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Administrative affairs | News releases | UW and the community | UW News blog

September 14, 2016

UW Osher Lifelong Learning Institute receives $1 million gift

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 of a $950,000 endowment and $50,000 bridge grant to support the ongoing work of OLLI-UW. It’s the second $1 million award the Foundation has given…

Environment | Honors and awards | Research | UW and the community | UW News blog

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

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.

News releases | Research

September 7, 2016

Feeling they are part of a group increased preschoolers’ interest, success in STEM

Cultivating young children’s interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics has become a leading educational priority, as experts predict that many future jobs will require substantial math and technology skills. Early education in STEM topics, as they’re known, is critical for boosting later success in school and attracting students to occupations in those fields. But little has been done to optimize STEM curriculum for preschoolers or help children seek out and enjoy STEM tasks. Now, a new study by University…

News releases | Social science

September 6, 2016

UW law professor named to United Nations working group on business and human rights

When law professor Anita Ramasastry began teaching at the University of Washington in 1996, she was working on an article about banks’ responsibilities around human rights, to the bemusement of her peers. The groundbreaking piece focused on the role of Swiss banks during World War II and the dormant accounts of Holocaust victims and their heirs — unusual territory for a law professor then. “At that time, this wasn’t a field of research and people thought it was a little…

Education | For UW employees | Social science | UW and the community | UW News blog

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.

Learning | UW and the community | UW News blog

August 30, 2016

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

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 in the University District — although it was only a short-lived endeavor. Shepard’s thesis project “Site 1121: Field Notes” centered around a Washington State Employee…

Learning | News releases | UW and the community

University of Washington and City of Auburn launch first Livable City Year partnership

The University of Washington has begun a yearlong partnership with the City of Auburn, under the new Livable City Year program. UW students and professors will work with the City of Auburn to advance the city’s goals for livability and sustainability throughout the upcoming academic year.

News releases | Research | Science | Technology | UW and the community

New discovery Proxima b is in host star’s habitable zone — but could it really be habitable?

The world’s attention is now on Proxima Centauri b, a possibly Earth-like planet about 4.22 light-years away. It’s in its star’s habitable zone — but could it in fact be habitable? If so, the planet evolved very different than Earth, say researchers at the University of Washington-based Virtual Planetary Laboratory.

News releases | Politics and government | Social science | UW and the community

August 25, 2016

Report explores factors that might attract children to marijuana edibles

A new report from the UW School of Law’s Cannabis Law and Policy Project identifies factors that make food attractive to children. Commissioned by the state Liquor and Cannabis Board, the report studied research on what makes food appeal to children and the role that marketing and branding play.

News releases | Research | Social science | Uncategorized

August 21, 2016

Is divorce seasonal? UW research shows biannual spike in divorce filings

To everything there is a season — even divorce, new research from University of Washington sociologists concludes. Associate sociology professor Julie Brines and doctoral candidate Brian Serafini found what is believed to be the first quantitative evidence of a seasonal, biannual pattern of filings for divorce. The researchers analyzed filings in Washington state between 2001 and 2015 and found that they consistently peaked in March and August, the periods following winter and summer holidays. Their research, presented Aug. 21 at…

News releases | Research | Social science | Technology

August 20, 2016

‘I miss you so much’: How Twitter is broadening the conversation on death and mourning

Death and mourning were largely considered private matters in the 20th century, with the public remembrances common in previous eras replaced by intimate gatherings behind closed doors in funeral parlors and family homes. But social media is redefining how people grieve, and Twitter in particular — with its ephemeral mix of rapid-fire broadcast and personal expression — is widening the conversation around death and mourning, two University of Washington sociologists say. In a paper presented Aug. 20 at the annual…

Education | Environment | Learning | UW and the community | UW News blog

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.

Science | UW and the community | UW News blog

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

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.

Administrative affairs | Official notices

Notice of possible rule making preproposal statement of inquiry

Reasons why rules on this subject may be needed and what they might accomplish: To update WAC 478-160-163, Waivers of tuition and fees, with waivers recently enacted through state legislation, and to make other amendments that update obsolete information sources or otherwise streamline administrative procedures.

News releases | Research | Social science

Study finds bias, disgust toward mixed-race couples

Interracial marriage has grown in the United States over the past few decades, and polls show that most Americans are accepting of mixed-race relationships. A 2012 study by the Pew Research Center found that interracial marriages in the U.S. had doubled between 1980 and 2010 to about 15 percent, and just 11 percent of respondents disapproved of interracial marriage. But new research from the University of Washington suggests that reported acceptance of interracial marriage masks deeper feelings of discomfort —…

Engineering | News releases | Research | Science | Technology

Interscatter communication enables first-ever implanted devices, smart contact lenses, credit cards that ‘talk’ Wi-Fi

“Interscatter” communication developed by UW engineers allows power-limited devices such as brain implants, contact lenses, credit cards and smaller wearable electronics to talk to everyday devices such as smartphones and watches.

News releases | Research | Science

UW research backs up ongoing efforts to protect the enigmatic Nautilus

University of Washington biologist Peter Ward’s body of research has helped policymakers recognize the impact nautiluses have on ocean ecosystems, as well as how they can — and cannot — replenish their numbers in the face of unrestricted, unregulated fishing. At a CITES meeting in September, Ward and his team hope nautiluses will get much-needed protections from trade and harvesting.

Engineering | News releases | Research | Science

Unearthing trackers of the past: UW computer scientists reveal the history of third-party web tracking

At the USENIX Security Conference in Austin, Texas, a team of University of Washington researchers on Aug. 12 presented the first-ever comprehensive analysis of third-party web tracking across three decades and a new tool, TrackingExcavator, which they developed to extract and analyze tracking behaviors on a given web page. They saw a four-fold increase in third-party tracking on top sites from 1996 to 2016, and mapped the growing complexity of trackers stretching back decades.

Arts and entertainment | For UW employees | Learning | Politics and government | UW and the community | UW News blog

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.