UW News
The latest news from the UW
December 15, 2015
Forefront launches suicide prevention effort in three rural Washington counties
Suicide is a tough issue to broach. How could an adult know if a child in the community might be suicidal and when to intervene? Is it appropriate to ask a friends or colleagues if they’re considering suicide? If someone is in crisis, what’s the best way to respond? Forefront: Innovations in Suicide Prevention hopes…
Tag(s): Forefront • School of Social WorkDecember 14, 2015
UW Board of Regents approves new Master of Science in Data Science for professionals
The UW will offer a new Master of Science in Data Science program to provide students with advanced technical expertise in managing, modeling and visualizing big data to meet the growing needs of industry and research.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering • UW Professional & Continuing Education
Seattle’s Ballard is ripe for green-space restoration, new report says
A University of Washington graduate student saw green-starved Ballard as an opportunity to call attention to areas in the neighborhood that have restoration potential. Her new report, the “Ballard Green Spaces Project,” identifies 55 sites that could be restored as natural areas for people and wildlife, increasing the neighborhood’s total amount of accessible green spaces.
Tag(s): James Fridley • Kern Ewing • School of Environmental and Forest Sciences
History meets geography: James Gregory’s collaborative digital project tracks key 20th century social movements
UW historian James Gregory’s new collaborative digital project, “Mapping American Social Movements through the 20th Century” uses data visualization and interactive maps to depict the progress of various social movements — with more to come.
Tag(s): College of Arts & Sciences • Department of History • James Gregory • Pacific Northwest Labor and Civil Rights ProjectsDecember 10, 2015
Trees either hunker down or press on in a drying and warming western U.S. climate
Two University of Washington researchers have uncovered details of the radically divergent strategies that two common tree species employ to cope with drought in southwestern Colorado. As they report in a new paper in the journal Global Change Biology, one tree species shuts down production and conserves water, while the other alters its physiology to continue growing and using water.
Tag(s): climate change • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Biology • Janneke Hille Ris LambersDecember 9, 2015
Arts Roundup: UW Symphony, Maker:Market – and Handel’s ‘Messiah’
The School of Music wraps up the quarter with four back-to-back days of events, including the Wind Ensemble, Symphonic and Campus Bands, UW Symphony, and two performances of Handel’s “Messiah.” There are still a few days left to catch the School of Drama’s production of “Loot” or visit the Jacob Lawrence Gallery for “Toward a…
Tag(s): ArtsUW • Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture • Jacob Lawrence Gallery • School of Art + Art History + Design • School of Drama • School of Music
Iceland volcano’s eruption shows how sulfur particles influence clouds
The long, slow 2014 eruption of Iceland’s Bardarbunga volcano offers a testbed to show how sulfur emissions, from volcanoes or humans, act to brighten clouds and reflect more sunlight.
Tag(s): climate change • College of the Environment • Dennis Hartmann • Department of Atmospheric and Climate Science
Design meets health: UW College of Built Environments, School of Public Health chosen for national architect association’s design and research consortium
The University of Washington College of Built Environments and School of Public Health have been selected as part of a national initiative seeking to translate research on how design impacts public health into architectural practice. The two UW schools have been selected to join the American Institute of Architects’ multi-school Design & Health Research Consortium….
December 8, 2015
Hour of Code: UW President Ana Mari Cauce gets schooled in coding
University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce joined a small group of UW students Monday morning to get a crash course in coding as part of Code.org‘s Hour of Code event during Computer Science Education Week. Cauce worked with Sukhdeep Singh, a freshman at UW who hopes to double major in business and computer science, in the Hour of Code Monday….
Treasured faculty member and theater professional, Sarah Nash Gates, loses battle with cancer
The College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Washington is saddened to lose one of its most prominent faculty members and a longtime leader in the Seattle theater community, Sarah Nash Gates. Gates passed away on Friday evening, December 4, surrounded by family and close friends.
Tag(s): Sarah Nash Gates • School of Drama
Culture wars, Christianity at heart of UW political scientist Mark Smith’s book ‘Secular Faith’
Mark A. Smith is a University of Washington professor of political science and adjunct professor of comparative religion. He is the author of “Secular Faith: How Culture Has Trumped Religion in American Politics,” published in September by University of Chicago Press. He answered a few questions about his book for UW Today. What’s the concept…
Tag(s): books • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Political Science • Mark A. Smith • Q&ADecember 7, 2015
What makes Tom Hanks look like Tom Hanks?
UW researchers have reconstructed 3-D models of celebrities such as Tom Hanks from large Internet photo collections. The model can deliver speeches that the real actor never performed – one step toward developing fully interactive digital personas of people from family or historic photo collections.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • Ira Kemelmacher-Shlizerman • Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering • Steve SeitzDecember 4, 2015
UW Sephardic Studies Program holds third annual Ladino Day festivities Dec. 6
The University of Washington Sephardic Studies Program will host its third annual International Ladino Day, celebrating Sephardic language and culture, in a free event at 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6, in Room 130 of Kane Hall. The event will be followed by a kosher reception. This year’s featured speakers are members of Los Ladineros, a…
UW project focuses on fines and fees that create ‘prisoners of debt’
Criminals are meant to pay their debts to society through sentencing, but a different type of court-imposed debt can tie them to the criminal justice system for life and impact their ability to move forward with their lives. Though debtors’ prisons were eliminated in the United States almost two centuries ago, a modern-day version exists…
Tag(s): Alexes Harris • College of Arts & Sciences • criminal justice • Department of SociologyDecember 3, 2015
Award honors hundreds of citizen scientists who search for Washington’s rarest plants
Each year, hundreds of volunteers spread across Washington’s forests and grasslands to look for the state’s rarest, most sensitive plant species. Many of these endangered populations live in remote valleys or along unseen slopes and haven’t been seen in a decade or more. That’s where the University of Washington’s Rare Plant Care and Conservation program…
Citizen-science climate project adds logs from historic Arctic whaling ships
A citizen science project that asks volunteers to transcribe historic ships’ logbooks to uncover data about past Arctic climate has added logbooks from hundreds of whaling ships. The hunters’ handwritten logs will provide new clues about the history of Arctic climate and sea ice.
Tag(s): College of the Environment • Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean and Ecosystem Studies • Kevin Wood • polar scienceDecember 2, 2015
Vessel speed biggest factor in noise affecting killer whales
The speed of vessels operating near endangered killer whales in Washington is the most influential factor – more so than vessel size – in how much noise from the boats reaches the whales, according to a new study published today in the online journal PLOS ONE.
Tag(s): College of the Environment • School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences
Arts Roundup: Drama, Modern Music – and CarolFest
December is off to a busy start for the arts on campus. The School of Drama has two productions running this week, and UW World Series wraps up the calendar year with a performance by acapella ensemble Anonymous 4. The School of Music is brimming with events, from medieval holiday music and CarolFest to modern…
Tag(s): ArtsUW • Meany Center for the Performing Arts • School of Drama • School of Music
Book by UW’s Jackson School faculty among New York Times 100 most notable of 2015
The New York Times has named a recent book by two faculty members in the UW’s Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies to its list of 100 Most Notable Books of 2015. “The Shape of the New: Four Big Ideas and How They Built the Modern World,” by Scott L. Montgomery and Daniel Chirot…
December 1, 2015
Washington state home prices up, sales down in third quarter of 2015
Home sale prices increased but sales themselves were fewer in Washington state in the third quarter of 2015, according to the Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies in the UW’s College of Built Environments.
Tag(s): College of Built Environments • Peter Orser • Runstad Department of Real Estate
UW roboticists learn to teach robots from babies
A collaboration between University of Washington developmental psychologists and computer scientists has demonstrated that robots can “learn” much like babies – by experiencing the world and eventually imitating humans.
Tag(s): Andrew Meltzoff • College of Engineering • I-LABS • Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering • Rajesh RaoNovember 30, 2015
UW researchers estimate poverty and wealth from cell phone metadata
In developing or war-ravaged countries where government censuses are few and far between, gathering data for public services or policymaking can be difficult, dangerous or near-impossible. Big data is, after all, mainly a First World opportunity. But cell towers are easier to install than telephone land lines, even in such challenged areas, and mobile or…
Tag(s): data science • Information School • Joshua Blumenstock
UW sociology professors part of White House, DOJ events on criminal justice reform
President Obama has been leading the charge for criminal justice reform in recent months, calling for sweeping changes to reduce mass incarceration and commuting sentences for non-violent offenders. This week, the White House and Department of Justice are bringing together researchers, legal system practitioners and advocacy organizations at events focused on criminal justice system reform…
November 25, 2015
UW law student researches industry gender inequity, calls for reforms
Women routinely outperform men in university classrooms across the United States and are invited more often than men to join student honors societies — yet women continue to be paid far less than similarly qualified male colleagues. Adding to that inequity, women also fare poorly when suing to recover damages for workplace sex and gender…
University of Washington receives gold sustainability rating from STARS
The University of Washington is among the most sustainable schools in North America, according to the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS).
Tag(s): sustainability
Documents that Changed the World: FDR’s Thanksgiving Proclamation, 1939
The U.S. Senate voted to set Thanksgiving as the fourth Thursday in November on Dec. 9, 1941, two days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. You’d think they would have had more important things to talk about. Not Nov. 26, as George Washington had it or the last Thursday in the month as Lincoln…
Tag(s): Documents that Changed the World • Information School • Joe Janes
The spillover effect: Good teaching doesn’t stop at the classroom door
Effective teachers don’t just impact their own students’ achievement, they can significantly improve the performance of their fellow teachers’ students, new research shows.
November 23, 2015
Public talk Nov. 24 urges solidarity with Syrian refugees
Interested in the Syrian refugee crisis? A public discussion at the University of Washington Tuesday, Nov. 24 aims to provide information about how local residents and communities can help advocate for Syrian refugees. Sponsored by UW Law’s Immigrant Families Advocacy Project, the “Social Justice Tuesday” event will be held from 12:30 to 1:20 p.m. in…
AAAS names four UW researchers as fellows
Four University of Washington researchers are among 347 new fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for 2015.
Tag(s): College of Arts & Sciences • College of the Environment • Department of Anthropology • Department of Atmospheric and Climate Science • Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology • Department of Pharmacology • Kathleen O'Connor • Ning Zheng • Peter Rabinovitch • Qiang Fu • School of MedicineNovember 20, 2015
Last chance to donate: UW Combined Fund Drive ends Dec. 4
Faculty and staff have until Dec. 4 to contribute to this year’s UW Combined Fund Drive, the UW’s workplace giving campaign. Donors can pledge a one-time donation or give all year through payroll deduction to support local programs and global nonprofits. There are more than 5,000 vetted organizations to choose from, and donations are tax…
November 19, 2015
After Nobel win, neutrino endeavors snag Breakthrough Prize in Physics
Neutrinos may be small, but when it comes to prizes, they pack quite a punch. In October, it was announced that two scientists who headed international projects to study these miniscule, seemingly ephemeral subatomic particles will share the Nobel Prize in Physics. On Nov. 8, these same scientists joined five of their colleagues from other…
Tag(s): College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Physics • Hamish Robertson • Jeffrey Wilkes • Kenneth Young
Sequencing algae’s genome may aid biofuel production
University of Washington scientists have sequenced the complete genetic makeup of a species of ecologically important algae, which may aid in biofuel production.
Tag(s): College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Biology • genomics • harmful algal blooms • marine microbiology • microbes and viruses • Rose Ann CattolicoNovember 18, 2015
University of Washington signing White House climate pledge
The University of Washington has joined schools across the country in signing on to a White House climate pledge. The pledge is part of the Nov. 19 White House and Higher Education Climate Day of Action. The White House and the State Department will bring together leaders from higher education institutions to call for action…
Arts Roundup: DXARTS, improv – and pianist Yulianna Avdeeva
Don’t miss DXARTS’ fall concert – a chance to immerse yourself in groundbreaking electroacoustic music. The School of Drama opens two new productions: dark farce “Loot” and improv show “Beginnings: First Breath.” At Meany Hall, enjoy performances by pianist Yulianna Avdeeva and the University Chorale & Chamber Singers, or head over to Brechemin Auditorium to…
Tag(s): ArtsUW • DXARTS • Henry Art Gallery • Meany Center for the Performing Arts • School of Drama • School of Music
Popular Science names ‘Power Over Wi-Fi’ one of the year’s game-changing technologies
The Power Over Wi-Fi (PoWiFi) system developed by UW engineers is one of the most innovative and game-changing technologies of the year, according to Popular Science, which included it in the magazine’s annual “Best of What’s New” awards announced this week.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering • Shyam Gollakota
Cousteau’s ‘Acid Apocalypse’ to feature Washington youth in ocean acidification project
Ocean acidification is top of mind for many Pacific Northwest scientists, shellfish farmers and even seafood chefs, but a new initiative seeks to know how an unsuspecting audience — kids and teenagers in the Northwest’s urban and rural areas — is impacted by this issue. EarthEcho International, Philippe Cousteau, Jr.’s environmental education and youth leadership…
November 17, 2015
Availability of Final Environmental Impact Statement: North Campus Student Housing Project
Project Name: North Campus Student Housing Project Proponent: University of Washington Description of Proposal: The proposed North Campus Student Housing Project represents Phase IV of development identified in the Comprehensive Housing Master Program and would include the replacement of McCarty and Haggett Halls with four new student residence halls, as well as the development of…
Charles Johnson’s story ‘The Weave’ chosen for 2016 Pushcart anthology
Ieesha, the young African-American woman at the center of Charles Johnson’s short story “The Weave,” takes an unusual action in response to her abrupt, sneeze-caused dismissal from Sassy Hair Salon and Beauty Supplies in Seattle’s Central District — where hair is straightened as well as styled and cut. “The Weave” has been selected for the…
New report outlines Puget Sound region’s future under climate change
A new report by the University of Washington synthesizes all the relevant research about the future of the Puget Sound region to paint a picture of what to expect in the coming decades, and how to prepare.
Tag(s): climate change • Climate Impacts Group • College of the Environment • Guillaume Mauger • Puget SoundNovember 16, 2015
UW team refrigerates liquids with a laser for the first time
Since the first laser was invented in 1960, they’ve always given off heat. University of Washington researchers are the first to solve a decades-old puzzle — figuring out how to make a laser refrigerate water and other liquids.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • Department of Materials Science & Engineering • Peter Pauzauskie« Previous Page Next Page »
