News

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

 

2019

Monday, May 20, 2019
Jason Low visits class

On May 20th, Jason Low of the South Coast Air Quality Management District was guest speaker at a Chemistry 241/MAE 260 class taught jointly by AirUCI faculty Barbara Finlayson-Pitts and Jack Brouwer.  He spoke to the students about "New Paradigms of Tackling Air Toxics" and answered questions about related topics. 

Dr. Low serves as Assistant Deputy Executive Officer at South Coast AQMD and did his undergraduate and Ph.D studies at UCI in the Ralph Cicerone research group at the same time as several of our researchers.  He is shown here with Barbara and Drs. Lisa Wingen and Weihong Wang, who are AirUCI Project Scientists in the Finlayson-Pitts research group.

Wednesday, May 15, 2019
Fleming to participate in ACCESS XV

Congratulations to AirUCI graduate student Lauren Fleming (Nizkorodov group)!  She has been selected to participate in the 15th Atmospheric Chemistry Colloquium for Emerging Senior Scientists (ACCESS XV), which will be convened July 25-28, 2019 at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, New York.  She will also attend the Gordon Research Conference (GRC) as ACCESS is convened every other year since 1991 in conjunction with the Gordon Research Conference (GRC) in Atmospheric Chemistry.  The ACCESS colloquium is exceptionally competitive... well done Lauren!

Tuesday, May 7, 2019
Finlayson-Pitts awarded RSC Environment Prize

AirUCI Founder, Co-Director, and Professor Barbara Finlayson-Pitts has won the 2019 Environment Prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry.  The prize is awarded every other year for outstanding contributions to the chemical sciences in the area of environment, sustainability, and energy.  Barb received this prestigious award for her groundbreaking research identifying new processes in the formation of photochemical air pollution and establishing the molecular basis of reactions occurring at environmental interfaces — way to go, Barb!     Read the article

Saturday, April 27, 2019
Brouwer's Op-Ed on new energy storage solution

AirUCI faculty Jack Brouwer has written an op-ed for the April 27, 2019 edition of the Los Angeles Daily News that talks about a novel energy storage solution.  As Director of UCI's National Fuel Cell Research Center, AirUCI's partner organization, he describes how electricity can be converted via electrolysis to hydrogen gas which is then easily stored and available as an alternative energy source.  After a decade of development and two years of testing, Jack and his team are confident that this is a workable solution for drastically reducing carbon emissions.  Read the article on the NFCRC site

Friday, April 26, 2019
Rohrbacher wins poster award

On April 26, 2019 AirUCI grad student Annie Rohrbacher (Finlayson-Pitts group) won the UCI AGS Graduate Research Symposium Poster Award for her current Ph.D research work.  Her poster was entitled “Atmospheric Fate of Neonicotinoid Insecticides as Pure Compounds and in Commercial Formulations”.  Congratulations, Annie!!

Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Davis quoted in LA Times article on flying cars

AirUCI faculty Steve Davis is quoted in an article in the Los Angeles Times that describes how flying cars might not only ease traffic congestion, but might ameliorate some greenhouse gases that cause climate change.  Based on a University of Michigan study of likely emissions generated by such vehicles, the article notes that this discussion could prompt new designs that use less fossil fuel and more renewable energy sources. 
Read the article

Wednesday, April 10, 2019
PBS documentary on ozone hole

This Wednesday evening, April 10th, PBS will premiere their new documentary entitled Ozone Hole: How We Saved the Planet at 7 pm Pacific Time (possibly 10 pm – check your TV schedule).  In Los Angeles and Orange Counties, it will be broadcast on Channel 50, KOCE.  The program documents the background, discoveries, and solutions to the problem of CFCs accumulating in the atmosphere and endangering the planet.  The research of Sherry Rowland and Mario Molina is highlighted, and the issue is presented as a successful outcome in the environmental protection movement, one of the "wins" that show that we can accomplish positive change in our efforts to preserve the planet.
 

Tuesday, April 2, 2019
Tobias to be next chair of Chemistry Department

It was announced today that Doug Tobias, one of the original founding members of AirUCI, has accepted the position of Chair of the Department of Chemistry at UCI, effective July 1, 2019.  Congratulations, Doug!

Monday, March 25, 2019
Shiraiwa honored by ES&T as Early Career Scientist

AirUCI faculty Manabu Shiraiwa has been selected as an Environmental Science & Technology and ES&T Letters Early Career Scientist.  The publication highlights 24 young scientists in the field of environmental science and included him, citing his studies of terbuthylazine and its heterogeneous reactions with OH.  The Shiraiwa research group conclude that the shielding effects of the surface can extend this herbicide’s atmospheric lifetimes from a few days to a few weeks, a finding that has implications on the long-range transport of this potentially toxic compound.  ES&T created a virtual issue on March 21st, 2019 to acknowledge the achievements of these young scientists.      Read the article
 

Wednesday, March 20, 2019
AirUCI welcomes two new faculty!

AirUCI is pleased to welcome Prof. Kim Fortun and Prof. Michael Fortun as new faculty in our institute.  Both are professors in UCI's School of Social Sciences, Department of Anthropology (where Kim serves as Chair), with research interests in air pollution and its effects on human health.   We look forward with great anticipation to their contributions and collaborations in the work of AirUCI.

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