TOPICS:
AIR
More to Smog than Meets the Eye
Air Pollution Affects Age Groups Differently

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
Preserving the Environment, Building Peace Through International Law

GLOBAL WARMING
The Link Between the Earth and Sky
Greenhouse Gases Affect the Oceans, Too

WATER
Cleaning Up Drinking Water
Measuring How Urban Rivers, Wetlands Affect Coastal Water Quality
Finding the Sources of Coastal Water Viruses
Searching for Unwanted Chemicals in Treated Water

AIR
More to Smog than Meets the Eye
Donald Blake, professor of chemistry, studies the atmospheric gases that can affect urban air quality, climate change and stratospheric ozone depletion. Part of his research focuses on highly polluted cities throughout the world, where he has found unexpected sources of urban pollution, such as emissions of liquefied petroleum gas from home fuel tanks. Blake’s study of chronic air pollution that chokes Mexico City helped find solutions to one of its most pressing problems.
Contact: Donald Blake at (949) 824-4195, drblake@uci.edu

Air Pollution Affects Age Groups Differently
Robert Phalen, professor of community and environmental medicine and director of UCI’s Air Pollution Health Effects Laboratory, has spent more than 20 years studying the effects of air pollution on health. He has helped establish a link between exercise and increased lung damage from air pollution, predicted that very young children are at greater risk from indoor and outdoor air pollutants than other age groups, and identified pollutant combinations that are most in need of regulation in order to protect community health.
Contact: Robert Phalen at (949) 824-4758, rfphalen@uci.edu

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
Preserving the Environment, Building Peace Through International Law
Joseph DiMento, professor of planning, law and society, transportation studies, and management, is an authority on international and domestic environmental law. He has worked on practical peacemaking efforts through international cooperation on environmental problems such as hazardous waste in the Middle East and conservation efforts in the ex-Soviet Union and the larger Black Sea region. His recent contributions  have been to reforms in the environmental impact assessment process under the grandfather of domestic environmental law, the National Environmental Policy Act, and to global environmental issues. DiMento also examines transboundary environmental issues, as in his evaluations of the NAFTA side agreement on the environment.
Contact: Joseph DiMento at (949) 824-5102, (949) 824-3480, jfdiment@uci.edu

GLOBAL WARMING
The Link Between the Earth and Sky
Named one of the nation’s best young scientists in 1993 by the National Science Foundation, Susan E. Trumbore, associate professor of earth system science, studies soils and plant life for clues on how natural carbon cycles are altered by human activity. In particular, she has helped discover how increases in the amount of carbon dioxide released by decaying plants magnify the problem of global warming. This research takes her around the globe, from digging soil pits in the Sierra Nevada to collecting gases from deep below a Brazilian forest floor.
Contact: Susan Trumbore at (949) 824-6142, (949) 824-3444, (949) 824-9027, setrumbo@uci.edu

Greenhouse Gases Affect the Oceans, Too
Ellen R. M. Druffel, professor and chair of UCI’s Department of Earth System Science, studies the oceans to determine the impact of greenhouse gases on water temperature and circulation. By examining coral samples, she can determine the nutrient levels and temperature of oceans in the past. Through this research, Druffel is discovering how global warming will impact the ocean’s ability to absorb greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide excesses in the atmosphere have been shown to influence the global warming phenomenon, creating weather patterns that can cause major climate changes.
Contact: Ellen Druffel at (949) 824-2116, (949) 824-3272, edruffel@uci.edu

WATER
Cleaning Up Drinking Water
Betty Olson, professor of environmental analysis and design in the School of Social Ecology and professor of environmental toxicology in the College of Medicine, is an expert on microbial issues relating to environmental health and water resources. Her extensive research on drinking water quality includes studies on the public health significance of bacteria in treated drinking water and identifying the source of human and animal wastes in watersheds. She also has worked on cleanup of chemical contaminants such as PCBs and MTBE in soil and water through biodegradation.
Contact: Betty Olson at (949) 824-7174, (949) 824-5281, bholson@uci.edu

Measuring How Urban Rivers, Wetlands Affect Coastal Water Quality
Pioneering research by Stanley Grant, a professor of environmental engineering, is showing how runoff from urban rivers and coastal wetlands is a significant source of coastal water pollution. Grant is leading a groundbreaking study of bacteria in Orange County’s Santa Ana River and its adjacent salt marshes. The study is unusual because of the vast quantity of data collected (more than 300,000 data points in three weeks of intensive field testing) and the range of chemical and genetic tests being performed to differentiate human and animal sources of waste. Grant estimates that at least a portion of the pollution signal in the surf zone is from sea bird fecal waste. The marshes are located behind Huntington State Beach, one of the nation’s most popular recreational beaches, which annually is posted for significant periods due to high levels of bacterial pollution.
Contact: Stanley Grant at (949) 824-8277, sbgrant@uci.edu

Finding the Sources of Coastal Water Viruses
In studies on the health implications of urban runoff on coastal water, Sunny Jiang, assistant professor of environmental analysis and design, is currently identifying the source of human virus contamination in Orange County beaches. Although coastal water quality is routinely monitored using bacteria as indicators, viruses are more resistant to environmental degradation conditions and therefore may persist after the destruction of bacteria. Her research has shown that nearly 40 percent of Southern Californian beaches near major storm drains contain human viruses and may potentially impact human health during water contact recreational activities. Urban runoff from rivers and creeks is the most likely source of human viral contamination in the coastal zone.
Contact: Sunny Jiang at (949) 824-5527, sjiang@uci.edu

Searching for Unwanted Chemicals in Treated Water
While arsenic levels in water have been the subject of public debate, Dele Ogunseitan, associate professor of environmental analysis and design, says there are a host of other chemicals in our waters that could affect human populations. Ogunseitan is currently studying pharmaceutical drug levels in wastewater and has found in many instances that common treatment efforts do not remove these compounds. Since treated wastewater is reused for a variety of purposes, these residual drugs may pose a public health hazard. Ogunseitan also investigates the sources of mercury in wastewater and is working with Physicians for Social Responsibility and Californians for Pesticide Reform to prepare a detailed report on the effect of common pesticides in water on human health. "The more we understand the chemical soup in our waters, the more we can take steps to regulate it," he says.
Contact: Dele Ogunseitan at (949) 824-6350, oaogunse@uci.edu