UC Mercd Magazine-Volume XVI, Issue 2

Report Targets Valley’s Challenges The effects of climate change on the San Joaquin Valley and actions that could reduce those impacts are the subject of a report authored by UCMerced researchers and affiliates and published by the California government. The San Joaquin Valley Summary Report for the state’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment acknowledges challenges such as access to safe drinking water, poor air quality and vulnerable agricultural water supply. The report will be used by the state of California, nonprofit

Risky Feeding Practices Linked to Formula Shortage, COVID

The national shortage of baby formula earlier this year compounded the prevalence of feeding practices during the COVID-19 pandemic that can endanger infants’ health, a UC Merced study says. The study conducted by the Lactation

Attachment Technology and Child Health (LATCH) Lab in collaboration with UC Irvine and the University of Toronto suggests the pandemic had a greater impact on infants whose families relied on formula rather than human milk. Psychological Sciences Professor Jennifer Hahn-Holbrook was senior author and graduate student Jessica Marino was first author.

organizations and the general public as a resource for science and information about climate change’s effects on the Valley.

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How Scrambling Visuals Affects Perception

Tracking Forest Regeneration The rate of forest regeneration in the face of climate change is the focus of research by Professor Emily Moran and her team, which is monitoring 11 sites in the Sierra Nevada

Facial expression may seem to be a dependable way to determine a person’s emotional state. But what if you were shown a picture of a happy face on a body exuding fear – at the scene of a funeral? Scrambling visual cues to see how it affects the perception of emotion was the thrust of a study by Psychological Sciences Professor Eric Walle and UC Merced graduate and current Brigham Young University

for tree growth and death, seed production and seedling survival. Western trees tend to produce more seed and seedlings in the northward parts of their geographic ranges, Moran said, but this doesn’t mean they will be fully able to keep pace with climate change.

Professor Peter Reschke. A total of 80 undergraduate students at UC Merced and BYU participated in the study, which was published recently in the journal Affective Science.

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