Author Archives: James Beam

UCI Water PIRE announces its UPP Down Under Class of 2014. Click here to learn more.

	Allison Hornstra
	Affiliation: UCLA
	I am completing an Environmental Science degree with a concentration in Environmental Engineering, and will be applying to graduate programs for Environmental Engineering. Within the field, I am most passionate about water resources, security, and quality management. I find the interdisciplinary relationship between environmental engineering, public health, and public policy to be of great personal interest. Ultimately, my goal is to build a career which enables me to work on international development projects to address issues of access to clean water and sanitation.

	Caitlin McAlpine
	Affiliation: UCI
	I am currently studying Environmental Engineering and will be anticipating graduation from the University of California, Irvine this coming June. I applied for PIRE’s UPP Down Under program because I am determined to attend graduate studies and I believe this will help me discover a more specific subject in which to study. My interests are among water conservation, sustainability, and water treatment. While researching with the PIRE program, I will benefit by increasing my understanding of international methodologies and applications in my area of interest.

	Clint Rosser
	Affiliation: UCSD
	I am interested in studying ground water flow and how to maintain the sustainability of aquifer systems.

	Dana Hernandez
	Affiliation: UCI
	I am a junior majoring in Environmental Engineering. I’m interested in research projects related to wastewater reclamation, stormwater reuse and water resources management. My current research focuses on investigating the fate of viruses in a wastewater treatment plant. I am currently carrying out an experiment at the Michelson Water Recycling Plant in Irvine and my goal is to compare the viral removal efficiency of the traditional activated sludge process with a newly established membrane bioreactor facility by using a flow cytometry technique. Additionally, with the ongoing drought in California I have become more interested in sustainable water systems. I am very excited to travel to Australia and learn about the various conservation techniques that were implemented to tackle their Millenium Drought.

	Diana Kraikittikun
	Affiliation: UCSD
	My scientific research interests include urban water sustainability and the development of energy efficient alternatives for urban water filtration. My long-term academic goal is to bridge the gap between the scientific and non-scientific community to communicate the importance of water conservation through understandable, effective writing. I would ultimately like to merge my interest in water sustainability and my passion for writing to create written learning materials that are accurate, informative, and easily comprehended for the public.

	Elena Sy Su
	Affiliation: UCI
	I will be entering my fourth year as a Civil Engineering major. I am interested in learning more about water resources, its ecological challenges, and the policies implemented. I applied to the PIRE program to gain hands-on experience and exposure to water issues outside the US within a multidisciplinary group context. Through this program, I want to develop a better understanding about water sustainability; and ultimately, be able to apply it to other contexts, such as California.

	Joaquin Marquez
	Affiliation: UCI
	I am a third year civil engineer at UCI. My interests are in earthquake engineering. I am hoping this experience will help me further expand my knowledge as a civil engineer. I am hoping to use the theoretical concepts from school and use them to do hands on and practical work.

	Joey Yan
	Affiliation:UCLA
	I am a fourth year Civil Engineering student at UCLA focusing on Environmental and Water Resources Engineering. Traveling on volunteer trips to lesser-developed countries in the last few years, as well as interning in the water industry here in California has raised my awareness for global issues and how they relate back to my local community. Thus, I am particularly interested in research pertaining to the complex problem of securing reliable water resources and ensuring quality. I hope to gain research and field experience through the PIRE program this summer before I pursue a graduate degree in Environmental Engineering and Science next year.

	Lynze Cheung
	Affiliation: UCI
	I will be entering my fourth year double majoring in Environmental Engineering and Earth System Science. I am interested in water conservation, quality, and treatment as an environmental engineer student, but simultaneously interested in Arctic methane and climate change from my earth system science studies. I am highly considering graduate school to further my studies in environmental engineering for water sustainability. I was especially interested in the PIRE water program for the parallels between Australia and our own situation in California.

	Madeline Walzem
	Affiliation:UCSD
	I am a third year Environmental Engineering student at UC San Diego; and I am currently interested in researching sustainable energy solutions. Specifically, I am excited by the prospects of solar-thermal, oceanic wave, and geo-thermal power. I am also very passionate about sustainable agriculture as well as permaculture; and I hope to learn more about these areas in the future. I would like to research as many of the existing integrated human-ecological bio systems as I can in order to advance this area of engineering. I envision a future where society lives in balance with nature; to achieve this we will need to draw from all areas of current knowledge to implement unique, creative solutions.

	Roderic Roberts
	Affiliation: UCSD
	I am a third year Environmental Engineering student at the UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering. I am interested in several research areas including renewable energy, chemical systems, and water conservation. I am excited to diversify my areas of research so that I can better understand what I would like to study in graduate school. I thoroughly enjoy working in team settings to develop engineering solutions to current challenges. I am thrilled for this unique opportunity to study the material I love in such an amazing environment.

	Silvia Gonzalez
	Affiliation: UCI
	I will be entering my 4th year as a Social ecology major with a minor in Earth and atmospheric sciences. I applied to the PIRE program because I have an ever growing passion for water. I am interested in researching water sustainability, conservation, and security.

UCI Water PIRE launches a YouTube channel featuring interviews with students and faculty. Click here to be enlightened!

UCI Water PIRE team launches a K-12 outreach program with The Academy in Santa Ana, featuring a spellbinding performance by Professor Peter Bowler, the Water PIRE’s answer to Bill Nye the Science Guy. Read more here!

This is a new and exciting K-12 outreach program designed to leverage the intellectual and physical resources being generated by the UCI Water PIRE in the area of water sustainability. While some projects will focus on water issues in Australia, others will build on our research expertise to provide innovative and hands-on projects focused around topics in the US. Specifically, this program will:

• Provide an interactive format for students and teachers to engage outside experts in fields related to material being taught in the classroom.

• Demonstrate community interest in student learning and success by personally addressing student populations and their lessons/projects.

• Provide material easily assimilated into curricula and class time in the form of short (3-5 min. videos) covering topics selected by collaborative talks with teachers.

• Enhance student curiosity in subject matter by stimulating classroom discussions and responding to student questions.

We recently participated in a project based learning exercise developed by Blaine Jones, PH at The Academy in Santa Ana. His high school students were charged with preparing for and holding a debate about the fate of the O’Shaughnessy Dam, which created the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite. Students had to learn about the water cycle, how water is managed, and how that management affects different groups of people such as fishermen and hydroelectric power companies.

We developed a complementary program, PIREwolf Productions*, to make videos directly addressing Blaine’s students (aka the Firewolves), discussing several factors that should be considered when deciding on the removal of the O’Shaughnessy Dam (or of any dam or infrastructure) and also answered their questions directly.

We were then invited to watch the ferocious (yet still diplomatic) debates held in the Firewolves’ den. At the end of these debates, the invited audience members determined who won the debate (not an easy task!) based on information presented and arguments made. Students were also evaluated in order to help them improve their public speaking and debate skills.

What a fantastic way to prepare for the real world! We are already working to grow our video library for Firewolves participating in this & other project based learning exercises with the help of RBF Consulting, CH2M Hill, and of course other PIRE researchers & friends.

If you would like to learn more about how PIREwolf Productions can interact directly with your classes please contact us at water-pire@uci.edu

*When students at The Academy were deciding on their mascot they were torn between the phoenix and the wolf. A compromise was reached by creating the Firewolf. Inspired by the Firewolf mascot’s origins and to acknowledge The Academy’s help in the initial development of this program, we decided to call this program PIREwolf Productions. Thank you, Firewolves!

Teacher Workshop Series

We are currently developing a workshop series that would help guide the generation of problem based learning exercises for direct implementation in the participants’ classrooms. Our goal is to help teachers develop exercises they feel confident to present, that cover numerous NGSS**, and promote higher order thinking related to Water PIRE’s primary outreach educational goals. Please check back for more details soon!

PIRE Under Fire

Inspired by Alan Alda’s The Flame Challenge and our recent interactions with The Academy Firewolves, PIRE Under Fire is a program designed to challenge our science communication skills while educating various K-12 audiences. Water PIRE participants will be explaining various water-related concepts with the goal of educating their audience members while improving their science communication skills through audience critiques. Our participants will create short videos answering questions or explaining concepts selected by K-12 students and/or teachers, which will then be judged by the appropriate audience with a winning video selected.

If you or your students have a concept or question for our PIRE participants to address, you would like your class to participate in the judging, or if you would like more information please contact us at water-pire@uci.edu

We plan to kick off this program in the fall of 2014. Check back for more details soon!

Get Connected! – UCI Water-PIRE Bolsters Social Media Presence

Keep updated with UCI-Water PIRE activities. Click the icons below to stay connected!

Two PIRE researchers present their findings on urban impacts on coastal waters and low-energy treatment by hyporheic exchange at the 2014 Ocean Sciences Meetings in Honolulu. Click here for more information!

The 17^th biennial Ocean Sciences Meeting, co-sponsored by the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO), The Oceanography Society (TOS), and the American Geophysical Union (AGU), was held at the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu from the 23-28 February 2014. The Ocean Sciences Meeting (OSM) is an important venue for scientific exchange across broad marine science disciplines. Sessions included all aspects of oceanography, especially multidisciplinary topics, as well as presentations that reflect new and emerging research on the global ocean and society, including science education, outreach and public policy. The OSM originated in 1982 as a joint effort between AGU and ASLO, TOS joined as a regular co-sponsor in 2004.

Increasing evidence of multiple human impacts on the oceans makes this is a critical time for the largest international assembly of ocean scientists, engineers, students, educators, policy makers, and other stake holders to gather and share their results on research, application of research, and education. What better place to hold the meeting than an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, where there is emphasis on mauka to makai (ridge to reef) connection, the ultimate in ecosystem-based management; where there is interest in combining traditional knowledge with science-based understanding; where islands are in threat of disappearing from sea level rise; and where East and West can easily meet? Throughout their history, Hawaiians have demonstrated a thorough understanding of sustainability with an approach to land and water use that allowed them to self-sustain nearly one million islanders. Today they build on that heritage with innovations in science and clean energy. Hawaii is a place where interdependence and sustainability are both historic and necessary.

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PIRE Team to Produce Book on Water Sustainable Cities

The PIRE team has been awarded a contract to produce “The Water Sustainable City: Science, Policy and Practice.” To be published by Edward Elgar Publishing, Ltd (UK) in 2015. The text will provide a timely, accessible introduction to the challenges in providing low-energy options to improve water productivity in cities. Aimed especially at graduate students, advanced undergraduates, and practitioners, the proposal was lauded by one reviewer as providing “. . . one of the very few (books) that treat cities and water explicitly, and the only one at its level that addresses these concerns with serious scientific and technical acumen . . . without ignoring the political angle.” Drawing on the insights of NSF-PIRE collaborators, the authors – including Dave Feldman (lead author/editor), Stan Grant, Jean-Daniel Saphores, Sunny Jiang, Ashmita Sengupta, Lindsey Stuvick, Lisa Levin, and Richard Ambrose – will address public health, ecological, economic, and governance issues.

Dr. David Feldman	Dr. Stanley Grant	Dr. Jean-Daniel Saphores	Dr. Sunny Jiang

 

Dr. Ashmita Sengupta	Lindsey Stuvick	Dr. Lisa Levin	Dr. Rich Ambrose