April 22, 2025

Trumpet trees bloom in vibrant pink in the Claire Trevor School of the Arts. (Photo by Steve Zylius/UC Irvine)

UC IRVINE NEWS

Sustainability achievements and tips from UC Irvine

Earth Week resources

This week is Earth Week. From heartfelt memoirs and eco-cinema to global and interstellar research, UC Irvine Libraries have a wide selection of environmental- and climate-related resources. To celebrate Earth Week, the UC Irvine Libraries invite you to explore Nobel Prize–winning research, streaming media and more.

Building sustainable healthcare

The UCI Medical Center has earned The Joint Commission’s Sustainable Healthcare Certification for its sustainability efforts. It is the first University of California hospital and fourth healthcare organization in the state to be certified. “UCI Health is proud to have achieved this milestone certification as a forever organization that is leading the healthcare industry in building a model that is sustainable and resilient to climate change,” said Nathan Shinagawa, chief operating officer and senior vice president at UCI Health.

Combating climate change

Jenny Yang is refining a revolutionary approach to combating climate change through carbon capture technology. The chemistry professor’s research focuses on removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere using existing heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. Her lab is currently developing a prototype that captures CO2 from indoor air, leveraging the energy already expended by commercial HVAC systems.

Comprehensive Wellbeing Initiative

This week marks the inaugural U.S. Health Promoting Campuses Week in honor of the 10th anniversary of the Okanagan Charter, which was developed by health promotion professionals to guide colleges and universities to be leaders for developing and modeling health-promoting principles. (UC Irvine adopted the Okanagan Charter in 2021.) As part of this effort, the campus is hosting the Comprehensive Wellbeing Town Hall on May 7 in Middle Earth housing, where students, staff and faculty are invited to learn more about what we are doing to support being a health-promoting university.

UC NEWS

Critters making a comeback

This Earth Day, the UC Newsroom is celebrating stories from the past year of UC research that illustrate the resilience of life on our planet and demonstrate our ability to help solve problems of our own making.

#UCIconnected

Giving Day is here

Today is UC Irvine Giving Day, and Anteaters around the world are making their voices heard through their philanthropy. Every gift counts. Make a donation today at givingday.uci.edu.

#UCIconnected spotlights interesting updates from the UC Irvine community. #IamUCI spotlights profiles of students, faculty, staff and alumni. Send submissions via email or post on social media with the #UCIconnected or #IamUCI hashtags.

UC IRVINE NEWSMAKERS

Note: Some news sites require subscriptions to read articles. UC Irvine Libraries offers free subscriptions to The New York Times, Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Orange County Register and The Washington Post for students, faculty and staff.