Global
November 8, 2024
Miniature backpack-like tags offer insight into the movement of hummingbirds
A team led by scientists at the University of Washington and the University of Aberdeen attached tiny “backpack” trackers to hummingbirds in the Colombian Andes to learn more about their movements. As they report in a paper published Oct. 10 in the journal Ecology and Evolution, the tracking system will aid conservation efforts in this region by revealing the previously hidden movements of hummingbirds and other small animals.
November 5, 2024
Reconstructing ancient Andean climate provides clues to climate change
As Earth faces unprecedented climate change, a look into the planet’s deep past may provide vital insights into what may lie ahead. But knowledge of the natural world millions of years ago is fragmented. A 15-year study of a site in Bolivia by a joint U.S.-Bolivia team has provided a comprehensive view of an ancient ecosystem when Earth was much warmer than it is today, and changed how we look at the Andes.
October 29, 2024
Estate of Stan and Alta Barer makes transformational gift to UW School of Law to support global sustainable development program
The University of Washington on Tuesday announced a transformational gift from the estate of Stan and Alta Barer to the School of Law, expanding the couple’s namesake institute: The Barer Institute for Leadership in Law & Global Development. The gift will support the recruitment of additional international fellows, increase scholarships, endow faculty positions and create more global impact.
October 22, 2024
Paws of polar bears sustaining ice-related injuries in a warming Arctic
Polar bears in some parts of the high Arctic are developing ice buildup and related injuries to their feet. The changes appear to be an unexpected consequence of climate change, related to changing conditions in a warming Arctic.
September 13, 2024
In the Field: Understanding the impact of Arctic militarization on Indigenous communities
Mia Bennett, University of Washington assistant professor of geography, will spend a week this month in Norway as part of the orientation for the Fulbright Arctic IV Initiative. Bennett is one of 20 scholars selected to collaborate on multi-disciplinary research over the next 18 months.
June 3, 2024
UW study abroad returns to pre-pandemic participation levels, helps increase graduation rates
As the academic school year comes to an end, many students will continue their studies by packing a suitcase and heading overseas.
About 3,000 University of Washington students will study abroad this school year, a number that surpasses the previous high set in 2018-2019. That means study abroad participation is back to pre-pandemic levels. UW leaders say these programs promise profound experiences and lifelong memories. and new research shows that college students who study abroad are more likely to graduate.
April 22, 2024
UW leads international group in semiconductor research and workforce development
The University of Washington is at the forefront of an international effort to innovate the semiconductor industry while building a skilled U.S.-based workforce to design and manufacture chip technology.
April 9, 2024
UW joins $110M cross-Pacific effort to advance artificial intelligence
The University of Washington and the University of Tsukuba have entered an innovation partnership with NVIDIA and Amazon aimed at furthering research, entrepreneurship, workforce development and social implementation in the field of artificial intelligence. This U.S.-Japan academic partnership is part of a broad, $110 million effort to build upon the strong ties between the U.S. and Japan and to continue to lead innovation and technological breakthroughs in artificial intelligence.
November 16, 2023
In the Field: Tracking seismic clues in one of the driest places on Earth
Two University of Washington geophysicists will travel to the Atacama Desert in Chile this month to study a fault system that’s similar to the Seattle Fault in Puget Sound, but in a much different climate that makes it easier to monitor its effects on the landscape.
October 23, 2023
Video: Familiar ingredients make Afghan Food Guide easy to swallow
Unfamiliar foods can get in the way of following a recommended diet. For the Afghan community seeking health care in the U.S., a nutrition handbook created by UW School of Public Health graduate student Priyasha Maharjan works to solve this problem, using Afghan food examples to educate patients and care providers on the nutritional content of their meals.
May 31, 2023
New funding supports growth of Canadian Studies Program, Foreign Language and Area Studies
Two grants from the U.S. Department of Education International and Foreign Language Education office will allow the Canadian Studies Center at the University of Washington to award eight to 10 fellowships each year to students studying French or an Indigenous language spoken in Canada.
April 13, 2023
Africa’s grassy habitats emerged 10+ million years earlier than previously thought
A pair of studies published April 14 in the journal Science paint a new picture about apes, ancient Africa and the origins of humans. Many scientists had once hypothesized that the first apes to evolve in Africa more than 20 million years ago ate primarily fruit and lived within the thick, closed canopy of a nearly continent-wide forest ecosystem. Instead, the new research indicates that early apes ate a leafy diet in a more arid ecosystem of varyingly open woodlands with abundant grasses.
February 1, 2023
Q&A: UW historian explores how a Husky alum influenced postcolonial Sudan
Christopher Tounsel, associate professor of history at the University of Washington, found multiple connections between Sudan and Seattle while researching his upcoming book. The most prominent was the late Andrew Brimmer, a UW alum who in 1966 became the first Black member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
January 18, 2023
The importance of the atmosphere and ocean in determining the fate of Antarctica
New research finds that ice-sheet-wide collapse in West Antarctica isn’t necessarily inevitable. The pace of ice loss varies according to regional differences in atmosphere and ocean circulation.
January 9, 2023
Climate ‘presses’ and ‘pulses’ impact Magellanic penguins — a marine predator — with guidance for conservationists
Climate change will reshape ecosystems through two types of events: short-term, extreme events — or “pulses” — and long-term changes, or “presses.” Understanding the effects of presses and pulses is essential as conservationists and policymakers try to preserve ecosystems and safeguard biodiversity. Researchers at the University of Washington have discovered how different presses and pulses impacted Magellanic penguins — a migratory marine predator — over nearly four decades and found that, though individual presses and pulses impacted penguins in a variety of ways, both were equally important for the future survival of the penguin population. They also found that these types of climate changes, taken together, are leading to an overall population decline at their historically largest breeding site.
December 12, 2022
UW’s Daniel Chen, ’22, named prestigious Marshall Scholar
University of Washington alumnus Daniel Guorui Chen, Class of 2022, has been named a Marshall Scholar, one of the highest honors available to college graduates in the U.S. Chen plans to attend the University of Cambridge.
October 31, 2022
How low-cost earbuds can make newborn hearing screening accessible
A team led by researchers at the University of Washington has created a new hearing screening system that uses a smartphone and earbuds.
October 17, 2022
Isotope data strengthens suspicions of ivory stockpile theft
A study led by Thure Cerling, a professor at the University of Utah, and co-authored by Sam Wasser, a University of Washington professor of biology, used carbon isotope science to show that tusks from a guarded government stockpile in Burundi have somehow made their way into the hands of illegal ivory traders.
October 12, 2022
Endangered fruit-eating animals play an outsized role in a tropical forest — losing them could have dire consequences
A new study by researchers at the University of Washington shows that losing a particular group of endangered animals — those that eat fruit and help disperse the seeds of trees and other plants — could severely disrupt seed-dispersal networks in the Atlantic Forest, a shrinking stretch of tropical forest and critical biodiversity hotspot on the coast of Brazil.
September 29, 2022
International field course held in Indonesia and led by UW professor ends after 30 years
Randall Kyes established the International Field Study Program-Indonesia at the UW. The month-long study abroad program provided field-based educational and research opportunities for students from the UW, Indonesia and other participating countries.
June 16, 2022
Newly documented population of polar bears in Southeast Greenland sheds light on the species’ future in a warming Arctic
A new population of polar bears documented on the southeast coast of Greenland use glacier ice to survive despite limited access to sea ice. This small, genetically distinct group of polar bears could be important to the future of the species in a warming world.
April 25, 2022
La primera: Communication major Paula Thiele breaks in new ‘¡Spain Works!’ internship
Paula Thiele, a communication major who will graduate this spring, became the inaugural scholar to participate in the UW’s new Scholarship for Immersive Internships in León, dubbed “¡Spain Works!” — a partnership between the UW León Center, UW Study Abroad and the UW Career & Internship Center.
