Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest state-supported institutions of higher education on the West Coast and is one of the preeminent research universities in the world.
Penguins Forever!
When UW biology professor Dee Boersma first began studying Magellanic penguins at the Punta Tombo reserve in Argentina with the Wildlife Conservation Society, she was certain she'd spend no more than "two or three years" on the project.
But in 2010, Boersma started her 28th year in the field. As the Wadsworth Endowed Chair in Conservation Science explains, she instantly "fell in love" with the fascinating birds. So much so that she decided to make their study her life's work.
The work has been fruitful. In 2009, Boersma was awarded a Heinz Family Foundation award for fostering "a cleaner, greener and more sustainable world." She also created the Center for Penguins as Ocean Sentinels, and is recognized internationally for her groundbreaking research on penguins as an indicator species for the health of our planet as a whole. Boersma, with her students and colleagues, has followed many individual penguins for nearly three decades—and watched as they have been forced to travel farther and farther from their colonies in search of food.
"We learn a tremendous amount through these studies," Boersma said. "Unfortunately, universities and governments aren't institutionalized to be able to do long-term studies. And yet, these are the studies we can learn the most from."
For that reason, Boersma decided to make a bequest for an endowed chair to continue penguin studies after she retires—"many years from now!" as she explains with a laugh.
"After you spend a lifetime trying to make the world safer for penguins, you realize that very few research projects continue for any longer than a grant cycle. Most of our grant cycles are short—3-5 years. Endowed chairs can help give people the freedom and flexibility to explore and measure how systems are change. Even though we're here in the Northern Hemisphere, we live in an ocean world, so I think it's important that we have that perspective.
"Penguins have really enriched my life—and I'd like to see them continue to exist around the globe. Creating an endowed chair to continue these studies is one way to keep going with the legacy I hope I'm going to leave for students, penguins, and our planet. I want to see that we continue to have a diversity of life here on earth—because I think that enriches everyone's life."