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!
News
Here's the latest news from AirUCI — our events, our people, our science.
2020
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!
Thursday, July 2, 2020
AirUCI undergraduate researcher Jo-Yee "Joey" Cheng (Finlayson-Pitts group) has received an Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program fellowship. She referenced her work in mass spectrometry methods probing submicron particles and was selected by the campus UROP administration. Congratulations, Joey!
Thursday, June 25, 2020
AirUCI faculty Steve Davis is the subject of an article in Orange Coast Magazine that is part of a series examining what local residents are doing to combat climate change. Steve is asked about his work and how it inspires others to take action, and he talks about UCI's position as a leader in climate action. Read the article
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
AirUCI Co-Director Sergey Nizkorodov has completed his term as Vice-Chair for Academic Programs and Curriculum in UCI's Department of Chemistry. This is a position he has held since 2016 and he has worked diligently to improve undergraduate education at UCI. Prof. Jim Smith, also AirUCI faculty, is taking over this position and will continue to improve the educational experience for undergrads, especially in light of the recent challenges with the COVID pandemic. Thank you, Sergey, and congratulations, Jim!
Friday, June 12, 2020
AirUCI faculty Steve Davis co-authored a study published today in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, Chinese, European, American, and British researchers have demonstrated that the number of countries implementing COVID-19 lockdown measures – and the duration of those efforts – have a greater influence on the gross domestic products of nations than the severity of the restrictions. They also found that easing containment edicts gradually leads to smaller economic losses than lifting them swiftly and then having to reintroduce closures. View the article Read the study
Wednesday, June 10, 2020
AirUCI graduate student Brenna Biggs of the Blake research group has been awarded a 2020 Dynamic Womxn of UCI award. This event celebrates and honors the incredible womxn who are leaders and role models actively making a difference in our community. This one-of-a-kind celebration focuses on the womxn who inspire us to take action and to fight for causes we believe in. Congratulations, Brenna! Read more
Saturday, May 30, 2020
AirUCI faculty Don Blake is a founding member of SARP, the NASA Student Airborne Research Program. In fact, SARP is based in the Rowland/Blake research group. Every summer since 2009, SARP has brought about 30 undergraduate STEM students from across the United States to UCI as interns with NASA's Earth Science research. This year, with COVID-19 restrictions, SARP will introduce a new at-home data collection project for the interns as well as the analysis of previously collected aircraft, ground, and satellite data.
To provide the 28 SARP interns of 2020 with a hands-on research experience in atmospheric science, as well as to better understand the unique environmental impacts of the pandemic, SARP leadership designed an at-home air sampling project to take advantage of the geographic distribution of interns across the United States. The Rowland/Blake lab provided nearly 1,000 air canisters to send to SARP interns at home. Canisters were also sent to several SARP mentors, faculty and NASA scientists.
SARP alumnus and UC Irvine graduate student Alex Jarnot cleaned and prepared the canisters, then they were sent out. SARP participants each received 24 evacuated canisters that they are currently using to take air samples of their local environments, allowing them to track the changes in emissions over the coming months as human and industrial activity ramps up. Read the article
