UW News
The latest news from the UW
January 16, 2019
Three awards from US Department of Energy to fuel UW solar cell research
Three teams led by University of Washington researchers — Scott Dunham, Hugh Hillhouse and Devin MacKenzie — have received competitive awards totaling more than $2.3 million from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office for projects that will advance research and development in photovoltaic materials, which are an essential component of solar cells and impact the amount of sunlight that is converted into electricity.
Tag(s): Clean Energy Institute • clean or renewable energy • College of Engineering • Department of Chemical Engineering • Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering • Department of Materials Science & Engineering • Department of Mechanical Engineering • Devin MacKenzie • Hugh Hillhouse • Molecular Engineering & Sciences Institute • Scott Dunham • Washington Clean Energy Testbeds
ArtsUW Roundup: Guest Artist Recital, Preview and Opening of Rutherford and Son, and more
This week in the arts, partake in an exhibition opening with Danny Giles, the 2019 Jacob Lawrence Legacy Resident, attend the preview of a School of Drama production, and more! Guest Artist Recital Tony Cho, Piano and David Bowlin, Violin January 17, 7:30 PM| Brechmin Auditorium Oberlin Conservatory colleagues Tony Cho, piano, and David Bowlin, violin,…
Tag(s): ArtsUW • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Dance • Jacob Lawrence Gallery • School of Art + Art History + Design • School of Drama • School of Music
For 35 years, the Pacific Ocean has largely spared West’s mountain snow from effects of global warming
A new study has found that since the early 1980s, a pattern of ocean temperatures and atmospheric circulation has offset most of the impact of warming on the West’s mountain snowpack.
Tag(s): climate • climate change • College of the Environment • Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean and Ecosystem Studies • weather
UW opens Othello Commons in Southeast Seattle
The University of Washington today opened the doors to Othello-UW Commons, a new multifunctional partnership space in the heart of Southeast Seattle’s Othello neighborhood.
Tag(s): College of Education • College of the Environment • Continuum College • Evans School of Public Policy & Governance • Gates Foundation • School of Nursing • School of Public Health • School of Social Work • Undergraduate Academic Affairs • UW Alumni AssociationJanuary 15, 2019
Esports Arena & Gaming Lounge to open at University of Washington
Esports — the phenomenally popular world of competitive video games — soon will have a home at the University of Washington.
This spring, the UW’s Husky Union Building (HUB) will officially open the doors to the HUB Esports Arena & Gaming Lounge – a full-service, state-of-the-art gaming center that supports both casual and competitive gaming and virtual reality. The 1,000 square-foot space will serve as the epicenter between student communities, business communities and gaming culture in the Northwest.
Tag(s): Esports • HUB
Researchers can predict childhood social transitions
A new University of Washington study suggests that the children most apt to socially transition to the gender “opposite” their sex at birth are those who already demonstrate the strongest “cross-gender” identities, and that the transitions don’t appear to alter a child’s gender identity or preferences.
Tag(s): College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Psychology • Kristina OlsonJanuary 14, 2019
UW, partners reach milestone in program using robots to monitor world’s oceans
The UW is part of an international program that has revolutionized ocean measurements. This fall, the program made its 2 millionth measurement, reporting temperature and salinity in the top mile of the world’s oceans.
Tag(s): Alison Gray • College of the Environment • oceanography • robotics • School of Oceanography • Stephen Riser
Labor Archives of Washington, partners, to celebrate centennial of 1919 Seattle General Strike
The Labor Archives of Washington, housed in UW Libraries, will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 1919 Seattle General Strike with a series of events in coming weeks, as well as a new library exhibit on campus.
Tag(s): Conor Casey • Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies • James Gregory • Labor Archives of Washington • UW Libraries
Seattle bike share programs show infrequent helmet use, little disparity in access to bikes among neighborhoods
People riding free-floating bike share rentals in Seattle are wearing helmets infrequently, according to a new analysis conducted by University of Washington researchers. Only 20 percent of bike share riders wore helmets in the study, while more than 90 percent of cyclists wore helmets while riding their own bikes.
Different research on the free-floating bike share systems showed that bikes were usually available in all Seattle neighborhoods across economic, racial and ethnic lines. However, more bikes were located in more-advantaged neighborhoods.
Tag(s): School of Public Health • Stephen MooneyJanuary 10, 2019
Astronomers find signatures of a ‘messy’ star that made its companion go supernova
On Jan. 10 at the 2019 American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle, an international team of astronomers announced that they have identified the type of companion star that made its partner in a binary system, a carbon-oxygen white dwarf star, explode. Through repeated observations of SN 2015cp, a supernova 545 million light years away, the team detected hydrogen-rich debris that the companion star had shed prior to the explosion.
Tag(s): astronomy & astrophysics • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Astronomy • Melissa Graham
Evans School researchers study options for possible Washington public bank
If Washington state were to establish a public bank, what type of bank might work best? One that can provide targeted products and services to local governments across the state, says a new report by UW researchers from the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance.
Tag(s): Evans School of Public Policy & Governance • Hugh Spitzer • Justin MarloweJanuary 9, 2019
ARTSUW Roundup: Alonzo King Lines Ballet, Indigo Mist with Special Guest Bill Frisell, and more
This week in the arts, attend the first Critical Issues Lecture with Maria Nordman, go to a performance by UW Music faculty band, Indigo Mist, with renowned guitarist Bill Frisell, and more! Critical Issues Lecture Series: Maria Nordman January 10, 7:00 PM| Henry Art Gallery Maria Nordman, a German-American sculptor and conceptual artist, will deliver…
Tag(s): Henry Art Gallery • Meany Center for the Performing Arts • School of Art + Art History + Design • School of Music
Minority Ph.D. students in STEM fare better with clear expectations, acceptance
Women and underrepresented minorities in STEM fields are more likely to advance professionally, publish more research and secure postdoctoral and faculty positions if their institutional culture is welcoming and sets clear expectations, according to a study of hundreds of Ph.D. students at four top-tier California research universities.
Tag(s): Mark Richards
First smartphone app to detect opioid overdose and its precursors
UW researchers have developed a smartphone app that uses sonar to monitor someone’s breathing rate and sense when an opioid overdose has occurred.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine • Jacob Sunshine • Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering • School of Medicine • Shyam GollakotaJanuary 8, 2019
Triangulum Galaxy shows stunning face in detailed Hubble portrait
As part of a University of Washington-led project, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has produced a stunningly detailed portrait of the Triangulum Galaxy, displaying a full spiral face aglow with the light of nearly 25 million individually resolved stars.
Tag(s): astronomy & astrophysics • Benjamin Williams • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Astronomy • Julianne DalcantonJanuary 7, 2019
UW study: Long-term breastfeeding sheds light on whether an infant becomes right- or left-handed
Bottle feeding infants is associated with left-handedness, according to a new study from the University of Washington. The study found that the prevalence of left-handedness is lower among breastfed infants as compared to bottle-fed infants. This finding was identified in about 60,000 mother-infant pairs and accounted for known risk factors for handedness.
Tag(s): Phillipe Hujoel • School of Dentistry • School of Public HealthJanuary 2, 2019
UW mourns the death of Blake Nordstrom
Statements from University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce, director of athletics Jennifer Cohen and men’s rowing head coach Michael Callahan
The number of single male Magellanic penguins is rising at this breeding colony. Here’s why.
Female Magellanic penguins are more likely to die at sea as juveniles, which has caused a skewed sex ratio of nearly three adult males to every female, as well as population decline of more than 40 percent since 1987 at one of their largest breeding colonies — Punta Tombo in Argentina.
Tag(s): Center for Ecosystem Sentinels • College of Arts & Sciences • conservation • Dee Boersma • Department of Biology
Video: UW Husky football players mentor Seattle youth
Husky football players, including Myles Gaskin and JoJo McIntosh, mentor teens each week as part of a program hosted by the Yesler Community Center in Seattle.
Tag(s): athletes • Myles Gaskin • UW football
How economic theory and the Netflix Prize could make research funding more efficient
In a paper published Jan. 2 in PLOS Biology, two scientists at the University of Washington and North Carolina State University use the economic theory of contests to illustrate how the competitive grant-application system has made the pursuit of research funding inefficient and unsustainable — and that alternative methods, such as a partial lottery to award grants, could relieve pressure on professors and free up time for research.
Tag(s): Carl Bergstrom • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of BiologyDecember 24, 2018
New global migration estimates show rates proportionally steady since 1990, high rate of return migration
Two University of Washington scientists have unveiled a new statistical method for estimating migration flows between countries. They show that rates of migration are higher than previously thought, but also relatively stable, fluctuating between 1.1 and 1.3 percent of global population from 1990 to 2015. In addition, since 1990 approximately 45 percent of migrants have returned to their home countries, a much higher estimate than other methods.
Tag(s): Adrian Raftery • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Sociology • Department of Statistics • immigrationDecember 19, 2018
Researchers develop a new houseplant that can clean your home’s air
Researchers at the University of Washington have genetically modified a common houseplant to remove chloroform and benzene from the air around it.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering • Stuart StrandDecember 18, 2018
February’s big patch of open water off Greenland? Not global warming, says new analysis
New analysis shows that odd winds, not warming, caused the unusual patch of open water north of Greenland last February.
Tag(s): Applied Physics Laboratory • Axel Schweiger • polar science • Polar Science Center • sea ice
Salmon may lose the ability to smell danger as carbon emissions rise
New research shows that the powerful sense of smell Pacific salmon rely on for migration, finding food and avoiding predators might be in trouble as carbon emissions continue to be absorbed by our ocean.
Tag(s): Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences • Evan Gallagher • salmon • School of Public HealthDecember 17, 2018
American Talent Initiative shows increased college access for lower-income students
The American Talent Initiative, a nationwide alliance comprising the University of Washington and more than 100 other colleges and universities, has made significant progress in improving opportunities for low- and moderate-income students, according to a new report.
Tag(s): Ana Mari Cauce
UW Evans School study of Fauntleroy ferry service proposes improvements to technology, engagement
Suggested upgrades to technology, training and communication — and funding them appropriately — lie at the heart of recommendations to the state from UW Evans School researchers after a study of service at the Fauntleroy Ferry Terminal in West Seattle.
Tag(s): Alison Cullen • Evans School of Public Policy & Governance • Stephen Page
How a workshop about getting along became a story stoking division
A small study about a workshop to bring together students of different political persuasions found that workshop participants were able to better understand their fellow students as individuals, but their attitudes about opposing beliefs, in general, did not change.
Tag(s): College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Psychology • Jonathan Kanter • Katherine ManbeckDecember 14, 2018
Statement from UW President Ana Mari Cauce on Governor’s proposed 2019-2021 biennial budget
The following is a statement from University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce in response to Gov. Jay Inslee’s proposed 2019-2021 biennial budget
Tag(s): Ana Mari Cauce
UW glaciologist gets first look at NASA’s new measurements of ice sheet elevation
UW glaciologist Ben Smith shared a first look at the NASA ICESat-2 satellite’s view of Greenland and Antarctic glaciers at the American Geophysical Union’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C.
Tag(s): Applied Physics Laboratory • Benjamin Smith • College of the Environment • Department of Earth and Space SciencesDecember 13, 2018
Underwater sensors for monitoring sea life (and where to find them)
A UW team created a mechanical eye under the ocean’s surface that could live near renewable-energy sites and use a series of sensors to watch nearby animals. On Dec. 13, the researchers put the newest version of the AMP into the waters of Seattle’s Portage Bay for two weeks of preliminary testing before a more thorough analysis is conducted in Sequim, Washington.
Tag(s): Brian Polagye • College of Engineering • Department of Mechanical Engineering
Hark! UW talents — on page and disc — for the good Dawgs on your holiday shopping list
As the year comes to a close and festivities abound, some UW faculty creations can make great gifts for the thinking Dawg on your giving list.
Tag(s): Amaranth Borsuk • Applied Physics Laboratory • books • Charles Johnson • College of Arts & Sciences • College of Built Environments • Craig Sheppard • Cuong Vu • Dana Manalang • David Shields • Department of Architecture • Department of Biology • Department of English • Jackson School of International Studies • Jim Kenagy • Kathryn Rogers Merlino • Kenneth Pyle • Michael Honey • Michael Partington • Pimone Triplett • School of Music • University of Washington Press • UW Bothell • UW TacomaDecember 12, 2018
Arts Roundup: Visit the Henry Art Gallery, see Clotilde Jiménez’s exhibition, and attend the last event of the year at the Burke
End 2018 artfully by visiting the Henry Art Gallery, seeing Clotilde Jiménez’s “Apple of My Eye” before it closes, and ringing in the new year and at the same time – saying goodbye – to the old Burke Museum! Visit the Henry Art Gallery The Henry is internationally recognized for bold and challenging exhibitions, for pushing…
Tag(s): ArtsUW • Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture • College of Arts & Sciences • Henry Art Gallery • Jacob Lawrence Gallery • School of Art + Art History + Design
Teens get more sleep, show improved grades and attendance with later school start time, researchers find
In 2016, Seattle Public Schools pushed back the start times for the district’s 18 high schools by 55 minutes, from 7:50 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. And as hoped, teenagers used the extra time to sleep in.
Tag(s): circadian rhythms • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Biology • education • Horacio de la Iglesia
Attention, please! Anticipation of touch takes focus, executive skills
A study by the University of Washington and Temple University examines what happens in children’s brains when they anticipate a touch to the hand, and relates this brain activity to the executive functions the child demonstrates on other mental tasks.
Tag(s): Andrew Meltzoff • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Psychology • I-LABSDecember 11, 2018
What social stress in monkeys can tell us about human health
A new University of Washington-led study examines one key stress-inducing circumstance — the effects of social hierarchy — and how cells respond to the hormones that are released in response to that stress.
Tag(s): College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Psychology • Noah Snyder-Mackler
Researchers create first sensor package that can ride aboard bees
Farmers can already use drones to soar over huge fields and monitor temperature, humidity or crop health. But these machines need so much power to fly that they can’t get very far without needing a charge. Now, engineers at the University of Washington have created a sensing system that is small enough to ride aboard a bumblebee.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering • Department of Mechanical Engineering • Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering • Sawyer Fuller • Shyam Gollakota • Vikram IyerDecember 10, 2018
Ancient whale named for UW paleontologist Elizabeth Nesbitt
A new species of whale discovered in 33-million-year-old Oregon rock has been named for Elizabeth Nesbitt, a curator at the Burke Museum and faculty member in the UW’s Department of Earth and Space Sciences.
Tag(s): Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture • College of the Environment • Department of Earth and Space Sciences • Elizabeth Nesbitt • paleontology
Frank Hodge named dean of the Foster School of Business
Frank Hodge has been named the next Orin and Janet Smith dean of the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business, Provost Mark A. Richards announced today. His appointment, set to begin July 9, 2019, is subject to approval by the UW Board of Regents.
Tag(s): Foster School of Business • Frank Hodge
Q&A: New Washington Sea Grant director brings love of learning, experience across sectors
Russell Callender began as Washington Sea Grant’s new director this fall, and UW News sat down with him recently to learn more about what he hopes to bring to the organization.
Tag(s): Q&A • Russell Callender • Washington Sea GrantDecember 7, 2018
UW is top U.S. public institution for federal research expenditures
The University of Washington is the top public institution in the country when ranked by 2017 fiscal year (FY) federal research expenditures according to data recently released by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
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