UC Merced Faculty interested in working with Mexican undergraduates in the UC Merced-Mexico Undergraduate Climate Research Program (Summer 2024):
Dr. Paul Almeida (Sociology)
- Website: https://my.theopenscholar.com/palmeida
- Project: Students will compare green energy programs at the local and regional levels in Mexico and California. After identifying major alternative energy programs in various stages from proposals to functioning operations, students will compare the conditions leading to the adoption of a local clean energy program in both Mexico and California. Through a systematic comparison of successful unsuccessful cases we show the major factors that are most likely lead to the transition to green energy at the local level, including public opinion, environmental movements, city officials, and regional economic context. Actual research will involve data collection on regions in Mexico and California, and field visits in California to cities with alternative energy and speak with local officials and tour parts of the electricity grid. Final product will be a policy paper and potential academic publication on the conditions that lead to local green energy adoption on both sides of the border. Learning outcomes: Similarities and differences between paths to green energy in two countries – learning from each country’s experiences.
Dr. Roberto C. Andressen Eguiluz (Material Science & Engineering)
- Website: https://mechano3biology.org/
- Project: Efficient lubricants to reduce energy costs. Dr Andresen Lab aims to improve understanding on how molecular interactions and forces across several length scales affect function in biology.
Dr. Rebeca Arevalo (Chemistry & Biochemistry)
- Website: https://rarevaloucm.wixsite.com/thearevalogroup
- Project: In the Arevalo lab we aim to discover sustainable catalysts able to cleave their highly inert bonds and construct new ones. Earth-abundant transition-metal (EATM) complexes emerge as the most powerful alternative due to their ability to break highly inert bonds in small molecules as well as their reliable supply in the long term. In particular, we focus on cleaving and functionalizing the C-H, C-F and C=O bonds in the greenhouse gases methane, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs and other ozone depleting gases) and CO2 respectively.
Dr. Ryan Baxter (Chemistry & Biochemistry)
- Website: https://www.baxterlab.com/
- Project: Design and synthesis of photoactive organic molecules. These molecules are useful as materials to absorb light to store energy (solar cells) and can be integrated with solar shades to deliver light necessary for plant growth, while harvesting excess light as energy storage. Summer research will involve hands-on synthesis of organic molecules.
Dr. Marc Beutel (Civil & Environmental Engineering – with Dr. Peggy O’Day, Life & Environmental Sciences)
- Website: https://sites.ucmerced.edu/beutellab/
- Project: Mercury is a global pollutant that threatens human and ecological health. Toxic methylmercury is produced by anaerobic bacteria in aquatic sediments, especially under wet-dry cycles that are anticipated to increase as climate change affects the hydrologic cycle. Methylmercury bioaccumulates in aquatic food webs, leading to high levels in predator fish and contamination of humans and wildlife that eat this fish. Working with a large California water utility, we are assessing the use of engineered particulate sorbents to bind up mercury and suppress methylmercury production in contaminated lake sediment. The student will assist graduate students, one originally from Mexico City, performing lab-based experiments to evaluate the effectiveness of a range of sorbents under various environmental conditions. This project is a great fit for an environmental engineering or environmental chemistry student interested in learning about remediation of environmental pollution.
Dr. Yangquan Chen (Mechanical Engineering)
- Website: http://mechatronics.ucmerced.edu/methane
- Project: Methane quantification using drones and other in situ sensors.
Dr. Ricardo Pinto de Castro (Mechanical Engineering)
- Website: https://sites.google.com/view/decastro/
- Project: My research is on electric vehicles.
Dr. Michael Findlater (Chemistry & Biochemistry)
- Website: https://findlatergroup.wixsite.com/ucmerced
- Project: Carbon dioxide is a potent greenhouse gas and the major contributor to global climate change. We are currently pursuing chemical transformations, driven by electrocatalysis, which are capable of capturing and converting carbon dioxide directly into valuable new products in a single step.
Dr. Erin Hestir (Civil & Environmental Engineering)
- Webpage: https://eorsblog.wordpress.com/erin-hestir/
- Project: Monitoring drought and climate extremes using remote sensing with emphasis in aquatic ecosystems under threat from competing pressures to meet societal needs for water and food security while sustaining biodiversity and other ecosystem services such as water quality.
Dr. Andrea Joyce (Entomology, Public Health)
- Webpage: http://faculty.ucmerced.edu/ajoyce2
- Project: We will work on the Influence of temperature on Wolbachia in insects of agricultural and medical importance. We also research insect behavior and will examine influence of temperature on insect acoustic signals. Keywords: Entomology, climate, Manejo Integrado de Plagas (MIP), Integrated Pest Management (IPM), endosymbionts, Wolbachia, vectors.
Dr. Josue Medellin-Azuara (Civil & Environmental Engineering)
- Website: https://wsm.ucmerced.edu/
- Project: · Students could work on one of the following projects: 1) Agricultural climate adaptation in US and Mexico; 2) Groundwater sustainability; 3) Urban water management; 4) Transboundary water management Mexico-USA. Dr. Medellin-Azuara will be available all summer but likely will not be on campus every day given field work responsibilities for various projects.
Dr. Rudy Ortiz (Mollecular & Cell Biology)
- ·Website: https://faculty.ucmerced.edu/rortiz/rudyOrtiz.html
- Expertise: Biology and Biomedicine
- Project: Climate impacts on wild animal physiology. Regulation of kidney function and metabolism in a variety of animal models, including seals and dolphins, with the intent that the data will have translative value to clinical medicine.
Dr. Michael Thompson (Chemistry & Biochemistry):
- Website: https://thompsonlab.science
- Project: This project is part of the recently funded NSF INSITE BII center that Michele Nishiguchi leads: https://bii-insite.org/. The goal of the project is to study the structure and function of enzymes that act as "molecular thermometers" in various organisms, regulating biology in response to physiological temperature changes. This work will lead to a predictive understanding of how these enzymes will evolve in response to rising global temperatures, and whether climate change poses an immediate threat to their function as biological regulators.
- Students would work with Prof. Thompson and with a graduate student originally from Mexico City.
