The University of California, Merced is a public land-grant research university in Merced, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California (UC) system. Established in 2005, UC Merced is the newest campus within the UC system. The primary campus is located around five miles north of Merced and sits adjacent to Lake Yosemite. The main campus is around 1,026 acres in size, and total land owned by the university amounts to around 8,195 acres including large areas of preserve land. Large swaths of almond orchards and natural grasslands surround the university.

The University of California Natural Reserve System (UCNRS) is a system of protected areas throughout California. The reserves support UC's mission of teaching, research, and public service. Unlike national and state parks, they are not available for recreational uses, because they were specifically created to enable UC scientists to conduct research free from such distractions.