May 13, 2025

Blooms bursting purple and pink add color to a walkway in the School of Engineering. (Photo by Steve Zylius/UC Irvine)

UC IRVINE NEWS

Sustainability achievements and tips from UC Irvine

Designing eco-conscious artistry

Efren Delgadillo Jr., associate professor of scene design, and Yee Eun Nam, assistant professor of drama, represent a new generation of scenic designers who bring novel approaches to sustainability — avoiding dumpsters full of wood, fabric and other materials at the end of a production. Through their scenic and visual design work, they demonstrate how eco-conscious approaches can redefine the creative process, blending artistry with responsibility. “One of the things that I love about theater is that it forces us to use our imagination,” said Delgadillo Jr.

The link between high blood pressure and strokes

Many people who have high blood pressure aren’t aware of it until they begin to have symptoms like ringing in the ears and severe headache. By then, the damage has been done. “When people experience a stroke, it’s often the result of years of high blood pressure,” said UCI Health neurologist Dr. Wengui Yu. “That’s why we call hypertension the ‘silent killer.’” He shares his tips for reducing your risk for managing high blood pressure.

Artmaking across borders

Supported by a Latino Studies Research Project award from the UC Alianza MX Initiative, Cauces Sónicos: Creative Music Making Across the Borderlands is a two-year project co-directed by Michael Dessen, chair of the Department of Music at UC Irvine, and UC San Diego professor Wilfrido Terrazas. The project will leverage collaborative musical experimentation to explore a kaleidoscopic, expansive notion of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, engaging communities and deepening institutional partnerships directly on the border and as far south and north as Ensenada in Baja California and Orange County.

Examining the legacy of the Vietnam War

On May 15, the Department of Global & International Studies Global Forum, in collaboration with UCI Illuminations, will host Healing through Art – a conversation reflecting on the legacies of the Vietnam War 50 years after its official end. Featuring Cham, Vietnamese and Cambodian artist-scholars, the event centers on the role of art, memory and healing in confronting the traumas of war and displacement.

UC NEWS

Redesigned UC homepage showcases our impact

The University of California has launched a new and improved homepage to showcase UC’s impact in the state and across the nation, focusing on biotechnology, medicine, agriculture and national security. This update will support UC’s ongoing efforts to advocate for the public investments in the university that fund the policies and programs that transform lives in California and beyond.

#UCIconnected

Investing in undergraduate research

When alumna Valerie Garcia Houts studied economics at UC Irvine in the 1990s, a social science professor helped her navigate undergraduate research and grant funding. Now, she and her husband Tim Houts are providing a significant gift to support the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program to encourage students in the School of Social Sciences to engage in research alongside faculty mentors. “I want students to be informed about all the opportunities available to them, and to envision themselves doing things like undergraduate research,” Houts said.

#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.