News

Increasing tourism messaging in news media promotes US National Park system integration

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 the paradoxical dual mandate facing the NPS -- which is to preserve invaluable...

PhD candidate Montaño Ramirez publishes in Research Policy on the 'Three-body problem' in Global Science

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 Andrea Montaño Ramirez adopts the same theoretical perspective to analyz the rise of China and...

'On fire' Part II – Profs. Kolden & Abatzoglou et al. publish back-to-back in Science

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 vulnerability to wildland fires amid climate change. Read the abstacts below and follow the links to read the...

On fire – Profs. Kolden & Abatzoglou et al. publish back-to-back in Science

October 24, 2024
Two research articles - including the October 24 Cover Article - published in Science by MCS Profs. Crystal Kolden & John Abatzoglou and coauthors. Read the abstacts below and follow the links to read the articles! 1) Jennifer K. Balch et al. ,The fastest-growing and most destructive...

MCS team uses ML and networks to analyze structure of US National Park system

April 24, 2024
Recent UCM doctoral graduate Dr. Felber Arroyave and MCS professors Jenkins and Petersen published two papers exploring the impact of science policy on knowledge management and other systems-level dimensions of the US National Park System by applying methods of machine learning, network...

New fire management study by Prof. Abatzoglou et al. published in Nature

March 14, 2023
Study identifies increasing prevalence of "flammable nights", a paradigm mediated by climate-change resulting in hotter drier nights, which decreases fire-fighters' ability to leverage night-time heat cover to manage fire advancement, and importantly - to rest....

Framework for analyzing Convergence Science published by Prof. Petersen et al. in Research Evaluation

January 5, 2023
Study provides a framework for measuring and evaluating the emerging interdisciplinary paradigm of Convergence Science, and applies the framework to a convergence nexus of human brain science in order to gain insights into the alignment of social and conceptual dimensions that represent the...

New study by MCS affiliate Felber Arroyave et al. published in Research Policy

February 24, 2022
UC Merced doctoral candidate and MCS affiliate Felber Arroyave and colleagues published in the leading science policy and management journal Research Policy, a member of the prestigious Financial Times 50 list.   Article summary: The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set...

AMR Origins Series Interview with MCS's Russ McBride on the Structure of Social Reality

September 8, 2021
The Academy of Management Review (AMR) hosts a video series called the "AMR Origins Series" that interviews authors publishing in AMR in an attempt to understand how their theory paper was written, where the ideas for it originated, and "where theories come from". Our MCS...

Prof. Osborne to lead UC Center for Climate Justice launch event

April 21, 2021
Celebrate Earth Day 2021! The UC Center for Climate Justice — directed by MCS Prof. Osborne — is a University of California system wide initiative to address climate change as a social justice and equity issue. Learn more about the center and how to get...

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