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September 14, 2016

The Great UW ShakeOut: An opportunity to practice earthquake preparedness

seismic graph

All across the world, millions of people will be practicing their earthquake-preparedness on Oct. 20. The event — called the Great ShakeOut — will commence at 10:20 a.m. for those participating at the University of Washington and across the state. It is an opportunity for people to practice what they should do in the event of an earthquake: Drop, cover and hold on.


UW Osher Lifelong Learning Institute receives $1 million gift

The University of Washington W

The Bernard Osher Foundation has announced a $1 million gift to the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Washington (OLLI-UW). The Institute offers a diverse array of non-credit courses and activities for people 50 and older, giving these adults access to continuing education at the UW. The Osher Foundation’s gift takes the form…


September 12, 2016

Graduate education in clean energy due for ‘big data’ overhaul

A sunset

Jim Pfaendtner, University of Washington associate professor of chemical engineering, is leading a new endeavor funded by the National Science Foundation to bring big data to graduate education in clean energy research at the UW.


UW scientist helping direct NASA field study of clouds off Namibia

plane on tarmac

UW atmospheric scientists are part of a month-long NASA effort to learn how smoke and clouds interact.


UW forestry student wins Bullitt Foundation’s top prize for wildlife conservation

Bogezi captures a crocodile during one of her research projects in Uganda.

A Q&A with Carol Bogezi, a UW doctoral student in environmental and forest sciences who received the 10th annual Bullitt Environmental Prize. The award recognizes people with exceptional potential to become powerful leaders in the environmental movement.


September 6, 2016

Forefront marks World Suicide Prevention Day Sept. 10 with workshops, documentary film

World Suicide Prevention Day, Sept. 10, is a reminder that we all have a role to play in preventing suicide. Forefront: Innovations in Suicide Prevention, based in the UW School of Social Work and led by Professor Jennifer Stuber, is offering a film and two suicide prevention workshops on Sept. 10.


August 30, 2016

UW student partners with WSECU for temporary art exhibit in the University District

People standing in the vacant lot

Most landscape architecture projects conjure up an image of a permanent structure meant to be experienced indefinitely. But for Britton Shepard, a 2016 graduate of the University of Washington’s landscape architecture master’s program, it means exploring the temporary nature of urban terrains. Earlier this year, Shepard brought life back to a vacant and demolished lot…


August 29, 2016

David Domke to discuss presidential election at Sept. 7 fundraising event

David Domke will be this year's speaker at the William R Ruckelshaus Center's Chairman's Circle fundraising luncheon Sept. 7.

David Domke, chair of the UW Department of Communication, will discuss the wild 2016 presidential campaign and its implications for the country in a luncheon Sept. 7 for the William D. Ruckelshaus Center.


August 26, 2016

Interactive map shows where animals will move under climate change

animated map of U.S.

The University of Washington and The Nature Conservancy have created an animated map showing where mammals, birds and amphibians are projected to move in the Western Hemisphere in response to climate change.


August 19, 2016

UW will host 2017 summer institute on teaching urban environmental issues

Faculty members from the UW College of Built Environments, Jackson School of International Studies and departments of French and Italian studies and history will team up in 2017 to give a new, three-week course for university and college instructors on urban environmental humanities.


August 18, 2016

From White House to Tacoma, WA, urban agriculture is growing

Sally Brown

UW professor Sally Brown and collaborators have published the most extensive compilation to date explaining how to grow urban agriculture, and how doing so could save American cities.


Follow your nose: UW’s young corpse flower relocates to Volunteer Park Conservatory for fetid first bloom

corpse flower

Visitors to Seattle’s Volunteer Park Conservatory are in for a stinking treat, courtesy of the Department of Biology at the University of Washington. The conservatory has taken in a young corpse lily, affectionately known as Dougsley, which is set to blossom this week or next.


August 12, 2016

‘Hilloccio’ vs the ‘gas giant’: Suzzallo Library exhibit features powerful editorial cartoons from campaign 2016

The editorial cartoons filling a ground floor exhibit in Suzzallo Library through November are hard-hitting, but they fairly depict the wild campaign of 2016, and the serious issues the year has brought as well.


Q&A: Phil Levin joins UW, The Nature Conservancy in new role

Phil Levin

Phil Levin, a former senior scientist at NOAA Fisheries, recently began a joint role at the University of Washington and The Nature Conservancy. UW Today sat down with Levin to find out why he took this job and what he hopes to accomplish.


August 9, 2016

Three UW Earth scientists elected as AGU fellows

Charles Eriksen, Deborah Kelley and Stephen Warren are among 60 newly elected fellows from U.S. and international institutions.


August 8, 2016

Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies names new permanent director

Simon Stevenson is the new director of the Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies in the UW College of Built Environments.

Simon Stevenson of the United Kingdom’s University of Reading will be the next director of the University of Washington’s Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies, in the College of Built Environments.


August 5, 2016

Employee open forums Aug. 15, 17 to report on UW HR/Payroll Integrated Service Center

University of Washington employees are invited to attend an open forum either Monday, Aug. 15, 1:30-2:30 p.m. in Odegaard 220 or Wednesday, Aug. 17, 1:30-2:30 p.m. in the HUB, Room 250, to learn more about the design of the HR/Payroll Integrated Service Center.   The goal of the center is to provide a single point of contact to effectively…


August 4, 2016

UW geologist: Ancient Chinese flood is latest to match oral, geologic histories

Photo of Insights art

A Science commentary written by UW professor of Earth and space sciences David Montgomery discusses how recent geological findings support the historical basis for traditional tales about China’s Great Flood.


Local media moments recalled in Seattle Television History project

Comedian Ellen DeGeneres talks with host Ross Shafer on after a funny monologue in a 1985 episode of the Seattle comedy show "Almost Live." A report on Seattle's rich comedy broadcasting history is among the exhibits in the Seattle Television Project archive, created by Stephen Groening of the Department of Comparative Literature, Cinema & Media.

A wild-eyed television preacher, uncensored public access nuttiness, even a young Ellen DeGeneres featured on a local comedy show segment — when Stephen Groening had students explore the history of local television for a class, they sure found a lot of good stuff.


August 1, 2016

Twelve UW faculty elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences

A dozen scientists and engineers from the University of Washington have been elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences. According to a statement released by the organization, the new members were selected for “their outstanding record of scientific achievement and willingness to work on behalf of the academy in bringing the best available science…


July 27, 2016

Middle schoolers build underwater robot in science summer camp

Alexander Riley works on the ROV during summer camp.

Middle school students tried their hands at designing and building underwater robots this week during a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration science summer camp in Seattle. The ROV workshop was a joint project by UW-based Washington Sea Grant, NOAA and Atlantis STEAM.


July 21, 2016

From crop-raiding monkeys to political unrest: UW’s Randy Kyes embarks on 100th field course

A chance meeting with a fellow scientist 27 years ago forever changed Randy Kyes’ life — catapulting him from North Carolina to Indonesia and beyond. As the founding director of the University of Washington’s Center for Global Field Study and head of the Division of Global Programs at the Washington National Primate Research Center, Kyes…


July 15, 2016

Joseph Wartman, David Montgomery honored for Oso landslide report

headshots of two researchers

The Geological Society of America has honored two UW professors and other authors of a 186-page report on the causes and consequences of the deadly March 2014 landslide in Oso, Washington.


July 12, 2016

UW historian selects 1971 prison death for Time’s ’25 Moments That Changed America’

Dan Berger of UW Bothell contributed to a Time.com list of the "25 moments that changed America"

When editors at Time magazine compiled a list of expert picks for “25 Moments that Changed America,” UW Bothell’s Dan Berger was among the historians they reached out to for a contribution. An assistant professor in Bothell’s School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, Berger was asked to choose a “moment” — trends and social movements…


July 8, 2016

Researchers show phone calls can forecast dengue fever outbreaks

A UW computer science and engineering doctoral student has helped develop a system that can forecast the outbreak of dengue fever by simply analyzing the calling behavior of citizens to a public-health hotline.


‘Excitations’: Summer Institute in the Arts to explore energy

Student participants in the 2104 Summer Institute in the Arts and Humanities study and share together on a sunny day.

“Excitation” is not just a scientific term or perfect Beach Boys lyric, it’s also the topic of this year’s cross-disciplinary Summer Institute in the Arts and Humanities, an intensive summer research program for undergraduate students.


July 7, 2016

Arctic sea ice volume, now tracking record low, stars in data visualization

four maps of Arctic Ocean

With Arctic sea ice roughly tied with previous record-low years, a University of Washington tool that tallies the total volume of ice in the Arctic Ocean is attracting attention.


UW, Microsoft researchers break record for DNA data storage

photo of researchers

University of Washington and Microsoft researchers have broken what they believe is the world record for the amount of digital data successfully stored — and retrieved — in DNA molecules by encoding, among other things, an OK Go video.


July 6, 2016

Acid attack — can mussels hang on for much longer?

Mussels

Scientists from the University of Washington have found evidence that ocean acidification caused by carbon emissions can prevent mussels attaching themselves to rocks and other substrates, making them easy targets for predators and threatening the mussel farming industry.


July 5, 2016

Long-term Pacific climate cycle linked to expansion of Antarctic sea ice

white continent on blue background

A long-term Pacific climate cycle may be driving the expansion of Antarctic winter sea ice since 2000, but a new study finds that the trend may soon reverse.


June 28, 2016

UW geologist wins early career award from American Geophysical Union

headshot

Alison Duvall, a UW assistant professor of Earth and space sciences, was selected for the Luna B. Leopold Award for early-career scientists.


Statements from UW and KUOW leadership on the sale of KPLU to Friends of 88.5

UW President Ana Mari Cauce: “Congratulations to the Friends of 88.5 on their agreement with Pacific Lutheran University to purchase KPLU, and on the unprecedented fundraising effort that made it possible. We are delighted they were able to make it happen.”   KUOW General Manager Caryn Mathes: “The generosity of KPLU’s listeners is a testament both…


June 24, 2016

UW’s Clean Energy Institute to participate in national smart manufacturing initiative

The University of Washington’s Clean Energy Institute will partner with regional industry and academic institutions as part of the new Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute, according to an announcement June 20 by the White House.


June 23, 2016

UW is top producer of earth and environment research

image of a wooded path

The University of Washington published the most earth and environmental science research last year, outpacing all other universities worldwide, according to a new report from Nature Index.


June 22, 2016

Harry Bridges Labor Center report explores effects of job outsourcing at Portland International Airport

Portland International Airport in 2015. Recent research published by the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies comments on the economic effects of job outsourcing at the airport, called PDX for short.

The outsourcing of workers at Portland International Airport has increased in recent years while those workers serve ever-more passengers and their wages remain low, according to a recent report from the UW’s Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies.


June 21, 2016

Q&A: Essayist Elissa Washuta on being the Fremont Bridge’s first writer-in-residence, another recent award and her upcoming book

Color photo of essayist and UW alumna Elissa Washuta

The year’s not quite yet half over, but it’s already been an auspicious one for Elissa Washuta. The University of Washington graduate and author of two books, “Starvation Mode” and “My Body is a Book of Rules,” is one of two recipients of the Artist Trust 2016 Arts Innovator Awards, which come with $25,000 in…


June 15, 2016

Adam Summers advises Pixar on fish movements in new ‘Finding Dory’ film

dory and hank image

University of Washington fish biomechanist Adam Summers advised Pixar on animal movement for the animation company’s second movie about life under the sea.


June 10, 2016

Jackson School Space Security Initiative capstone event gathers students, area stakeholders

Saadia Pekkanen, Job and Gertrud Tamaki Professor and associate director of the UW's Jackson School of International Studies, chairs a capstone meeting for junior fellows of the school's Space Security Initiative Wednesday, June 8, at the University of Washington Club. From left, others are: Kristian Ulrichsen, affiliate professor of international studies; Alan Boyle, journalist with GeekWire; and John Thornquist, director of the Office of Aerospace for the Washington State Department of Commerce.

What are the policies of global rising powers regarding the use of orbital and outer space, and what are the implications of those policies for international cooperation? A capstone event for junior fellows of the Jackson School’s Space Security Initiative explored such questions in a recently with space industry, media and government representatives also on hand.


June 8, 2016

Harry Partch instruments, now at UW, featured on new Paul Simon album

Singer-songwriter Paul Simon's latest album, released June 3, includes music performed on instruments created by composer/inventor Harry Partch. Those instruments are now in residence at the UW School of Music.

Singer-songwriter Paul Simon recorded with instruments created by composer and inventor for a song on his well-received album, “Stranger to Stranger.” The instruments are now in residence at the UW.


June 3, 2016

Q&A: Peter Kahn on nature interaction, wildness in cities

photo of peter kahn

University of Washington professor Peter Kahn recently co-authored an opinion piece in the journal Science about the importance of interacting with nature in urban areas. UW Today asked Kahn a few more questions about the broader implications of his work.



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