Image of wildfire burning forest
Multi-campus UC wildfire project led by MCS Prof. Kolden
UCLA, Berkeley join around "Addressing California communities doubly vulnerable to catastrophic wildfires". Prof. Kolden will also be leading the UC Merced Fire Resilience Center.
Map of South America highlighting different land use regions
Complexity at the Climate, Land Use and Social Justice interface
Prof. Osborne leads research exploring climate and social justice in the Global South
Image of helicopter rescue of stranded hikers & climbers in Yosemite National Park
Park Management: 1963 Sentinel Rock Rescue — Yosemite National Park
Co-evolution of Technological Advance and Problem-solving in the Field
Collage of data analytics software icons
Data Science & Analytics @ UC Merced
Why choose the DATA SCIENCE & ANALYTICS (DSA) major?  The data science and analytics (DSA) major addresses the increasing demand for adept data analysts by combining coursework in applied data science with coursework in economics and cognitive, political and management science — areas where real-world problem solving increasingly...

The Ernest and Julio Gallo Management Program leverages strengths in engineering, natural and social sciences at UC Merced. Together, this unit serves as a cross-functional hub for interdisciplinary research in management science, for partnerships with for-profit and nonprofit enterprises and public organizations, and for education programs that address the growing need for managers who are well-versed in the complex problems associated with coupled human and environmental systems.

Department of Management of Complex Systems (MCS)

Management of Innovation, Sustainability and Technology (MIST) graduate group

The MCS department and MIST graduate group share a highly multi-disciplinary faculty joined around a common interest in how arrangements of people, organizations, information, technology and the natural world give rise to complex adaptive phenomena that pose difficult — often grand — challenges to society. As such, our undergraduate programs (DSAMIST and MAD) and graduate programs in management (MS and PhD) focus on identifying and executing strategies that seek balance and alignment among social justice, environmental resources and economic welfare — i.e. toward the long-term sustainability of people, planet and profit (PPP).

Our mission is to train the next generation of PPP managers and scholars using a distinctive multidisciplinary approach. Curricula provide a wide range of opportunities to gain management training via case studies, field exercises, internships and development of information-driven decision-making skills — all of which are required for successful administration of public and private resources, as well as service- and innovation-oriented enterprises, in the 21st century. Coursework stresses innovation, engineering and vigilance for emerging technologies that open the way for alternative sustainable and renewable approaches to institutional operations, resource management and service delivery.

Featured News

Map of US National Parks
April 6, 2026

A new study published in PNAS Nexus by a MCS team affiliated with the UCM National Parks Institute applies machine learning, network science and big data methodologies to explore how...

Stylistic image conveying 3-body problem
November 19, 2025

If you were intruiged by the hit Netflix series "3 Body Problem" and its exploration of the implications of chaotic interstellar dynamics, a new study by MCS PhD candidate...

Image of burning map
October 19, 2025

Another year - and another two research articles published in Science by MCS Profs. Crystal Kolden, John Abatzoglou and coauthors - on the paradoxical and alarming escalation in human...

MCS

Environment & Climate

Entrepreneurship & Innovation