Our modern world relies upon chemical transformations that benefit the lives of billions. These transformations can be found across many sectors, including transportation, heating and cooling, electricity, food production, and manufacturing, among many others. To date, fossil resources have provided the majority of the energy demanded by the global economy, and thanks to human ingenuity over decades (and centuries) we have been able to develop large-scale chemical processes that can make use of the fossil resources to provide for many across the globe in a cost-effective manner.

Led by Amy Ralston and Anne-Katherine Burns, Graduate Students in Physics & Astronomy

This is part of the "Celebrating Black in Physical Sciences Colloquium Series" organized by the UCI School of Physical Sciences Office of Access, Outreach and Inclusion where we invite prominent Black physical scientists and mathematicians to share their research with the community and also allows us the opportunity to celebrate their accomplishments. The colloquium series will feature speakers in each of the four department areas.

Abstract

This is part of the "Celebrating Black in Physical Sciences Colloquium Series" organized by the UCI School of Physical Sciences Office of Access, Outreach and Inclusion where we invite prominent Black physical scientists and mathematicians to share their research with the community and also allows us the opportunity to celebrate their accomplishments. The colloquium series will feature speakers in each of the four department areas.

Schedule of Events:

2:30 - 3 p.m. | Opportunity to Meet the Speaker 

Despite decades of attempts at intervention, the numbers of African American students graduating with Bachelor’s  Degrees in Physics and Astronomy have remained very low.  The American Institute of Physics’ TEAM-UP report, released in 2020, highlights structural problems with how African American students are supported in their efforts to attain physics degrees. Solving these problems requires addressing systemic and cultural challenges and creating change in physics departments throughout the country.

Led by Tatsuro Tanioka, Ph.D.
Simons Postdoctoral Fellow in Marine Microbial Ecology

Discussion will be based on the research article "Intersectional Inequalities in Science." Discussion questions that will help guide the conversation can be found on the SoPS Journal Club on Anti-Racism and Inclusion Webpage. 

Calling all Black students, postdocs, faculty and staff! Join us this month to connect with colleagues over dinner and kick off the start of the spring quarter.

The world is experiencing unprecedented extreme weather events due to climate change, caused by accumulation of greenhouse gases (GHG). Methane is a GHG with global warming potential of 28 times that of carbon dioxide over a 100-year period and much more effective in trapping heat during the time it is in the atmosphere. The largest source of methane is from agriculture and waste and particularly ruminants such as cattle.

With the invention of lasers, the intensity of a light wave was increased by orders of magnitude over what had been achieved with a light bulb or sunlight. This much higher intensity led to new phenomena being observed, such as violet light coming out when red light went into the material. After Gérard Mourou and I developed chirped pulse amplification, also known as CPA, the intensity again increased by more than a factor of 1,000 and it once again made new types of interactions possible between light and matter.

Undergraduate mathematics curricula must respond to a variety of student demographics, academic interests and workforce ambitions. In the UCI Department of Mathematics, this includes service courses like BioCalculus, transition courses like Intro to Abstract Math, and concentration tracks, like Data Science. We will describe three grant-funded efforts to revamp critical UCI Mathematics courses and curricular pathways.