A recent report from the American Talent Initiative (ATI) details the achievement of the University of California, Irvine (UCI) as a leader in socioeconomic diversity in academics. “We are honored to be recognized as the top contributor to the ATI nationwide enrollment goal for our work with transfer students,” said AirUCI faculty Michael Dennin, who also serves as vice provost for the Office of Teaching and Learning and dean of UCI’s Division of Undergraduate Education. Read the article
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
