UC Merced Magazine, Spring 2015 by University of California, Merced

THE MAGAZINE OF THE

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, MERCED

SPRING 2015

Illuminating the Future of Renewable Technology Page 16

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: ❯ PLAN FOR UNIVERSITY GROWTH IS ON THE FAST TRACK | Page 8 ❯ AGRICULTURE AND RESEARCH A NATURAL MIX FOR VALLEY UNIVERSITY | Page 22 ❯ UP, UP AND AWAY WITH THE DESIGN/BUILD/FLY TEAM | Page 29 ❯ GRADUATE STUDENT HAS A PASSION FOR TRAVEL AND RESEARCH | Page 30

THE MAGAZINE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, MERCED

Spring 2015

Contents FEATURES

Curriculum | Professor Katie Brokaw’s students

DEPARTMENTS

read their favorite children’s books with adult eyes

Donor Spotlight | Wells Fargo’s campus

partnership goes back to before UC Merced even had a campus

16 22 29

HAVING COFFEE WITH Professor

Focus on underGraduate Students

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Catch up

on campus news in brief and check out the latest videos

OUR GREEN CAMPUS | See 10

examples of why UC Merced is one of the greenest campuses in the country

research contributes to the past, present and future of Central Valley agriculture

Design/Build/Fly Team members are learning how to build a competition-level drone and how to get a leg up on their careers

research institute helps steer renewable energy research and education ALSO ON THE COVER | UC Merced’s

Leadership Perspectives | Learn

more about the plans for campus expansion under the 2020 Project

Ma Vang | Professor hopes her experiences as well as her expertise can help students COVER STORY | UC Solar, the multicampus

FAST FACTS | Economic impact to date is more than $2 billion

GOVERNMENT RELATIONS | Students

and alumni tell legislators about the transformative power of a UC education

WHAT’S NEW | A mobile lidar unit

will help researchers with a variety of campus projects

Our WORLD | Graduate student Bridget Martinez has a passion for research, especially in other countries Sierra Views | UC Merced enjoys a unique and productive partnership with Yosemite National Park

ABOUT THE COVER | The Science and Engineering Building 2 features solar panels on the outside

to help power the building and provide shade during Merced’s hottest months, which helps reduce air-conditioning needs. The building also has a rooftop lab for UC Solar researchers to gather data.

UC MERCED MAGAZINE | SPRING 2015

UC MERCED MAGAZINE Spring 2015

LETTER FROM

University Communications

elcome to the fourth issue of UC Merced Magazine and the 10th year of UC Merced. First, we want to thank you for sharing your feedback with us through the surveys in the fall issue. We received more than 100 responses by mail or online, and we heard you. We hope you’ll like the increased focus on students in this issue! This has been an amazing decade filled with excitement, and thanks to the pioneering spirit of our faculty members and studaents, the realization of hopes and dreams. UC Merced is transforming the San Joaquin Valley from a place where a UC education wasn’t even on young people’s minds a decade ago to a place where it is now an attainable reality. So far, more than 4,000 students have graduated from UC Merced. You can read some of their success stories in this issue. You can also hear three students talk about their experiences in the Discover UC Merced video series. The new series will grow over time to include the stories of faculty members, staff members and more students. Most of our students are the first in their families to attend college. As such, they are setting examples for their younger relatives who see all that they have been able to accomplish and want to follow their own paths to higher education. UC Merced students are a precious resource for the Valley, researching critical topics like health, climate change, politics, history, engineering,

EDITOR IN CHIEF

management and much, much more. They are also the Valley’s new educated workforce and because UC Merced nurtures innovation and entrepreneurialism, they are also the next generation of successful men and women, bringing their expertise to the region and the state. Each year, the campus adds more worldclass faculty researchers, too, and our programs continue to grow in size and number. We now offer 21 majors and 23 minors — from anthropology and bioengineering to political science and public health; and 13 graduate programs, including applied mathematics, biological engineering and small-scale technologies, chemistry, cognitive science, computer science, environmental systems and interdisciplinary humanities. The campus itself is also expanding as more buildings come online and plans for the 2020 Project begin to take shape. The project, which is scheduled to begin in 2017, will help determine how the community grows around the campus. You can read more about the 2020 Project in this issue, too. We hope you are as excited to see what we can do over the next decade as we are to show you. As always, we appreciate your interest in our campus, and we welcome your feedback at UCMercedMagazine@ucmerced.edu. We hope to hear from you soon! University Communications

Researchers with UC Solar are working to make collectors like these more efficient.

Lorena Anderson Assistant News Director University Communications PHOTOGRAPHY

Veronica Adrover University Communications

Trevor Hirst Jessica “JaeJae” Julian Elena Zhukova MAGAZINE DESIGN

Jennifer Biancucci University Communications PUBLISHED BY

University Communications UC MERCED LEADERSHIP

Dorothy Leland UC Merced Chancellor

Thomas Peterson Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor

Kyle Hoffman Vice Chancellor Development and Alumni Relations

Patti Waid Assistant Vice Chancellor University Communications

Cori Lucero Executive Director, Governmental and Community Relations VISIT us on the web

Follow UC Merced online at ucmerced.edu

UC MERCED'S CONTINUED GROWTH AND CUTTING-EDGE RESEARCH IS HAVING A SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AS THE LOCAL ECONOMY REBOUNDS FROM A DEEP RECESSION.

Since 2000, local purchases, contracts and wages total more than $1.18 billion and the total of all state expenditures as of March is $2.3 billion. Every dollar UC Merced invests in the local economy is multiplied several times over as university employees, contractors, students and others purchase local goods and services. Much of the money spent by the university represents new money to the community and generates new economic activity and jobs within the region that would otherwise not have occurred without the presence of the campus.

FAST FACTS

ECONOMIC IMPACT TO DATE

STATEWIDE ECONOMIC IMPACT SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY EXPENDITURES:

$1,185,489,955

STATE GOODS AND SERVICES PURCHASED:

$245,480,828

STATE CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS AWARDED:

$889,280,212

TOTAL STATE EXPENDITURES TO DATE:

$2,320,250,996

RESEARCH EXPENDITURE BY MAJOR FUND SOURCE FY 14-15

CURRENT NUMBER OF STAFF AND FACULTY MEMBERS AND STUDENT EMPLOYEES:

3,019

FEDERAL [ 38 percent ] EDUCATIONAL FEES [ 31 percent ] STATE OF CALIFORNIA [ 10 percent ] PRIVATE [ 10 percent ]

PAYROLL SINCE 2000:

MORE THAN

$856 million

CONTRACT DISTRIBUTION SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AND OTHER CALIFORNIA COUNTIES

OTHER [ 10 percent ] ENDOWMENT [ 1 percent ]

SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY BUSINESS DISTRIBUTION JULY 2000 – MARCH 2015

MERCED [ 47.92 percent ] FRESNO [ 30.50 percent ] STANISLAUS [ 10.35 percent ] NORTHERN CALIFORNIA COUNTIES [ 44 percent ] SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COUNTIES [ 37 percent ]

KERN [ 7.83 percent ] SAN JOAQUIN [ 1.32 percent ] TULARE [ 1.25 percent ]

SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY [ 14 percent ]

MADERA [ .76 percent ]

OTHER [ 5 percent ]

KINGS [ .07 percent ]

SPRING 2015 | UC MERCED MAGAZINE

C u r r i c u l u m

Course: Literature of Childhood Katherine Steele Brokaw, School of Social Sciences, Humanites and Arts

Professor Katherine SteelE Brokaw

LITERATURE OF CHILDHOOD COURSE

IS FAR FROM CHILD’S PLAY BY DONNA BIRCH TRAHAN | University Communications

n Professor Katherine Steele Brokaw’s English 30 class, students often read books they’ve read before — usually when they were little. The class, titled Literature of Childhood, asks students to look at some of their bedtime stories and classics in ways they probably couldn’t have as kids.

Brokaw, who joined UC Merced’s School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts in 2011 as a professor of literature, describes the course

as one that reads books for and about children that explore the hilarity of childhood, but also its poignancies. Students read poetry, short stories and novels that use the idea of childhood to explore themes such as poverty, loss and race, and literature that is written for adults that reflects on the formative experience of childhood. The course’s required reading list runs the gamut from titles first produced in the fifth century BCE to more modern works. Titles this semester include “Aesop’s Fables,” Francis Hodgson Burnett’s “The Secret Garden,” Roald Dahl’s “James and the Giant Peach,” Sandra Cisneros’ “The House on Mango Street” and Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye.” Brokaw even teaches the popular “Good Night, Moon” by Margaret Wise Brown, a title that surprises some students — at first. Brokaw said one student initially asked how the class could possibly have a 75-minute conversation on the short tome that was penned in 1947. But after a few weeks, students are able to appreciate books from their childhood in a way they weren’t able to before. “There have certainly been moments when students are ‘seeing’ so much more than they did as children,” Brokaw said. “That is one of the things I love — when the students are able to see the gap between where they are now and their past selves. I’ve had students who’ve said they would have never noticed a bit of repeated imagery or particular linguistic choice in a book that they had read many times when they were younger if they hadn’t taken the class.” For example, as children, students probably didn’t know — or care — that Charles Dickens’ “Oliver Twist” was initially published as a serial novel in the early 1800s and is an early example of a social novel — a fictitious work that dramatizes a real-life societal problem. But now, students like Chelsey Garcia, who prepared a report on the book, can see and comprehend how Dickens’ story exposed the harsh and cruel treatment many orphans endured. “Using the stories of childhood, authors can expose societal evils and reach people in more profound and personal ways,” Brokaw said.

UC MERCED MAGAZINE | SPRING 2015

Professor Brokaw and student Ricardo Maldonado share some children’s literature.

Learning Opportunities

Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” offers Brokaw an opportunity to show film clips from the first film version of “Alice in Wonderland” (1903) and clips and pictures

That is one of the things I love — when the students

of other films, ballets and visual illustrations that “Alice” has inspired over the past century. The in-class assignment was for students to discuss and envision the author’s creative process. One small group is charged with doing a creative performance based on the book’s final chapter. Another is asked to create visual representations of the scene in which Alice

are able to see the gap between where they are now and their past selves.”

plays croquet with the formidable Queen of Hearts. Grant Sears, a first-year English major shared his illustration. “I developed an idea that what children read is what they become,” he said. “I feel like there is a correlation between children’s literature and social development.” Sears said he enjoys the opportunity to discuss and critique stories that he read as a child.

Professor Katherine Steele Brokaw

Studying those works now as an adult and scholar allows him to view those stories and their messages in a different light. Another benefit, Brokaw said: In addition to fulfilling a general education requirement, the course helps undergraduates see the possibilities of studying English and literary criticism. “They can see how the study of literature matters in the world.”

SPRING 2015 | UC MERCED MAGAZINE

Donor Spotlight

wells fargo:

BY LORENA ANDERSON

University Communications

Friend and Partner is Making a Difference

hen UC Merced leaders call Wells Fargo a longtime friend, they really mean it. The

Supporting the Community Though Wells Fargo is a global corporation, gifting decisions

banking institution’s partnership with

are made locally. Stelfox said most of the people who work for

UC Merced dates back to before the campus

the company in this area were born and raised here, so they have

even opened, starting with a $1 million scholarship fund. “It’s a local university, so it’s important for us to get involved,” said Miranda Stelfox, vice president and district manager of the

additional incentive to join forces with the groups and agencies that are committed to the Valley’s well-being. Support doesn’t just come in the form of money, either. Wells

Wells Fargo North Fresno Merced District. “We have lofty goals for

Fargo is committed to volunteerism and community service, and is

supporting education and an improved quality of life in this region.”

looking for ways to partner with UC Merced students, who are also

The nearly $2 million the banking corporation has given since

highly encouraged to get involved with local nonprofits. Wells Fargo

2002 has supported more than 500 transfer and high school students

leaders are also generous with their time, helping judge the annual

with scholarships. It has also gone toward the campus’s annual fund

Innovate to Grow competition, which gives the winning team access

and, most recently, the School of Engineering’s Innovation and

to advanced learning opportunities and consultations with patent

Design Clinic, which includes the Water, Energy, Food Challenge, the

lawyers for possible commercialization.

Innovate to Grow competition and the Accelerator Award.

This year’s teams will work with clients including the California

In the Water, Energy, Food Challenge — which received initial

Department of Water Resources, which needs an automated ion-

funding of $75,000 from Wells Fargo in 2013 and another $100,000

exchange system for water production; the San Francisco Public

this year — student teams join with area organizations or companies

Utilities Commission, which wants a low-flow siphon and spillway

and, led by faculty mentors, design technologies that address

hydraulics for Pilarcitos Dam; and D&S Farms, which wants an

some of the San Joaquin Valley’s biggest challenges. Each project is

automated system for sweet-potato planting, among many others.

chosen for its potential to have significant near-term effects on the community and/or partners’ industries and for its relation to the water, energy, food theme. For example, the student team that won last year’s Accelerator Award designed a mechanical and software controller system to

Those community partnerships are one major main reason Wells Fargo supports UC Merced, Stelfox said. “UC Merced really brings everyone from the community to the table to have a positive effect on the region,” she said. San Francisco-based Wells Fargo has anticipated the needs

precisely guide a local farm’s sweet potato harvesting trailers, so they

not only of the university but of its students for years. Multiple

won’t smash the potatoes and the small farm’s profits.

investments in helping give local young people opportunities

The challenge gifts come through the Clean Technology and Innovation program, started in 2012 as part of Wells Fargo’s commitment to provide $100 million to environmentally focused

to attain their higher education goals are a sign of its ongoing commitment. “Scholarship funds are critical to attracting the very best students,

nonprofits, colleges and universities by 2020. It is funded by

and funding for projects like the Innovation Design Clinic helps

the Wells Fargo Foundation and is aligned with the company’s

prepare our students for success beyond their years here,” Vice

vision and values to foster economic development, especially in

Chancellor for Development and Alumni Relations Kyle Hoffman

underserved communities, and accelerate the global green economy,

said. “We are deeply grateful to Wells Fargo for all the support it has

the foundation said. The program’s goal is to inspire innovation

given UC Merced and look forward to our ongoing partnership.”

from entrepreneurs and fund research entities working on critical

environmental issues. “That’s why the Water, Energy, Food Challenge makes sense for us,” Stelfox said. “We’re interested in fostering the economic development of the San Joaquin Valley.”

UC MERCED MAGAZINE | SPRING 2015

VIDEO ALERT

 See a video that shows how thankful UC Merced is for your support.

We have lofty goals for supporting education and an improved quality of life in this region.”

– Miranda Stelfox vice president and district manager of the Wells Fargo North Fresno Merced District

Student Keegan O’Hare works on the grapevine-grafting device he and fellow students developed in their engineering capstone course. The program is partially supported by gifts from Wells Fargo, a longtime campus partner.

SPRING 2015 | UC MERCED MAGAZINE

WITH

Chancellor Dorothy Leland

LEADERSHIP PERSPECTIVES 8

SPRING 2015 | UC MERCED MAGAZINE

Project on a Fast Track to Accommodate Growth, Provide Stability In just 10 short years, UC Merced has grown from 875 students in our inaugural year to more than 6,200 today. One of our top challenges has been finding the resources we need to accommodate this welcome surge in student demand. A decade of cutbacks in state funding for our public universities and the crushing effects of prolonged recession on the California economy have forced us to turn students away while we look for creative solutions to add facilities as rapidly and cost-effectively as possible. Fortunately, I have good progress to report on this front. On March 18, I advised the UC Board of Regents of an innovative development strategy we’re pursuing to address our space needs into the next decade. Our strategy will channel the resources and expertise of a private development team into a fast-track, master-planned project that will more than double the physical capacity of our campus by 2020. This will allow us to accommodate up to 10,000 students and attain a level of stability we need to focus more time and attention on our academic, research and public-service mission. I believe the strategy I’ve chosen for our “2020 Project” will shorten both the time and cost of development compared with the traditional UC approach to the design and construction of buildings. As currently envisioned, the 2020 Project will add numerous academic, residential, recreational and student-life facilities on university-owned land adjacent to the existing campus. Buildings will be designed and built by a single development team rather than as multiple independent projects. The design objective is to create a space-efficient, mixed-use, living-learning community that will serve multiple needs, encourage interaction among students, faculty and staff, and stimulate new approaches to learning and research. The next step is to select the private developer who will partner with us to deliver the 2020 Project. Meeting UC Merced’s Standards

Three multi-faceted teams have already advanced through a rigorous pre-qualification process and are expected to submit detailed proposals, including a master plan for the project and partial building designs, later this year. In the meantime, we will work diligently to refine our financial strategy and operational considerations, with the goal of obtaining final approval of our recommended partner and the project agreement from the Regents early in 2016. Construction will begin later that year or in the first half of 2017, with phased completion of facilities beginning in 2018. The development team we select will design, build, finance, operate and maintain the entire 2020 Project. This approach unlocks significant economies of scale, operational efficiencies and long-term pricing benefits not available in traditional procurements. It also gives the private developer significant incentive and flexibility to meet or exceed performance requirements and schedules built into the contract. The contract with the developer will contain significant protections for the university in case of performance issues or default. Once the buildings are completed, the developer will operate and maintain the buildings to UC Merced’s standards for the life of the long-term contract. This requirement will serve as added incentive to design and build quality facilities, as the developer assumes performance and reliability risks

normally absorbed by the university. The developer will staff these activities in compliance with UC labor policies. The scope of the project will create hundreds of new employment opportunities at UC Merced. In addition, we estimate the project will generate about 10,800 construction jobs and create nearly $1.9 billion in economic value in a region still struggling with high unemployment and sluggish growth. Statewide, the totals are projected to be 12,600 construction jobs and about $2.4 billion in economic impact. I believe our proposal, a form of public-private partnership, makes the most prudent use of available public dollars while tapping a deep reservoir of private capabilities well-suited to addressing our space requirements. I look forward to updating you on our progress in future issues.

The design objective is to create a space-efficient, mixed-use, living-learning community that will serve multiple needs, encourage interaction among students, faculty and staff, and stimulate new approaches to learning and research.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Chancellor Dorothy Leland

An aerial map shows the area, outlined in blue, where the 2020 Project is expected to expand the campus.

SPRING 2015 | UC MERCED MAGAZINE

In Case You Missed It From discovering the primary genetic drivers of melanoma to furthering research on climate change, oceanic oil spills and cognitive functions, UC Merced faculty members and student researchers are making headlines. And let’s not forget the women’s basketball team, which won the school its first conference championship. Take a look at some of the stories you might have missed recently:

The Eyes Tell the Story About Moral Decisions Researchers including Professor Michael Spivey found that when prompted to respond to a moral question, people often chose the response they were looking at. The study challenges the notion that decisions — from whether to give money to a homeless person to whether to separate recyclables from trash — are rooted in pre-existing moral frameworks. The study is the first to demonstrate causal links between the gaze and moral choices, but it builds on previous work showing how gaze is reflected in simple choices, like between different types of food.  Read the whole story

Professor Contributes to Oil-Spill Research Researching oceanic oil spills can be difficult when you work at a landlocked university like UC Merced. But as part of a large consortium of researchers from around the country, Professor Wei-Chun Chin is looking at the roles of microbes and chemical dispersants on each other, on oil and on the oceans. A proliferation of microbes after the Deepwater Horizon accident in 2010 seemed to eat up some of the oil, but “We need to understand it,” Chin said. “I don’t want people — or oil companies — to take this lightly. The oil is gone from the surface, but we do not know the long-term consequences.”  Read the whole story

Women’s Basketball Claims First Conference Title The UC Merced women’s basketball team captured the first team championship in school history! The lady Bobcats defeated La Sierra University 53-43. Their stifling defense was again the catalyst in the victory, as they held La Sierra to just 27 percent shooting. They also held the Cal Pac Conference’s leading scorer to just five points on 2-for-15 shooting.  Read the whole story

UC MERCED MAGAZINE | SPRING 2015

Mitsubishi Gift Expands Naturalist Training A $103,000 gift from the Mitsubishi Corporation Foundation for the Americas increases opportunities for UC Merced students and community members around the region to learn about and explore local ecosystems. Through the gift, one informal UC Merced course and two University of California Extension California Naturalist classes can expand their spring and fall offerings in the San Joaquin Valley and Yosemite National Park, two of which are open to the public. To sign up or get more information, email Becca Fenwick at bfenwick@ucmerced.edu or Chris Swarth at cswarth@ucmerced.edu.  Read the whole story

Professors Share in UC Effort to Study Climate Change Several UC Merced researchers will play important roles in a new UC systemwide effort to study the ecological effects of climate change across varied ecosystems. The Institute for the Study of Ecological and Evolutionary Climate Impacts (ISEECI) will serve as a hub for the knowledge being gathered and analyzed, and will include research on paleoecology, hydrology, food, water and energy systems, wildfire and more from UC Merced faculty members. ISEEC will use some of the 39 UC Natural Reserves for much of its study.  Read the whole story

Unprecedented Melanoma Study Maps Cancer Drivers Researchers completed a comprehensive map of the genetic makeup of melanoma — the deadliest form of skin cancer — and identified mutational hotspots that give rise to the disease. Professor Fabian V. Filipp and his team confirmed the melanoma’s preeminent drivers and identified new melanoma genes, which means they can provide maps to make it easier to identify melanoma risks, develop new therapeutic targets and create better diagnostic readouts.  Read the whole story

New Business Incubator Links City and Campus The city of Merced and the Office of Research and Economic Development are partnering to bring part of campus to downtown in hopes of encouraging business development and growth and research partnerships. The UC Merced Small Business Development Center Regional Network, now in Fresno, moves in to a leased city building first, and will be followed by a business incubator space where startup teams and entrepreneurs can meet and work on projects.  Read the whole story >> CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

SPRING 2015 | UC MERCED MAGAZINE

In Case You Missed It CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11

Campus Adds More LEED Certifications UC Merced’s sustainable practices earned the campus its 15th Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for new construction and its first LEED certification for building operations and maintenance. Half Dome student housing, which opened two years ago, became the fifth UC Merced building to receive the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED platinum certification, the highest rating for new buildings. UC Merced is the only campus in the nation with LEED certification for all its facilities. The Classroom and Office Building 2, under construction, is also expected to achieve platinum status.  Read the whole story

Solar, Water Research Rewarded with Competitive UC Grants Research into sustainable water supplies and viable solar energy solutions won nearly $5 million in competitive grants from the University of California. The grants will fund the continued research of UC Solar (see the cover story on Page 16), and the new intercampus UC Water Security and Sustainability Research Initiative, amalgamating experts from across the UC system to build a strategic base of water knowledge to help California and the nation achieve a water-secure future.  Read the whole story

Campus Earns National Recognition for Community Engagement Community partners at the local, regional and state levels have contributed much to the university’s success in education and innovation. That commitment to community collaboration was formally recognized by the Carnegie Foundation, which granted UC Merced its prestigious Classification for Community Engagement. UC Merced is one of only 361 universities overall and one of just three UC campuses — joining UCLA and UC Davis — to have received the designation since it was first granted in 2006.  Read the whole story

VIDEO ALERT

 Do you think you know UC Merced? Not until you’ve heard these inspiring stories.

UC MERCED MAGAZINE | SPRING 2015

 New students have been accepted for Fall 2015. See a video that gives them a campus preview.

HERE ARE JUST A FEW EXAMPLES OF WHAT WE MEAN WHEN WE TALK ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY BEING A PART OF THE FABRIC OF UC MERCED:

 The campus’s 1-megawatt solar array produces two-thirds of the campus electricity load on a summer afternoon, and 20 percent of its annual electricity needs.

 We are the only university in the nation to have a triple zero commitment: to use zero net energy and create zero net greenhouse gas emissions and zero landfill waste by 2020.

 Rooftop solar panels are being installed on many campus buildings this spring, and will provide about another megawatt of electricity when they are online by the end of the year.

 Six water-bottle refill stations allow campus community members to refill rather than create more plastic waste by buying bottled water. The residence halls will get 13 more refill stations this summer.

 Dining Services served 20 percent more customers while reducing paper waste generated from residential dining by 2 percent since mid-2012, by employing reusable food containers for customers taking their meals to go.

 More than 1,000 students enrolled in courses that make up the sustainability minor during the 2013-14 academic year.

 UC Merced developed the first pre-consumer and post-consumer food-waste composting program in Merced County.

 Campuswide purchases focus on environmentally preferable characteristics, from compostable cups and recycled building materials to cleaning supplies and green vendors.

 All buildings on campus have received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification through the U.S. Green Building Council.

 The campus set a 33 percent minimum requirement for locally sourced fresh food products from prime food suppliers.

 Per capita water use dropped by 43 percent since 2007, going from 22,564 gallons a year per person to 13,290.

SPRING 2015 | UC MERCED MAGAZINE

HAVING COFFEE WITH

Ma Vang

Vang’s Higher Education

2005 Received her bachelor’s degree in ethnic studies and general science from the Robert D. Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon

2007 Graduated from the University of California, San Diego, with a BY JAMES LEONARD

University Communications

y any objective measure, Ma Vang would be considered a success story. Born in a refugee camp in Thailand, Vang was a fourth-grader with no grasp of the English language when her family immigrated to the United States. She mastered the language out of necessity, picking up nuances from friends on the playground, from interacting with her teachers and from translating conversations for her parents. She thrived in school, ultimately earning her Ph.D. at the University of California, San Diego. And in the fall of 2014, she became the first professor of critical race and ethnic studies and Hmong studies at UC Merced. Still, Vang bristles at any suggestion that she is somehow extraordinary. “My story is not that exceptional,” she said. “It’s a story that continues to have struggles. I feel privileged to be in this position and do the work I do and be at an institution that’s focused on research and teaching and serving the community, but at same time, I don’t want people to think I’m the model minority.” Nor does she seek sympathy for her childhood years. Her family had been in the refugee camp for seven years before she was born, and lived there for nearly 15 years in total. Vang said despite the obvious challenges, she has many positive memories from her time in the camp.

master’s in ethnic studies

2012 Earned her Ph.D. in ethnic studies at UC San Diego

2012 Worked under the UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of California, Riverside

VIDEO ALERT

 Hear Professor Vang speak about her early education.

“It was such a lively place,” she said. “It was enclosed and regulated and maintained, and there was a lot of violence, but many people felt like it was first time they were able to interact with other Hmong people who had come from different parts of Laos. There was a lot of cultural vibrancy.”

UC MERCED MAGAZINE | SPRING 2015

2014 Named first professor of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies and Hmong Studies at UC Merced

Right Place, Right Time

nation-state and the people themselves who want to tell their

The family moved to California, which is now home to about

stories. Whether those align with state stories or provide

91,000 Hmong people. More than 7,000 of those are in Merced,

an alternative to the official narrative, they also present a

which has the highest per-capita Hmong population in the U.S.

complex and incomplete and fragmented narrative of

That’s part of what drew Vang to UC Merced, and the timing

the history.”

could not have been better. Vang’s arrival last year coincided with the planning stages of Hmongstory 40, a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the

New Beginnings

Vang’s personal story, already colorful and inspirational, remains

migration of Hmong people to the U.S. from Laos and Thailand

unfinished. She arrived in Merced last year with her husband, Kit

following the Laotian Civil War — also known as the United States’

Myers, a UC Merced Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow researching

“Secret War.” A traveling exhibition and anthology of Hmong

transnational and transracial adoption, and their then-2-month-

experiences are planned for Hmongstory 40, which will feature

old daughter, Kia.

events in Merced, Fresno and Sacramento over the next year. The work itself, which has Vang exploring the history of Hmong

“Merced has been the perfect place for me to go through all those transitions,” she said. “It’s a small town. It’s quiet. We can go out

contributions to California agriculture, is a natural fit. For her

if we want to and not have to wait in line or wait in traffic. We’re

dissertation, Vang began researching the Secret War but quickly

starting to explore the area, doing a little bit of biking.”

found that even declassified government documents about the war

One of Vang’s primary professional goals is to connect with

were heavily redacted. That led her to broaden her perspective,

students who are facing challenges similar to hers, and to be a

focusing on the ways in which recorded history is colored and

resource as they navigate their own journeys.

clouded by its sources. “Looking at those redacted documents, the conclusion was that

“It’s such a privilege to be in this position,” Vang said. “To have a job in a community where my research is relevant for a diverse and

even if they were complete, we still wouldn’t know the full history,”

underserved population, and a region where students will benefit

Vang said. “Historical records are always incomplete. Historical

from this growing investment in education — that is an amazing

knowledge is always incomplete, always being reconstructed by the

combination to have happened.”

Historical records are always incomplete. Historical knowledge is always incomplete, always being reconstructed by the nation-state and the people themselves, who want to tell their stories.” – PROFESSOR Ma Vang

Center photo: Professor Ma Vang’s younger sister, Mai, left, her mother, and her in the Ban Vinai refugee camp in Thailand in 1989 or 1990.

SPRING 2015 | UC MERCED MAGAZINE

 There are more than 2,100 solar companies at work throughout California, employing 54,700 people.

The multicampus research institute helps steer renewable energy research and education BY JOEL PATENAUDE  ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Joel Patenaude is sun deprived several months a year in Madison,

Wis., where he’s the managing editor of Silent Sports Magazine. He has many years of professional newspaper experience, covering state and local politics, Native American treaty issues, the environment and a wide array of other topics.

UC Solar research labs take advantage of California’s plentiful sunlight.

ill Guiney is strongly considering assembling his company’s solar energy collectors in Merced County. Although based in Florida — which has no shortage of sunlight — the Artic Solar CEO is drawn to California’s San Joaquin Valley and the solar energy brain trust centered at UC Merced. “It’s all integrated there: private and public partners in the solar industry. I would be close to the R&D. And utilizing the graduate student researchers there is a good possibility,” said Guiney, former manager of renewable energy programs for the multinational technology company Johnson Controls. The solar industry is adding jobs 10 times faster than the overall economy, driving policies and attracting millions of dollars in investment from major corporations. According to news reports in Mother Jones magazine, the boom isn’t slowing, either. Data from market analysis firm GTM Research shows 2014 was solar’s biggest year ever, with 30 percent more photovoltaic installations installed than in 2013, the magazine reported. And when it comes to leading solar technology, people like Guiney are increasingly looking to the University of California Advanced Solar Technologies Institute (UC Solar), a nine-campus effort led by Professor Roland Winston at UC Merced. UC Solar recently won the largest UC Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives (MRPI) grant of those awarded — $2.7 million — and is poised to lead the state into the future of solar energy research and development, as well as public policy surrounding it.

Winston’s research team tested Guiney’s commercial design of Winston’s External Concentrating Parabolic Collector (XCPC) panel, which is capable of generating thermal temperatures of nearly 400 degrees Fahrenheit using nonimaging optics technology. UC Solar, Guiney said, “has been very helpful. They did the initial testing of this technology — rock-solid testing, not the ‘as seen on TV’ kind.”

‘A shot in the arm’ What started in 2010 as an initiative between UC Merced, Berkeley and Santa Barbara now involves nine of the 10 UC campuses. That Merced, the university system’s youngest campus, serves as the headquarters for UC Solar, is recognition of director Winston’s stature in the field of solar research. Winston is considered the father of nonimaging optics, and his invention, the compound parabolic collector (CPC), is sometimes known as the “Winston solar collector.” Winston’s attention is focused on developing highly efficient and affordable solutions to real problems. “We’re out there globally developing the solar technology the world will need 20 to 50 years from now,” Winston said. UC Solar is also addressing needs in far corners of the world. That’s why Winston sent one of his graduate students to Mongolia to set up an XCPC demonstration project. The young man, who hadn’t previously left California, “went to the coldest inhabited place on Earth in January; where the burning of coal has so affected the air quality that it’s like breathing smoke,” Winston said.

>> CONTINUED ON PAGE 20

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We’re out there globally developing the solar technology the world will need 20 to 50 years from now.” – PROFESSOR ROLAND WINSTON UC SOLAR DIRECTOR

Professor Roland Winston and his students work on a variety of projects involving solar collectors large and small.

ďŁ&#x17E; There are more than 17,500 megawatts of cumulative electric solar capacity operating in the U.S. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; enough to power more than 3.5 million average American homes.

UC SOLAR CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17

The experiment at Mongolia National University has been so successful, the professor said, a solar-heated greenhouse might be built to provide locals with otherwise hard-to-get fresh produce. Demonstrations of the technology are also underway in India, China and Dubai. Guiney said this solar thermal technology has the potential to address the vast unmet commercial needs that lie between environmentally conscious homeowners, cutting their utility bills with solar panels on their roofs, and large power companies facing government mandates to provide customers with renewable sources of electricity. The high temperatures XCPCs produce at 50 percent thermal efficiency can be harnessed to run large air conditioning systems in commercial buildings, desalinate ocean water and generate electrical power, all functions that are in high demand throughout California. “This technology is a real shot in the arm for the solar industry. With this, UC Solar can achieve a rebuilding of the solar thermal industry, and reduce emissions,” Guiney said.

Gathering interest Flexible organic solar cells are in development at UC Davis, under the direction of Professor Pieter Stroeve. He said this technology, resembling flexible high-gloss paper, boasts 12 to 15 percent efficiency in converting the sun’s rays to electricity. That’s a commercially viable level, assuming the solar cells can be mass produced. “They can be used on complex surfaces like that of a car, so that its battery can store the energy captured,” he said. “The cost will eventually be very cheap. But right now, the solar cells need to be synthesized in a lab before they can be scaled up for manufacturing.” UC Davis joined UC Solar a couple years after it was founded, and that association has increased the visibility of research being conducted on the campus and through the California Solar Energy Collaborative (CSEC), which is part of the California Renewable Energy Center (CREC), Stroeve said. Being a UC Solar member now means getting a share of the new MRPI grant, nearly 80 percent of which will be spent in direct support of graduate research and undergraduate education in the solar sciences. “That’s important because it brings together researchers from other departments and outside the university system,” Stroeve said. “It helps get people all the more interested in participating.” Each UC Solar member campus will attempt to leverage the intra-university system investment in its efforts to secure federal funds and private-sector projects.

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Finding real answers Those in the business of selling, installing and maintaining the end products do come to researchers with problems in need of solutions. “For example, there’s a reason you don’t see solar farms on the coast,” said Professor Michael Isaacson, UC Solar’s co-director at UC Santa Cruz. “It’s because birds poop on the panels, which cuts into their efficiency. Dust from farmlands settles on them, too. It sounds mundane, but it’s a serious problem. So we’ve been asked to develop self-cleaning solar panels.” UC Riverside has a campuswide and city-involved Sustainable Integrated Grid Initiative through which a variety of emerging solar energy technologies can be tested. This “microgrid” includes charging stations for electric vehicles and car parks covered by solar panels. And engineers, economists and social scientists are on board at UC Santa Cruz to study how industry can reassure the public that renewable energy can be reliable, affordable and a means to local energy independence. But energy derived from the sun and wind is intermittent, meaning it isn’t generated when the sun’s not out and the air is still, “which makes people nervous about integrating renewables in the energy grid,” Isaacson said. “We’re trying to devise strategies and devices that can sense how we’re using electricity and help us can save energy,” he said. “From an educational point of view, we want to equip students who go into public policy with a technical background.”

Seeing the future Isaacson said his students have looked to Germany and Denmark, where the governments subsidize investment in renewable with ambitious goals. Denmark, for example, hopes to be 100 percent free of fossil fuels by 2030. In contrast, California is requiring its electric service providers to obtain 33 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2020 — “one of the most ambitious renewable energy standards in the country,” according to UC Solar’s MRPI grant renewal proposal. The UC Merced campus is well on its way. Seventy-five percent of its energy needs will be met by renewables by the end of 2016 and 100 percent shortly thereafter, making it the first campus in the world with that distinction. To help reach California’s target, the state will invest $900 million collected from rate payers on clean energy research, development and demonstration projects via the Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC). This could include putting money into existing Californiabased research centers, such as UC Solar. “We’re keeping close tabs on EPIC,” Winston said. “I’m all for public funding of research. Any amount can help, if spent wisely.”

The Science and Engineering Building 2 features a solar installation that helps power the building.

ďŁ&#x17E; Average installed residential and commercial photovoltaic system prices in California dropped by 3 percent in 2014. National prices have also dropped steadily â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 49 percent since 2010.

(Biochar) has generated enough interest around here in the Valley and many other places that I don’t doubt this will be tested at the farm scale soon.” — PROFESSOR ASMERET ASEFAW BERHE

From History to the Future, Researchers Increasingly Focusing on Agriculture BY DEBRA LEGG

C Merced is not known as an agriculture school like UC Davis is. But because Merced is in one of the world’s most productive farming areas, agriculturerelated research is inevitable and growing all the time. These days, researchers and students at UC Merced are tackling a number of issues vital to the region’s and the state’s agricultural past, present and future. From gathering documents and oral histories at risk of being lost to solving a problem that was costing just one Atwater farm tens of thousands of dollars a year, UC Merced is committed to causes close to home. It’s not hard to see how some projects, ultimately, will have effects beyond California, as UC Merced develops technologies unlimited by geographic boundaries, including a graduate student’s efforts to map usable farmland in the United States and several professors’ work on using excess biomass, not just for energy but for soil improvement, too. Such is the case with engineering Professor YangQuan Chen’s work in UC Merced’s Mechanics, Embedded Systems and Automation (MESA) Lab. Laypeople know it as a drone lab, and it is the reason Chen left his position as a tenured engineering professor at Utah State University to come to UC Merced in 2012. At Utah State, the Center for Self-Organizing and Intelligent Systems focuses on threat detection, surveillance and response. That’s the mission that immediately comes to mind when most people hear the word “drone.”

UC MERCED MAGAZINE | SPRING 2015

But MESA’s eyes are on sustainability — remote sensing that can survey wider geographic areas quickly, yielding more information than is obvious to the naked eye. “I challenge my students, ‘justify your existence,’” Chen said. “Sustainability is such a big issue in the Valley, and this is a great way to do that.” MESA already holds eight Federal Aviation Administrationapproved certificates authorizing operation for its six-wing drones, allowing them specific areas where they can fly. These are not your cute little radio-controlled planes. They weigh 11 pounds and have 72-inch wing spans. They can spend 45 minutes in the air, covering 2,000 square acres, and they do much more than a human can in far less time — with fewer safety concerns. Eyes in the Sky and on the Ground Chen’s research has demonstrated the technology’s potential value to the agriculture industry. Flying with two cameras mounted, the planes captured images just seconds apart, depictions that were later analyzed for early signs of water distress. “Remember the word ‘early.’ When you can detect water distress with the human eye, it’s too late,” he said. It’s a huge issue for farmers everywhere, but particularly in the San Joaquin Valley with its chronic water problems. Having such information would let farmers adjust irrigation quickly, avoiding overwatering or financial loss from crop damage.

Professor YangQuan Chen’s lab is testing drones capable of landing on water, taking samples and returning to the lab — just one of many applications that could have agricultural implications.

Remember the word ‘early.’ When you can detect water distress with the human eye, it’s too late.” — PROFESSOR YANGQUAN CHEN

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR: A long-time Central Valley resident and former editor at The Modesto Bee, Debra Legg is a freelance writer now based in Michigan. While at The Bee, she coordinated government and political coverage. Stories she worked on included crimes that drew national attention and in-depth investigations into local government agencies.

And maybe someday, the drones will examine the 111 million acres of abandoned farmland in the United States found by graduate student Andrew Zumkehr using satellite images, census data and computer modeling. His mapping project showed a lot of space for growing biomass to replace Professor Asmeret Asefaw fossil fuels, but some of the land could Berhe, left, and her students study soil systems. also be used to help feed people. But the key questions for Chen and his lab students right now are how to make the technology accessible and affordable. Operator training will be important, too. The FAA doesn’t require certification to fly drones weighing less than 4 pounds, something Chen sees as a potential problem as use becomes more common. “A guy buying a drone off eBay and starting to fly it? From my point of view, that’s no different than a DUI,” Chen said. “You can put people at risk. There have to be standards and training.” While Chen looks to the sky, soil biogeochemisty Professor Asmeret Asefaw Berhe focuses downward. Her lab’s research looks into how soil affects the climate system. Along with students and postdocs in her lab, and in collaboration with Professor Teamrat A. Ghezzehei, Berhe has conducted several studies into the use of biochar, a byproduct of burning biomass under oxygen-limited conditions.

Biochar can reduce the release of greenhouse gases by sequestering more carbon in the soil system for a longer time. Biochar is also gaining a lot of attention for its potential to promote better water and nutrient storage in soil, Berhe said. One of her studies using local soils from an Atwater almond orchard found that nutrient-enriched biochar acted as a slowrelease fertilizer, supplying nitrogen and phosphorous the plants need. Berhe’s lab enriched the biochar with nutrients derived from flushed dairy cow manure collected from a lagoon at a Merced County dairy. “This is definitely a win-win,” she said. Taking out excess nutrients from the dairy effluent helps the environment by removing some of the nitrogen and phosphorous in the manure before they enter the surface and ground water systems, she said. Those excess nutrients, in turn, become a soil amendment that helps other plants thrive. Adding the nutrient-enriched biochar to soil reduced the gaseous flux of greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide, and promoted better carbon and nitrogen retention in coarse-textured soils that are common in Valley agricultural systems. Berhe believes the technique can be applied on a larger scale if a sustainable way can be found to produce enough biochar and apply it to large areas safely. “Our laboratory-based work with biochar has generated enough interest around here in the Valley and beyond that I don’t doubt this will be tested at the farm scale soon,” she said. >> CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

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UC Merced students developed and tested a solar-powered tractor.

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Steering Sweet Crop Harvesting Last spring, engineering Professor Ashlie Martini’s students tested and solved a problem at another Merced County farm, building a workable solution in the span of one semester. Six students in her undergraduate — yes, undergraduate — capstone design program spent the semester working with D&S Farms in Atwater. The family-owned operation had a problem that cost the business $40,000 to $60,000 a year in extra labor and lost harvest. The challenge: Hard-to-control harvesters with trailers attached were inadvertently crushing sweet potatoes. D&S Manager Brian Carter was convinced there had to be a better way, and was quickly onboard when Martini went into the community in search of reallife problems her students could tackle. Carter knew what the solution was: Finding a way to get the trailer to follow precisely behind the harvester without potatocrushing sway. He’d just never seen anything that would accomplish that. “We told them this is the problem we need fixed. We said we really need and want this right now,” Carter recalled. “We gave them free rein about how to do it.” By the end of the semester, the students had designed and built

UC MERCED MAGAZINE | SPRING 2015

a sensor-driven mechanism that attaches to the trailer hitch, helping the harvester’s hydraulics adjust as it pulls the trailer through the rows. It wasn’t just a prototype. It was a working device, dubbed Sweet Steering. “The hope is always that you’ll come up with something that works,” said Sean Lantz, who was part of the team as an undergraduate and now is pursuing a master’s at UC Merced. “We did that.” Carter was thrilled. “It actually worked, right off the bat. There were a few software glitches, but they fixed those right away. The second time out, it worked perfectly.” The challenge was doing it in one semester. “Fifteen weeks sounds like a long time. But by the time you talk to clients, design, prototype and test, it’s not,” Lantz said.

VIDEO ALERT

 See a video about the Sweet Steering project.

It actually worked, right off the bat. There were a few software glitches, but they fixed those right away. The second time out, it worked perfectly.” — D&S FARMS MANAGER BRIAN CARTER

The time span seemed even tighter because the team members — five mechanical engineering majors and one majoring in computer science — first had to get up to speed on agriculture. Lantz, for example, grew up in Merced and had worked in almond orchards and on dairy farms when he was in high school. But he was by no means intimately familiar with sweet-potato farming. Neither were his five colleagues, and that led to theories that were quickly rejected. One of the team’s early ideas was to create a laser-guided system that could detect the potatoes, Martini said. D&S nixed that one. “You know there’s sand and dirt out there, right?” Martini recalled. But it was that type of dialogue that ultimately made the project such a success that all the farm’s harvesters now are equipped with Sweet Steering mechanisms. And it was that type of learning — communications, working with clients, listening to their needs and perseverance as theories fail — that made the class invaluable. Lantz considers the capstone class the most important one he took as an undergraduate. “There’s a big difference between what you learn in the classroom and what you need to be able to do to solve real

The Sweet Steering team developed a mechanism to help drive harvesters straighter than a human can, helping a local farm protect some of its crops.

problems in the real world. This project was a challenge. It wasn’t always the most fun thing I’ve ever done, but it worked out in the end.” Martini considers the project important because it demonstrates the power of having UC Merced as a neighbor. D&S is roughly 20 minutes away from the university, though its owners had never visited campus. “But they’re the reason we’re here,” Martini said. “The purpose of this school is to connect with the people and the community.” Carter’s a believer now, and D&S already is working on a second project with UC Merced. “We’re going to continue working with them. It’s a great relationship.” >> CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

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Valley Agriculture’s Rocky Past History Professor Mario Sifuentez’s work also began with a local relationship, when the Livingston Japanese American Citizens League was looking for ways to preserve the history of the Yamato Colony. The goal is to create the Yamato Colony Digital Museum, an online repository that will let researchers and students worldwide delve into a multi-layered story of immigration, economic development, internment and reintegration. The project, in collaboration with the UC Merced Library, will include digital documents, photos and videos, audio of oral histories, three-dimensional mapping and interactive timelines. Sifuentez sees the work as a pilot for “Stories of the San Joaquin,” a potential digital museum filled with stories of the people of the Valley. The story of the agricultural Yamato Colony begins in the early 1900s, when a “Japanese Christian utopian colony” was established on 3,200 acres in Livingston, forming the colony that began to prosper with the formation of the Livingston Cooperative Society in 1914. In 1927, the cooperative split into the Livingston Fruit Growers Association and the Livingston Fruit Exchange. The Yamato community thrived, playing a vital role in production of fruits, vegetables and nuts in the area. The colony fell apart during World War II. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, more than 100,000 Japanese-Americans — most of them American citizens — were taken into custody and sent to internment camps. Because Yamato Colony leaders had turned legal ownership of their property over to a European-American before the internment, they fared better than most and were able to reclaim their land and farms after World War II ended. The Fruit Growers Association and the Fruit Exchange joined in 1956 to form the Livingston Farmers Association. Life still was not pleasant, though. “Everyone assumes that everyone was reintegrated and life went back to normal, but that wasn’t the case,” said Sifuentez, who’s in

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the process of interviewing and collecting oral histories. “People lost land, and they lost homes. People were shot and accosted verbally. Reintegration was a long, long process.” Neama Alamri, a second-year graduate student at UC Merced who was born and raised in Bakersfield, is combing the UC system as well as local sources to find out what information is where. “There’s already a great collection of original resources, documents and histories. We need to create an inventory of these resources. They are literally in boxes somewhere in a library. We will have to find those boxes.” Once the boxes are located, there’s the question of digitizing them. “If you’re lucky, someone will unbox it and scan it for you,” Alamri said. “Those are the good days.” And once the digitizing comes into play, the library becomes involved. Emily Lin is head of digital assets for the UC Merced Library. As such, she’s tasked with finding ways to digitally curate everything from dissertations to research projects to collections. That last part of her job description has her immersed in the Yamato Colony work, plus a plan for a pilot project to digitize and archive the University of California Extension Service’s history. She’s also working on an agreement with Mark Arax, an awardwinning journalist and author who’s compiled more than 200 oral histories in the Valley. Arax, who was born in Fresno and still lives near there, has authored three non-fiction books about California. He is in the process of transcribing the interviews, and Lin hopes to add the transcriptions and digital audio to the library. The project dovetails perfectly with Sifuentez’s long-term goal of creating “Stories of the San Joaquin.” In interviewing Yamato Colony residents for his current project, Sifuentez said he’s always struck by their deep passion for making sure the story isn’t forgotten. “They make very clear connections to how this history is still relevant today, to Muslims in the post-911 world, for example,” he said. “There’s a very palpable anxiety about it to this day, a concern that this never happens again.”

YAMATO COLONY DIGITAL MUSEUM PROJECT

YAMATO COLONY:

A Brief History

Early photograph from Yamato Colony, Livingston CA

n 1907, businessman and newspaper publisher of Nichibei Times, Kyutaro Abiko established the Yamato Colony, a Japanese American community in Livingston, California.

The colony possesses a rich history that has survived over a hundred years through multiple generations. Members of the colony have played a vital role in the local production of fruits, vegetables, and nuts, and contributed to the founding of the Livingston Farmers Association. Kishi family who returned from Granada Relocation center in April 1945. Seated, left to right: Shozo Kishi, Chiyoko Kishi, Tajiro, Kishi; the child in front is Sheldon Kishi-Livingston,CA, from UC Berkeley Bancroft Library.

The colony’s identity as a Christian community has also been distinctive and has held the community together to this day. World War II marked an important turn in this history when President Roosevelt issued executive order 9066 and forced the residents of the colony to evacuate and relocate to internment camps. Following the end of the war, many of the colony’s returning members retained their land but also came home to persisting anti-Japanese sentiment. Despite these difficulties, the Yamato Colony has continued to prosper and hold a significant place in the San Joaquin Valley’s history.

Article published April 2, 1945 in the “Merced Sun Star”, from University of Paciﬁc Japanese American Internment Collections.

Mr. Kajiro Tanioka photographed by Iwasaki, Hikaru-Merced CA, from UC Berkeley Bancroft Library.

UC Day Gives Students, Alumni Voices Among Legislators BY UNIVERSITY of california

GOVERNMENTRELATIONS 28

he transformative power of college education was on full display at the state capitol this spring, as more than 170 students, parents, alumni and other University of California supporters met with lawmakers to talk about how investment in UC benefits California and its students. Delegates representing each of UC’s 10 campuses spent UC Day, held each year in March, meeting with members of the Legislature to share personal stories of how their UC educations bettered their lives. “I’m here because of how much I believe in UC and all it stands for,” said Domonique Jones, a junior at UC Merced who is studying political science. “My mother, a single mom, didn’t have anything she could pay for college, but by the grace of UC Merced I was able to get enough (financial aid) to pay for my education.” Like Jones, half of all UC students have their tuition fully covered through programs such as UC’s Blue and Gold opportunity plan, which helps students from families with household incomes of $80,000 or less. “Blue and Gold made college possible for me,” Jones said. By investing in students and their educations, the state reaps major returns in terms of workforce development and the income mobility of its residents, visitors told legislators. Yet the state invests far less in the university today than it did two decades ago. Making Higher Education a Budget Priority

In inflation-adjusted dollars, state funding for UC is at the same level today as it was in 1997 — yet UC educates 75,000 more students than it did then. That’s the statistical equivalent of adding an additional UCLA and UC Berkeley without increasing funding. Against the backdrop of flat or declining state funds, California undergraduate applications have continued to rise for the past 11 years. UC officials say expanding California enrollment is a top priority and have asked the state for additional funds to help meet student demand. It is no longer financially sustainable to continue to add students without additional support from the state, university officials say. The Personal Case for Investing in UC

In meetings with legislators and staff members, UC’s advocates spoke of the benefits to the state of UC research, which has made California a hub of innovation and cultural capital. UC advances in health, agriculture, technology and other areas of the economy have produced jobs for millions of Californians, not only those with UC degrees. But they also talked about what their educational experiences meant in their own lives. “Thanks to UC, I’ve been exposed to amazing opportunities, not only in engineering, but in entrepreneurship as well,” said Janna Rodriquez, a UC Merced alumna with a degree in mechanical engineering. She is now a Ph.D. student at Stanford University, focused on developing micro-electronic sensing devices, and also runs her own business, J&R Tacos, a successful restaurant in downtown Merced. “UC exposed me to a whole world I didn’t even know existed,” she said.

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FOC U S O N un d e rG R A D UAT E STUDE NTS

BY TONYA KUBO | University Communications

Flying High:

Design/Build/Fly Contest Helps Undergraduates Soar There can be a difference between learning and doing, but not for members of UC Merced’s Design/ Build/Fly (DBF) team. Members of UC Merced’s American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) student branch comprise the competitive team, which built an aircraft that will be scored on its ability to execute pre-determined missions in a national competition this year. Mechanical engineering senior Eduardo Rojas-Flores co-founded the AIAA student branch on campus last year so students interested in aeronautics and aerospace could collaborate on projects and apply their theoretical knowledge in a competitive environment. The AIAA DBF team, advised by Professor YangQuan Chen, includes Rojas-Flores and fellow mechanical engineering majors Jose Sanchez and Salvador Uvalle as leads, along with nine other students as contributing members. “This is an example of how we bridge the gap between school and industry. We’ve created something from scratch using fundamentals learned in class,” Rojas-Flores said. Preparing for the Future

The team is structured like a small firm, Rojas-Flores said. As advisor, Chen has the final say on the safety of the aircraft and offers guidance in its development. Graduate student advisors might also offer insight. AIAA student branch members can join sub-teams and work on aircraft components. Each sub-team has its own manager who reports to the project manager. The team’s project manager oversees the logistics and various sub-teams that are contributing to the project. “Even the way the team is organized prepares us for the workforce,” Rojas-Flores said. “After we graduate, any one of us can apply to jobs in the fields of aeronautics or aerospace with an idea of how the industries work.” At the national contest this spring, the team’s aircraft will need to complete three missions. The first tests how many laps the aircraft can fly in four minutes. The second is a transport mission, which tests how fast the aircraft can travel three laps while carrying a 5-pound wooden block. The third requires the aircraft to drop a whiffle ball in a designated zone. In addition to the missions, points will be awarded based on the aircraft’s design and the total cost, with pricey models scoring lower than inexpensive ones. “The tricky part,” Sanchez said, “is that our design had to be based around the block, because it had to be easily loaded and unloaded without affecting the center of gravity by much.” The students have learned a lot as they’ve spent most weekends modifying and rebuilding their prototypes. Though there have been moments of frustration, all of the team members agree that every obstacle reminds them of what they love about their chosen field. “One small move in one area of the design can change everything about how the aircraft operates,” Uvalle said. “But then again, that’s design engineering.”

VIDEO ALERT

TEAM Eduardo Rojas-Flores (lead) – Fallbrook Jose Sanchez (lead) – Winton Salvador Uvalle (lead) – McSwain Jad Aboulhosn – Pleasanton Julian Cuevas – Merced Moataz Dahabra – Chowchilla Juan Hernandez – San Diego Derek Hollenbeck – Los Banos Joseph Ikuta – Reedley Michael Luna – Sacramento Matthew Moran – Tulare Joel Summer – Martinez

 See a video about Eduardo Rojas-Flores’ journey at UC Merced.

SPRING 2015 | UC MERCED MAGAZINE

Bridget Martinez studies elephant seals’ endocrine systems to further understand diabetes in humans.

BY LORENA ANDERSON

University Communications

Not traveling is like closing your eyes to a different perspective and turning your back to a world of possibilities.”

– BRIDGET MARTINEZ

UC MERCED MAGAZINE | SPRING 2015

Studying Abroad Opens Doors at Home Bridget Martinez had already studied abroad twice when she decided research would play a major role in her future. As an undergraduate at UC Merced, she studied in Egypt one year and worked on cancer-related research in the laboratory of cell senescence and tumorigenesis at Yonsei University in Seoul the next. “The week I got back from South Korea, I started knocking on professors’ doors, looking for a lab to join,” Martinez said. “That trip changed everything. I discovered a new passion — the art of discovery.” Now on her way to a Ph.D. in comparative physiology, the Van Nuys native found what she was looking for with Professor Rudy Ortiz. He studies diabetes, and Martinez wants to become an endocrinologist so she can treat patients with diabetes and continue to research the disease, from lab bench to bedside. As one of Ortiz’s seven lab members — including three undergrads — Martinez has taken two research trips to Kagawa, Japan, to work on studies related to the pathologies associated with insulin resistance, collaborating with fellow lab members and colleagues in Kagawa who are professors of pharmacology and experts in this area. “The opportunity to participate in extramural research, especially in an international setting, is very important because it provides perspective on students’ own research in terms of unique and similar challenges, differences in cultures (both societal and scientific) and alternatives to address similar research questions,” Ortiz said. Each year, he takes students to Kagawa Medical University for 10 weeks at a time to work on different aspects associated with insulin resistance, cardiovascular diseases and other metabolic disorders. He’s trying to figure out how the development of insulin resistance contributes to heart,

kidney and liver disorders with the hope that a better understanding of these mechanisms provides more effective treatment in people with Type 2 diabetes. Martinez said researching overseas is a great experience because it allows students to work in new settings with other people, different resources and different ways of working. The work she participated in there parallels the work she conducts on the coast with elephant seals. The seals naturally have higher blood sugar than most animals, and more body fat, while other models of diabetes are so because of their diets, so the researchers can compare the two and their reactions to situations like fasting and feasting. Studying abroad doesn’t always involve research. There are plenty of opportunities through the UC Education Abroad Program (UCEAP) in which students simply take classes and live elsewhere. To date, UC Merced has sent about 530 students abroad, said Craig Harmelin, assistant director of UC Merced’s study abroad office. All UC students are eligible for UCEAP scholarships, and financial aid travels with each student. Most students only go once, Harmelin said. In fact, the odds of the average student participating a second time is about 11 percent. But Martinez has beaten those odds many times over, studying astronomy in Italy and conducting molecular biology analysis on her seal studies at Sonora University in Mexico. She’s fluent in Arabic, Italian and Spanish. Her study and research opportunities have benefitted her personally and academically, and she believes they will help her when she becomes a doctor, as well. “Traveling helps you understand cultural differences, which, for a doctor, forms a bridge with many patients,” Martinez said. “It can help you understand patients’ lifestyles and help them overcome some of the challenges they face in becoming healthier.” Her research abroad will actually help her finish graduate school, too, because she won a $75,000 scholarship from the Dennis R. Washington and Horatio Alger Foundation, given to nine scholars nationwide who demonstrate individual initiative and commitment to excellence exemplified by such traits as honesty, hard work and self-reliance. “My philosophy is that every mind is its own world,” Martinez said. “Not traveling is like closing your eyes to a different perspective and turning your back to a world of possibilities.”

SPRING 2015 | UC MERCED MAGAZINE

BY LISA FRENCH

Leadership Opportunities Helped Grad Move Forward into Medical School

ALUMNICORNER

Maricela Rangel-Garcia credits her experiences at UC Merced with her post-graduation success.

When Maricela Rangel-Garcia’s father first brought her to UC Merced for a visit, the first words out of her mouth were, “There’s nothing here!” Her father, a UC Santa Cruz alumnus, touted all the reasons why this brand-new university, part of the prestigious UC system, was the best possible choice for his daughter. In the end, she entered UC Merced as a pioneering freshman in 2005. A 2009 graduate of UC Merced with a bachelor’s in biological sciences, Rangel-Garcia describes her experience at UC Merced with pride. “We — the students, faculty and staff — had a very strong sense of being in it together to build a brand-new UC,” she said. “The community feeling was very strong. At the risk of sounding cheesy, it felt like we were a family.” Rangel-Garcia’s first leadership role on campus came with her job as the first student assistant in the Office of Counseling and Disability Services, a position she held all four years and one in which she was consistently promoted. She authored the handbook that serves as a guide for counseling and disability service employees on how to work with faculty

Development and Alumni Relations

members and students, including a troubleshooting guide. The work, and her employers’ faith in her, helped build her confidence. Rangel-Garcia and classmate Eve Delfin formed Ballet Folklorico de UC Merced, and she also served as the chair of the planning committee for the first Chican@/Latin@ commencement on campus, with a focus on students’ families. “Throughout my time at UC Merced, I was empowered and made to feel special,” she said. But it was through her volunteer work at the Mercy Medical Center emergency room that she became aware of the severe health care disparities in Merced and the San Joaquin Valley. That experience strengthened her resolve to become a physician. She enrolled in the San Joaquin Valley Program in Medical Education (SJV PRIME), a collaboration between the UC Davis School of Medicine, UC Merced and UCSF Fresno designed to remedy the uneven distribution of physicians in California. It is a tailored clinical track at the UC Davis School of Medicine for students who are committed to ensuring high-quality, diverse and well-distributed medical care to improve health for populations, communities and individuals in the San Joaquin Valley. Rangel-Garcia credits her experience at UC Merced, including learning to take on multiple leadership roles as an undergraduate student, with enhancing her application to SJV PRIME. Now in her third year of the program, Rangel-Garcia will select her area of medical specialty this year, deciding between internal medicine and obstetrics and gynecology. “Through the SJV PRIME program, I am looking forward to achieving my dream of becoming a physician and serving the San Joaquin Valley,” she said. “My parents instilled in me and my siblings the importance of giving back to the community and using our education to serve other people.”

Upcoming Events on Campus

Bobcats Give Back

 May 16 and 17: UC Merced Commencement

 On #GivingTuesdayUCMerced, 167 donors made a record 252 gifts in a 24-hour period.

 Oct. 17 and 18: Homecoming  Dec. 1: #GivingTuesdayUCMerced

 Gifts from alumni and friends, along with 3:1 matching gifts from Foster Poultry Farms and Wells Fargo resulted in more than $40,000 for scholarship support, including the creation of a new Alumni Association Endowed Scholarship Fund. Thank you, Bobcats!

UC MERCED MAGAZINE | SPRING 2015

Mobile Lidar Unit Enhances Research Projects

Lidar, a remote sensing technology, is quickly becoming

the standard in data collection because of its speed and

accuracy. And UC Merced has a new mobile lidar unit to

use for a variety of projects.

It works by measuring distances to a target using a laser,

just like a rangefinder. By moving the laser around

and sampling several thousand points per second, lidar

has the power to yield high-resolution, three-dimensional images of objects being scanned, such as a building or terrain, in the form of a “point cloud.” The rising popularity of lidar and similar technology has led to smaller, more efficient, less expensive units. Still, the unit Professor Josh Viers purchased cost about $135,000. “We can now mount a lidar unit to a small vehicle, carry it by hand or even mount it to an unmanned aerial vehicle,” said Jacob Flanagan, a graduate student who works with Viers. “This allows us to collect data when it’s most crucial, without having to rely on an outside data-collection firm.” A lidar point cloud can collect and display different types of information, like tree attributes and digital terrain layers. Areas can be scanned and quickly digitized over time, yielding high-resolution spatial and temporal products that are useful for conducting real scientific research and modeling. SOME OF THE PROJECTS VIERS’ LAB IS NOW WORKING ON:

 Scanning the terrain of the new Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve to better understand hydroperiod and inundation of vernal pools;  Working with The Nature Conservancy to understand the evolution of floodplain geomorphology so rivers can be managed for multiple benefits, such as groundwater recharge, riparian forest regeneration and fish habitat; and  Precisely measuring biomass in forests and agricultural settings to improve management practices.

Lidar provides a different way to view and study places on campus and around the Valley.

VIDEO ALERT

 See lidar in action.

SPRING 2015 | UC MERCED MAGAZINE

Dynamic Partnerships Strongly Link UC Merced, Yosemite National Park By Cyndee Ott

Few universities are lucky enough to have a national treasure at their doorsteps. But with Yosemite National Park situated just east of campus, UC Merced is particularly fortunate. The campus cultivates a kinship with Yosemite through research, education and recreation projects and programs. Those connections include the Sierra Nevada Research Institute (SNRI), student research and other projects, the Yosemite Leadership Program and UC Merced Wilderness Education Program — just to name a few. All bring the park and campus much closer than the roughly 80 miles that separate them. SNRI provides a home for researchers, faculty members and students to conduct basic and applied research on topics ranging from climate to hydrology. Fittingly, SNRI — which works throughout the Sierra Nevada and San Joaquin Valley — was the first research institute established at UC Merced. Director Roger Bales said SNRI draws top-notch scientists to the park and extends the university’s educational range. “Yosemite provides a natural laboratory for the campus,” he said.

Field Station Serves Many Purposes

The institute’s Yosemite Field Station in Wawona is a hub for research and the Yosemite Leadership Program for students. Field station Director Becca Fenwick helps facilitate partnerships, collaborations and research between the university, park service and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The station is a base of operations for researchers and students, particularly in the summer. Fenwick said students broaden their thinking and future career possibilities by participating in leadership and other programs. “This is a unique experience that not a lot of students can have,” she said. Students often are at the heart of Yosemite/UC Merced partnerships, such as the Research Experiences for Undergraduates program funded through the National Science Foundation. Though open to any qualified undergraduate student, the program typically includes one or two UC Merced students out of the eight available positions. Most mentors are UC Merced faculty members who also are associated with SNRI. Stephen Hart, an ecology professor in the School of Natural Sciences and lead investigator for the program, will co-mentor a student this summer with UC Merced Professor Carolin Frank. Their project will estimate the rate of conversion of atmospheric nitrogen to ammonium by bacteria in the foliage of trees and the underlying soil. “We try to focus on areas where the National Park Service sees a need,” he said. “This is a very unique partnership that really is a jewel for UC Merced, the park service and USGS.”

UC MERCED MAGAZINE | SPRING 2015

UC Merced’s partnership with Yosemite National Park offers students and researchers many opportunities to learn.

Students Work on Several Projects for Park

The UC Merced-Yosemite partnership is a model for other agencies Field-based research is important for students. Engineering and organizations toward creating a global community of practice in Professor Roland Winston, an institute faculty member, said protected area management, he said. Programs can help prepare students students learn better by applying lessons. for future stewardship challenges. “There is a difference between going to a concert and playing “The leadership program helps students understand they are going to an instrument,” he said. inherit the planet, and that a single person still can make a difference,” Winston is the faculty advisor for a senior Shackelton said. project to design a better composting toilet for use The two-year Yosemite Leadership Program in backcountry areas. The idea is to develop a safer combines classroom lessons with field-based “This is a very unique learning along with training in leadership skills, a system that works more efficiently — especially in cold weather — and reduces the volume and park-based summer internship, student projects partnership that weight of waste. and more. Sam Hopstone, a senior from Walnut Creek and Jesse Chakrin, who works for the park service, really is a jewel for environmental science major at UC Merced, is part directs that program and the UC Merced Wilderness of the team. He said it’s an amazing opportunity UC Merced, the park Education Center, an outreach and education and said the proximity to Yosemite was one reason program. he chose UC Merced. Partnerships that reach the next generation are service and USGS.” “I didn’t know until I got here how many important, especially because UC Merced is the opportunities there were to partner with the park,” — Professor Steve Hart most diverse campus in the UC system. Those said Hopstone, who also completed a summer collaborations help students understand the internship in Yosemite. challenges ahead and inspire them to become good Steve Shackelton is a former associate director stewards of the park, Chakrin said. of the National Park Service and chief ranger at Yosemite. He’s Service learning represents another connection. For example, the now at UC Merced, in engineering and parks and protected area Foster Family Center for Engineering Service Learning supports students management. who partner with nonprofit organizations to solve real-life challenges. Shackelton has worked with students on projects including Students have worked with Yosemite to digitize archival handwritten the new solar composting toilet, a redesign of the park’s notes and records. Chris Butler, assistant director of the center, said UC propane canister recycling program, and energizing remote Merced students have a unique opportunity. radio repeaters. “To be able to work with the National Park Service is amazing,” he said.

 About the author: Cyndee Ott is a freelance writer with many years of experience writing about UC Merced and other topics.

She regularly contributes to the university’s website with stories about students, faculty members and staff members.

VIDEO ALERT  See a video about our partnership with the national park.

SPRING 2015 | UC MERCED MAGAZINE

Faculty Findings

School of Natural Sciences

UC Merced researchers depend on grants and gifts to move forward with the many projects and explorations they conduct. Here are the top five grant awards in each of the university’s three schools so far in Fiscal Year 2014-15.

 Professor Masashi Kitazawa received $2,675,526 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for his Alzheimer’s-related project entitled “Environmental Copper Exposure and its Impact on Microglial Abeta Clearance.”  Professor Carolin Frank received $1,623,886 from the National Science Foundation for her environmental biology project entitled “Dimensions: Taxonomic, Genetic and Functional Biodiversity of Above-Ground Bacterial Endophytes in Subalpine Conifers.”  Professor Michael Scheibner received $1,048,897 from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency for his physics project entitled “Quantum-Enhanced Motion Sensing Using Entangled Spins in Quantum Dots.”  Professor Hrant Hratchian and co-investigators Professors Jian-Qiao Sun and Suzanne Sindi received $515,842 to purchase an MRI machine to be used as a multi-environment research computer for exploration and discovery.  Professor Tao Ye received $510,000 from the National Science Foundation for his nano-biology project entitled “Directing and Probing DNA Origami Self-Assembly on Dynamic Surfaces.”

School of ENGINEERING

 Professor Elliott Campbell received $1,045,721 from the U.S. Department of Energy for his climate-related project entitled “Scaling from Flux Towers to Ecosystem Models: Regional Constraints on Carbon Cycle Processes from Atmospheric Carbonyl Sulfide.”  Professor Miguel Carreira-Perpiñán received $449,999 from the National Science Foundation for his machine-learning project entitled “Algorithms for Accelerating Optimization in Deep Learning.”  Professor Qinghua Guo received $265,854 from the National Science Foundation for his geographical information project entitled “ABI Development Forest 3D — an Open-Source Platform for Lidar Application in Forestry.”  Professor Raymond Chiao received $204,991 from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for his physics project entitled “Generation and Amplification of Gravitational Waves for Military Communications.”  Professor Jay Sharping received $200,000 from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for his physics project entitled “Generation and Amplification of Gravitational Waves for Military Communications.”

School of  Professor Jeffrey Gilger received $383,788 from Merced County for his child-development project entitled “Improving

social Sciences, the Community Infrastructure for Early Developmental Screening, Assessment, Referral and Care.”

humanities  Professor Laura Hamilton received $49,995 from the Spencer Foundation for her sociology project entitled “Does and arts Institutional Context Matter? Predicting Success for Less Privileged College Students.”

 Professor Carol Sipan received $163,623 from UC Davis and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for her valley fever-related project entitled “Coccidiodomycosis Among California Hispanic Farm Workers.”  Professor Jan Wallander received $90,000 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for his health-related project entitled “A CBPR Initiative to Address Obesity Disparities for Latinos in San Joaquin Valley.”  Professor Andrea Joyce received $35,439 from the Almond Board of California for her agriculture-related project entitled “Early Detection of Leaffooted Plant Bug and Stinkbugs in Almond Orchards.”

UC MERCED MAGAZINE | SPRING 2015

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