December 5, 2014
Jane Heinrichs is a doctoral student in piano performance at the UW School of Music and will perform in two of the three concerts that comprise the three-part series “Music from the War to End All Wars.” The series begins Sunday, Dec. 7, in Brechemin Auditorium, and continues on March 3 and May 8, 2015. So, does knowing the historical context of a piece of music affect how she approaches and performs it? Not exactly, Heinrichs said, “but it is…
Andrew J. Boydston, a UW associate professor of chemistry, has received a Faculty Early Career Development Award from the National Science Foundation. The award is intended to support junior faculty who “exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research,” according to the NSF. Boydston received the award for his proposal to develop materials that apply mechanical force to drive chemical reactions that release small organic molecules. Those small molecules could be…
December 3, 2014
Join some of the world’s leading experts on the Southern Ocean for a webinar on Thursday, Dec. 4, from 11 a.m. to noon Seattle time. Viewers can log on here with a Google account, or watch on YouTube. “UW-built sensors to probe Antarctica’s Southern Ocean” UW Today | Sept. 11, 2014 The Southern Ocean Carbon and Climate Observations and Modeling project, based at Princeton University, is a six-year collaborative effort to improve understanding of the Southern Ocean’s role in climate….
The creative spirit “does not hunker down or hide” in difficult times, Robin McCabe, UW professor of piano, was reminded as she researched the three-concert series she organized, “Music from the War to End All Wars.” The School of Music presents this series starting Dec. 7 and continuing March 8 and May 3, 2015.
Four University of Washington researchers have received the Allen Distinguished Investigator award for their work in artificial intelligence research. The awards, totaling about $2.7 million to the UW from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, will fund early stage research in several areas of artificial intelligence. The recipients from the UW are Jeffrey Heer, an associate professor of computer science and engineering; Ali Farhadi, an assistant professor of computer science and engineering; Hannaneh Hajishirzi, a research scientist in electrical engineering;…
This week there are lots of events to keep students, staff and faculty busy before finals. Don’t miss “Idleness,” the second Factory Showroom exhibit at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery, or the UW Symphony and UW Opera Theater performing a version of Puccini’s opera “Gianni Schicci.”
December 2, 2014
Planets orbiting close to low-mass stars are prime targets in the search for life. But new research led by an astronomy graduate student at the UW indicates some such planets may have long since lost their chance at hosting life because of intense heat during their formative years.
December 1, 2014
Seattle-based criminal defense attorney Jeff Robinson will join the University of Washington School of Law in a discussion of factual, ethical and legal issues relating to the use of deadly force by law enforcement officers in communities of color. He will be joined by Washington Supreme Court Justice Sheryl Gordon McCloud. The event is titled “‘You Can Observe a Lot Just by Watching’ — The Killing of Michael Brown and the Transparent Grand Jury Investigation” and will take place from…
The Green Seed Fund – a grant fund for campus environmental research projects – is accepting proposals through Dec. 11 for the next round of grants. The Green Seed Fund aims to promote and fund research projects that advance sustainable research while contributing to the university’s sustainability goals. The fund was launched in 2013, and in its inaugural year 15 proposals totaling nearly $1 million were submitted. From that pool, proposals were selected and awarded nearly $279,000 in funding. A…
A new class at the University of Washington is using comics to explain what, exactly, the field of human-centered design is all about.
Influential educator and former University of Washington professor John Goodlad died Nov. 29 at his Seattle home. He was 94. Goodlad came to the UW in 1984 after serving as dean of the Graduate School of Education at the University of California at Los Angeles. He created the Center for Educational Renewal at the UW to conduct research on teacher education and school renewal. Additionally, he established the independent Seattle-based Institute for Educational Inquiry to apply research findings to school…
November 26, 2014
The University of Washington Evans School of Public Affairs will host its namesake, former Washington governor and senator Daniel J. Evans, for a conversation from noon to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 3, in the Parrington Hall Forum. Evans served as governor from 1965 to 1977, then moved on to the presidency of Evergreen State College. When Senator Henry M. Jackson died in 1983, Evans was appointed in his place, and served in the senate until 1989. In 1993, then-Gov. Mike…
The holiday season is officially upon us and the arts host a lineup of events to get you in the festive spirit. The School of Music paves the way with performances ranging from the Percussion Ensemble to CarolFest. If you’re looking for an exhibition to explore, the Burke Museum’s recently opened “Here & Now: Native Artists Inspired” will be the perfect option after the Thanksgiving bustle.
“Militarized Policing and Public Protest: From the WTO Protests to Ferguson” is the topic of a documentary video screening and panel discussion at the University of Washington on Tuesday, Dec. 2. The event, from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center, starts with a screening of “This Is What Democracy Looks Like.” The 72-minute documentary was made from footage shot by more than 100 “media activists” during the 1999 World Trade Organization protests in Seattle….
November 25, 2014
Surprisingly, the diversity of birds in suburban areas can be greater than in forested areas, according to John Marzluff’s new book “Welcome to Subirdia.”
November 24, 2014
UW faculty and staff have until Dec. 5 to contribute to this year’s UW Combined Fund Drive, part of Washington state’s workplace giving campaign. Donors can choose from more than 4,000 nonprofits operating locally and globally. You can give a one-time donation or give all year through payroll deduction. Donations are tax-deductible. The UWCFD has raised $1,885,617 so far, and organizers hope to surpass $2.2 million in pledges this year. From local food banks to environmental causes to UW departments…
Dan Berger, assistant professor in the UW Bothell School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, discusses his new book, “Captive Nation: Black Prison Organizing in the Civil Rights Era.”
University of Washington historian Michael Honey learned about folk singer and union organizer John Handcox through a mutual friend whose name might be familiar: Pete Seeger. Honey tells of the 1985 meeting, and of “Sharecropper’s Troubadour,” the book he came to write about Handcox (with Seeger penning the foreword), in an article in Smithsonian Folkways Magazine. UW Today wrote about Honey’s book in January, 2014. In 1940, Woody Guthrie joined Seeger and folklorist Alan Lomax in collecting Handcox’s work into…
The U.S. economy has long been powered in part by the nation’s ability to attract the world’s most educated and skilled people to its shores. But a new study of the worldwide migration of professionals to the U.S. shows a sharp drop-off in its proportional share of those workers – raising the question of whether the nation will remain competitive in attracting top talent in an increasingly globalized economy. The study, which used a novel method of tracking people through…
Disintegrating sea stars – a process described as melting, with the arms detaching and crawling away from each other – is being caused by a virus that’s been detected in West Coast waters for more than 70 years. That’s according to new findings published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by 24 co-authors including the University of Washington’s Carolyn Friedman, a professor of aquatic and fishery sciences, and Colleen Burge, who earned her bachelor’s and…
November 21, 2014
Three University of Washington professors will join a congressman, a mountain climber, inventors, architects, advocates, an astronaut and even a barista at this year’s TEDxRainier event, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 22, at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall at Seattle Center. The independently run, one-day event is in its fifth year in Seattle, modeled after the popular TED Talks. The 2014 local event brings together Seattle-area thinkers and innovators to share ideas on the theme “The Known and the…
A new tool developed at the UW displays real-time ocean acidification data for the open ocean and protected bays, helping shellfish growers and scientists see changes in water chemistry.
November 20, 2014
A Washington family of four must spend 46 percent more on average to make ends meet today than 13 years ago, according to a new report from the University of Washington. The Self-Sufficiency Standard for Washington State 2014, released Thursday (Nov. 20), provides a sobering look at how much it costs individuals and families statewide to meet basic needs — and how far short they’re falling. The study found that Washington families with two adults, a preschooler and a school-aged…
From starting his own company – and recruiting 11 friends to join him – and running a successful nonprofit to doing research in the lab and taking a full course load, engineering undergraduate student David Coven is an expert schedule juggler.
November 19, 2014
Have you ever considered the implications of privacy around art and cultural institutions? Then don’t miss the three-day symposium “Surveillance and Privacy: Art, Law and Social Practice” hosted by the Henry Art Gallery and the Center for Digital Art and Experimental Media (DXARTS).
Do you know an outstanding University of Washington employee, alumnus, student or retiree who contributes to the richness and diversity of the university community? Honor that person with an Awards of Excellence nomination. Nominations are due beginning in November and continuing in succeeding months for the 2015 University of Washington Awards of Excellence categories. Details of awards and nomination procedures follow. Alumnus Summa Laude Dignatus Award The highest honor bestowed upon a UW graduate recognizes an outstanding alumnus or alumna, distinguished for service…
We Homo sapiens and our energy-gobbling technologies are changing the very ecology of the Earth. But even as these human-caused changes unfold, some wonder whether we have doomed ourselves to extinction. In a new paper in the journal Anthropocene, University of Washington astronomer Woodruff Sullivan and co-author Adam Frank, a University of Rochester astrophysicist and a UW alumnus, suggest this might not be the first time “where the primary agent of causation is knowingly watching it all happen and pondering…
November 18, 2014
As you might guess from the name, dark matter is quite elusive. Its particles make up about one-quarter of the mass of the universe and as much as 85 percent of all matter. But it apparently does not interact with light or other matter and so it’s never been directly observed. In a webcast Thursday, Nov. 20, three scientists including University of Washington physicist Gray Rybka will discuss how close we are to actually identifying dark matter. They will talk…
November 17, 2014
A scientist looking at MRI scans of human brains noticed a large fiber pathway that seemed to be part of the network that processes visual information. He just couldn’t couldn’t find it in any of the modern textbooks.
The latest in the Seattle Arts & Lectures SAL U series will look at technologies that could help repair a person’s cognitive or sensory-motor functions. “Brain-Computer Interfaces: Building the Bionic Man” is at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19, in Kane Hall room 110. The speaker is Rajesh Rao, a UW professor of computer science and engineering and director of the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering. Rao’s research involves understanding computational principles in the brain’s ability to learn, process and store information, then…
Scientists using a microbe that occurs naturally in eastern cottonwood trees have boosted the ability of willow and lawn grass to withstand the withering effects of the nasty industrial pollutant phenanthrene.
November 14, 2014
The UW Astronomy Department’s Mobile Planetarium visits Sammamish High School in Bellevue, where students give their own planetarium presentations.
Daniel Schindler, a University of Washington fisheries ecologist who explores aquatic ecosystem dynamics, has been named the 2015 Frank Rigler Award recipient. The award is the highest honor given by the Society of Canadian Limnologists and recognizes major achievements in the field of limnology by Canadians or those working in Canada, the society says. Schindler, born in Ontario, holds dual U.S. and Canadian citizenship. His father David Schindler won the Rigler award in 1984, the first year it was given…
In the third quarter of 2014, home sale prices increased, but sales themselves were fewer in Washington state. The statewide median sales price for a single family home stood at $277,100 according to the Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies in the University of Washington’s College of Built Environments. This is an increase of 2.3 percent from the second quarter and a 5.2 percent increase over the $263,400 median resale price recorded in the third quarter of 2013. Conversely, while the seasonally…
November 12, 2014
The Spokane City Council on Monday night formally approved the lease of the former Spokane Visitor Information Center to the University of Washington, which will use the space for many purposes, including business outreach, alumni activities and student admissions. The site will also help support the UW’s efforts to expand its existing medical school in Spokane. The city of Spokane sought tenants for the roughly 2,550-square-foot space and the UW submitted its lease proposal on Oct. 2, 2014. The space…
In the wake of a 2011 study that found black applicants for National Institutes of Health grants were significantly less likely to receive funding than their equally qualified white counterparts, the health agency began to look at ways to uncover and address bias in how it awards research funding. The agency launched a contest last spring to detect bias and boost fairness in how it reviews grant applications. The “Most Creative Idea for Detection of Bias in Peer Review,” went…
The University of Washington Sephardic Studies Program and the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies will host the second annual celebration of International Ladino Day with an event at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 4, in Kane Hall room 130. The event is free and open to the public but advance registration is recommended. International Ladino Day was begun Dec. 5, 2013, by Israel’s National Authority for Ladino to celebrate Ladino as a living language for the first time since 1492. Also…
University of Washington electrical engineers have developed a way to automatically track people across moving and still cameras by using an algorithm that trains the networked cameras to learn one another’s differences.
It’s a packed week in the arts, with a diverse array of options to suit any fancy. The UW World Series has a music-themed weekend with Jon Kimura Parker on Friday night and Touré-Raichel Collective the next. Also, don’t miss the last film in the Climate Change and Nuclear Risks: A Speaker & Film Series presented by the Burke.
November 10, 2014
The November issue of Seattle Magazine includes a list of 51 local people who made 2014 what it was. Along with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and the Seahawks team’s “12th man” fans, it includes UW glaciologist Ian Joughin, whom the magazine dubs the “ice breaker.” The magazine notes: “In the face of global warming, it’s people like Ian Joughin—a glaciologist and affiliate professor of earth and space sciences at University of Washington, researching the surface motion and topography of ice…