As the year draws to a close, we present highlights from video stories produced by UW News during 2021 — a year where the COVID-19 pandemic continued to impact our lives.
December 17, 2021
The latest news from the UW
December 16, 2021
Bias against Native Americans spikes when mascots are removed
New research led by the University of Washington shows how discontinuing a Native American mascot can stoke racism among a team’s surrounding community.
December 15, 2021
Despite cleaner air, pollution disparities for people of color remain across the US
UW researchers investigated disparities in exposure to six major air pollutants in 1990, 2000 and 2010 by comparing models of air pollution levels to census data. While overall pollutant concentrations have decreased since 1990, people of color are still more likely to be exposed to all six pollutants than white people, regardless of income level, across the continental United States.
December 14, 2021
Millions in savings from construction of UW’s Hans Rosling Center for Population Health to fund new research
Using project savings from the construction of the Hans Rosling Center for Population Health, the University of Washington will fund dozens of new research projects through the Population Health Initiative’s interdisciplinary grant program. The new grants will fall into three tiers, with funding from $20,000 to $200,000 per award. “We are delighted to have the funding capacity to be able to support the launch of roughly 75 innovative and interdisciplinary projects over the next two years,” said Ali Mokdad, chief…
Nonprofits show resilience and initiative during second year of pandemic
A new study from the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance at the University of Washington explores not only how the pandemic economy impacted donations to, and the operations of, charitable organizations, but also how nonprofits responded to the simultaneous call for racial justice.
December 13, 2021
Video: Modeling how debris affects buildings during a tsunami
Researchers are modeling how tsunami debris pushes on a building — either by hitting it or getting lodged on it and creating a dam. They are also looking for patterns in the way floating debris moves around and against rigid shapes. The information may help in designing buildings in coastal communities that can better withstand damage by floating objects in tsunami events.
Artificial intelligence can create better lightning forecasts
New research shows that machine learning — computer algorithms that improve themselves without direct programming by humans — can be used to improve forecasts for lightning, one of the most destructive forces of nature.
December 9, 2021
3D imaging method may help doctors better determine prostate cancer aggressiveness
A team led by the UW has developed a new, non-destructive method that images entire 3D biopsies instead of a slice for determining prostate cancer aggressiveness. The 3D images provided more information than a 2D image — specifically, details about the tree-like structure of the glands throughout the tissue.
Video: Peer Health Educators help students meet life’s challenges
Who do you talk to when you have a problem? For a student, it’s most likely a friend. Because young people tend to talk first to someone in their peer group, UW’s LiveWell created a Peer Health Education program where trained students teach other students about taking care of themselves and each other.
ArtSci Roundup: Diana Al-Hadid: Archive of Longings, Burke Museum Exhibitions, and More
Through public events and exhibitions, connect with the UW community every week! Relax toward the end of the quarter by visiting on-campus museums and watching recorded events. Many of these opportunities are streamed through Zoom. All UW faculty, staff, and students have access to Zoom Pro via UW-IT. Diana Al-Hadid: Archive of Longings Through February 6 | Henry Art Gallery Diana Al-Hadid’s work explores the interplay between the female body and the European art canon; Syrian, Muslim, and immigrant histories and…
December 8, 2021
‘Would you like a little ice with your exoplanet?’ For Earth-like worlds, that may be a tall order
A team at the University of Washington and the University of Bern has computationally simulated more than 200,000 hypothetical Earth-like worlds all in orbit of stars like our sun. As they report in a paper accepted to the Planetary Science Journal and submitted Dec. 6 to the preprint site arXiv, on these simulated exoplanets, one common feature of present-day Earth was often lacking: partial ice coverage. About 90% of these potentially habitable hypothetical worlds lacked partial surface ice like polar caps.
Simulations show how earthquake early warning might be improved for magnitude-9 earthquakes
Seismologists used 30 detailed simulations of magnitude-9 slips on the Cascadia Subduction Zone to evaluate how the ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system would perform in these events. Results show the alerts generally work well, but suggest that lower alert thresholds provide more timely warnings over the full area that will feel the shaking.
December 6, 2021
UW Law’s Angélica Cházaro named one of six ‘Freedom Scholars’ for work on immigration, abolition
Angélica Cházaro is one of six researchers around the country to be named a “Freedom Scholar” by the Marguerite Casey Foundation and Group Health Foundation.
December 3, 2021
Killer whales lingering in increasingly ice-free Arctic Ocean
Underwater microphones show that killer whales, or orcas, have spent more time in the Arctic Ocean in recent years. The increasingly ice-free Arctic Ocean may give orcas more opportunity to hunt for prey off the west and north coasts of Alaska.
Hans Rosling Center wins state, national architectural design and project awards
The Hans Rosling Center for Population Health has won top awards in 2021 from state and national design and construction associations for both its architectural design and unique project delivery approach. The building was designed by The Miller Hull Partnership and the general contractor was Lease Crutcher Lewis. The Design Build Institute of America in November gave the Rosling Center its Award of Excellence in the Education Building category, the award for Best in Design and the culminating Project of…
December 1, 2021
ArtSci Roundup: 9th Annual Ladino Day, CarolFest, and More
Through public events and exhibitions, connect with the UW community every week! This week, attend concerts, lectures, and more. Many of these opportunities are streamed through Zoom. All UW faculty, staff, and students have access to Zoom Pro via UW-IT. Gospel Choir December 6, 7:30 PM | Meany Hall Phyllis Byrdwell, School of Music alumni and Minister of Music at Mount Zion Baptist Church of Seattle leads the 100-voice gospel choir in songs of praise, jubilation, and other expressions of the Gospel tradition….
November 23, 2021
ArtSci Roundup: “Working, Together” Seminar Series, First Wednesday Concert Series: UW Baroque Ensemble, and More
Through public events and exhibitions, connect with the UW community every week! This week, attend concerts, exhibitions, and more. Many of these opportunities are streamed through Zoom. All UW faculty, staff, and students have access to Zoom Pro via UW-IT. Roundtable – Challenging Hegemony: Taiwan, the Baltic, and the EU November 30, 7:00 PM | Online Lithuania’s recent decision to accept a Taiwan Representative Office has created outsized reverberations across Europe, Asia, and the world. With the decision to utilize the name “Taiwan,”…
November 22, 2021
Video: UW students build purifiers that can remove virus particles, other pollutants
A UW class that normally is about air pollution has pivoted to focus on another airborne health hazard — coronavirus aerosols. As part of the class project, students are designing and building air purifiers and testing how effective they are.
Nearly 50 UW-affiliated experts included on Highly Cited Researchers 2021 list
The University of Washington is proud to announce that 50 UW faculty and researchers have been named on the annual Highly Cited Researchers 2021 list from Clarivate.
Kids, teens believe girls aren’t interested in computer science, study shows
Children as young as age 6 develop stereotypes that girls aren’t interested in computer science and engineering, according to new research from the University of Washington and the University of Houston.
November 18, 2021
ArtSci Roundup: Astria Suparak: Asian futures, without Asians, Jazz Innovations, and More
Through public events and exhibitions, connect with the UW community every week! This week, attend lectures, exhibitions, and more. Many of these opportunities are streamed through Zoom. All UW faculty, staff, and students have access to Zoom Pro via UW-IT. Astria Suparak: Asian futures, without Asians November 30, 6:00 PM | Online What does it mean when so many white filmmakers envision futures inflected by Asian culture, but devoid of actual Asian people? This is the central question posed by artist…
November 17, 2021
A chatbot can help doctors better understand incoming emergency department patients’ social needs
A team led by the UW developed a chatbot that could ask emergency department visitors about social needs, including housing, food, access to medical care and physical safety.
UW’s Interrupting Privilege expands with new website, celebration
Not long after the 2016 general election, faculty at the University of Washington’s Center for Communication, Difference, and Equity (CCDE) recognized a need for students, especially BIPOC students, to talk about their experience of race.
November 11, 2021
Video: UW pauses to recognize those with military service
The University of Washington’s annual Veterans Day ceremony, held on Thursday at the Medal of Honor Memorial near Red Square, featured music by the Husky Marching Band and a formation of UW Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) cadets.
Deforestation, climate change linked to more worker deaths and unsafe conditions
Outdoor workers in the world’s lower-latitude tropical forests may face a greater risk of heat-related deaths and unsafe working conditions because of deforestation and climate warming, according to a study led by The Nature Conservancy, the University of Washington and Indonesia’s Mulawarman University. In the study, researchers found that increased temperatures of 0.95 C (1.7 F) in the deforested areas of Berau Regency, Indonesia, between 2002 and 2018 were linked to roughly 118 additional deaths in 2018, and 20 additional…
November 10, 2021
ArtSci Roundup: Political Science Faculty Panel: Is Democracy Dead?, Benaroya Lecture, and More
Through public events and exhibitions, connect with the UW community every week! This week, attend lectures, exhibitions, and more. Many of these opportunities are streamed through Zoom. All UW faculty, staff, and students have access to Zoom Pro via UW-IT. Sharing Indigenous Knowledge Across Boundaries: Fishing Sovereignty in Alaska and British Columbia November 16, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM | Online Pacific herring are foundational to the lifeways of First Nations and Indigenous communities up and down the coast of British…
Public notice: Determination of non-significance for Interdisciplinary Engineering Building
Pursuant to the provisions of WAC 197-11-340 and WAC 478-324-140, the University of Washington hereby provides public notice of: Determination of non-significance
Public notice: Determination of non-significance for IMA pool expansion
Pursuant to the provisions of WAC 197-11-340 and WAC 478-324-140, the University of Washington hereby provides public notice of this determination of non-significance.
New method shows today’s warming ‘unprecedented’ over past 24,000 years
A new effort to reconstruct Earth’s climate since the last ice age, about 24,000 years ago, highlights the main drivers of climate change, and how far out of bounds human activity has pushed the climate system.
November 8, 2021
US Department of Education renews five-year, $1.9M grant for University of Washington Educational Talent Search program
As students resume in-person classroom education, University of Washington staff with the Educational Talent Search (ETS) program also move back into 14 partner middle and high schools in six Washington school districts, helping them gain the skills and confidence to pursue a college degree.
Creating a supportive environment for veterans, UW pauses to recognize those with military service
Arriving at the University of Washington’s Seattle campus, Brandon Green had a familiar feeling of disorientation.
Green, 33, who transferred to the UW from Everett Community College after spending seven years as a U.S. Army medic, had travelled the U.S. and the globe, including two tours in Afghanistan. He’d undergone rigorous training and knew what it was like to deploy to foreign, often dangerous places.
Even with all that experience, college life was different.
Political ads during the 2020 presidential election cycle collected personal information and spread misleading information
University of Washington researchers looked at almost 56,000 political ads from almost 750 news sites between September 2020 and January 2021.
November 5, 2021
From the land of the Reindeer People to Red Square: Teacher brings the Mongolian language to the UW
Azjargal Amarsanaa, a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant, is teaching the Mongolian language to UW students for the 2021-22 academic year. It’s the first chance UW students have had to learn Mongolian in 15 years.
ArtSci Roundup: DXARTS Fall Concert: Real & Imagined Soundworlds, The Importance of Being Earnest, and More
Through public events and exhibitions, connect with the UW community every week! This week, attend lectures, concerts, and more. Many of these opportunities are streamed through Zoom. All UW faculty, staff, and students have access to Zoom Pro via UW-IT. DXARTS Fall Concert: Real & Imagined Soundworlds November 9, 7:30 PM | Meany Hall–Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater The Department of Digital Art and Experimental Media (DXARTS) is pleased to present a program of the very latest holographic sound works from DXARTS composers…
November 4, 2021
Video: Standard time is better for us, UW expert says
On Sunday, Nov. 7 we switch from daylight saving time to standard time. A University of Washington expert in circadian rhythms says that’s a good thing.
November 2, 2021
UW wins funding for ‘clinic’ to help community navigate technology
When people need legal advice but can’t afford a lawyer, they often turn to legal clinics where law students can offer representation and advocacy. When community organizations need advice on technology, they soon will be able to turn to a similar type of clinic at the University of Washington.
November 1, 2021
UW receives $2M from National Science Foundation to design an ‘adaptable society’
A team led by the University of Washington has received a nearly $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to further research into how urban societal systems can be organized to be both efficient and resilient.
October 29, 2021
UW oceanographer will study how glacial particles remove CO2 from atmosphere
An oceanographer at the University of Washington is part of a new project to study how glacial dust, created as glaciers grind the rock beneath them into a powder, reacts with seawater to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
ArtSci Roundup: Global Month
November is UW Global Month! UW Global Month celebrates our University’s global impact and community. During the month of November, we highlight the connections and relationships the UW has all over the world and the impact of our University’s global engagement. Many of these opportunities are streamed through Zoom. All UW faculty, staff, and students have access to Zoom Pro via UW-IT. Converge: Virtual Series Ongoing Without borders, registration fees or the challenges of travel, last year’s “Convirtual” created a historic gathering…
How public pension funds can help address climate change
Ahead of the U.N. Climate Change Conference that begins Oct. 31, the University of Washington’s Michael McCann and Riddhi Mehta-Neugebauer talk about the extensive investment of public pension funds — the retirement plan of millions of U.S. workers — in fossil fuels.