News

AirUCI faculty Jun Wu is quoted in a July 3, 2018 article in the Los Angeles Times on air pollution issues created by fireworks on the 4th of July.  With so many fireworks going off at once, levels of fine-particle pollution — a stew of tiny, lung-damaging specks of toxic soot, smoke, and ash known as PM2.5 — surge several times higher than federal health standards across Southern California, air monitoring data show.  Read the article

AirUCI faculty Manabu Shiraiwa has been selected as one of the laureates for the “Make Our Planet Great Again” Short-Stay Program in France, recently announced by French President Macron.  Manabu will stay at the University of Paris-Est for one month later this summer to collaborate with French scientists working on aerosol effects on air quality and climate.
 

AirUCI's Fulbright Canada Research Chair in Climate Change, Air Quality, and Atmospheric Chemistry, University of California, Irvine

Our Fulbright Fellow program came to an end in June 2023 after hosting five Fulbright Canada scholars over a period of more than five years. We maintain ongoing collaborative studies with our fellows, a testament to the success of the program.

Fifth Fulbright Fellow

Our final Fulbright Scholar, Professor Styliani Constas (University of Western Ontario) was with us from March - June 2023.  Professor Constas studies the stability of chemical and biochemical systems by investigating their dynamics using computer modelling. She employs and develops Molecular Dynamics and Monte Carlo techniques to study rare event dynamics that are usually identified with the transition state of the process, and are a bottle-neck in the simulations of a variety of systems of chemical and biological interest.  She also collaborated with AirUCI researchers and taught Chem 245C, Introduction to Theoretical Methods with Applications to Atmospheric Aerosols. 

Fourth Fulbright Fellow

Dr. Patrick Ayotte, our fourth Fulbright Fellow, arrived in January 2022 and is staying with us through June.  He is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Universite de Sherbrooke in Quebec, Canada and is working collaboratively with AirUCI research teams as well as teaching a graduate course in Chemistry during the spring quarter, Chem 245C.  Prof. Ayotte uses various advanced surface science techniques to unravel the complex reaction dynamics and underlying mechanisms that occur in ice and at its surface.  In addition, by using various modeling and simulations approaches, he works to provide detailed molecular-level interpretations to help elucidate environmental chemistry issues.  He has been a particular inspiration to our grad students, speaking at their AAAR meetings and encouraging their studies.

Third Fulbright Fellow

After a delay due to the COVID pandemic, Dr. Thomas Colin Preston of McGill University in Montreal, Assistant Professor in the Department of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, is our third Fulbright scholar from September 2021 through December 2021.  His laboratory uses single particle spectroscopy and modelling to understand fundamental thermodynamic and kinetic processes in atmospheric aerosols, with particular interest in hygroscopicity and water transport, efflorescence and deliquescence, oxidative aging, and liquid-liquid phase separation. He taught an upper division course in Atmospheric Chemistry as well as conducting collaborative research with AirUCI teams.

Second Fulbright Fellow

Prof. Hind al-Abadleh of Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada was AirUCI's second Fulbright Fellow from December 15, 2018 through April, 2019.  Her major research interests are in environmental physical chemistry applied to interfaces in atmospheric, geochemical, and industrial systems using an integrated approach that utilizes leading-edge spectroscopic techniques (linear, nonlinear, and synchrotron-based), quantum chemistry calculations and advanced mathematical modeling.  She taught an upper division course in Atmospheric Chemistry as well as conducting collaborative research with AirUCI teams. We are thrilled that her time with us was so productive!

First Fulbright Fellow

The inaugural AirUCI/Fulbright Canada fellow served his term with us from January 1, 2018 through April 30, 2018. Professor Jonathan Abbatt of the University of Toronto was at UCI working collaboratively with AirUCI faculty on research projects and taught the Chem 245-C course in the Department of Chemistry.  He also gave multiple lectures that were well attended by department students and faculty.

Fulbright Position Established

On August 1, 2016, The Regents of the University of California and the UCI administration established a Fulbright Visiting Research Chair within the AirUCI Institute that will be focused on research pertaining to climate change, air quality, and atmospheric chemistry.  This position, officially called the Fulbright Visiting Research Chair in Climate Change, Air Quality, and Atmospheric Chemistry, will be open to any scholar who holds a tenured faculty or equivalent research position in Canada and who meets the eligibility requirements of the Fulbright Program.  The Fulbright Chair will be in residence with AirUCI for a minimum of five months overlapping with an academic quarter, but may hold the post for up to a full academic year.

Along with carrying out the program of research, teaching, and service, each Fulbright Chair will teach a graduate-level course during one quarter of his or her residence and participate in AirUCI projects along with our faculty and other team members.  Applications are now being accepted by Fulbright Canada and we are hopeful of hosting our first Fulbright scholar in the next few months. 

AirUCI's Fulbright Visiting Research Chair position will be in effect for five years and can be extended at that point in five-year increments indefinitely.  Fulbright Canada's Michael Hawes and UCI Vice-Chancellor for Research, Professor Pramod Khargonekar, signed the Fulbright agreement on July 18, 2016.

AirUCI is excited to announce that Prof. Hind Al-Abadleh from Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada has been selected as AirUCI's second Fulbright Fellow, beginning January 1, 2019 through April 30, 2019.  She will be conducting collaborative research projects with AirUCI team members and will also teach a special topic class for our students.