University of California Irvine: 7 UCI researchers are elected AAAS fellows, giving campus total of 192
Seven University of California, Irvine researchers – working in fields as diverse as atmospheric chemistry, artificial intelligence, big data, and climate and ecosystem science – have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest general scientific society.
A total of 564 AAAS members are being honored this year for their efforts to further science or its applications. The just-elected fellows will receive an official certificate and a gold and blue rosette pin and will be celebrated later this year at an in-person gathering when it’s feasible from a public health and safety perspective. The new class will also be featured this month in the AAAS News & Notes column in Science.
“Congratulations to the seven UCI researchers named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science,” said Pramod Khargonekar, UCI vice chancellor for research. “These scholars are responsible for groundbreaking research that has helped UCI earn a stellar reputation among its peer institutions around the world.”
The honorees from UCI – and their AAAS sections and citations – are:
Steven Allison (biological sciences section), professor of ecology & evolutionary biology in the School of Biological Sciences and professor of Earth system science in the School of Physical Sciences, for distinguished contributions to the field of ecology and evolution, particularly the analysis of microbial feedbacks to environmental change, and for training and local community outreach on environmental issues.
Rina Dechter (information, computing and communication section), Distinguished Professor of computer science and associate dean for research in the Donald Bren School of Information & Computer Sciences, for contributions to computational aspects of automated reasoning and knowledge representation, including search, constraint processing and probabilistic reasoning and for service to the computing community.
Paul Dourish (information, computing and communication section), Chancellor’s Professor of informatics and Steckler Endowed Chair in the Donald Bren School of Information & Computer Sciences, for distinguished contributions to the field of human-computer interaction and computer-supported cooperative work, particularly how historical and geographical contexts shape the design, production and use of information technologies.
Alex Guenther (atmospheric and hydrospheric sciences section), professor of Earth system science in the School of Physical Sciences, for distinguished contributions to the field of biogenic emissions of volatile organic compounds to the atmosphere and their effects on atmospheric chemistry.
Annie Qu (statistics section), Chancellor’s Professor of statistics in the Donald Bren School of Information & Computer Sciences, for outstanding contributions to longitudinal data, high-dimensional statistics and machine learning and for exceptional service to the profession.
Padhraic Smyth (information, computing and communication section), Chancellor’s Professor of computer science in the Donald Bren School of Information & Computer Sciences, for distinguished contributions to the field of machine learning, particularly the development of statistical foundations and methodologies.
Isabella Velicogna (atmospheric and hydrospheric sciences section), professor of Earth system science in the School of Physical Sciences, for pioneering the use of time-variable gravity data from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment mission to reveal the mass loss of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets.