AirUCI's Internal Synposium will meet via Zoom on Wednesday, May 19th at noon. The presenters will be Hayley Glicker (graduate student, Smith lab) speaking on "The chemical composition of ultrafine sea spray aerosol during the SEASCAPE experiment" and Deanna Myers (graduate student, Smith lab) speaking on "Investigating atmospheric particle formation in the Arctic".
News
Below is a list of past events related to AirUCI (sorted with the most recent first).
AirUCI's Internal Synposium will meet next via Zoom on Wednesday, May 5th at noon. They are calling for graduate students, post-docs and project scientists to share their research with the AirUCI community in an informal environment. Each speaker will have 20-30 minutes to give their talks with five minutes for questions to follow each presentation. Please sign up by Monday, April 26th using this link to give a talk.
Along with UCI Professor Paulo Brando of ESS, AirUCI faculty Eric Saltzman and Don Blake are the speakers for the next Compelling Conversation presented by the UCI School of Physical Sciences. The virtual discussion, entitled "The Future of Energy and the Environment," will take place on Thursday, April 22nd at 9 am. This event discussing how we can restore our planet through global environmental change is presented in honor of Earth Day and the legacy of being the first university in the world dedicated to studying climate change. To register
AirUCI grad student Katie Cox (Fortuns group) is organizing the third and final Spring 2021 Toxic Tour day to collect air pollution data in the city of Santa Ana on April 22nd, Earth Day. This resident-led community air monitoring project is sampling air quality throughout the city to help determine the disproportionate impact of pollution on primarily low-income and people of color, and to gather the data needed to better advocate for change. Please see Katie's message below as she invites volunteers to participate. View the flyer
Thank you for your past interest in MPNA-GREEN's ongoing work to advance environmental justice and public health. We need your help -- Please join us!
Volunteer:
- We'll be using small, portable air sensors (they fit on a keychain) to gather data about particulate matter (PM) and volatile organic compound (VOC) pollution in the industrial corridor that runs adjacent to our homes, schools, and neighborhoods in southeast Santa Ana.
- Volunteers will take these sensors along designated routes in three different shifts: 7-10 AM, 12-3 PM, and 4-7 PM.
- You may sign up for one or more shifts!
Requirements:
- Ideally, volunteers should have a WiFi- enabled smartphone (Android or iOs) they can use to download the app that connects to the sensor.
- We are especially in need of volunteers who can drive their own cars, though participation on foot and by bicycle is also welcomed.
- No prior experience is needed.
COVID Safety:
- Please note that we will be maintaining strict COVID-19 precautions including strict social distancing.
- You are welcome to volunteer with another member of your household, but volunteers will otherwise be assigned to separate sampling routes.
- We will provide KN95 masks, hand sanitizer, and reflective vests (as needed for traffic safety).
- Of course, we ask that you wear a mask when you come to pick up your air sensor and for the duration of your volunteer shift.
- If you'd like to be a part of this project, we invite you to sign up for one (or more!) ~2-hour volunteer shifts on Thursday, March 25, 2021 by filling out this form (tinyurl.com/CUALapr22) by no later than Tuesday, March 23.
By participating in this volunteer opportunity, you'll help us advance two of our main study aims:
(1) to characterize air pollution in the industrial corridor, including identifying hot spots and emissions sources; and
(2) to characterize differences in air pollution between socially vulnerable and less vulnerable communities so as to highlight potential environmental justice issues in our city.
If you can't participate but would still like to help, forward this email and attached fliers to your students and colleagues who may be interested in volunteering, or help us out by sharing this opportunity on social media!
This project has been in development for nearly three years, and is the first community air monitoring project of its kind in Orange County. This project is funded by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), designed in partnership between MPNA-GREEN and UC Irvine, and is overseen by Comunidad Unida, Aire Limpio (CUAL), a steering committee of residents of Southeast Santa Ana.
As part of UCI's Earth Day / Earth Month celebrations, AirUCI faculty Claudia Czimczik-Green on April 22nd will co-host a screening of the 2020 film, Kiss The Ground, which deals with issues related to the health of our soils and agricultural systems. Registration is required to participate in this event.
On Wednesday, evening, April 7, AirUCI faculty Steve Davis will give a presentation entitled "Carbon in the time of COVID" as part of the Beckman Center's Distinctive Voices series. Steve has conducted extensive research over the past year on the effect that the COVID shutdowns have had on the amount of CO2 generated world wide. For additional information and to register for this event, visit the Distinctive Voices site.
AirUCI's AAAR Student Chapter will present a Women in Atmospheric and Environmental Chemistry Panel on April 1st from 2-3:30 pm. Their panelists—AirUCI Professors Annmarie Carlton, Celia Faiola, and Barbara Finlayson-Pitts—represent a range of stages in their careers, and they will share their insights into more inclusiveness in science. This event is open to graduate students and postdocs (no professors, please!). If you would like to attend please RSVP here by Friday, March 26th. An e-mail will be sent on the week of the event to those who RSVP that will seek questions for the panelists and that will provide the Zoom link.
As part of her research, AirUCI grad student Katie Cox (Fortun group) is taking a lead role in facilitating MPNA-GREEN's second Toxic Tour day in Santa Ana on March 25, 2021. This is an ongoing project to advance environmental justice and public health by means of collecting air pollution data throughout the city, and Katie has recruited additional AirUCI student researchers to assist in the event.
This resident-led community air monitoring project is sampling air quality in southeast Santa Ana and throughout the city using small, portable air sensors to gather data about particulate matter and volatile organic compounds. This will help scientists understand the disproportionate impact of pollution on primarily low-income and people of color, and to gather the data needed to better advocate for change.
AirUCI grad student Sukriti Kapur is volunteering as a judge for entries in the OC Science and Engineering Fair (OCSEF), an annual event organized to encourage middle school and high school students of Orange County to learn about science and consider a career in science or engineering. This year the fair is virtual, and Sukriti has been reviewing projects and interviewing students participating in the event.
In March 2021, AirUCI faculty Kim Fortun co-organized a five-session, international and interdisciplinary symposium commemorating the tenth anniversary of the Fukushima disaster. She gave the introductory lecture, entitled "From Bhopal to Fukushima and Next Generation Disaster Governance" on March 1st which led off the open seminar series.
