries-long traditions and their entire way of life.”

Menchú Tum is in good company with past Spendlove Prize recipients, including Native American activist and author Winona LaDuke; Professor Anita Hill, attorney and professor of social policy, law and women's studies; slain Civil Rights activist Viola Gregg Liuzzo; Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Peter Balakian; California Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso; President Jimmy Carter; Sara O’Meara and Yvonne Fedderson, who founded Childhelp USA; Jonathan D. Jansen, South Africa's first black dean; Professor Faye J. Crosby, an expert in inclusiveness, gender, race and affirmative action at UC Santa Cruz; John Y. Tateishi, the leader of the successful struggle for reparations for Japanese-American internees; and Charles Ogletree, Jr., a Merced native, Harvard Law School professor, social justice and ethics expert and constitutional law scholar.

“An internationally-recognized spokesperson and ambassador for human rights, Rigoberta Menchú has dedicated her entire life to the defense and support of indigenous people and women,” School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts (SSHA) Dean Jill Robbins said. “She is an inspiring world leader, one who embodies the values that the Spendlove Prize seeks to recognize.”

Robbins leads the Spendlove Prize Selection Committee, which includes Sherrie Spendlove, an undergraduate student; a graduate student; a faculty member; and representatives from the UC Merced community. The Prize includes a $10,000 award.

Menchú Tum will accept her award at a public ceremony beginning at 6 p.m. Nov. 5 at the Merced Theater, and will deliver a keynote address. She will also spend time with students on campus that day, as well as attending a private reception with Chancellor Leland, among others.