Together with colleagues from Australian National University, University of Washington oceanographers used clues from the Galapagos Islands — a dot in the middle of the Pacific Ocean — to trace El Niño patterns and seasonal tropical rains over the past 2,000 years. Evidence shows shifts that last for centuries, suggesting these tropical climate patterns have varied more radically and for longer durations than previously believed. The study is published the week of March 14 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
News and features
Center for Global Health Nursing promotes ‘health that transcends borders’
Sarah Gimbel and Pam Kohler co-direct the UW School of Nursing Center for Global Health Nursing. The center pushes for the voices of nurses to be included in global health conversations. The center will support nursing students who want to learn and serve overseas, as well as international students who want to study at the UW. Likewise, a global health perspective allows nurses from the U.S. and abroad to learn from one another. “When we say ‘global,’” Gimbel said, “we’re talking about health that transcends borders.”
The Global Innovation Fund supports projects sponsored by the Center for Global Health Nursing.
Solving the global problem of mental health illness
Professor Deepa Rao and her colleagues say stigma, poor mental health, and substance abuse drive many global health problems, including diabetes, preterm birth, trauma injuries, self-harm and motor vehicle deaths. More than one billion people suffer from a mental health illness or substance abuse problem. “Mental health has been a neglected disease in global health,” says Rao, co-director of the UW Global Mental Health Program.
The next step is improving treatment. The Global Mental Health Program seeks philanthropic support for faculty, pilot research projects, and student scholarships and fellowships. Rao and her colleagues are conducting research and training to address gaps in global mental health interventions. One successful example is Professor Debra Kaysen’s therapy work in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where women are traumatized from domestic violence and rape.
UW’s interdisciplinary innovation centers ‘can serve as a model for research institutions’
“Higher education is developing an efficient and effective new model for 21st Century innovation” write University of Washington professors David Baker, Tom Daniel, Ed Lazowska and Dan Schwartz in a recent opinion piece.
“Research institutes such as [those at the UW] eliminate sclerotic silos and bureaucratic boundaries by deftly blending teams of super-smart students, faculty, and research scientists from interconnected subject areas. As a result, these institutions stand the best chance of identifying and solving the toughest scientific and technological challenges of our age – they are confronting tomorrow today. The University of Washington, where we work, has a system of centers that has seen success and can serve as a model for research institutions across the country.”
UW trains Pakistan’s water managers to harness NASA data
NASA satellites are helping Pakistan’s water managers to more effectively monitor and manage scarce groundwater resources, thanks to a partnership with engineers and hydrologists at the University of Washington, supported in part by the Global Innovation Fund. After training at the UW, the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources began using satellite data from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, or GRACE, mission to create monthly updates on groundwater storage changes in the Indus River basin. This will allow them to see where groundwater supplies are being depleted and where they are being adequately recharged, better supporting Pakistan’s agriculture-base economy.
Husky Presidential Ambassadors Leadership Institute facilitates inclusive engagement
Universities across the nation are working to further connect international students and create a globally engaged campus environment for all students. Increasing globalization also raises the demand for graduates with increased competencies in cross-cultural communication and practice. Engaging together in cross-cultural leadership studies, undergraduates learn to think and connect across boundaries, enhancing all students’ Husky Experience.
Read more from Trends and Issues in Higher Ed…
UW-industry partnership manufactures clean, efficient cookstoves in Kenya
For much of the world’s population, gathering fuel to cook food is a dangerous proposition, and smoke from cookstoves poses a serious health threat. A more efficient and clean wood-burning cookstove — developed by the Vashon Island-based non-profit BURN Design Lab in close collaboration with University of Washington mechanical engineers — will reduce the amount of fuel families need to collect or buy by 55 percent. It will also reduce the exposure of these women and children to the harmful particulate pollution produced by traditional cooking flames.
The new wood-burning cookstove will be manufactured in BURN Manufacturing’s factory in Nairobi, Kenya beginning this summer — thanks to a recent $800,000 investment fromUnilever and Acumen — and sold across East Africa.
Student research named in El Salvador family’s reunification story
Jackson School students in the 2015 capstone course “Promoting Human Rights and Healing in the Wake of Civil War” made two documentary films aimed to reunite San Salvadoran parents of “disappeared children.” The videos went public in March 2015, and in April, King 5 news covered the story. By early 2016, at least one mother and child from the documentary had been reunited, as documented in this article by the Asociación Pro-Búsqueda. The article references the UW student-produced documentaries.
Consul General of India, industry leaders engage together on campus
With support from the Global Innovation Fund, The South Asia Center and the Global Business Center are partnering to host a symposium, “US-India Economic Relations and the Contemporary Indian Economy” on campus. Ambassador Venkatesan Ashok, Consul General of India of San Francisco, as well as prominent members of the local community and UW faculty experts will address the group and engage in the symposium.
Event details
Friday, February 26, 2016
2:00-5:00 PM
Bank of America Executive Education Center, Douglas Forum
Symposium Agenda
Register to attend
New device shows great promise for in HIV prevention in Africa
Recent studies in Africa led by University of Washington researchers and others showed that a vaginal ring infused with a microbicide helped prevent HIV infection in more than half of women who used the device correctly.