AirUCI grad student Berenice Rojas (Smith group) has been awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship for 2025. This prestigious award is granted to students pursuing research-based Master's and doctoral degrees in the natural, social, and engineering sciences at U.S. institutions. Berenice is one of six NSF GRFP recipients at UCI, and one of the only three recipients in the category “Chemistry - Environmental Chemical Systems” nationwide. In addition, AirUCI undergrad Ellie Wingen (Finlayson-Pitts group) received Honorable Mention! Congratulations, Berenice and Ellie!
News
Here's the latest news from AirUCI — our events, our people, our science.
2025
Wednesday, March 26, 2025
AirUCI undergrad Viridiana Moreno Ruiz in the Guenther group has been selected as one of the 2025 recipients of a California Space Grant Consortium undergraduate research scholarship, awarded to students pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. This competitively awarded program engages the future STEM workforce in basic and/or applied STEM-related research projects and facilitates the development of mentor relationships between students, faculty, and the NASA community. Applications are evaluated based upon the student's academic achievement, quality of proposed research project, letter of recommendation from research mentor, and exhibited leadership qualities. Congratulations, Viri!
Monday, March 17, 2025
AirUCI faculty Mike Kleinman is quoted in a March 17th article in Newsweek about the health effects of fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5. These pollutants can come from a variety of sources, including vehicle emissions, industrial activity, wildfires, and weather patterns that prevent pollution from dispersing. When asked if air quality in the state was worsening, Mike said, "The effects of climate change are a major factor. The higher temperatures and drought conditions can lead to more frequent and more intense wildfires which add to the particles and toxic gases released, the dry conditions also promote fungal and the bioaerosols that can cause, among other things, Valley Fever." Read the article
Saturday, March 8, 2025
In honor of International Women’s Day on March 8th, the journal Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics published a feature article recognizing papers from women scientists around the world. They edited the article into a special themed collection posted on their LinkedIn account. Three of our papers were among those recognized, including the work on thermal program desorption mass spectrometry (TPD-MS) led by Kristen Johnson (recent AirUCI postdoc), computational work on matrix assisted in vacuum (MAIV) led by Styliani Constas (2023 AirUCI Fulbright Fellow) and Lisa Wingen (AirUCI Project Scientist), and the work on new particle formation from methanesulfonic acid reactions with monoethanolamine led by Veronique Perraud (AirUCI Project Scientist). Congratulations to Vero, Lisa, Kristen, and Stella!!
Wednesday, February 26, 2025
AirUCI faculty Jun Wu is the recipient of the 2024-25 Academic Senate Distinguished Mid-Career Faculty Award for Research. Jun teaches in the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health within the Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health and is an active collaborator with several other AirUCI faculty. She is also frequently sought out by the media as an expert in environmental health. Congratulations, Jun!
Sunday, February 23, 2025
In a February 23rd article in Food and Wine, AirUCI faculty Andrea de Vizcaya Ruiz is asked to comment on a recent study which suggests that plastics commonly used in takeout containers, especially when heated, may transfer unseen substances into your food — including microplastics and chemicals such as BPA and phthalates — and these substances could disrupt hormones and negatively impact heart health. Andrea is an expert in the health effects of microplastics and has many concerns about them but, based on the limitations of the study, noted that more research is needed to fully understand how plastic exposure impacts heart health over time. Read the article
Thursday, February 20, 2025
AirUCI faculty Andrea de Vizcaya Ruiz is quoted in a February 20th article in the Washington Post on how to find cleaning products that aren’t full of microplastics. They are increasingly detected in oceans and other areas of the environment as well as in the human body, including in the blood, liver, kidneys, placenta, and brain. “We can be exposed to microplastics that are floating in the air, through consumer products including cleaning products, or we can ingest them from seafood or water,” says Andrea, who goes on to list common household products that are sources of microplastics. Read the article
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
In a February 19th Newsweek article on the cause of the January firestorms in Los Angeles, AirUCI faculty Jim Randerson is quoted on the effects of climate change on the intensity of wildfires. His 2022 study found that fires sparked by such things as faulty electrical systems are more often started under hotter and drier conditions. "Human-ignited fires grow more rapidly and release more energy as they're growing," Jim said in a statement with the study's release. "They're more ferocious." Read the article
As climate change makes fire conditions more likely, scientists have also found that the fires that humans spark tend to be worse than ones ignited by natural causes such as lightning.
In a study published in the journal Nature Communications in 2022, scientists from University of California Irvine found that the fires we spark with things such as faulty electrical systems are more often started under hotter and drier condition
Friday, February 7, 2025
Poor air quality is often associated with traffic emissions or industrial pollution, but AirUCI faculty Alex Guenther led a recent study showing that plant emissions known as Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds (BVOCs) can impact air quality and climate warming, particularly during intense heat waves. The findings show how heat waves can turn usually low-emitting plants into substantial air pollution contributors. Co-authors on the paper are AirUCI grad students Hui Wang, Sanjeevi Nagaingam, and Allison Welch, all of the Guenther group. "BVOCs are an important link between climate change, atmospheric chemistry, and the climate system,” said Hui. Read the article
Monday, February 3, 2025
AirUCI faculty Jun Wu is quoted in a January 31st article on MSN.com on a new study that highlights the need for improved wildfire preparedness in disadvantaged communities in the Eastern Coachella Valley. "Residents in ECV face unique challenges, from linguistic barriers to marginal government support," said Jun. The study, with lead author Anqi Jiao who is a grad student in Jun's research group, identifies effective ways to bridge critical communication gaps. "Tailored communications and active engagement can ensure that even the most disadvantaged populations are equipped to face the challenges and protected from devastating consequences," said Anqi. Read the article
