More than 90 percent of ivory in large, seized shipments came from elephants that died less than three years before, according to a new study. A team of scientists at the University of Utah, the University of Washington and partner institutions came to this conclusion by combining a new approach to radiocarbon dating for ivory samples with genetic analysis tools developed by UW biology professor Sam Wasser.
Category: Regions
Parent category for regions.
The fate of Salonica’s Jews in the city’s transition from Ottoman Empire to Greece
Devin Naar is the Isaac Alhadeff Professor of Sephardic Studies in the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies — part of the Jackson School of International Studies — and an associate professor in the Department of History. He is the author of “Jewish Salonica: Between the Ottoman Empire and Modern Greece,” published in September by Stanford University Press. His recently-published work will be celebrated tonight with a book launch. Registration and more information here.
Helping refugees abroad with a Fulbright scholarship
Hamda Yusuf ’16 was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in a first-ever cohort for a “Community-Based Combined Grant,” which requires both community work and teaching in a foreign country. In fall 2016, she’ll be heading to Austria for 9 months to support Refugees Welcome, a non-profit that is dealing with the Middle East refugee crisis there, and will be an English teaching assistant in secondary schools.
Arts partnership captures a refugee experience in Seattle
A new exhibition and video documentary tell the story of a refugee family. These were developed by ART WORKS Projects in collaboration with the UW Center for Global Studies, The Seattle Times, UW Libraries and the King County Library System.
As 1 Million Strong implementation partner, the UW is creating a pipeline of China-savvy leaders
On the anniversary of its 1 Million Strong initiative, the US-China Strong Foundation, a global nonprofit committed to strengthening US-China relations, announced its new 1 Million Strong implementation partners – including the University of Washington – who will help guide the initiative’s growth.
Announced in September 2015 by Presidents Barack Obama and Xi Jinping during the Chinese leader’s official state visit to the US, 1 Million Strong looks to create a pipeline of China-savvy leaders and employees in the US. The initiative calls for a five-fold increase from current numbers: today, approximately 200,000 US K-12 students are learning Mandarin, while there are more than 300 million English language learners in China.
Read the entire press release from the US-China Strong Foundation…
Researchers document winds that have blown across central Asia for 42 million years
UW geologist Alexis Licht led a team that has discovered a surprising resilience to one of the world’s dominant weather systems. The finding could help long-term climate forecasts, since it suggests these winds are likely to persist through radical climate shifts.
From Uganda to Washington: forestry doctoral student wins top prize for wildlife conservation
When graduate student Carol Bogezi heard that Washington has big carnivores, she was sold. Bogezi, who grew up in Uganda and began her doctoral degree several years ago at the UW’s School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, was excited to track and tag cougars and investigate how the recent return of wolves affects ranchers.
Her graduate school research and resiliency in overcoming obstacles has caught the attention of the Bullitt Foundation, a Seattle-based organization that seeks to promote responsible human activities and sustainable communities in the Pacific Northwest.
Bogezi is the winner of the annual Bullitt Environmental Prize, which recognizes people with exceptional potential to become powerful leaders in the environmental movement. Bogezi will receive $100,000 to continue her work in wildlife conservation.
Migrations in motion
Together with the Nature Conservancy, UW researchers have released a map showing where animals will need to move to survive as climate change alters habitats.
IHME study shows Syrian civil war has shortened lifespans
An IHME-led study published in the Lancet examined health in countries such as Syria, Tunisia and Yemen from 1990 to 2013 found that since the Arab Spring began in 2010, a combination of increased violence and a collapse in health care has led to the drop of the region’s average expected life span. In Syria, a deadly and complex civil war that continues to ravage the country has resulted in a particularly precipitous drop in life expectancy.
Study abroad sparks hard conversations about race and equity
For two days in late August, more than a million people inundate West London to celebrate one of the world’s largest street festivals—the Notting Hill Carnival.
Elaborate floats and colorful-costumed performers wind their way through streets to the sound of steel bands and calypso music. It’s a tribute to the traditional Afro-Caribbean carnivals of the early 19th century that celebrated the abolition of slavery.
What stood out most for UW School of Public Health student Eric King wasn’t the vibrant sounds or endless sea of people, but rather the sight of British police officers embracing and dancing with carnival-goers.
“I didn’t notice any law officials with firearms. This was different from my experience as an African-American man living in the United States,” says King, then a public health major and now a graduate student in the School’s Department of Health Services. “It speaks to the prominence of gun culture in the U.S. as well as the climate created when law officers are viewed as members of the community instead of controlling outsiders.”
King (BS, Public Health ’16) was attending a four-week exploration seminar called Dark Empire: Race, Health and Society in Britain, which examines the presence and well-being of minorities in Britain, who now make up 14 percent of the country’s 64 million residents. Students explore the social, emotional and physical determinants of health within the framework of Britain’s history and multiculturalism.