Professor and Environmental Champion Bales Retires, But Research and Advocacy Continue

November 10, 2025

By Lorena Anderson, UC Merced

Professor Roger Bales

Professors Roger Bales and Martha Conklin arrived in Merced in 2003, the first non-administrative faculty members at UC Merced. They came with a vision: to create a research university that would serve California's future.

Now, after more than 22 years of building institutions, mentoring and pioneering environmental research, Bales has retired from UC Merced.

"Some people came here to build research programs and some to build departments. But we really came to build a research university, because we already had well-established research programs," Bales said. "And with UC Merced receiving Research-1 status this year, we feel that our goal has been realized. Our efforts and those of the other founding faculty provided the strong start that helped bring UC Merced to where it is now.

"It's time to hand over the academic development to the next generation. We can be the senior scientists in the room, work, mentor younger colleagues, provide more service to the state, and advocate on behalf of the university and science. Those are sorely needed right now."

A Career Rooted in Science and Service

Bales' academic journey spans decades and disciplines. He earned a Ph.D. in environmental engineering science and an M.S. in social science from Caltech, an M.S. in civil engineering from UC Berkeley, and a B.S. in civil engineering from Purdue University. Before UC Merced, he was a professor in the Department of Hydrology and Water Resources at the University of Arizona, where he helped secure tens of millions of dollars in research funding.

At UC Merced, Bales helped establish and raise awareness of the Sierra Nevada Research Institute and led efforts to integrate science with public policy and community needs. His work focused on hydrology, water resources and climate resilience - issues central to California's future.

"I think the thing I'm most proud of in my time here is building the partnerships that have resulted in impactful research for the state," he said. "We have a mission to serve the needs of the state. That includes knowledge building as well as our graduates."

Building a University from the Ground Up

The early years at UC Merced were marked by a kind of camaraderie and closeness between faculty, staff and students that can only be found at a young university. It also meant a heavy workload.

"What we did was what we anticipated doing, but there was just more of it," Bales said.

Despite the challenges, Bales found enthusiasm and eagerness among the staff and faculty. He recalled his first day walking into the Castle research facility and being greeted by IT staff making a house call to help him get started.

"Can you imagine them doing that today?" he said. "They are way too busy now."

"We really felt it was a good team," he said.

That spirit of collaboration extended to hiring and mentoring new faculty. Bales helped recruit researchers such as Safeeq Khan, whose initial position was co-funded by the Forest Service and later transitioned to UC Agriculture and Natural Resources. Now, Khan is a professor in the School of Engineering.

"Roger is a one-of-a-kind mentor who deeply cares about your success," Khan said. "We've worked on a range of projects, from helping local agency partners with data and analysis to advancing the fundamental science of Sierra Nevada hydrology."

A Deep Commitment to the Sierra Nevada

Much of Bales' research has centered on the Sierra Nevada, where he has integrated hydrology, soils, ecosystem science and resource management. He co-led the Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory and worked with dozens of collaborators on projects that have shaped state policy.

"Our work in the Sierra Nevada wasn't just Martha and me," he said. "It was 50 or 100 people who over the years collaborated with us."

Bales has advised agencies on forest fuels treatments, helping them understand how thinning small trees can reduce wildfire severity. He's also conducted long-term evaluations of past treatments to determine their effectiveness.

And just because he's retiring doesn't mean he's done working. He has plenty of ongoing projects.

"We're doing a statewide valuation of the benefits of forest fuels treatments," he said. "We need up to about $4 billion a year to do fuels treatments in California just to keep up with what's going on. This year, the legislature appropriated but a fraction of that."

His work aims to help agencies spend limited funds more effectively.

"They know what to do," he said, "but if we can give them better, more usable data, they can make more effective decisions and engage other funding partners in forest restoration."

Climate Advocacy and Innovation

Bales has long been a vocal advocate for climate action. He serves on the UC President's Global Climate Leadership Council and was a member of the UC Fossil Free Task Force, which recently submitted its final report to the UC Regents.

He's also helping launch "Campus as a Living Laboratory," an initiative to decarbonize UC campuses and serve as models for broader climate solutions.

"It's more than just swapping out natural gas for electricity," Bales said. "It's engaging the creativity of all of us. I feel encouraged that the next generation may be more successful than I was in engaging people actively. I don't think there's anything more important than being a good example for the energy transition."

The initiative will explore practical solutions, such as using occupancy sensors to modulate ventilation and energy use in labs.

There are countless such changes that could bring the campus closer to full decarbonization. It's a matter of assessing them and finding ways to implement them more broadly. That's what the new initiative is about.

"We're really trying to engage the whole campus community in what is the defining crisis of our lifetimes," he said.

Even on vacation, Bales is thinking about how to make things better.

"On one trip, we visited the Sierra Nevada in Spain. I wanted to see some acequias from the 8th century, after the Islamic conquest. They built impressive water systems that recharge water high in the watershed, allowing it to flow underground and emerge as springs in villages needing water during the Mediterranean summer," he explained.

"Later cultures abandoned these recharge channels, but they're starting to revive them because these villages are running out of water in late summer. I've been thinking about how such a system could be used here in California.

"In the bigger picture, building new dams is challenging, and just doesn't pencil out economically. What is ripe for more investment is subsurface storage. We need a broader mindset for storing winter precipitation for dry-season and drought-year use. My initial advocacy will be for the science to investigate innovations and show whether we can make them work."

Mentorship and Legacy

Bales' influence extends far beyond his own research. He has mentored students and postdocs who now work across the country on climate-related challenges - from floodplain mapping in Tennessee and forest restoration in the Western U.S. to polar glaciology - and said he hopes faculty across the university will take the time to equip their students with the tools needed to address these challenges.

To that end, he is still working with one of UC Merced's recent Ph.D. graduates, project scientist Brandi McKuin. Their shared interest in climate solutions led to collaborative research on placing solar panels over canals, resulting in a pilot program called Project Nexus. The state allocated $20 million for the project, for which Turlock Irrigation District installed solar panels over its water canals, which are projected to save water by reducing evaporation, reducing maintenance needs, and avoiding repurposing valuable farmland or sensitive natural lands for energy production.

"It's exciting to work with Roger because he's a rainmaker," McKuin said. "He's a very positive person who focuses on the big picture. Besides being brilliant, I think optimism is one of his superpowers."

McKuin credits Bales with teaching her how to build coalitions, communicate science effectively and approach research with interdisciplinary thinking.

"I've learned so much from him," she said. "From systems thinking to navigating media requests, Roger has helped me become a more effective scientist."

Khan echoed that sentiment, recalling a moment when Bales told him, 'You can train a student or postdoc on how to do science, but you cannot teach them snowshoeing.'

"At the time, I thought that was ridiculous," Khan said. "Now, as a PI, I get what he meant. We often ignore these soft skills when recruiting, but they can become bottlenecks when doing research in harsh terrains."

Recreation and Reflection

Despite his demanding career, Bales has always made time for the outdoors. He's an avid downhill and backcountry skier and backpacker, often combining recreation with fieldwork in the Sierra.

"Working in the Sierras cuts into my recreation time in the Sierra," he joked.

Last summer, he and Conklin, who retired in 2023, hiked 32 miles through the High Sierra. This fall, he went on a backpacking and camping trip there by himself. Because they now live in the Bay Area, Bales said he and Conklin have been going to the beach more often and taking advantage of the region's cultural offerings.

They've also been traveling a bit, but however far he ventures, California's Sierra Nevada remains his go-to place.

A Rare Dual-Campus Status

Bales' retirement from UC Merced automatically meant he retired from the UC. But because he was an adjunct professor at UC Berkeley, he is continuing to make contributions to both campuses as a professor emeritus.

"I'm doing research and teaching the same graduate water-resources course at Berkeley that I taught at Merced," he said. "It's a popular course because the students say they leave it knowing what to do when they get jobs. One year, I was not planning on teaching it, and a bunch of students came to my office and said, 'Hey, we came to Berkeley to take your course. Will you please?'" he said.

He plans to continue teaching for another year or two and mentoring master's students in Berkeley's large graduate program.

He is continuing his work with the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Global Climate Leadership Council and other groups advancing evidence-based decision-making with greater scientific input.

He also has a project with Professor Jeanette Cobian, who just moved to UC Davis, and professors Steve Hart and Safeeq Khan on carbon balance in the Sierra Nevada.

"We want to try to sequester carbon in our forests. But we also want to provide wildfire safety, which means removing carbon from the forest. So we're trying to figure out how we satisfy those opposite objectives," he said.

Healthy forests have long been a focus of Bales' research and advocacy. He is still conducting research on thinning projects from 10 years ago and the efforts of agencies to remove fire fuels, such as undergrowth, from the forests.

Looking Ahead

As he transitions into a more senior-scientist role, Bales plans to focus on mentoring, advocacy and continuing his research collaborations. He's excited about working with younger colleagues and helping them navigate the challenges of climate science.

"I'm looking forward to being able to do more advocacy for the things that I think will help the university and the state and the people of California," he said. "I'm also excited to see what the university's next chapters will bring."

As Bales steps into this new chapter, his legacy continues to resonate with the people he's mentored and the landscapes he's helped protect.

Khan reflected on the depth and breadth of Bales' journey.

"Roger is a curious wanderer who has journeyed 50-plus years in pursuit of hydrologic science, from Greenland to the Sierra Nevada, and making this planet better for everyone."

Lorena Anderson