URAP

Simo Makiharju - Professor, Mechanical Engineering

Status: Current Term Now Closed     Weekly Hours: 6-8 hrs     Location: On Campus

Gas-liquid flows play an important role in the environment, and in many transportation, biological and industrial processes. The FLOW lab is presently studying 1) structures of gas jets in water, 2) gas entertainment by plunging water jets, 3) air-water flows for frictional drag reduction, and 4) forces on...

Ulrike Malmendier - Professor, Economics

Status: Current Term Now Closed     Weekly Hours: 6-8 hrs     Location: On Campus

We are looking for highly motivated apprentices interested in behavioral economics or behavioral finance research for the 2025 spring semester. You will find below the list of open projects. Expectations: - Undergraduates will be required to complete assignments weekly. They will also be required to fill out weekly reports detailing the...

Ulrike Malmendier - Professor, Economics

Status: Current Term Now Closed     Weekly Hours: 6-8 hrs     Location: On Campus

One of the most exciting areas of research in economics is “Law and Economics/Finance." This research starts from a central question in economics: What are the causes of financial development and economic growth? Why do some countries flourish while others do not? The “Law and Finance” literature suggests that...

Michael Manga - Professor, Earth and Planetary Science

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: to be negotiated     Location: On Campus

The overall goal of this project is to understand how and why volcanoes erupt. This includes what happens when volcanoes erupt under the sea, how changes in sea-level and lake-level affect eruptions, and how eruptions evolve on ocean worlds (e.g., Saturn's moon Enceladus). For the first...

Michael Manga - Professor, Earth and Planetary Science

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: to be negotiated     Location: On Campus

Long-Valley caldera is an active magmatic system in California. The goal of this project is to explore seismic attenuation changes with ambient noise seismic interferometry to characterize subsurface hydrothermal fluid/magma movement and surface snow loading deformation process. This project will use over 20-years of seismic data to...

Michael Manga - Professor, Earth and Planetary Science

Status: Check back for status     Weekly Hours: to be negotiated     Location: On Campus

Olivine-rich rocks, such as those from the mantle, react with water to form serpentine, other minerals, and release hydrogen. There is a large volume change from this reaction. Stresses from volume changes can create cracks which enable water to enter the rock. This project seeks to unravel the history...

Michael Manga - Professor, Earth and Planetary Science

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: to be negotiated     Location: On Campus

Mono Lake hosts some of the youngest volcanoes in California and one of them is actively sinking into the lake. The goal of this project is to quantify active volcanic deformation in Mono Lake and reveal the mechanisms that are driving it. This project will use InSAR, LiDAR, and geologic...

Angela Marino - Professor, Latinx Research Center

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: to be negotiated     Location: On Campus

The Democracy + Media Lab seeks students with strong writing and/or digital media skills to assist in developing articles, visual media, documentary production, and podcasts. Successful candidates will join a team of other students to plan, record, edit, and publish research materials on social justice and democracy in the American...

Robin Marsh - Senior Researcher, Institute for the Study of Societal Issues

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: 6-8 hrs     Location: On Campus

This project will address the overall question: how can regional, national and local policies, practices and transdisciplinary collaboration facilitate inclusive participation in a rural revitalization process based on just and sustainable agriculture? With the median age of farmers in the mid-to-late 50s and serious issues of rural depopulation...

Robin Marsh - Senior Researcher, Institute for the Study of Societal Issues

Status: Check back for status     Weekly Hours: 6-8 hrs     Location: On Campus

We are generating quantitative and qualitative data from several research instruments to understand the multiple impacts of women-led organic vegetable gardening in Western Uganda. These instruments include 24 hour recall and food security surveys, general demographics, gardening and welfare questionnaires, and narrative stories. This fall semester we will complete...

Charles Marshall - Professor, Integrative Biology

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: to be negotiated     Location: On Campus

The colonization of land by plants and animals from the oceans was pivotal in our planet’s history, leading to major climate change and the evolution of the great forests, dinosaurs, and our own species. However, the first terrestrial and freshwater aquatic ecosystems are poorly understood due to a spotty fossil...

Charles Marshall - Professor, Integrative Biology

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: to be negotiated     Location: On Campus

This research seeks to understand the factors responsible for species dispersal. Specifically, we are interested in dispersals during an event known as the Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI). GABI was a large-scale exchange of taxa between North and South America via the emergence of the Isthmus of Panama. These...

Megan Martik - Professor, Molecular and Cell Biology

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: 12 or more hours     Location: On Campus

The huge diversity of animal lifeforms that occupy virtually every ecological niche on our planet are all produced through the transformation of a single-celled zygote to a multicellular, fully functional organism via the processes encompassed by embryogenesis. It is through tweaks and changes to these developmental mechanisms that new...

Megan Martik - Professor, Molecular and Cell Biology

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: 12 or more hours     Location: On Campus

The evolution of vertebrates is intimately linked to the advent of the neural crest, a migratory and multipotent cell population that gives rise to many defining vertebrate characteristics, such as the jaw and peripheral gangilia. Where the neural crest arise along the body axis during developmement has great impacts on...

Megan Martik - Professor, Molecular and Cell Biology

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: 12 or more hours     Location: On Campus

The neural crest (NC) is a transient stem cell population that emerges during early vertebrate embryogenesis. Characterized by its migratory behavior and multipotency, the NC gives rise to diverse cell types and tissue derivatives including elements of the peripheral nervous system, the craniofacial skeleton, and the cardiovascular system. The NC...

Megan Martik - Professor, Molecular and Cell Biology

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: 12 or more hours     Location: On Campus

Neural crest is an embryonic stem cell population that originates in the neural tube and migrates into the developing organs such as the heart and gut to form diverse cell types, including neurons and muscle cells. BMP signaling plays an important role in their terminal differentiation, yet how BMP target...

William Martinez - Professor , UC San Francisco

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: 9-11 hrs     Location: Off Campus

The present study is a randomized control trial to evaluate the efficacy and effectiveness of a school-based group prevention program (Fuerte) in San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) Public Schools. Fuerte targets newcomer Latinx immigrant youth (five years or less post arrival in the U.S.) who are at risk...

Juan Carlos Martinez Oliveros - Research Scientist, Space Sciences Laboratory

Status: Current Term Now Closed     Weekly Hours: 9-11 hrs     Location: On Campus

Much of the high-energy Universe remains an enigma, with some phenomena that have been discovered—like gamma-ray bursts, magnetar flares, and supernovae— still to be studied, analyzed and better understood. With the development of technology in the soft/medium gamma-ray regime, we are able to “see” the...

Donald J. Mastronarde - Professor, Classics

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: 3-5 hrs     Location: Off Campus

This project involves research for a new and more complete edition of the scholia to Euripides. Scholia are annotations written in the margins and between the lines of medieval manuscripts of classical authors. In the scholia we find filtered through many generations of reuse parts of ancient scholarly discussions of...

Donald J. Mastronarde - Professor, Classics

Status: Current Term Now Closed     Weekly Hours: 3-5 hrs     Location: Off Campus

Gaspar Stiblinus, a scholar working in Switzerland, produced a massive edition of the surviving plays of Euripides in Basel in 1562. His work is of interest because he is the first modern scholar to provide summaries and analyses of the plays. His edition is very rare (although now images of...

Aila Matanock - Professor, Political Science

Status: Current Term Now Closed     Weekly Hours: 9-11 hrs     Location: On Campus

This research project examines policing in places that have had civil conflict and related crime, as well as peace agreements and interventions, specifically. We are focusing on a review of community-oriented policing in these contexts as well as how the end of conflict changes policing...

Aila Matanock - Professor, Political Science

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: 9-11 hrs     Location: On Campus

This research project examines how and why foreign intervention occurs by domestic invitation, as well as to what effect these invited interventions have on the rule of law. Intervention by invitation is increasingly used by intergovernmental organizations pooling resources to deal with transnational concerns. The treaties that enact these agreements...

Aila Matanock - Professor, Political Science

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: 9-11 hrs     Location: On Campus

This is one of three pieces of a collaborative project between Professors Arriola, Matanock, and Mattes.) Countries around the world are increasingly confronting violent irregular threats such as insurgencies and terrorism. Yet, many countries have proven unable to effectively deploy their security institutions (including regular militaries, paramilitaries, and police) when...

Susana Matias - Cooperative Extension Specialist, Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology

Status: Current Term Now Closed     Weekly Hours: 6-8 hrs     Location: Off Campus

The focus of this project is to assess the uptake and impact of a produce prescription program, implemented by a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in Yolo County. We will measure the effectiveness of the program to improve food security, fruit and vegetable consumption, and weight and diabetes indicators among...

Michaela Mattes - Professor, Political Science

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: 6-8 hrs     Location: On Campus

Overview: (This is one of three pieces of a collaborative project between Professors Arriola, Matanock, and Mattes.) Countries around the world are increasingly confronting violent irregular threats such as insurgencies and terrorism. Yet, many countries have proven unable to effectively deploy their security institutions (including regular militaries, paramilitaries, and police...

Michaela Mattes - Professor, Political Science

Status: Current Term Now Closed     Weekly Hours: 6-8 hrs     Location: Off Campus

On September 20, 2001, right after the 9/11 attacks, U.S. President George W. Bush addressed the nation and declared war against terror. In his speech, the President repeatedly used religious connotations. For instance, “Prayer has comforted us in sorrow, and will help strengthen us for the journey ahead.” President showed...

Michaela Mattes - Professor, Political Science

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: 6-8 hrs     Location: On Campus

Throughout history countries have done terrible things to one another: genocide, war crimes, forced displacements etc. Apologizing for past wrongs was very rare before the 1990s and has become only slightly more common. Interestingly, there is a lot of variation in whether a country apologizes, when it does so, the...

Michaela Mattes - Professor, Political Science

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: 6-8 hrs     Location: On Campus

This project synthesizes work done by URAP teams led by Professors Arriola, Matanock, and Mattes in previous semesters.) Countries around the world are increasingly confronting violent irregular threats such as insurgencies and terrorism. Yet, many countries have proven unable to effectively deploy their security institutions (including regular militaries, paramilitaries, and...

Jimmy McGuire - Professor, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: to be negotiated     Location: On Campus

The island of Sulawesi in Indonesia is a hotspot of biodiversity and model system for studying the evolution of organisms. Our lab has conducted numerous expeditions to the island to document its biodiversity and collect samples for genetic analysis. Our lab uses molecular and morphological tools to reconstruct the evolutionary...

Jimmy McGuire - Professor, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology

Status: Check back for status     Weekly Hours: 3-5 hrs     Location: On Campus

Amphibians are the world’s most imperiled vertebrate group. Confounding efforts to combat amphibian declines is that we have little knowledge concerning most of the species and much of it not easily accessible. Since 2000, we have been developing an informatics platform to create a web page for every species of...

Sara McMains - Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: 6-8 hrs     Location: On Campus

Additive Manufacturing (aka 3D Printing) is a set of relatively novel manufacturing techniques that were originally used for prototyping but are increasingly used to fabricate end-use parts, which requires higher quality manufacturing. The goal of this project is to build a machine learning model that can quickly and accurately...

Patina Mendez - Lecturer, Environmental Science, Policy and Management

Status: Current Term Now Closed     Weekly Hours: 3-5 hrs     Location: On Campus

Streams in California have a variety of forms including: (a) intermittent streams that only flow for part of the year, and often are dry throughout the summer, (b) protected streams in national, state, regional, and county parts, and (c) urban streams that serve recreational needs and stormwater management. The project...

Patina Mendez - Lecturer, Environmental Science, Policy and Management

Status: Current Term Now Closed     Weekly Hours: 3-5 hrs     Location: On Campus

Studies in ecology and evolution rely on properly curated museum material and access to museum records and specimen. Caddisflies, in the insect order Trichoptera, are aquatic insects closely related to moths and butterflies. In this project, the student will assist with labeling, organizing, and curating caddisflies. The student will also...

Craig Miller - Professor, Molecular and Cell Biology

Status: Current Term Now Closed     Weekly Hours: 12 or more hours     Location: On Campus

A fantastic diversity in organismal form is seen in nature, yet we know little about the genetic basis of evolutionary change. We are using the head skeleton of the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) as a model system to study the genetic basis of development and evolution. Sticklebacks have undergone one...

Dana Miller-Cotto - Professor, Education

Status: Current Term Now Closed     Weekly Hours: 6-8 hrs     Location: On Campus

This research is a mixed methods research project which aims to understand the predictors of executive function, a cognitive resource that controls our thoughts, behaviors, and emotions, and its performance in early schooling. In particular, we study the 1) role of how context may play a role in executive function...

Dana Miller-Cotto - Professor, Education

Status: Current Term Now Closed     Weekly Hours: 9-11 hrs     Location: Off Campus

Executive function, or our ability to hold information in mind, ignore distractions, and shift between goals, predicts many important outcomes in life, including educational outcomes and social development. Research indicates that there are differences in how children display executive function skills across race/ethnicity and socio-economic status. There is...

Cecilia Mo - Professor, Political Science

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: 6-8 hrs     Location: On Campus

This uses focuses on designing and implementing a nationally-representative survey to examine the prevalence, knowledge, and attitudes surrounding child trafficking and forced labor in Jamaica. Previous studies have reported that in Jamaica, 1 in 12 children work at least one hour a week and of those working children, 71.3...

Cecilia Mo - Professor, Political Science

Status: Check back for status     Weekly Hours: 9-11 hrs     Location: Off Campus

The dynamics undermining Nigeria’s democratic progress over the past two decades have disproportionately marginalized the role of women in governance. While women are legally entitled to equal rights under Nigeria’s constitution, they have been largely excluded from political participation through a combination of social, logistical, and psychological barriers. If barriers...

Cecilia Mo - Professor, Political Science

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: 6-8 hrs     Location: On Campus

Throughout history, women have often been omitted from narratives and histories of war. A Woman’s War, an oral history project that includes narratives of over 120 women across six countries---Bangladesh, Egypt, Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Vietnam, and the United States---seeks to examine the intersection of individual and collective experiences...

Cecilia Mo - Professor, Political Science

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: 6-8 hrs     Location: On Campus

This project focuses on the impact of mental health in post-conflict and forced migration contexts. There are two primary research areas within the larger project: (1) producing a systematic review article on how living through and beyond trauma impact communities affected by conflict and forced migration, and (2) conducting...

Raul Monsalve - Research Scientist, Space Sciences Laboratory

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: to be negotiated     Location: Off Campus

The Radio Cosmology Group (RCG) at the Space Sciences Laboratory is a leader in the study of the first billion years of the Universe through the design and operation of state-of-the art radio frequency instrumentation to measure radio waves from space. We are seeking an undergraduate research assistant...

Don Moore - Professor, Business, Haas School, Psychology

Status: Current Term Now Closed     Weekly Hours: 6-8 hrs     Location: On Campus

Have you ever scored lower on a test than you expected, lost a competition to a competitor you thought you would trounce, been certain about a fact only to have Google prove you incorrect? People are frequently overconfident. Understanding overconfidence can help us become more accurate about our self-perceptions...

Don Moore - Professor, Business, Haas School, Psychology

Status: Current Term Now Closed     Weekly Hours: 6-8 hrs     Location: On Campus

Human judgments are routinely biased. Can artificially intelligent agents correct for this human bias and achieve greater accuracy in their judgment...

Don Moore - Professor, Business, Haas School, Psychology

Status: Current Term Now Closed     Weekly Hours: 6-8 hrs     Location: On Campus

The scientific world is changing quickly as scientists improve their research practices and correct errors in the published record. This project seeks to test the replicability of published work that is now suspect. This is a chance to play a role in a project in the vanguard of open science...

Don Moore - Professor, Business, Haas School, Psychology

Status: Current Term Now Closed     Weekly Hours: 6-8 hrs     Location: On Campus

Have you ever read a research article and wondered if the authors truly tested the research question they purported to test? The focus of this project concerns the evaluation of research methodology. You would work primarily with a senior graduate student in the lab on her research. It is an...

David Moore - Professor, Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology

Status: Full- no new appr needed     Weekly Hours: to be negotiated     Location: On Campus

The Liver Receptor Homolog-1 (LRH-1) is an orphaned nuclear receptor (a family of protein transcription factors that regulate gene expression in the cell). Nuclear receptors contain a physical pocket known as the ligand binding domain (LBD) that is capable of binding and sensing various compounds. LRH-1&#039...

David Moore - Professor, Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology

Status: Check back for status     Weekly Hours: to be negotiated     Location: On Campus

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) form a subset of nuclear receptors, currently comprising three distinct members: PPARα, PPARγ, and PPARδ. Each receptor seems to influence pathways situated at the crossroads of intermediary metabolism and inflammation, imparting significant physiological and clinical relevance to them (Bensinger and Tontonoz, 2008). PPARα, a well...

David Moore - Professor, Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology

Status: Check back for status     Weekly Hours: to be negotiated     Location: On Campus

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an autoimmune inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract. Statistics show that the incidence of IBD in the US is around 1.3% in the adult population. The pathophysiology of IBD is multifaceted and complex, with current therapeutics requiring optimization. Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) and experimental...

David Moore - Professor, Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology

Status: Check back for status     Weekly Hours: to be negotiated     Location: On Campus

Bile acids (BA), the amphipathic and water-soluble end-products of cholesterol metabolism, are essential for the emulsification and subsequent absorption of dietary lipids and fat-soluble vitamins. BA are synthesized by the liver, stored in the gallbladder, and secreted into the lumen of the small intestine to solubilize lipids...

Priya Moorjani - Professor, Center for Computational Biology, Molecular and Cell Biology

Status: Check back for status     Weekly Hours: 12 or more hours     Location: On Campus

Our lab studies human evolutionary genetics using genomic data from present-day and ancient DNA samples. We aim to understand how different populations relate to each other and what are some of the genes related to human adaptation and diseases. To this end, we develop computational and statistical methods and...