29,000
acres and more serve as a real-life laboratory for plant research
36,683
alumni and counting making a difference
2
Nobel Laureates and 18 National Academies members on the faculty
CNAS Science News
January 29, 2026
How fire-loving fungi learned to eat charcoal
Wildfire causes most living things to flee or die, but some fungi thrive afterward, even feasting on charred remains. New University of California, Riverside research finds the secret to post-fire flourishing hidden in their genes.
January 26, 2026
Shrubs curb carbon emissions in China’s largest desert
An experiment in western China over the past four decades shows that it is possible to tame the expansion of desert lands with greenery, and, in the process, pull excess carbon dioxide out of the sky.
January 26, 2026
James Webb Space Telescope reveals new details about dark matter in the universe
Findings allow scientists to learn more about dark matter’s influence on stars, galaxies, and planets
January 15, 2026
Tango’s sweet legacy lives on
The UCR-developed Tango mandarin has established itself as a symbol of innovation and sustainability in the global citrus market, generating more than $70 million in cumulative economic value for the university.
A Message from Dean Peter Atkinson
On behalf of the faculty, staff, and students from the College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences at UC Riverside, I welcome you to our college and campus.
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January 21, 2026
A UCR astrophysicist is now an asteroid
A scientist, his asteroid, and a happy hour
January 19, 2026
Tango mandarin is ‘2026 Flavor of the Year’ in Spain and Portugal
A European trade association chooses the UCR-developed Tango mandarin as "Flavor of the Year" in Spain and Portugal.
January 14, 2026
UCR scientists win 2025 Buchalter Cosmology Prize
Research shows how the universe’s first galaxies may have generated magnetic fields in intergalactic space
December 17, 2025
The adventures of a German Shepherd and a nematologist
Zeus, the German Shepherd, found Perla Achi at the Riverside County Animal Shelter on October 2, 2018. At the time, he was a seven-month-old pup and she was a 22-year-old biology undergrad at UC Riverside.
Achi was rescued by Zeus after losing her first German Shepherd, King, to cancer earlier that year — making for a tough start to her first year at UCR. She named him Zeus because he had a way of zooming and jumping when excited. With his size, he shook the floor and made loud noises, which reminded her of the Greek god of thunder.