AirUCI
Institute
An EMSI funded by the National
Science Foundation
Spring 2009
Volume 3 Issue 1
We are AirUCI
AirUCI integrates research, education, and outreach to the public in our research into chemical reactions occurring at the interface between air and water, including particles in air, clouds, fog, and dewdrops that collect on buildings or trees. Our findings have critical implications for air quality and climate change issues, and we share them with agencies such as SCAQMD. About Us
News Bulletin
AirUCI is now an ORU, receiving campus support and allowing us to expand the scope of our research and the number of faculty investigators! Additional details are on our ORU web page.
Because funding for the original AirUCI Environmental Molecular Sciences Institute is uncertain once the EMSI expires in August, this is our last newsletter for that entity. The ORU becomes the “new” AirUCI and we will publish a regular newsletter discussing events and the research findings of our 17 ORU investigators. Look for our continuing newsletter issues in the coming months!
Spotlight on our Senior Researchers
Along with eminent UCI professors, international collaborators, and scientists from two national labs, more than 30 postdoctoral scholars, specialists, graduate students, and undergraduates are part of the AirUCI team. Two of our senior scientists conducting mission-critical research are Mike Ezell and Stan Johnson.
Stan is a retired Dean of Math and Science and Mike is a retired Professor of Chemistry, both at Orange Coast College. For more than 30 years they worked during summer breaks with AirUCI Director Barbara Finlayson-Pitts in her labs, taking the results of their cutting-edge research back to share with OCC students and colleagues and inspiring countless students to pursue careers in science. They are co-authors on more than 45 scientific papers.
Upon retirement, they wanted to devote their time to our research projects, currently using a unique flow tube they constructed to study volatile organic compounds and their interactions in air.
Their expertise is invaluable to AirUCI’s research projects and their dedication is an inspiration. Mike and Stan bring fabulous skills to our research efforts and we are most fortunate to have them as key members of the AirUCI team!
Research Corner: The Hemminger Group
Professor John Hemminger is AirUCI Co-Director and Dean of UCI’s School of Physical Sciences, yet also leads a busy research team in his labs. They collaborate with, among others, Bernd Winter and Manfred Faubel at BESSY, a synchrotron facility in Berlin, to analyze aqueous solutions of nitrate and nitrite using X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy. Nitrate and nitrite anions in sea salt aerosols produce the OH radicals in sunlight, the main initiator of chain processes in the atmosphere.
The
Hemminger research group has
provided the first quantitative measurement of nitrate (NO3-)
and nitrite (NO2-)
ion profiles in solution. Results clearly demonstrate that both nitrate
and nitrite anions prefer bulk solvation and show depletion in
concentration at the interface relative to the bulk, contributing to the
longstanding discussion over the spatial distribution of these anions.
The group also works to analyze mixed solutions of sodium nitrate and
alkali halides to further develop an understanding of interfacial
chemistry in sea salt aerosols.
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AirUCI Events Calendar
Upcoming
June, July 2009
Summer Teacher Workshop
Recent Events
January 27-28 2009
AirUCI annual meeting in Laguna Beach, California
November 12-14 2008
Initial meeting of the AirUCI ORU faculty and senior staff
Special Guest Speakers
We regularly host prominent speakers to address both the public and the
UCI scientific community.
Details
