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Brenda Ortiz

ϰٿ campus photo of sign

Senior Public Information Representitive

Office: (209) 228-4203

Mobile: (209) 628-8263

bortiz@ucmerced.edu

DOD Fellowship Helps Grad Student Advance Machine Learning Research

Ph.D. student Sarah Downs was awarded the prestigious Department of Defense (DOD) (SMART) scholarship.

The Department of Defense is committed to developing a highly skilled STEM workforce and is the largest employer of federal scientists and engineers, with nearly 150,000 civilian STEM employees working across the DOD.

Jessica Wilson’s CBD Research Talk Advances Her to UC Grad Slam Final

ϰٿ’s top 10 finalists went head-to-head earlier this month to share their research in three minutes, in a format meant to share their scholarly work in a manner that is accessible for the general public.

California Sea Grant Funds Grad Student’s Shark Conservation Research

Leopard shark (Triakis semifasciata) populations in the San Francisco Estuary (SFE) are experiencing extreme decline in recent years, causing concern for coastal ecosystems.

ϰٿ Grad Programs See Uptick in U.S. News Rankings

Twelve of ϰٿ’s graduate programs and one of its schools are among the best in the country in the rankings, according to results released March 29.

ϰٿ Student Selected as a ‘Rising Graduate Scholar’ by Diverse

Rhondene Wint is one of 10 exemplary graduate students to be featured in the March 17 of Diverse: Issues In Higher Education (Diverse) based on “standout scholarship thus far and their current trajectory toward a very promising future in academia and beyond,” according to the magazine’s .

Postdoc Awarded Fellowship to Support Computation and Immunology Cross-training

Postdoctoral scholar Lihong Zhao was one of 10 researchers named a by the American Association of Immunologists (AAI) — a first for ϰٿ.

The AAI Intersect Fellowship Program for Computational Scientists and Immunologists is intended to improve communication and understanding between immunology researchers and computational scientists.

Ph.D. Student Goes from Former Inmate to Teaching Prisoners

In his early 20s, Cory Mccullough battled addiction and stole to support his habits. The Dos Palos native spent several stints in prison as early as 2011 for commercial burglary. Education was the last thing on his mind.

Now, the former inmate finds himself in the joint again, this time not behind bars but helping incarcerated people forge their paths to higher education.

Incoming Grad Students Get a Jump Start

While the campus remained quieter than usual this summer, a group of new graduate students began their ϰٿ journey earlier than the rest of their cohort.

ϰٿ Faculty Land Three UC-HBCU Grants, Most in System

The University of California Office of the President awarded three out of only seven grants to ϰٿ faculty members.

The initiative has fostered faculty partnerships with HBCUs to support enhanced diversity and representation of Black scholarship in graduate education and the professoriate since 2017.

Recent Ph.D. Grads Receive NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship

Graduate Program alumni Kinsey Brock and Robert Boria were awarded Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biology (PRFB) from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Boria and Brock — both former members of paleoecology Professor Jessica Blois’ research group — graduated in May with doctoral degrees and are headed to top universities to continue their important research.