Category: Seen in DC

Rita Sodt, a student at the University of Washington, won a national competition sponsored annually by the Council on Undergraduate Research. Her winning project was “Fighting Cancer with Math: A Patient-Specific Computational Model of Brain Tumor Growth.” She displayed her poster along with other winners from across the country, at a reception in the Rayburn House Office Building on April 14. Rita and her faculty mentor, Russell Rockne, also met with Senator Patty Murray and staffers from several Members of the Washington state delegation.

Also in DC on April 14 was Sabine Mecking, an oceanographer at the Applied Physics Lab at the university. She was invited to DC by the Coalition for National Science Funding. Her presentation was on recent results on direct measurements of ocean acidification in the North Pacific Ocean, a research project by the National Science Foundation.

The week following the reception, April 19-23, brought six more representatives from the university. The primary purpose of their trips was to attend professional or association meetings, but they were all also able to meet with staff of the Washington State Senators and Representatives.

A group of four were here representing Students Advocates for Graduate Education (SAGE): Jake Faleschini (GPSS President); Sarah Reyneveld (GPSS Vice President); Ben Henry (GPSS Senator, Evans School); and Adam Sherman (GPSS Senator, Evans School). The focus of their discussions was on the SAGE policy issues: the need for more financial support for higher education; making scholarships/fellowships tax exempt; and immigration reform for international students.

Tom Ackerman, Director of the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean, attended a Directors meeting of the NOAA Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies. Also in DC was Penny Dalton, Director of Washington Sea Grant, who participated in the meeting of the US Committee for the Census of Marine Life.

Since the end of November when the last “Seen in DC” article was posted, the Federal Relations office in DC has been extremely busy working with UW faculty, staff, and student leaders to facilitate advocacy meetings with the Washington congressional delegation.   This is, however, not unusual for this time of year; winter has traditionally been very busy in DC since it is the time when professional associations meet and encourage their members to meet with Congressional and Senate representatives on funding issues. Continue reading “Seen in DC”

The pace of visitors coming to Washington DC slowed quite a bit in November, which is typical for this time of year.  In fact there were only three from campus.  The first was Randy Hodgins, Vice President of External Affairs, who was here the first week of November.  Randy and the Federal Relations team of Christy Gullion (Director) and Jonathan Nurse (Assistant Director)  visited offices of the Washington delegation to discuss the projects that have been submitted for inclusion as directed appropriations (earmarks) in the FY 2011 budget.   Randy was able to stay through Saturday to join UW alums in cheering on the Huskies football game.

 Elaine Oneil, Dean of Forest Resources and Executive Director of CORRIM (Consortium for Research on Renewable Industrial Materials), was in DC November 18 to the 20^th.  She testified before a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on “The Management of Federal Forests in Response to Climate Change, Including for Natural Resource Adaptation and Carbon Sequestration.”  While she was here she was also able to meet with some of the Washington delegation staff about the issue.  In Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers’ office, Elaine briefed staff on a project she recently completed on biomass availability from forest residuals from McMorris Rodgers’ district.

 The last visitor to DC was David Allen, Chair of Women’s Studies, who was here to attend a meeting of the White House Council on Women and Girls at the White House on November 23.  This Council was appointed by President Obama in March of this year; they were interested in gathering feedback regarding the UW’s efforts in this area and the UW program.

On October 7^th, Dr. Joel Berg, Chairman of Pediatric Dentistry, testified before the Oversight and Government Reform’s subcommittee on Domestic Policy.  The hearing was held to examine the steps that state Medicaid programs have taken to improve access to and utilization of dental services by Medicaid eligible children.  Dr. Berg addressed his testimony to the academic and peer-reviewed research that has been conducted on the State of Washington Access to Baby and Child Dentistry program, and the administration of the program.  While he was here he was also able to meet with Senator Murray, Representative McDermott, and a member of Representative Reichert’s office.

Brad Portin, Director and Professor of Education at UW Bothell, was in DC mid-October to attend an educational conference.  While he was here, he met with a staff member in the Office of Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (member of the House Education & Labor Committee) to urge support for the Department of Education’s School Leadership Program, make recommendations for the anticipated reauthorization of “No Child Left Behind” legislation, and discuss the ongoing learning needs of teachers to more effectively meet the needs of diverse students.

Kenyon Chan, Chancellor of the UW Bothell campus, and Kelly Snyder, Director of Government and Community Relations at the Bothell campus, were both in DC October 20-22 to meet with Members of Congress and organizations of higher education.  They were able to meet with Senators Murray and Cantwell, Congressmen Inslee, Dicks, and McDermott, and professional staff from the offices of Congressmen Larsen, Reichert, and Smith.  They also had meetings at the Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Education, and Diverse:  Issues in Higher Education.  They were able to discuss projects underway at the Bothell campus and learn of possible intersections with federal priorities and opportunities.

Also on October 20^th, Dr. Paul Ramsey, Dean of the School of Medicine, was in DC with J. Shan Mullin, Vice Chair of the UW Board of Medicine.  They met with both Senators and several members of the House to provide an update on how health reform may affect academic health centers and graduate medical education, as well as on UW’s plans to “grow” medical education opportunities in Spokane.

President Mark Emmert completed the visitors to DC.  He was in town to attend the National Security higher Education Advisory Board meeting.  He also had a meeting at The Chronicle of Higher Education, and attended a University Leaders Roundtable Discussion with India Prime Minister Sibal.

Note:  If you are planning a trip to Washington, DC, please contact the Office of Federal Relations (202.624.1420) for assistance in setting up appointments to meet with Members or staffers of the Washington delegation.  We’re happy to help.

Dr. Samuel Wasser, Director of the Center for Conservation Biology, and a research professor at the UW Department of Biology,  was invited to DC to testify at a hearing on the Global Wildlife Conservation, Coordination and Enhancement Act of 2009.  The hearing was held by the House Committee on Natural Resources’ Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife on Tuesday, July 28th.  The day prior to his testimony, Dr. Wasser met with staff from the offices of Washington Senators Cantwell and Murray and Representatives Inslee and McDermott to discuss his work.

UW Provost Executive Vice President Phyllis Wise arrived in DC the last week of July to attend meetings at the National Institute of Health.  She also had lunch at the White House with UW’s Paul Miller, who is working as part of the Obama transition team.

Also in DC the last week of July was Ruth Ballweg, Director of MEDEX at the UW.  While here she met with Federal Relations Director Christy Gullion about the Physician’s Assistant program at the UW.