Millions of Latinos will gather for the holidays. Some will be shamed for their Spanish skills

Jennifer Nájera, an associate professor of ethnic studies at UCR, discusses linguistic discrimination that Mexican, Spanish-speaking children in Texas, California and the U.S. Southwest experience in public school situations.
The Sacramento Bee | November 23, 2023

Big rise in small business owners

Qingfang Wang, a UCR professor of public policy, says more Americans are embracing entrepreneurship. “There are more than 33 million small businesses in America,” she said. “The most recent years have seen a record-breaking new business application in the United States.”
NBC Palm Springs | November 21, 2023

Community college-to-UC pipeline gets a boost as California ‘guarantees’ transfers

Starting in 2026, California community college students will have a better shot at transferring to UCLA or other UC campuses, including UCR.
The Hechinger Report | November 17, 2023

Webb telescope spots the most distant Milky Way-like galaxy yet

Alexander de la Vega, a postdoctoral researcher at UCR, co-authored a study published in Nature that details a galaxy closely resembling the Milky Way. “This is surprising because galaxies were much more chaotic in the early universe and very few had similar structures to the Milky Way," he said. 
CNN | November 14, 2023

Cal State East Bay offers cannabis online training certification programs, and registration is still open

Cal State East Bay is offering certification programs for people interested in working in the cannabis industry. The courses were made possible through a partnership with Green Flower, a company that builds cannabis curriculum and has 24 partnerships with local government, business leaders and educational institutions across the U.S., including UC Riverside.
The Los Angeles Times | November 10, 2023

UC Riverside events support first-generation students

UCR recognizes first-generation students, faculty members and employees whose parents or guardians did not earn a four-year degree.
The Press Enterprise | November 7, 2023

Jupiter Is a Black Sheep Which Protects All Life on Earth

While Jupiter may be our planetary guardian angel, protecting us from harm, new research from UCR astrophysicist Stephen Kane shows gas giants in other solar systems might actually wreak havoc on other exoplanets nearby.
Newsweek | November 1, 2023

Living worm found in woman's brain… what does it have to do with your diet?

UCR parasitology professor Adler Dillman joined the Something Offbeat podcast to talk about the discovery of a worm in a woman's brain, and the connection that discovery has to her diet. 
KRLD News Radio 1080 | October 30, 2023

Big Tech Has a Water Problem. AI Is Making It Worse, Report Says.

Artificial intelligence is a gamechanger. It’s also a water guzzler, according to new research from Shoalei Ren, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering. He learned that data processing centers consume great volumes of water.
Barrons | October 30, 2023

These Plants Change Color When Exposed to a Pesticide

Ian Wheeldon, chemical and environmental engineering professor, and Sean Cutler, professor of plant cell biology, engineered plants to turn bright red when the come into contact with a dangerous chemical in the environment. They hope to be able to use their work to make tests for many kinds of chemicals.
Wired | October 30, 2023

UC Riverside’s new health center at forefront of national student wellness trend

The new, $36 million student health clinic at UCR aims to provide a wide array of medical and mental health services in an attractive building that showcases views of nearby mountains. Beyond serving Riverside students, it may become a national model of how campuses are investing more resources to keep their students physically and emotionally well in the post-pandemic era, experts say.  
Ed Source | October 25, 2023

Scholars debate how DEI statements affect academic freedom in the UCs

Steven Brint, UCR sociology professor, and Komi Frey, director of faculty outreach for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, published a paper arguing that the use of diversity, equity and inclusion statements on 10 UC campuses as a screening mechanism for hiring faculty puts values like social justice ahead of academic freedom.
Ed Source | October 24, 2023

The Best Inventions Of 2023

The Luna avocado, the result of a decades-long breeding program at UCR, is named one of Time's best inventions of 2023.
Time | October 24, 2023

Opinion: Some scientists say we don’t have free will. As a philosopher I say, of course we do

John Martin Fischer, distinguished UCR philosophy professor, argues that we have the capacity for good behavior and should be held to moral standards despite some factors that push us in one direction or another. 
The Los Angeles Times | October 22, 2023

From Citrus Groves To Warehouses: A Pop Up Art Exhibit Traces The Damaging Impacts Of The Inland Empire's Industrial History

Cathy Gudis, UCR history professor, co-curated an exhibit at the Riverside Art Museum with her students and two environmental justice groups. It explores the effects of San Bernardino and Riverside counties having the most concentrated cluster of warehouses in the world.
LAist | October 20, 2023

Can we take the 'forever' out of forever chemicals?

UCR's Haizhou Liu is using "deep UV" – extremely low wavelengths (below 220nm) of ultraviolet light – to break PFAS down under ambient conditions without producing secondary waste. UCR environmental microbiologist Yujie Men is also developing microbes that could biodegrade PFAS.
The BBC | October 18, 2023

Rickerby Hinds’ Epic Poem Play “Blackbox” Blends Theater and Magic

Playwright and UCR Professor Rickerby Hinds has adapted the autobiographical story of abolitionist turned magician Henry “Box” Brown for the stage. The story covers what Brown endured while enslaved until he decided to ship himself to freedom in a three feet long by two feet tall and two feet wide wooden box.  
Black Voice News | October 17, 2023

Impacts of drought can linger in rivers for years

Hoori Ajami, associate professor of groundwater hydrology, and a former UCR doctoral student, Sanghyun Lee, devised a new method of determining the beginning, ending, and severity of droughts that affect streams and rivers. Using 30 years of data from more than 350 locations around the U.S., they found that drought often persists in these waterways for years despite a year of heavy rainfall.
Earth.com | October 11, 2023

Can Mushrooms Save the World?

Danielle Stevenson, a PhD candidate in environmental toxicology at UCR, is working with an indoor mushroom farm to take its spent mushroom fruiting blocks and introduce them in contaminated sites throughout Los Angeles to measure levels of toxins the mycelium have absorbed from the soil. 
Los Angeles Magazine | October 9, 2023

What are those web-like clumps falling from the sky around the Bay Area?

In time for Halloween, residents in the Bay Area and Central California are seeing clumps of web-like substances hanging from trees or drifting in the wind. They are most likely baby spiders, but Rick Vetter, retired Department of Entomology research associate, says Los Angeles area residents are not likely to see these same clumps.
The Los Angeles Times | October 9, 2023