AirUCI postdoc Nanna Myllys (Smith group) received the 2019 Early Career Scientist Aerosologist award from the Nordic Society for Aerosol Research (NOSA), in recognition of her exceptional work as a postdoc at AirUCI and as a graduate student at the University of Helsinki. This was conferred during the European Aerosol Conference in Gothenburg, Sweden, held August 25-30, 2020.
News
Here's the latest news from AirUCI — our events, our people, our science.
2019
Monday, August 26, 2019
Congratulations to AirUCI's NASA astronaut, Tracy Caldwell-Dyson! A bronze statue of Tracy was unveiled today in New York City alongside nine other women as part of Statues for Equality. Tracy held a postdoctoral position jointly in the Finlayson-Pitts and Hemminger groups, and she is an honorary member of AirUCI's team. More details
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
On August 13, 2019, The Orange County Business Journal named AirUCI faculty Michael Dennin as their Innovator of the Year. Here is the announcement:
INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR AWARDS
University of California, Irvine, Irvine
Michael Dennin, The Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning/ Dean of Undergraduate Education
Michael Dennin has contributed significantly to many milestones at UCI, but most recognizable is his ability to popularize science and bring active learning environments to higher education. Last year he launched UCI’s Office of the Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning (OVPTL). The division has sparked updated academic programs, exciting community partnerships and national outreach like never before, resulting in a number of recognitions for UCI embracing student diversity and college access. In the past year Dennin has created many opportunities for milestones including: building the Anteater Learning Pavilion, creating the Active Learning Institute, creating a new campus space called the Student Success Initiatives Center, and an initiative called First-generation Faculty which had so much success the first two years, that now all the University of California schools have adopted it. In addition, he helped expand the Campuswide Honors Program, the international student excellence program, and fundraising opportunities.
Congratulations, Mike!
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
AirUCI Project Scientist Veronique Perraud (Finlayson-Pitts research group) is quoted about a study her group performed on the dangers of hookah smoke in comparison to other forms of smoking. The study is the first to look at the risks of ultrafine particles in hookah smoke, which enter deep into the lungs. "One of the big myths about hookah usage is that the water in the bowl filters out toxic chemicals, providing a shield for the smoker, Vero notes. "In the study, we show... that, possibly due to its cooling effect, water actually promotes ultrafine particle formation."
Read the article Read the article in Health Day Read the article in the Daily Pilot
AirUCI's Professor James Smith, Professor (and AirUCI Co-Director) Sergey Nizkorodov, with Project Scientist Veronique Perraud
Friday, August 9, 2019
AirUCI researcher Anton Ni (Finlayson-Pitts group) and his medal-winning teammates are featured on the American Chemical Society's U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad web page. The Alpha Mu Team represented the U.S. at the 51st International Chemistry Olympiad competition, which concluded July 30, 2019 in Paris, France where they won three gold medals and a silver medal. Anton will begin classes at MIT in the next few weeks -- we'll miss him! View the article
Wednesday, August 7, 2019
AirUCI graduate student Brenna Biggs (Blake research group) was selected as a science mentor this summer for NASA's Student Airborne Research Program (SARP). She mentored seven undergraduate students that came to UC Irvine from around the U.S. for two months. They spent 2 weeks in Palmdale, where she showed them how to collect samples aboard the NASA DC-8 airplane. Upon their return to Irvine, Brenna helped them select, execute, and present their projects to NASA administrators. The seven visiting students proclaimed this a great summer!
Saturday, August 3, 2019
AirUCI grad student Brian Hwang (Shiraiwa group) is volunteering as a poster judge at the Southern California Undergraduate Research Symposium on Saturday, August 3rd. This Symposium is put on by the UCI Chemistry Department (with NSF support) and is hosted by Professors Liz Jarvo and Alan Heyduk every summer. Undergraduate researchers from the SoCal area are invited to UCI to present posters on their own research, to hear science presentations by UCI faculty and graduate students, and to get information on applying to graduate school and fellowships.
Tuesday, July 30, 2019
AirUCI is proud to announce that Anton Ni, who graduated in June from University High School in Irvine, has placed among the top 28 competitors in Paris at the 51st International Chemistry Olympiad held July 21-30, 2019 — and therefore has received a gold medal! Anton has been assisting in the Finlayson-Pitts labs over the past two summers, conducting research, compiling data, and contributing to published papers. He will be starting university this fall at MIT. Way to go, Anton — we're thrilled and proud!
Friday, July 19, 2019
As of Friday, July 19th, the front page of the UCI Chemistry web site is featuring AirUCI's Anton Ni and his fellow team member Edward Jin, both of University High School, showing support for their trip to the 51st International ACS Chemistry Olympiad being held July 21-30, 2019 in Paris, France.
Read the previous News item
Monday, July 1, 2019
AirUCI faculty Steve Davis is extensively quoted in an article in National Geographic that discusses his study, which was published in Nature, on the number of fossil fuel power plants currently built (as well as cars, factories, and buildings). If these operate normally for their expected life spans, the CO2 generated will almost certainly exceed the 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F) goal of the Paris Climate Accords.
“Our study is dead simple,” said Steve. To limit warming to 1.5°C., not only should no new fossil-fuel-using infrastructure be built, ever again, some existing power plants need to shut down early—and yet today many new power plants are under construction.
Read the article
Read the New Atlas article on this study which also quotes AirUCI postdoc Dan Tong
