Sept. 9 - Chemists win energy research grants; weekend hurricane forecast
Section 1
Mammatus clouds spread over Natural Sciences 2 during the heatwave. Photo by Ian Parker
UCI ANNOUNCEMENTS AND NEWS
From left, chemists Jenny Yang, Sarah Finkeldei and Shane Ardo won multimillion-dollar Department of Energy research grants.
UCI chemists receive Department of Energy research funding
Research teams led by UCI chemists Shane Ardo, Sarah Finkeldei and Jenny Yang have received $25 million from the U.S. Department of Energy, part of a $540 million awards package for research being conducted at 54 universities and 11 national laboratories around the United States. Ardo, a professor of chemistry, received $10 million for the Ensembles of Photosynthetic Nanoreactors center, which he directs. Finkeldei, an assistant professor of chemistry, received a $4.3 million grant for a project to improve the safety and durability of the nation’s nuclear power facilities. Yang, a professor of chemistry, received more than $10 million to direct researchers from 12 universities and three national laboratories to study chemicals needed to absorb CO2 from various emissions sources.
UC NEWS AND GENERAL NEWS
Friday fun fact
Hot stuff: Almost every UC campus and ANR is conducting some form of wildfire research. (Type “wildfire” in the word search box.)
Remnants of Hurricane Kay to hit SoCal this weekend
The National Weather Service is currently tracking a Category 1 storm off the Baja Peninsula that forecasters say is likely to bring heavy rain to much of Southern California on Friday and into the weekend. Although it should weaken into a tropical storm and isn’t expected to make direct landfall here, the hurricane is capable of delivering gale-force winds, strong surf and several inches of rain from San Diego to Los Angeles before heading further west.
Hellish heatwave marks hottest September in region’s history
The heat wave that has been broiling the West Coast for 10 days so far is the most severe ever recorded in September in the region, according to weather experts. On Aug. 30, Seattle and Portland hit record daily temperatures of 90 and 100, respectively. In the following week, nearly 1,000 local heat records hit the dust, with cities such as Salt Lake City, Sacramento and Reno breaking their September records several times and by large margins. Sacramento and San Jose, which hit 116 and 109 degrees Tuesday, clinched all-time records — meaning their temperatures exceeded levels observed on any previous day or month.
EVENTS
CDT DLS: Confronting Reality in Cyberspace - Foreign Policy for a Fragmented Internet
Tuesday, 5:30 p.m. (sponsored by Paul Merage School of Business)
Eyes and Sleep
Tuesday, 7 p.m. (sponsored by UCI Health)
Visit today.uci.edu to see and submit event listings. Events of general interest will be shared in UCI Digest two days before they occur.
UCI IN THE NEWS
Note: Some news sites require subscriptions to read articles. The UCI Libraries offer free subscriptions to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Orange County Register and The Washington Post for students, faculty and staff.
Latino activism leads on climate change
KTLA5, Sept. 9
Cited: Michael Méndez, assistant professor of urban planning & public policy
How Book Bans Turned a Texas Town Upside Down
The New York Times Magazine, Sept. 8
Cited: Erika Hayasaki, associate professor of English
Queen Elizabeth knights UCI alum
Irvine Standard, Sept. 6
Cited: David MacMillan, doctoral alum
#UCICONNECTED
UCI professors highlighted in feature story on wildfire prevention
Professors James T. Randerson and Tirtha Banerjee are among the scientists highlighted in a recent New York Times feature story on wildfire prevention. The article comes in the wake of numerous devastating forest fires throughout California and the American West, and explores how new technology for prescribed burns can help firefighters better prevent more catastrophic wildfires. Scientists have been “just completely caught off guard about how fast things are changing,” Randerson, an earth scientist, told the Times. “For prescribed fire, I think it’s really all out there to be explored,” added Banerjee, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering.
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