News

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

 

2018

Friday, December 14, 2018

Prof. Hind al-Abadleh of Wilfrid Laurier University has joined us from December 15, 2018 through April, 2019 as AirUCI's second Fulbright Fellow.  She will conduct collaborative research projects with AirUCI groups as well as teach an upper-level Chemistry course, and will deliver lectures during her time with us.  Welcome, Hind!

Thursday, December 13, 2018

AirUCI graduate student Brenna Biggs is volunteering as a science resource at the 21st Century Career Conference to be held at the Beckman Center and hosted by Irvine Unified School District, the Irvine Public Schools Foundation, and sponsored by Google Fiber.  Middle school students will be able to attend breakout sessions to explore career options, including sciences.

Thursday, December 6, 2018

AirUCI graduate students have taken the lead in forming an American Association for Aerosol Research Student Chapter at UCI.   This organization was formed in December, 2019 and is intended to provide a platform to connect students and faculty of similar aerosol interests at UCI, and to support graduate students in their academic endeavors.  We aim to be a resource for primarily graduate students to develop skills outside of doing research and better prepare grad students for successful careers.

In order to achieve this goal, the organization will facilitate informal meetings for scientific review (paper drafts, CV review, laptop presentation run-throughs, application reviews, etc.), hold development events for graduate students, connect with undergraduate students through workshops and talks, and organize social events to foster a supportive network for environmental and atmospheric research at UCI.  Chapter contact details TBA in January, 2019.
 
Our first meeting (which will have liquid nitrogen ice cream) is Friday, January 18th from 3-5pm in Rowland Hall room 390 and is open to any interested students!

 

Monday, November 26, 2018

In an article in the Colorado Sun on moving the electrical grid to renewable energy, AirUCI faculty Steve Davis is quoted as a member of the research team that examined the challenges of moving Colorado to 100% renewable energy.  The issues of stability and baseload generation could potentially be filled by other green technologies to supplement wind and solar power, such as hydropower or biogas, but "If you go over about 80% [renewable energy] you need to overbuild your generation or build massive storage," Steve said.  Read the article

Thursday, November 15, 2018

An article in The Washington Post quotes AirUCI faculty Ralph Delfino on the effect the autumn, 2018 fires in California have had on regional air quality.  People older than 65 and children younger than 4 are particularly vulnerable to smoke, he said.  “When you grow older, just like your ability to fight off infection goes down, the ability to mount an antioxidant defense decreases, too.”    Read the article

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

As a renowned "expert" on such diverse topics as the science behind Star Trek, Santa Claus, and superpowers, AirUCI faculty Mike Dennin is a frequent contributor to TV programs and and articles about such things.  He's also co-host of Fascinating Fights, which is now in season 2.  In their December 2018 edition, Mike was asked by The Atlantic magazine to name the most underrated superhero.  Mike's answer: Aquaman.  
Read the article

Monday, November 12, 2018

AirUCI heartily welcomes Prof. Claudia Czimczik of UCI's Department of Earth System Science as our newest faculty member!   Her research aims at understanding the impacts of climate change, alterations in natural disturbance frequencies (i.e. fire), and changes in land use and management (i.e. urbanization) on the cycling of carbon and nitrogen in terrestrial ecosystems. Her research seeks to comprehend and predict how human activities will impact the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems in the future and how changing terrestrial ecosystems will feedback to the climate system.  A major focus of these activities is on high-latitude ecosystems, i.e. arctic tundra and boreal forests.

Thursday, November 1, 2018

AirUCI faculty Michael Prather is quoted in an article on Yahoo News which considers the evidence that earth's carbon dioxide levels may be the highest in 15 million years.  Direct evidence (such as ice core samples) and indirect evidence (such as the chemical makeup of ancient plankton or fossilized plants and marine life) are both considered as good scientific documentation and together point to this time frame.  Read the article

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

AirUCI faculty Manabu Shiraiwa has received the Walter A. Rosenblith New Investigator Award by the Health Effects Institute.  It comes with a three-year research grant that will allow him to investigate “Formation of Reactive Oxygen Species by Organic Aerosols and Transition Metals in Epithelial Lining Fluid”.  Congratulations, Manabu!
View the award announcement
 

Monday, October 15, 2018

An article in AP News co-authored by AirUCI faculty Steve Davis has drawn national attention, stating that the increasing bouts of extreme heat waves and drought will hurt production of barley, a key beer ingredient, in the future. Losses of barley yield can be as much as 17 percent, an international group of researchers estimated. That means beer prices on average would double or more, even adjusting for inflation and that beer, along with chocolate, coffee, and wine among other items, will be scarcer and costlier in the future.  The report also appeared on the Good Morning America web site, and Steve tweeted: "Not sure what to make of the fact that in one day our paper on climate and beer has garnered considerably more attention than any of my previous work on energy transitions or even air pollution deaths."  It was even featured on the October 17th Daily Show!
 
Three articles on different sites give somewhat different details about the study:
Read the article
Read the Wall Street Journal article
Read the UCI article
Read the NPR article with dissent from the beer industry

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