Environment
November 15, 2017
Are petite poplars the future of biofuels? UW studies say yes
![small poplars](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/11/04133740/Short-rotation-coppice-e1510688868425-150x150.jpg)
A University of Washington team is trying to make poplar a viable competitor in the biofuels market by testing the production of younger poplar trees that could be harvested more frequently — after only two or three years — instead of the usual 10- to 20-year cycle.
What counts as nature? It all depends
![The environment we grow up with informs how we define "nature," UW psychology professor Peter Kahn says. Encounters with truly wild places inspire people to preserve them.](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/11/04133712/waterfall-150x150.jpg)
Think, for a moment, about the last time you were out in nature. Were you in a city park? At a campground? On the beach? In the mountains? Now consider: What was this place like in your parents’ time? Your grandparents’? In many cases, the parks, beaches and campgrounds of today are surrounded…
November 6, 2017
‘Smart’ paper can conduct electricity, detect water
![](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/10/04134124/Nano-Paper_Dichiara_2017_10_02_14151-150x150.jpg)
A University of Washington team wants to simplify the process for discovering detrimental water leaks by developing “smart” paper that can sense the presence of water.
November 2, 2017
Washington Sea Grant receives $1.1 million in federal funding for aquaculture research
![harvesting oysters](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/11/04133942/Shellfish-farming-in-Washington_Photo-by-M.-Barish.-e1509987298546-150x150.jpg)
Three federal grants announced this week will provide total funding of $1.1 million to Washington Sea Grant, based at the University of Washington’s College of the Environment, for research that will sustainably further shellfish and finfish aquaculture in the state
October 23, 2017
50 simulations of the ‘Really Big One’ show how a 9.0 Cascadia earthquake could play out
![colored map of subduction zone](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/10/04134247/37767264176_b346a6940e_o-150x150.jpg)
The largest number yet of detailed simulations for how a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake might play out provides a clearer picture of what the region can expect when the fault unleashes a 9.0 earthquake.
October 20, 2017
Mountain glaciers shrinking across the West
![aerial view of Mount Rainier with red zones](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/10/04134304/19700915_ned1_2003_adj_warp_20160909-20160914_DEM_8m_trans-tile-0_dz_eul_shpclip_fig_sm-150x150.jpg)
A satellite technique provides a new way to monitor the status of more than 1,200 mountain glaciers in the lower 48 states.
October 9, 2017
Paul Bodin named interim director of Pacific Northwest Seismic Network
![photo of Paul Bodin](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/10/04134542/Paul-Bodin-528x528-150x150.jpg)
Paul Bodin, a UW seismologist and manager of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, has been named interim director of the network that monitors earthquakes and volcanoes in Washington and Oregon.
October 5, 2017
Northwest climate science community gathers Oct. 9-11 in Tacoma
![poster for town hall event](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/10/04134614/NWCC_TownHall_2Oct17-150x150.jpg)
The eighth annual Northwest Climate Conference will take place in Tacoma, and begins with a free public discussion featuring UW experts on Monday evening.
October 4, 2017
Study points to win-win for spotted owls and forest management
![spotted owls](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/10/04134622/Spotted-Owl-pair-150x150.jpg)
A new study has found that cover in tall trees is the key habitat requirement for the spotted owl, not total canopy cover. It indicated that spotted owls largely avoid cover created by stands of shorter trees.
September 21, 2017
Scott Montgomery makes case for nuclear power in new book ‘Seeing the Light’
!["Seeing the Light: The Case for Nuclear Power in the 21st Century," by the UW's Scott L. Montgomery with Thomas Graham Jr., was published in September by Cambridge University Press. Story is a Q and A with Montgomery.](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/09/04134745/2-seeing-the-light_cropped-150x150.jpg)
Scott L. Montgomery of the UW Jackson School of International Studies discusses his new book, “Seeing the Light: The Case for Nuclear power in the 21st Century.”
Hacking a pressure sensor to track gradual motion along marine faults
![closeup of instrument tip](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/09/04134759/IMG_1930-150x150.jpg)
University of Washington oceanographers are working with a local company to develop a simple new technique that could track seafloor movement in earthquake-prone coastal areas.
September 20, 2017
Wave Glider surfs across stormy Drake Passage in Antarctica
![yellow board on ship deck](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/09/04134823/WaveGlider2-150x150.jpg)
A hardy ocean drone made a first-ever attempt to surf across Antarctica’s stormy Drake Passage gathering data about ocean mixing.
September 18, 2017
Catching a diversity of fish species — instead of specializing — means more stable income for fishers
![](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2011/01/04211628/sustainablefisheries5-150x150.jpg)
Researchers analyzed nearly 30 years of revenue and permitting records for individuals fishing in Alaskan waters and tracked how their fishing choices, in terms of permits purchased and species caught, influenced their year-to-year income volatility.
September 14, 2017
Old fish few and far between under fishing pressure
![head of old halibut fish](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/09/04134902/Halibut-Andrea-Pokrzywinski-150x150.jpg)
A new study by University of Washington scientists has found that, for dozens of fish populations around the globe, old fish are greatly depleted — mainly because of fishing pressure. The paper, published online Sept. 14 in Current Biology, is the first to report that old fish are missing in many populations around the world.
September 13, 2017
Climate change challenges the survival of fish across the world
![john day river](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/09/04134924/John-Day-River-150x150.jpg)
Climate change will force many amphibians, mammals and birds to move to cooler areas outside their normal ranges, provided they can find space and a clear trajectory among our urban developments and growing cities. But what are the chances for fish to survive as climate change continues to warm waters around the world? University…
September 7, 2017
Ship exhaust makes oceanic thunderstorms more intense
![lightning over dark sea](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/09/04135058/strait_of_malacca_sky_clouds_lightning_storm_thunderstorm_aircraft_carrier_ship-1128605-150x150.jpg)
More than a decade of lightning strikes over the Indian Ocean shows for the first time that ship exhaust along major shipping routes alters thunderstorm intensity.
Land-sea experiment will track earthquakes, volcanoes along Alaska Peninsula
![map of Alaska Peninsula](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/09/04135049/aacse_31may17-150x150.jpg)
The National Science Foundation is funding the largest marine seismic-monitoring effort yet along the Alaska Peninsula, a region with frequent and diverse earthquake and volcanic activity. Involving aircraft and ships, the new Alaska Amphibious Community Seismic Experiment will be led by Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, with partners at the University of Washington and…
Q&A | Sanne Knudsen: Consumers need more protection from chemicals and pesticides
![Regulation of chemicals and pesticides effectively leave it to consumers to manage their own risk of exposure, writes Sanne Knudsen, a University of Washington associate professor of law.](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/09/04135134/smokestack-pollution-150x150.jpg)
Sanne Knudsen was an undergraduate in Chicago when she got her first close-up look at environmental justice. As an environmental engineering student at Northwestern University, Knudsen answered an attorney’s call for volunteers to study several neighborhoods on Chicago’s South Side, communities that had endured more than their share of pollution and exposure to chemicals….
August 31, 2017
Q&A: How Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and Yellowstone National Park are confronting climate change
![barn with mountains in the back](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/08/04135216/Barns_grand_tetons-150x150.jpg)
A new book focuses on climate change risks in the Northern Rocky Mountains, and how managers of public lands can prepare.
Record-low 2016 Antarctic sea ice due to ‘perfect storm’ of tropical, polar conditions
![map of Antarctica](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/08/04135310/NDseaice_pattern-150x150.png)
This exceptional, sudden nosedive in Antarctic sea ice last year was due to a unique one-two punch from atmospheric conditions both in the tropical Pacific Ocean and around the South Pole.
August 24, 2017
Scientists to create digital encyclopedia of 3-D vertebrate specimens
![snake scan](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/08/04135404/Heterodon_platyrhinos-150x150.jpg)
A $2.5 million National Science Foundation grant will daylight thousands of specimens from their museum shelves by CT scanning 20,000 vertebrates and making these data-rich, 3-D images available online to researchers, educators, students and the public. The University of Washington is a partner institution contributing most of the fish and bat scans.
August 21, 2017
Native American youth launch high-altitude balloons for unique perspective on solar eclipse
![balloon launch](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/08/04135527/20170821_ESS_SOLAR-ECLIPSE_01223-150x150.jpg)
While many people across the country donned viewing glasses and prepared to watch Monday’s solar eclipse, a group of 100 teenagers from tribes across the Pacific Northwest launched balloons thousands of feet into the air, gaining a novel perspective of the eclipse — and the chance to send meaningful artifacts to the edge of space during a memorable moment in history.
August 16, 2017
Modern genetic sequencing tools give clearer picture of how corals are related
![](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/08/04135742/Dimond_in_Belize-150x150.jpg)
As corals face threats from warming oceans, a new study uses modern genetic-sequencing tools to help reveal the relationships between three similar-looking corals.
August 14, 2017
Probiotics help poplar trees clean up Superfund sites
![trees in field](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/08/04135800/poplar-4-150x150.jpg)
Researchers from the University of Washington and several small companies have conducted the first large-scale experiment on a Superfund site using poplar trees fortified with a probiotic — or natural microbe — to clean up groundwater contaminated with trichloroethylene, or TCE.
August 10, 2017
Researchers, students on annual expedition to maintain internet-connected deep-sea observatory
![student working on deck](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/08/04135902/katie_sm.20170729_102318_lj01a_med-150x150.jpg)
The annual maintenance cruise for the Pacific Northwest’s deep-sea observatory continues through Aug. 29. Two dozen students will participate, and more than 120 ocean instruments will get their yearly checkup.
August 7, 2017
UW to host Interior Department’s Northwest Climate Science Center
![center logo](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/08/04135910/nwscs-150x122.jpg)
The University of Washington is the new host for the federally funded Northwest Climate Science Center, a consortium that supports climate-adaptation research in the Northwest.
July 31, 2017
Earth likely to warm more than 2 degrees this century
![bar chart](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/07/04135950/temperature_projections-150x150.jpg)
A new UW statistical study shows only 5 percent chance that Earth will warm less than 2 degrees, what many see as a “tipping point” for climate, by the end of this century.
July 27, 2017
UW building underwater robots to study oceans around Antarctica
![people looking at float](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/07/04140230/Riser_Lab-1156-150x150.jpg)
Oceanographers are building swimming robots to carry out an ambitious mission gathering climate data from one of Earth’s most challenging locations: the icy water that surrounds Antarctica.
July 25, 2017
Could spraying particles into marine clouds help cool the planet?
![ship that sprays clouds](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2013/12/04190252/cloud-brightening-ship-150x150.jpg)
A first test of humans’ ability to modify clouds would help explain the behavior of clouds and aerosols, while also testing a possible future climate emergency measure.
July 17, 2017
Bottom-trawling techniques leave different traces on the seabed
![boat with net](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/07/04140331/Sea-Ocean-Boat-Sky-Fishing-Ship-Water-Trawler-1761912-e1500319140333-150x150.jpg)
Bottom trawling techniques are not all created equal. The most common, otter trawling, removes about 6 percent of the animal and plant life from the seabed, while other methods remove closer to one third.
June 29, 2017
UW oceanography senior finds plastic microfibers are common on Puget Sound beaches
![person sitting on sand](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/06/04140537/SedimentCollection-150x150.jpg)
A UW undergraduate in oceanography sampled tiny pieces of plastic on 12 Puget Sound beaches. She found that plastic fragments are widespread, and include some surprising sources.
June 27, 2017
Distant earthquakes can cause underwater landslides
![flow diagram](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/06/04140622/Image-1-turbidity-flow-model-150x150.jpg)
New University of Washington research finds large earthquakes can trigger underwater landslides thousands of miles away, weeks or months after the quake occurs.
June 26, 2017
The New York Times recognizes UW student policy recommendations
![photo of the four team members](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/06/04140641/NYT-competition-150x150.jpg)
Seeking to protect coastal communities from these devastating impacts, an interdisciplinary team of UW students authored a policy case for lawmakers. Their case won the inaugural APRU-New York Times Asia-Pacific Case Competition, besting submissions from 31 universities across the Americas, Asia and Australasia
June 1, 2017
Scientists launch global agenda to curb social and human rights abuses in the seafood sector
![fishing boats in thailand](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/06/04141019/P1060081-150x150.jpg)
As the United Nations Oceans Conference convenes in New York, a new paper calls on marine scientists to focus on social issues such as human rights violations in the seafood industry
Video shows invasive lionfish feasting on new Caribbean fish species
![the ember goby](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/06/04141038/35020231985_c3929fcc9c_z-150x150.jpg)
Researchers from the University of Washington and Smithsonian Institution have reported the first observed case of lionfish preying upon a fish species that had not yet been named. Their results, published May 25 in PLOS ONE, may indicate an uncertain future for other fish found in the largely unexplored deep-ocean coral reefs.
May 31, 2017
Support for tidal energy is high among Washington residents
![Puget Sound in Washington state.](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/05/04141134/Puget_Sound_and_Olympic_Mountains_-_panoramio-150x150.jpg)
A new University of Washington study finds that people who believe climate change is a problem and see economic, environmental and/or social benefits to using tidal energy are more likely to support such projects. Also, connecting pilot projects to the electricity grid is an important factor in garnering public support.
May 23, 2017
Wolves need space to roam to control expanding coyote populations
![gray wolf](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/05/04141337/gray-wolf-150x150.jpg)
Wolves and other top predators need large ranges to be able to control smaller predators whose populations have expanded to the detriment of a balanced ecosystem, a new study in Nature Communications finds.
May 22, 2017
Weathering of rocks a poor regulator of global temperatures
![river flowing through mountain valley](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/05/04141414/tibet_pixabay-150x150.jpg)
Evidence from the age of the dinosaurs to today shows that chemical weathering of rocks is less sensitive to global temperature, and may depend on the steepness of the surface. The results call into question the role of rocks in setting our planet’s temperature over millions of years.
May 18, 2017
Seattle seawall’s novel fish features are a potential model for the world
![finished seawall](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/05/04141444/16249299978_361b970e04_k-150x150.jpg)
As tourists and residents visit Seattle’s downtown waterfront, it may not be immediately apparent they are walking on arguably the largest, most ambitious urban seawall project in the world that prioritizes habitat for young fish and the invertebrates they feed on.
May 17, 2017
Earth’s atmosphere more chemically reactive in cold climates
![researcher in lab wearing parka and holding tube of ice](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2017/05/04141531/Becky_with_IceCore-150x150.jpg)
A study of a Greenland ice core shows that during large climate swings, chemically reactive oxidants shift in a different direction than expected, which means we need to rethink what controls these molecules in our air.
Previous page Next page