UW News

In the Field


December 13, 2024

In the Field: UW Oceanographers and undergrads pursue tiny viral prize in Puget Sound waters

people on ship with two tanks filled with water in foreground

UW oceanographer Robert Morris and a collaborator at UCLA are going out with students to collect the most abundant bacteria in the oceans to understand how its relationship with marine viruses changes depending on the place or the season. They leave Dec. 16 aboard UW School of Oceanography’s small research vessel, the RV Rachel Carson.


September 13, 2024

In the Field: Understanding the impact of Arctic militarization on Indigenous communities

An aerial view of Tromsø, Norway.

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.


May 28, 2024

In the Field: UW researcher headed to Alaska to study factors that lead to permafrost thaw and to educate foster care youth

In the foreground is a section of a tree with pinecones on it. The tree and pinecones are covered in frost. Behind the tree is a forest. There's a boardwalk going straight through the middle of the picture. The sun is shining in the background.

UW doctoral student Joel Eklof has been investigating which environmental factors contribute to permafrost thaw and the release of methane into the atmosphere. For years, Eklof has traveled to a field site southwest of Fairbanks, Alaska.


April 4, 2024

In the Field: UW researchers traveling to capture total solar eclipse

orange orb on black background

Baptiste Journaux, a UW faculty member in Earth and space sciences, and four graduate students will travel to Arkansas on Monday to view the total solar eclipse. They will use a special telescope to capture images of solar features that can be viewed most clearly during an eclipse. 


November 16, 2023

In the Field: Tracking seismic clues in one of the driest places on Earth

researcher bends over using rock hammer with desert in background

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.


August 9, 2023

In the Field: UW team to spend six weeks visiting deep-ocean observatory

ship by dock in morning sun

Twenty-five undergraduates are among the participants on a 41-day cruise off the Oregon coast aboard the UW’s large research vessel, the R/V Thomas G. Thompson. Principal investigator Deborah Kelley, professor of oceanography, answers questions about the expedition to visit and maintain the cabled ocean observatory.