News

Here's the latest news from AirUCI — our events, our people, our science.

 

2020

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

On August 26, 2020, AirUCI faculty Don Blake was interviewed by Kevin Bossenmeyer, manager of KUCI radio.  Don was asked about his background, his time at UCI and experience working with Nobel Laureate Sherry Rowland, his many awards, and his wide variety of research interests.  A second interview has been scheduled for Friday, September 4th as they ran out of time before hearing all of Don's fascinating experiences.  Listen to interview #1

Wednesday, August 12, 2020

AirUCI faculty Manabu Shiraiwa is principal investigator on the Modelling Consortium for Chemistry of Indoor Environments initiative (MOCCIE) that began in 2017 and recently was granted renewed funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.  Today, he and the MOCCIE team, which includes Dr. Pascal Lakey of his research group as well as AirUCI faculty Doug Tobias (also chair of the UCI Chemistry Department), are the subject of a UC Irvine news article that discusses the importance of indoor air quality, especially during this pandemic era.  “Average life expectancy in the United States is 79, but people are inside 70 of those years and outside only about four,” Manabu says. “If you want to understand the health impacts of air quality, you have to look at what’s going on in houses and buildings."  Read the article

Monday, August 10, 2020

AirUCI faculty Michael Prather is co-author of an article published August 10th on Gizmodo regarding the move to integrate hydrogen as a leading energy source.  There are concerns about the impact of hydrogen that is leaked into the atmosphere on hydroxyl radicals, which act as cleansing agents in the atmosphere by neutralizing other airborne chemicals, such as methane, that cause global warming.  Mike is urging further study of the impacts of additional hydrogen use, which is expanding as an energy source world wide.  Read the article

Thursday, July 23, 2020

Astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson, who held a postdoctoral position with AirUCI faculty members Barbara Finlayson-Pitts and John Hemminger, was interviewed recently on KUCI radio.  Kevin Bossenmeyer asked her about her background, time at UCI, and experiences as an astronaut.  Tracy is an honorary member of the AirUCI team and has presented two public lectures hosted by our institute.
Hear the interview

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

AirUCI's Tracy Caldwell-Dyson, who held a postdoc position with us jointly in the Finlayson-Pitts and Hemminger groups, is the subject of aJuly 22nd article in the Irvine Standard that discusses her experiences in space, her current NASA assignments, and a possible upcoming moon mission.  Tracy continues as an honorary member of our AirUCI team!  Read the article

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

On July 21st, AirUCI faculty Annmarie Carlton and Manabu Shiraiwa were interviewed by PBS's KQED Television in San Francisco for an online and audio article on how the COVID-19 virus is transmitted by way of aerosols.  The article provides scientific facts and findings about the virus, countering the misinformation that is prevalent and causing confusion among many in the public.  View the article

Thursday, July 16, 2020

AirUCI faculty Don Blake has received the Better World Award presented by the UCI Academic Senate.  This award recognizes "the exceptional efforts of faculty who have made extraordinary contributions to an area of importance to the core values of the University of California, Irvine."   Well deserved, Don... congratulations!

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

AirUCI faculty Jim Smith and his team have tackled the problem of mask efficiency to combat the COVID-19 virus. They have come-up with a simple design that is easy to construct, and KUCI radio recently interviewed him about this project and the teamwork that has gone into it. 
Hear the interview.

Friday, July 10, 2020

On July 10, 2020, AirUCI faculty Annmarie Carlton was interviewed on the popular program, Air Talk with Larry Mantle on KPPC, a local National Public Radio station. More than 200 scientists, including Annmarie, signed an open letter to the World Health Organization concerning the airborne spread of COVID-19 and this was the main topic of discussion. Hear the interview

Thursday, July 9, 2020

AirUCI faculty Manabu Shiraiwa is the recipient of the 2020 Kenneth T. Whitby Award from the American Association for Aerosol Research (AAAR).  This award recognizes outstanding technical contributions to aerosol science and technology by a young scientist. The purpose of the award "is to encourage continued work in the field and ongoing support of such endeavors."  Manabu joins an impressive list of prominent atmospheric scientists that have won this prestigious award.  Congratulations, Manabu! 

 

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