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UCR Today: New News, New Look. Go!

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – How did the universe begin and how did it evolve? The public has an opportunity to learn the answers to these fundamental questions in about the time in takes to eat breakfast.

Bahram Mobasher, a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Riverside, will talk about the history of the universe when he addresses the upcoming Citizens University Committee (CUC) breakfast meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 17, from 7:15 a.m. until 8:30 a.m. at the University Extension, Rooms D/E, 1200 University Avenue, Riverside, Calif.

Mobasher will take the audience on a journey back in time, to a fraction of a second after the birth of the universe, and discuss the universe’s evolution as well as its future fate.

“We are lucky to be living at a time in history when scientists’ discoveries are fundamentally revolutionizing our view of the universe,” he said. “These questions have occupied human minds for centuries and we are only now finding the answers.”

The trip back in time will include the Hubble Space Telescope’s deepest image of the universe ever taken and how scientists use this image to pinpoint distant regions of the universe. Mobasher will describe dark matter and dark energy, the invisible material and force that together form 96 percent of the content of our universe. He also will discuss scientists’ future plans to understand the remaining mysteries of the universe.

Mobasher obtained his Ph.D in observational cosmology from the University of Durham, England. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in astrophysics at the Imperial College London. He then joined the science staff at NASA’s Space Telescope Science Institute, working on the Hubble Space Telescope. He was also deputy project scientist on the Planck project at the European Space Agency.

His research focuses on the formation and evolution of galaxies and searching for the first generation of galaxies. He is the instrument scientist for one of the instruments on the planned Thirty Meter Telescope. He is the author and co-author of more than 150 papers published in refereed journals.

Also presenting at the breakfast meeting is UC Riverside’s Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Dallas Rabenstein, who will give an update on the university’s strategic plan, “The Path to Preeminence.”

The cost for the event is $18 for members and $22 for non-members, and includes a breakfast buffet. Reservations are required and need to be made no later than Monday, Nov. 15, by contacting the UCR Office of Governmental & Community Relations at (951) 827-5184 or by e-mailing robin.clark@ucr.edu.

Comprised primarily of business and civic leaders, the CUC is a town and gown group that was established more than 50 years ago to bring a University of California campus to Riverside. The CUC works to raise awareness of the university and foster ties between UCR and the community.

The group holds monthly breakfast meetings during the academic year which highlight the latest cutting-edge research UCR has to offer; each meeting offers updates that connect UCR with business and the surrounding communities.

The University of California, Riverside (www.ucr.edu) is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment has exceeded 21,000 students. The campus opened a medical school in 2013 and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Center. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of more than $1 billion.

A broadcast studio with fiber cable to the AT&T Hollywood hub is available for live or taped interviews. UCR also has ISDN for radio interviews. To learn more, call (951) UCR-NEWS.