Summer Teacher Training Program in Environmental Chemistry
AirUCI offers a two-week summer Environmental Chemistry program for science teachers in grades 7-12.   View the brochure

The next workshop will be held June 30 - July 11, 2008.  For further details, contact Professor Nizkorodov at nizkorod@uci.edu or (949) 824-1262.    

AirUCI Community Day
Our annual day-long symposium to present the results of our new research to the public and to provide tours of the laboratories will be held on March, 27 2008 on the UCI campus.  For further information, contact Melissa Sweet at msweet@uci.edu or (949) 824-2628. 
For a general idea of the event, see 2005 Community Day details

Local Outreach

AirUCI  researchers are available for local classroom presentations on topics related to atmospheric chemistry, such as air quality and how it can relate to climate change, careers in chemistry, etc.  These presentations are ideal for classes in Chemistry, Environmental Science, or other grade 7-12 science courses.  To arrange a classroom visit, contact Melissa Sweet at 949-824-2628.

On May 25, 2006, AirUCI researchers Huda Shaka and Jennie Thomas presented a talk entitled Chemistry in the Atmosphere to the AP Chemistry class at Northwood High school in Irvine.

Professor Barbara Finlayson-Pitts, director of AirUCI, spoke at the ACS Orange County Section dinner and High School Awards banquet on Thursday, May 11, 2006 at Concordia University in Irvine.  Her talk, entitled Chemistry, Careers, and Climate Change, was directed to the students in attendance and touched on areas of AirUCI's research while discussing career opportunities in the field of atmospheric chemistry.

AirUCI hosted a visit from representatives of the National Academy of Engineering and the California Air Resources Board on April 5, 2006.  They brought with them several researchers from China, and the entire group toured our labs and heard an overview of our research and our institute. Details

On April 5, 2006, AirUCI hosted students from Dana Hills High School in Dana Point.  The students spent more than two hours touring our labs and viewing research project demonstrations presented by the AirUCI team.  They also met in our conference room to hear Dr. Barbara Finlayson-Pitts and Dr. Sergey Nizkorodov present an overview of our research and our institute.  This event was organized by Dr. Lisa Wingen.

AirUCI researchers Jennie Thomas, Huda Shaka, and Chris Harmon visited Dana Hills High School in Dana Point on March 29, 2006 and gave a 90-minute presentation to 70 students about atmospheric chemistry.  They gave demonstrations of aerosol formation in the atmosphere and a PowerPoint presentation, and they also provided good insight into what it's like to work at the EPA and potential career paths for chemists.

In March, 2006, AirUCI researcher Huda Shaka judged two local science fairs.  On March 1st she was at the School Science Fair at New Horizon Elementary School in Irvine.  On March 2nd she judged the Irvine Unified School District Science Fair at University High School, Irvine.  Huda was acting as a representative of AirUCI and the Outreach committee of the Iota Sigma Pi chapter at UCI (Women in Chemistry Sorority).

On November 19, 2005, Professor Sergey Nizkorodov offered a workshop entitled “Educating High School Students about Energy Use, Air Pollution, and Climate Problems” at the Orange County Science Education Association (OCSEA) Fall conference.  The workshop was aimed at high school science teachers, and several grade 9-12 California curriculum content standards in Earth Sciences were addressed.

Dr. Lisa Wingen, AirUCI Project Scientist, gave a presentation on August 10, 2005 to a group of teachers from the Summer Science Institute.  The teachers reviewed 8th grade California standards in physical sciences.  After her presentation, Dr. Wingen led a tour of our labs that included demonstrations of our various research apparatus and brief descriptions of our research. 

On August 5, 2005, AirUCI researcher Huda Shaka addressed a workshop organized by Dr. George Miller of UCI through the UCI Center for Science in the Public Interest program.  The title of her presentation was "Acids and Bases in the Atmosphere" and the audience was made up of high school Chemistry teachers. 

AirUCI researchers Jennie Thomas and Huda Shaka were judges at the California State Science Fair, held on May 24, 2005 at the California Science Center in Exposition Park, Los Angeles.  Huda judged the Environmental Sciences division and Jennie judged the Chemistry division.  On May 25 and May 31, Huda and Jennie also visited the AP chemistry classes at Northwood High School in Irvine, CA and gave presentations on atmospheric chemistry.  More info