Feature Stories

Sep 30, 2020
The UCI researchers who probe the Earth and sky for answers to momentous questions about the environment, the oceans and the atmosphere have gotten smart about unlocking solutions. The key: They turn…
Sep 9, 2020
UCI Earth scientist tracks the growth of Amazon rainforest degradation — and gets a different kind of growth on his neck.
Aug 25, 2020
Assistant Professor of Teaching Bob Pelayo teaches mathematics at UCI. But going in front of a classroom or a Zoom room is just the first step in a process that sees Pelayo helping…
Aug 10, 2020
From measuring atmospheric circulation, to using living cells to create artificial materials, our new faculty cover a broad spectrum.
Jul 15, 2020
There’s a secret at the UC Irvine School of Physical Sciences. The secret is at the Infinity Fountain, which sits outside Rowland and Reines Halls and in front of Aldrich Park, and which is where…
Jun 19, 2020
Giuli Zelaya misses her rats. She hasn’t seen them in months, because when the coronavirus pandemic hit, she, along with most of the rest of UCI’s undergraduates, had to abandon campus. It doesn’t matter that Zelaya will one day euthanize the rats as part of research into THC’s neurological effects — she still misses the rodents. “It breaks my heart,” said Zelaya, who’s majoring in neurobiology.
May 20, 2020
The international response to the coronavirus pandemic has so far slashed global carbon emissions by more than 8%, according to detailed estimates from a pair of independent research teams. That’s roughly three times the annual emissions of Italy. But energy consumption is already rebounding in China and elsewhere, and the pandemic could register as little more than a blip in the climate system as government-imposed lockdowns come to an end.
May 20, 2020
When particle physicist Mike Fenton moved to America last September, things didn’t go quite right for him. But Fenton will be the first to tell you that when the universe began some 13.7 billion years ago during the Big Bang, things started out just right.
May 8, 2020
Professor Albert Siryaporn couldn’t have known it, but research he and a team of scientists published last year in December would, just a few months later, position him and his lab to combat the raging coronavirus pandemic.
May 7, 2020
Inspiration is a wind that can kindle a fire. That wind stirred on October 29, 2019 in the Pacific Ballroom at the UCI Student Center as Professor Jonathan Feng gave a talk as part of the School of Physical Sciences’ Breakfast Lecture Series.
Apr 13, 2020
Coronavirus is affecting everyone, and our School is no exception. This piece is one of a series of snapshots about the people of the School and how they’re doing during the pandemic.  
Apr 9, 2020
The Physical Sciences Student Affairs Office in Rowland Hall 134 is where people with questions can go to find answers. The doors open at 9a.m., and students walk in wondering about how to enroll in a class, and faculty walk in wondering how to construct a class that students will want to take. Don Williams, the director of the office, wants to make sure good answers find the questions that people have, because he knows that a bad answer can send someone down the wrong path. He also knows that…