Despite the day’s oppressive heat and humidity, on August 27 over 200 people attended the New Swan Science Faire with AirUCI, a cross-disciplinary, multi-sensory exploration of air, fire, smoke, ice, and clouds through atmospheric science and Renaissance theater.

The event featured stations hosted by AirUCI research groups, which included those of Chemistry professors Ann Marie Carlton, Sergey Nizkorodov, Manabu Shiraiwa, Barbara Finlayson-Pitts, James Smith, Donald Blake, and Sarah Finkeldei, as well as Earth System Science professor Lyssa Freese and Environmental & Occupational Health professors Michael Kleinman, Andrea De Vizcaya Ruiz, and Rufus Edwards. Each station invited visitors to explore the cutting-edge research done across AirUCI through fun, interactive displays and demonstrations featuring real research equipment and instrumentation.

The event was a great success, with one visitor commenting, “I love seeing the connections between the humanities and STEM and wish to see more events like this in the future!” AirUCI is an Organized Research Unit composed of 34 UCI professors from 8 departments across 5 schools whose research focus on improving air quality and tackling climate change. The New Swan Science Faire with AirUCI event was a collaboration between AirUCI, the New Swan Shakespeare Center, and the UCI Office of Research.