Saadia Pekkanen, associate director of the Jackson School for International Studies, discusses the school’s growing role in the conversation about space and its ramifications for diplomacy and security.
January 21, 2016
The latest news from the UW
January 20, 2016
Arts Roundup: Musical Theater, Violist Melia Watras – and Steffani Jemison
UW’s Musical Theater program takes center stage with “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” School of Music’s Melia Watras performs a solo viola recital and the Dance Program showcases choreography by its talented faculty. Catch a free play reading through the School of Drama series Seattle Theatres Lost and Founded, and swing by the Jacob Lawrence Gallery to see its newest exhibit, “Steffani Jemison: Sol.” Dance Faculty Concert January 20-24 | Meany Studio Theater This popular annual concert…
Issuance of Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for Computer Science and Engineering II Project
Project Name: Computer Sciences and Engineering II Project Proponent: University of Washington Description: The project involves site selection and construction of a new 130,000 gross square foot above and below grade building to create expansion space for education and research for the computer science and engineering program. The structure will house new instructional space, undergraduate student spaces, research and educational labs, shops, offices and event space. For the purposes of environmental review, four alternatives are analyzed in the document: Alternative 1 (Preferred alternative) –…
UW-designed climate change games honored this week in Washington, D.C.
Two University of Washington teams claimed top prizes in a national competition to design a game about climate adaptation.
What’s the name of that tree? New interactive plant map for arboretum
First-time visitors and regulars to Washington Park Arboretum can now learn the names and origins of plants as well as save favorites while strolling through the grounds.
Bluetooth and Wi-Fi sensing from mobile devices may help improve bus service
UW transportation engineers have developed an inexpensive system to sense Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals from bus passengers’ mobile devices and collect data to build better transit systems.
January 19, 2016
Jennifer Cohen named interim athletic director at the UW
Jennifer Cohen, senior associate athletic director at the University of Washington, has been named interim athletic director, UW President Ana Mari Cauce announced Tuesday. Cohen steps in for Scott Woodward, who announced earlier this month he would be taking a position at Texas A&M University. Cohen’s appointment is effective Feb. 1. “With her years of experience as a senior administrator in our athletic department, Jen will provide excellent leadership as we undertake a national search for a new athletic director,”…
Helen Garrett named new registrar for the University of Washington
Helen Garrett has been selected as the University of Washington’s new university registrar and chief officer for enrollment information services. “Helen emerged as the top candidate from a very deep pool of applicants. Her substantial experience in enrollment management combined with her wealth of knowledge regarding data and student information services were exactly what the registrar search committee was looking for,” said Philip Reid, chair of the registrar search committee and professor of chemistry. “She has the right combination of…
This smartphone technology 3-D maps your meal and counts its calories
A new laser mapping technology and smartphone app developed by University of Washington electrical engineers allows you to point your phone at a plate of food and get an estimate of the total calories and nutrition.
January 15, 2016
Twenty-seven UW faculty listed among ‘world’s most influential scientific minds’ by Thomson Reuters
The University of Washington is home to 26 researchers included on Thomson Reuters’ list of “The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds” for 2015, which was released Jan. 14. The distinction, based on an analysis of over a decade of research paper citations among 21 general scientific fields, is meant to recognize scientists who are most cited by their peers.
Public hearing notice: Jan. 26, 2016
Notice is hereby given that a public hearing will be held at Noon on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016, in Room 332 of the Husky Union Building (HUB), on the University of Washington Seattle campus. Satellite locations will be available on the UW Bothell campus in Room UW2-307, and on the UW Tacoma campus in Room WCG-110. The purpose of the hearing is to allow all interested persons an opportunity to present their views, either orally or in writing, on the…
$2.2 million raised for UW Combined Fund Drive
The University of Washington Combined Fund Drive, the workplace giving campaign, raised a record $2,204,089 during the fall campaign. UW faculty, staff and retirees pledged to more than 1,800 nonprofits during the drive which ran Oct. 22 to Dec. 4, 2015. Each year, the UWCFD selects a featured charity, and the selection this year went to Facing Homelessness, a Seattle nonprofit who urges people to “just say hello” to people living on the street. Special events, including a Stair Climb at six…
Salsa dance, commerce explored in Juliet McMains’ book ‘Spinning Mambo into Salsa’
Dance professor Juliet McMains discusses her book “Spinning Mambo into Salsa: Caribbean Dance in Global Commerce,” published by Oxford University Press.
January 14, 2016
$682,000 Mellon grant to help academic publishers increase workforce diversity
The University of Washington Press, the MIT Press, Duke University Press, the University of Georgia Press, and the association of American University Presses (AAUP) join forces to create the University Press Diversity Fellowship Program.
January 13, 2016
Arts Roundup: Dance Faculty Concert, the UW Big Band – and the Peking Acrobats
From acrobats to jazz, and from dance to thirteenth-century Japanese literature, there’s an arts event for everybody this week. Catch the UW Big Band’s January concert, visit the Penthouse Theater for a new play workshop from the School of Drama, or catch a lecture about legendary dance choreographer Trisha Brown at the Henry. Head over to Meany Hall for this year’s Dance Faculty Concert or a performance by the world-renowned Peking Acrobats. Bill Frisell & Michael Gibbs with the UW…
Fewer than 1 in 25 Seattleites can really eat locally
A new University of Washington study finds that urban crops in Seattle could only feed between 1 and 4 percent of the city’s population, even if all viable backyard and public green spaces were converted to growing produce.
Scientists solve long-standing ecological riddle
Researchers have found clear evidence that communities rich in species are substantially healthier and more productive than those depleted of species, once complicating factors are removed.
January 12, 2016
UW computer scientists to make financial products better and more available for the poor
UW computer scientists, with a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, are launching a new research group to develop technological solutions that will make financial products more available to the lowest-income people around the world.
January 11, 2016
Northwest winter weather: El Niño, coastal effects, no more ‘blob’
What some have called the “Godzilla El Niño” is now lumbering ashore, right on schedule. El Niño tends to influence North American weather after the first of January, and indeed, we’re seeing warm temperatures in Alaska and much-needed rain in California. University of Washington researchers are tracking what the season will deliver to the Pacific Northwest region. For Washington, El Niño typically brings warm, and often dry, winter weather. That may seem surprising, since the state just experienced a very…
New master of applied bioengineering to prepare students for translational research
In December, the University of Washington’s Department of Bioengineering began accepting applications for its newest graduate degree program, the Master of Applied Bioengineering. The one-year, full-time program begins in August, and will train students to apply engineering design and entrepreneurship skills to address unmet clinical needs and to transform biomedical research into technologies for improving health care. The degree will position graduates to respond to market-based demands of industry, medicine and translational research.
West Coast study emphasizes challenges faced by marine organisms exposed to global change
Along the West Coast, ocean acidification and hypoxia combine with other factors, such as rising ocean temperatures, to create serious challenges for marine life, a new study finds.
January 8, 2016
UW law school Dean Kellye Y. Testy to serve as national group president
Kellye Y. Testy, dean of the University of Washington’s law school, will give her inaugural address as president of the Association of American Law Schools tomorrow night in Washington, D.C. Testy previously served on the association‘s executive committee and was voted in as its president in October 2014. She takes over from 2015 president Blake Morant, dean of The George Washington University Law School. “It is an incredible honor for me to be elected president of AALS, and I look forward…
Quiet quasar has apparently eaten its fill
Astronomers with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) announced that a distant quasar ran out of gas. Their conclusions, reported Jan. 8 at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Kissimmee, Florida, clarify why quasar SDSS J1011+5442 changed so dramatically in the handful of years between observations.
Stir no more: UW scientists show that draining speeds up bioassays
Three scientists at the University of Washington have proposed a way to speed up common bioassays used in research and diagnostics. Their solution, reminiscent of the magic behind washing machines, could reduce wait times to a fraction of what they once were. As they report in the journal Small, biological assays that once took hours could instead take minutes.
January 6, 2016
UW faculty members join Inslee in gun violence announcement
Two University of Washington faculty members joined Washington Gov. Jay Inslee Wednesday as he announced a new initiative to reduce gun-related deaths by strengthening background checks and implementing a statewide suicide prevention plan. Jennifer Stuber, an associate professor at the UW School of Social Work, and Monica Vavilala, director of the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, stood alongside Inslee as he made the announcement at a mental health center in Burien. “This is a public health response to a…
Arts Roundup: Orpheus Ensemble, pianist Garrick Ohlsson – and the UW Symphony
ArtsUW rings in the new year with art, opera and jazz. School of Music’s Stephen Stubbs leads UW students in scenes from early Baroque opera, world-renowned pianist Garrick Ohlsson takes the stage at Meany Hall, and the Henry Art Gallery invites families to take an ArtVenture. Plus, it’s a genre mash-up for the UW Symphony when it is joined by Michael Gibbs, Bill Frisell and UW Jazz Studies faculty for a January concert. Orpheus Ensemble 7:30 p.m., January 8 |…
What motivates people to walk and bike? It varies by income
The built environment influences decisions to walk or bike differently for lower- and higher-income groups, UW researchers have found. Neighborhood density, accessible destinations and fewer vehicles were associated with more walking and biking in lower-income groups, while neighborhood attractiveness was relevant for higher-income groups.
UW climate scientists to give free talks at Mt. Baker Ski Area
UW scientists will give free talks on climate change for three consecutive Saturdays at Mt. Baker Ski Area.
Politics, pioneers and ‘pandemonium’: 2016 History Lecture Series digs into Seattle history
Seattle’s past — from its earliest years to the turn of the 21st century — will be the topic of the Winter 2016 History Lecture Series, “Excavating Seattle’s Histories: People, Politics, Place,” running Wednesdays from Jan. 13 to Feb 3, with an additional panel discussion on Feb. 10.
DO-IT looking for high school student scholars
DO-IT, a University of Washington program, is looking for high school students with disabilities to apply to be program scholars. Applicants must be a current high school sophomore or junior in Washington, have an aptitude and interest in attending college, have any disability, and must be motivated to participate and interested in interacting with other students with a variety of disabilities. The application can be found online. Applicants who are selected as DO-IT scholars are loaned computers and adaptive technology needed to…
January 5, 2016
Study: College graduates often challenged with life skills, motivation for ongoing learning
Today’s college graduates tend to be highly trained and employable but often lack a key skill needed for post-college life: how to identify and ask their own questions, according to a new study.
January 4, 2016
UW class pairs students and inmates for unique learning experience
On a rainy December afternoon, a group of students in the University of Washington’s Law, Societies & Justice program sit in a classroom discussing what elements might be included in a restorative justice program. The conversation is lively, the comments thoughtful. But this isn’t any ordinary classroom, and it isn’t your usual group of university students. The UW students were taking the autumn quarter class on culture, crime and criminal justice alongside 10 male classmates who brought more than theoretical…
December 30, 2015
UW astronomer Eric Agol honored by Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Eric Agol, a University of Washington professor of astronomy, will receive the 2016 Lecar Prize from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. The award, now in its third year, recognizes exceptional contributions to the study of exoplanets — those beyond our solar system — and theoretical astrophysics. It is named for Myron S. “Mike” Lecar, who was with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory from 1965 to 2009, researching planet formation and the dynamics of gravity and our solar system. Lecar died in…
December 29, 2015
#BestofUW: Top news stories of 2015
From a new president and lasers cooling liquids to spotting rare sea creatures and major collaborations, great things have happened at the University of Washington in 2015. Here’s a look back at the top stories of the year. These stories were chosen based on the total number of views they received on our website and are not in any particular order. UW Regents name Ana Mari Cauce president October 13, 2015 The University of Washington Board of Regents selected Interim President Ana Mari Cauce to be…
No easy answers in UW study of legal marijuana’s impact on alcohol use
Does legal marijuana tempt pot users to consume more alcohol — or are they likely to opt for cannabis instead of chardonnay? A University of Washington team of researchers sought to address those questions in the context of evolving marijuana policies in the United States. Their findings, published online Dec. 21 in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, highlight the difficulties of gauging the impact of a formerly illicit drug as it moves into the mainstream. Recreational marijuana use…
December 28, 2015
UW center receives $16M to work on first implantable device to reanimate paralyzed limbs
The UW’s Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering has won a $16M NSF grant to develop the first implantable device to reanimate paralyzed limbs and restore motor function in stroke or spinal cord injury patients.
December 23, 2015
Documents that Changed the World: The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, 1896
A glance at a kitchen bookshelf gave UW Information School professor Joe Janes the idea for the latest installment of his Documents that Changed the World podcast — about the famous Boston Cooking-School Cookbook, more popularly known as the Fannie Farmer Cookbook.
December 22, 2015
Dating historic activity at Oso site shows recurring major landslides
The large, fast-moving mudslide that buried much of Oso, Washington in March 2014 was the deadliest landslide in U.S. history. Since then it’s been revealed that this area has experienced major slides before, but it’s not known how long ago they occurred. University of Washington geologists analyzed woody debris buried in earlier slides and used radiocarbon dating to map the history of activity at the site. The findings, published online Dec. 22 in the journal Geology, show that a massive…
December 21, 2015
Rivers, lakes impact ability of forests to store carbon
Forests help remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by storing it in trees, but a sizeable amount of the greenhouse gas actually escapes through the soil and into rivers and streams, a new paper finds.
December 18, 2015
Oxygen provided breath of life that allowed animals to evolve
It took 100 million years for oxygen levels in the oceans and atmosphere to increase to the level that allowed the explosion of animal life on Earth about 600 million years ago, according to a study co-authored by two University of Washington scientists and led by the University College London.