News

AirUCI founder and co-Director Barbara Finlayson-Pitts has received the prestigious L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Award for 2025!   These awards are presented annually to highlight scientific excellence and encourage talent.  Each year an international jury selects five outstanding women scientists as laureates, one from each of the following regions—Africa and the Arab States; Asia and the Pacific; Europe; Latin America and the Caribbean; and North America. Awardees are women who have contributed to scientific progress through their research, the strength of their commitments, and their impact on society.  Barbara was recognised for her groundbreaking research into how chemicals released into the atmosphere react to form new air pollutants and influence climate change.  She joins AirUCI alumna Najat Saliba, who received this award in 2019 which means that AirUCI has produced not one, but two L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Awardees!  Najat was a postdoc in Barbara’s research group in 2008 and went on to a professorship at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon.  She was elected to the Lebanese Parliament in 2022. 

L’Oréal-UNESCO sent a film crew to AirUCI arriving at the end of March and for three days they followed Barbara as she sat for interviews, conducted research in her labs, taught her Chemistry class, led her weekly group meeting, and interacted with researchers, students, and collaborators.  The crew will use their footage to produce a biographical film which will be shown at the awards ceremony on June 12, 2025 in Paris, France.  We are thrilled to congratulate Barbara on this exceptional and well deserved honor.  We look forward to the full report and details from the ceremony.  Read the press release   Read the campus article

AirUCI faculty Manabu Shiraiwa was among the key international collaborators in a new study profiled in Science Advances that shows how lotions and perfumes can suppress “human oxidation fields” that exist around our bodies.  Manabu's team published their original study of this topic in 2022, but their new information demonstrates that personal care products act as a physical barrier between ozone in the air and squalene, a naturally occurring oil on skin, which has the potential to substantially impact indoor air quality and human exposure to indoor pollutants. “We expected that the personal care products would weaken the human oxidation field,” said Manabu, “but the extent of the impact was surprisingly huge.”  Read the article   Hear the radio interview

AirUCI undergrad Eleanor Miko has been named a 2025-26 UCI Beckman Scholar by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation.  She works in the Nizkorodov group studying photochemistry of atmospheric compounds at aqueous-organic interfaces.  Each year, 1-3 outstanding students are selected as the Beckman Scholars based on their academic record, quality of previous research experience, and potential to become prominent research leaders in the chemical and life sciences. Way to go, Miko!

AirUCI faculty Jack Brouwer is quoted in a April 29th VoiceOfOC article about a disputed UCI campus project to use hydrogen to power the ARC building.  The proposed project by the Southern California Gas Company to power parts of the student recreation center by mixing hydrogen gas into an existing natural gas pipeline has generated controversy and protests. Jack, an expert in hydrogen power generation, has long experience with such projects.  “If we’re being honest about achieving zero carbon and zero greenhouse emissions in our society, then we need to start thinking about our pipes and wires,” he said.  Read the article