Environment/Energy

Innovative teachers shake up traditional lectures to engage students and improve learning

UCI atmospheric chemist Don Blake is about to rack up some serious air miles. As co-principal investigator, along with UCI Earth system scientist Michael Prather, on the upcoming NASA Atmospheric Tomography Mission, Blake will fly from the North Pole to New Zealand, east to the tip of South America, and then north to Greenland. He will […]

UCI engineering advisory group collaborated on report, which urges more investment

Ultimate goal of research is to turn waste heat into electricity

Michael Prather, UCI professor of Earth system science, has been appointed to the Advisory Committee for the Sustained National Climate Assessment by the National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration. The panel provides input on climate assessment activities to NOAA, which relays the information to the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy. Prather’s term lasts one year.

Approach tackles most commonly used synthetic plastic

Millions of tons of plastic bottles, bags and other trash littering the oceans and clogging landfills could be turned into reusable fuel, thanks to research by the University of California, Irvine and the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry. UCI chemist Zhibin Guan is among those who have figured out how to dissolve the strong bonds of polyethylene […]

Kia Motors of America is providing six electric cars to University of California, Irvine’s Advanced Power and Energy Program as part of an initiative to study the role of auto batteries in advanced electrical grids. “The rapidly evolving coupling of vehicles and the electric grid requires planning based on informed decisions supported by the market-based, systems analyses […]

Professor will organize high-level conferences to reduce conflict in managing resources

Oceangoing study characterizes dark, sunlight-absorbing compound