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Campus Home to Inspirational Students and Faculty Experts

August 24, 2016

“In the News” is a new Panorama feature, compiled by University Communications, capturing some of UC Merced's recent media coverage and social media mentions. Highlights from the summer include a pair of inspirational graduates, a young Yosemite leader and some high-level faculty expertise.

Media Highlights

  • Two UC Merced graduates were in the spotlight early this summer for their inspirational personal stories. Yuriana Aguilar, who became the first undocumented UC Merced student to earn a Ph.D., was featured by NBC News, Vida En El Valle and several others. Stephen Maxey, who was homeless and battled addiction before turning his life around through education, was interviewed by Inside Edition.
  • Jessica Rivas, a UC Merced student and Yosemite Leadership Program ranger, met President Barack Obama during his family’s visit to the park. Earlier in the summer, she was highlighted in a San Francisco Chronicle article about the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service.
  • Professor LeRoy Westerling, often sought as an expert on the effects of climate change on wildfires, had a busy summer. Westerling’s expertise contributed to wildfire coverage by the New York Times, Scientific American, The Guardian, KQED Science and more.
  • Public health Professor Mariaelena Gonzalez wrote an op-ed for The Conversation on the “digital divides” — between English- and Spanish-speaking Latinos, and between non-Hispanic whites and Latinos — in the use of the Internet for health communications. The piece was republished online by the San Francisco Chronicle, Huffington Post and more.

Top Twitter Mention

  • Sociologist Laura T. Hamilton’s latest book, “Parenting to a Degree,” was selected as Times Higher Education’s Book of the Week and shared on the publication’s Twitter account, which boasts 201,000 followers: 

More Twitter Mentions

For more information regarding these news stories, email University Communications.