The 20-year-old from Long Beach chose UC Merced — the youngest, smallest and least renowned of the UC system’s nine undergraduate campuses. “Deep in my heart, I wanted to go to UC Merced because everything you heard about it was that it was going green,” Picazo said. Eleven years after opening its doors as the first new American research university of the 21st century, UC Merced is attracting more students, winning research accolades, rising in national rankings — and moving forward with an ambitious campus expansion. Winston is now the director of UC Solar, which has all the UC campuses involved in researching ways to make solar energy more efficient and affordable. Katelyn Fitzgerald, UC Merced student body president, said those needs included housing, food security and mental health resources.

Source: Los Angeles Times October 15, 2016 11:02 UTC