Media Watch

Honoring outstanding postdoctoral scientists from academic research institutions across New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, the Blavatnik Family Foundation and the New York Academy of Sciences announced the three Winners and six Finalists of the 2021 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists. … The following postdoctoral researchers have been named Finalists in their respective categories: … Optical physicist Maxim Shcherbakov works with a special class of artificial materials, known as semiconductor metamaterials that manipulate light in fascinating ways. … Shcherbakov has recently transitioned to a tenure-track position [as assistant professor of electrical engineering & computer science] at the University of California, Irvine. Read More

A recent study from the University of California-Irvine found about 20% of California's wildfires from 2000 through 2019 were responsible for 97% of the total area charred. Over 90% of casualties and property losses in the state were due to larger wildfires over 500 acres, according to Tirtha Banerjee, [assistant professor, civil & environmental engineering], one of the study's co-authors. … "Before 2000, there were almost no human-caused wildfires along California's Pacific coastline, but now nearly every coastal county is experiencing increased risk," said Shu Li, a Ph.D. candidate [civil & environmental engineering] and lead author of the aforementioned University of California-Irvine study. Read More

Without regular sand replenishment to provide a buffer to hold the ocean back, damage to homes and infrastructure will become a more common occurrence, said Brett Sanders, professor of civil and environmental engineering at UC Irvine. “Once the beaches are gone, we are quickly seeing damaging impacts to infrastructure. As soon as the beaches are gone, we lose railroad service, we see displacement of land, concrete gets cracked,” Sanders said. “Our beaches are incredibly important for providing protection for infrastructure and natural resources.” [Subscription required, campus-wide access provided by UCI Libraries. Sign-up here: https://guides.lib.uci.edu/news/ocregister] Read More

Take Brett Sanders, a professor of civil and environmental engineering. Sanders is an expert in water, specifically flooding and erosion. One of the projects his team at UCI has been working on is to develop new models to estimate how well infrastructure can withstand compounding hazards of successive fire and flooding events — crucial information given the increasing size and recurrence of such calamities. ... Sanders’ colleague, assistant professor Tiirtha Banerjee, is also a civil and environmental engineer, but his area of expertise is wildfires, another immensely important area of study. ... Another one of their colleagues, assistant professor Christopher Olivares Martinez, is also focused on the impact of wildfires on water quality. … [Professor] Jun Wu, whose specialty is environmental health, is researching the effects of pollution and climate change on health. [Subscription required, you can request an electronic copy of the article by sending an email to communications@uci.edu.] Read More