News – Page 14

6 junior faculty members named 2015-16 UCI Hellman Fellows

Written on July 16, 2015.

Six University of California, Irvine assistant professors have been chosen from a highly competitive cohort to receive 2015-16 UCI Hellman Fellowships, which support research by junior faculty members who show great promise. Their projects focus on self-driving cars, economic instability at the U.S.-Mexico border and the production of carbon-neutral fuels, among other topics. Cathy Lawhon, UC Irvine Irvine, Calif., July 16, 2015 – Six University of California, Irvine assistant professors...

Greenland’s fjords are far deeper than previously thought, and glaciers will melt faster, researchers find

Written on July 14, 2015.

West Greenland’s fjords are vastly deeper than rudimentary models have shown, allowing intruding ocean water to badly undercut glacier faces, which will raise sea levels around the world much faster than previously estimated, a UCI-led research team has found. Janet Wilson, UC Irvine West Greenland’s fjords are vastly deeper than rudimentary models have shown, allowing intruding ocean water to badly undercut glacier faces, which will raise sea levels around the world...

A third of the world’s biggest groundwater basins are in distress

Written on June 16, 2015.

Irvine, Calif., June 16, 2015 – Two new studies led by UC Irvine using data from NASA Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellites show that human consumption is rapidly draining some of its largest groundwater basins, yet there is little to no accurate data about how much water remains in them. The result is that significant segments of Earth’s population are consuming groundwater quickly without knowing when it might run out, the researchers conclude. The findings appear today in Water...

A focus on fungi

Written on June 6, 2015.

UCI doctoral candidate seeks to maximize the health of native plants in restored environments Tom Vasich, UC Irvine With its desolate hills and slopes overrun by non-native grasses and black mustard, the West Loma Ridge isn’t much to look at as you’re speeding down the 241 toll road. But closer inspection reveals an ambitious ecological effort to restore its native grasslands and shrubs. It’s also where Mia Maltz, a doctoral candidate in ecology & evolutionary biology at UC...

Drought advice from Down Under

Written on June 4, 2015.

California could learn a thing or two from Melbourne, Australia, which halved water use during a decade-plus dry spell with no new rate hikes Janet Wilson, UC Irvine The Millennium Drought in southeastern Australia forced Greater Melbourne, a city of 4.3 million people, to successfully implement innovations that hold critical lessons for water-stressed regions around the world, say UC Irvine and Australian researchers. It wasn’t a new pipeline over the mountains, special rate hikes or...

Blueprint for a thirsty world from Down Under

Written on May 26, 2015.

The Millennium Drought in southeastern Australia forced Greater Melbourne, a city of 4.3 million people, to successfully implement innovations that hold critical lessons for water-stressed regions around the world, according to findings by UC Irvine and Australian researchers. Janet Wilson, UC Irvine Irvine, Calif., May 26, 2015 – The Millennium Drought in southeastern Australia forced Greater Melbourne, a city of 4.3 million people, to successfully implement innovations that hold critical...

Ashok Rao’s Book on Sustainable Energy Conversion is Hot off the Press

Written on May 21, 2015.

May 21, 2015 – Ashok Rao, chief scientist for power systems at UCI’s Advanced Power and Energy Program (APEP), has written a book outlining a unified, comprehensive and fundamental approach to sustainable power plant development and design. Published by Wiley, “Sustainable Energy Conversion for Electricity and Co-Products: Principles, Technologies, and Equipment” is directed toward mechanical, chemical and industrial engineers, chemists and material scientists, as well as electrical...

National Conference Opens Flow of Ideas on Drought

Written on April 22, 2015.

Top researchers, public officials and policymakers converge at UCI to discuss extreme water shortages and how to handle them Each year, California growers bet a good part of the farm that there’ll be enough water to produce a profitable harvest. Costly crop failure insurance can help hedge their bets, but must be purchased by strict deadlines – before it’s clear whether the state will face another year of withering drought. UCI engineers and others hope to reduce that age-old risk by helping...

Earth’s defender

Written on April 17, 2015.

Kathryn Bold | UCI Magazine Abigail Reyes divides her life into two parts, “B.T.” and “A.T.” – before Terence and after Terence. In February 1999, Terence Unity Freitas, an environmental activist and her “partner in work and love,” was kidnapped and murdered in Colombia. At the time, he was working to halt the plans of major oil companies to drill in territory occupied by the U’wa, an indigenous group. “[Because of] that experience, which occurred when I was in my mid-20s and a few years...

Measuring Earth’s Meltdown

Written on April 1, 2015.

An expedition to Greenland with UCI glaciologists reveals ‘time bomb’ effects of global warming Janet Wilson | UCI Magazine “Come quickly – look at the glacier!” urges UC Irvine researcher Isabella Velicogna, running to the bow of the Cape Race to gaze at the massive, crumbling face of Eqip Sermia. She’s stunned by what she sees. “So much is gone since a year ago. All that land over there was covered with ice last time.” It’s mid-August in Greenland’s North Atlantic fjords. UCI glaciologists...