UW News

September 18, 2012

News Digest: Virtually explore deep-sea volcanoes, iSchool documentary airs tonight, UW community building award

Double magma bubble from undersea volcanoExplore deep-sea volcanoes, virtually
Tune in every day through Sept. 26 to live video sent from a robot exploring volcanoes at 4,000 feet underwater. UW oceanographer Joe Resing, with the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean, is leading a team of scientists to the Western Pacific’s Lau Basin, located between American Samoa, Fiji and Tonga. This is one of the most concentrated areas of active submarine volcanism and hot springs anywhere on Earth, according to Resing.

When researchers visited the site in 2009 they were among the first people to ever witness an underwater volcanic eruption. They captured the stunning display, complete with audible booms, on live video.

They may not be so lucky this time, but they plan to conduct visual surveys, collect sediment samples and map the geological, biological, archaeological and chemical aspects of the ocean area.

Video highlights, daily mission logs, interactive maps, scientist biographies and 3D virtual fly-throughs of the Lau Basin are already available.

To watch the live transmissions tune in every day between 1 p.m. and 9 p.m. PDT.

iSchool stars in new UWTV-produced documentary
A new, 60-minute documentary film about the UW Information School and its work titled “iOn the Future” will debut on UWTV, which produced it, at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 18.

The film was conceived as part of the iSchool’s celebration of its centennial year of 2011-12, and to draw attention to the school’s faculty and the social impact of their research.

Faculty members and their work featured include Mike Crandall on access to computing in public libraries; Jake Wobbrock on ability-based design; Batya Friedman documenting the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda; Barbara Endicott-Popovsky on training the next generation of cybersecurity workers; Julie Kientz on managing sleep with a smartphone; and Eliza Dresang on early childhood literacy and David Levy on the effects of technology on our ability to focus and create.

The documentary will air regularly through fall and winter on UWTV.

Seattle Fandango to receive UW diversity award for community building
The UW Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity announced that the Seattle Fandango Project is the recipient of its 2012 award for community building.

The Seattle Fandango Project promotes community through music, verse and dance. Their activities include free weekly public workshops at El Centro de la Raza and monthly fandangos at various sites. People of different ages, skill levels and cultural backgrounds are welcome. The group first took shape in 2009 when Seattle area fandango practitioners, educators, artists and activists coalesced around workshops on the UW campus and in the community.

The award will be presented at the Multicultural Alumni Partnership Bridging the Gap Breakfast, 8-10 a.m., Oct. 27, at the Husky Union Building ballroom. The award recognizes a UW student, staff member or faculty member, or a community organization, making positive changes on campus that result in multicultural community building.