Fiona Pauli is one of 15 high school students accepted into UC Irvine’s prestigious Cosmos program, a month-long science camp. “It started in the year 2000 as a way for the state of California to entice the next generation of student leaders,” said Elizabeth Crook, UCI Cosmos director. Gifted students from across the state are invited to research labs at UC campuses. For Pauli, her interest in STEM started in kindergarten. [She and] Logan Gao are part of the sustainable aircraft systems group led by Assistant Professor Jacqueline Huynh.

When news broke about a brush fire that started in Mission Viejo earlier this week, it came as a bit of deja vu for UC Irvine Professor James Earthman. "I was a bit disappointed that this was still occurring, particularly at a golf course that a fire had already occurred." Two years ago we interviewed Professor Earthman about a study he had done that found titanium clubs could spark brush fires in just that way and one of the cases cited came from that very same golf course in Mission Viejo.