AirUCI faculty Michael Prather is quoted in an article in the Mercury News about ATom's (Atmospheric Tomography) mission to gather important information about changes in the composition of gases in the atmosphere, tracking the impact humans have had on the remotest parts of the atmosphere. This team of scientists is zig-zagging across the globe in a flying laboratory, a DC-8 research plane retrofitted with an impressive suite of instruments and testing equipment. The final leg of the four-part expedition took off from Palmdale, California on April 26, 2018. From the Arctic to Antarctica, at elevations from 500 feet to 40,000 feet, from vast metropolitan areas to remote mid-ocean regions, samples are collected from a broad range of atmospheric conditions to gather data about pollution and its causes.
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Here's the latest news from AirUCI — our events, our people, our science.
2018
The Wyland Foundation has informed AirUCI faculty Celia Faiola that she has been named as their 2018 Earth Month Hero, which is awarded to people who are making a difference to the planet. She was selected because of her efforts to step out of the laboratory and engage with the Southern California community. She has done this in various ways, including speaking at rallies, providing expert feedback to policymakers in Sacramento, and participating in local public education community events, always advocating for evidence-based policies. On April 30th the award presentation will be broadcast live on KCAL-TV. Congratulations, Celia!
Update: you can watch Celia's fabulous interview here, however there may be an advertisement beforehand. Watch the interview
In an article in TechExplorist.com, AirUCI faculty Michael Prather is interviewed about the remote ocean pollution being measured by NASA's Atmospheric Tomography (ATom) project. This mission, begun in 2016, has flown over much of the remote oceans from Alaska to New Zealand, from South America to Greenland, and over the Arctic Ocean. Their instruments have detected shocking levels of pollutants—even poisons—over the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic Oceans.
Michael, who is ATom’s deputy project scientist, said, “This implies that the remote Pacific is a larger source of tropospheric ozone than we previously understood. It’s a preliminary result, and we have yet to analyze whether this produced ozone is natural or related to pollution, but it does mean we’ll need to rethink what we believe about how much ozone is produced over the remote oceans, and what that means for the climate and our efforts to reduce ozone pollution on land.”
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AirUCI faculty Steve Davis is quoted in an NPR article on their Science page that deals with unpredictability in energy supplies. Fracking changed the game by increasing supplies and the 2008 recession hit world economies hard. Since then it's been more difficult to accurately predict the supply and demand of oil and gas supplies, and renewable energy sources are not as predictable as we would like.
When predictions of energy availability are unreliable, it leads businesses to be more conservative. "You're less inclined to take on big, irreversible investments on things like a gigantic power plant, and instead you may sort of hedge by holding tight with what you have," Davis explains. If "what you have" is an old, polluting power plant, that could be bad for the environment.
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In an article in MIT Technology Review, AirUCI faculty Steven Davis is quoted on challenges in overhauling the global energy system, including aviation, long-distance hauling, and the cement and steel industries. "To clean up these huge sectors of the economy, we’re going to need better carbon capture and storage tools, as well as cheaper biofuels or energy storage," he says. Read the article
In an online article for PBS NewsHour's Science files, AirUCI faculty Jack Brouwer provided several suggestions for increasing energy efficiency in anyone's home. He has easy and practical ideas for most every room in the house, ranging from the best time to run a dishwasher to using smart monitors for power usage.
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In an article in Pacific Standard, AirUCI faculty Steve Davis is extensively quoted regarding a new study from the Carnegie Institution for Science on renewable energy and current obstacles to implementation. Recent federal policy shifts and tariffs imposed on solar panels, among other things, are setbacks to renewable industries and have slowed investments to build the energy infrastructure for renewable sources. Read the article
AirUCI faculty Jack Brouwer and Steve Davis are among the authors of an article in Nature that was published online February 27, 2018 which describes how the University of California is proceeding with Paris Accord emissions guidelines. UC's approach has been to take the lead, apart from state and federal efforts, in reducing deep carbonization. This work offers lessons in efficiency, alternative fuels, and electrification and has become a concrete model for other institutions to help fulfill the potential of the Paris agreement.
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In an article on Motherboard published by Vice, AirUCI faculty Steve Davis was quoted on the prospects for transitioning the U.S. to renewable energy sources. Variability in sun and wind during different seasons, as well as storage and transmission challenges, would need to be overcome but it is possible to make the transition, although at great cost. Read the article
AirUCI faculty Donald Dabdub has won the 2018 Tom Angell Faculty Mentoring Award. The review committee was very impressed with his mentoring record and wrote to him saying that they found his history of mentorship of both undergraduate and graduate students to be exceptional. They were particularly impressed with both Donald's doctoral student’s account of how he teaches graduate students a variety of professional skills that will serve them well in their future careers, and also with his dedication to mentoring first-generation college students and international students.
In recognition of Donald's contributions, the UCI Graduate Division is awarding him a $500 Tom Angell Fellowship, to be paid to the graduate student of his choice. The Tom Angell Fellowship was created in remembrance of UCI's first Graduate Counselor, Tom Angell, who was dedicated to the wellness and mentoring of graduate students. Way to go, Donald!
