Growing Need Seen
For More Big Trees

Akbari

The Sacramento region is expected to have 4 million residents by mid-century. The Sacramento Tree Foundation wants all those people to have adequate shade. But tree experts say policies, practices and consumer choices throughout the region are decreasing the number of big, shady trees in our future. The most recent studies of the region's tree canopy, conducted in 1998 by Hashem Akbari's research group — in the Environmental Energy Technology Division at Berkeley Lab — showed a wide variation in coverage. Full story (registration required).

Scientists Study
Water's Behavior

Waychunas

What do the function of semiconductors, the formation of soils, and the flow through a reverse-osmosis water purifier have in common? They all depend on the behavior of water at a solid surface. A group of scientists has recently made an important advance in understanding this seemingly prosaic, but actually complex and insufficiently understood interface. UC Berkeley's Victor Ostroverkhov, Y. Ron Shen, and Berkeley Lab earth scientist Glenn Waychunas have published a paper describing previously unknown variability in water's behavior at a quartz surface and the novel technique they developed to discover it. Full story.

UC Professor and Lab
Researcher Passes

Talbot

Lawrence Talbot, a professor emeritus of mechanical engineering at UC Berkeley who was known for his pioneering work in fluid mechanics and bioengineering, has died of heart failure. Talbot was 79 and died March 19 at his home in north Berkeley. During the last 20 years of his life, he conducted research at Berkeley Lab on turbulent combustion and flames. Full story.

Next Weight Watchers
Session Starts April 6

The Lab will host another session of onsite Weight Watchers meetings starting next Wednesday. Cost for the 13-week session is $167.30. The amount can also be paid in three installments of $55.76. All meetings take place in Health Services, Building 26 room 109. Weigh-in starts between 1 and 1:15 p.m., with a half-hour meeting afterwards. New members are welcome to attend the April 6 meeting at no cost to determine if they want to join. For more information, contact Cathy Wentworth (x5334). Since the onsite meetings began last September, Lab employees have lost a total of 499 pounds.

Allowance For Safety
Shoes Has Increased

The Lab will increase the allowance for safety shoes to $120 starting tomorrow. Employees working in areas where there is a danger of foot injuries may be authorized to purchase safety shoes. Go here for more information on the use of safety shoes, and here to read the Lab's policy on safety shoes.