UC Merced Launches Earth Institute, Uniting Climate and Environmental Research

UC Merced is deepening its investment in the fight against climate change, uniting scientific expertise across campus to help confront the effects of a changing planet.

Leading that effort is the Sierra Nevada Research Institute (SNRI), UC Merced's first Organized Research Unit, which has merged with the UC Merced Climate Institute to form the UC Merced Earth Institute, an organization dedicated to advancing research and sustainable solutions to the environmental and climate challenges facing communities and ecosystems.

The institute marked the milestone Sept. 14 with a Fall Welcome Event celebrating SNRI's legacy and formally launching its new identity.

For nearly two decades, SNRI has fostered interdisciplinary research in ecology, earth and environmental sciences, social sciences and engineering, generating and sharing knowledge to sustain natural resources and promote social health and well-being in the San Joaquin Valley, the Sierra Nevada region and beyond. That work helped build UC Merced into a Carnegie R1 research institution, and the event recognized the researchers, students and community partners whose contributions made that designation possible.

Faculty Director Asmeret Asefaw Berhe and Executive Director Molly Stephens lead the newly combined institute, which continues SNRI's research strengths in hydrology, environmental contamination, sustainable land management, sustainable agriculture, and ecology and biodiversity. The Earth Institute builds on that foundation with five specialized focus areas tackling environmental problems intensified by climate and environmental change.

The Equitable Climate Solutions Center, led by Professor Rebecca Ryals, addresses challenges at the intersection of human well-being, the natural environment and climate justice. The Fire Resilience Center, led by Professor Safeeq Khan, advances the science, partnerships and solutions needed to help people and ecosystems adapt to a fire-altered world. And the Sustainable Energy Center, led by Professor Abel Chuang, supports the transition from conventional energy sources to renewable, efficient and low-cost energy systems, tackling the engineering and systems-level challenges of integrating renewables into the broader energy landscape. Two faculty-led research pillars further anchor the institute's structure: Water Resources and Biodiversity and Ecosystems, both of which build directly on SNRI's historic core research areas.

"By bringing our climate and environmental science research together, we're developing a more unified approach to some of the most pressing challenges of our time," Berhe said. "We are even better positioned to deliver the interdisciplinary, community-engaged solutions that the Central Valley and the world urgently need."