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International researchers track melting sea ice

Led by principal investigator Craig Lee, an oceanographer at the University of Washington’s Applied Physics Laboratory, researchers from around the world are conducting the longest and most extensive effort ever to track the melting of arctic sea ice. Members of the international research team hail from the United States, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom and France.

Read more from UW Today… 

Global index ranks UW startup incubator #1

The New Ventures Facility is a business incubator providing startups critical access to University of Washington facilities and researchers. This year, the New Ventures Facility was ranked #1 among university business incubators by the 2014 University Business Incubators Global Index.

Dhruv Bhatli, the global index’s co-founder, said the New Ventures Facility was selected because it provided “exceptional quality to its clients [and] produced growth companies and high economic impact for the region.”

Read more from UW Today…

[VIDEO] Learn more about the New Ventures Facility from UW 360… 

Forensic research at UW helping to end illegal ivory trade in Togo

The government of Togo, a small West African country with a dwindling population of elephants, recently sought assistance from Samuel Wasser, Research Professor and Director of the UW Center for Conservation Biology. The Togolese government sought information about ivory thought to be illegal, and Wasser provided a report demonstrating that the ivory samples provided indeed came from illegal sources.  

International experts predict that new forensic technologies like the ones used by Wasser will help illuminate origins and pathways of illegal ivory and eventually end the trade altogether.

Read more from National Geographic…

Read more from the UW Center for Conservation Biology…

UW researchers find obesity on the rise worldwide

In a review of over 1,700 studies from 188 countries, researchers from the University of Washington’s Institute of Health Metrics & Evaluation found that more than two billion people are now obese worldwide. No country has been able to curb rising obesity rates over the past 30 years.

Study leader and School of Public Health professor Christopher Murray as well as leaders from the World Health Organization and other national and international health agencies have commented on the results.

Read more from the Institute of Health Metrics & Evaluation…

Read more from The Seattle Times…

New Burke Museum curator an advocate for indigenous cultures

The Burke Museum of Natural History’s new Curator of Native American Anthropology is passionate about preserving indigenous culture. A native of Kodiak, Alaska, Dr. Sven Haakanson has conducted research and lived in Siberia. He received the MacArthur Foundation’s “genius” grant in 2007 for his work advocating for Native cultures, and plans to conduct further research in Russia.

Read more from Columns Magazine…

Launch party celebrates book by study abroad students

A May 12 launch party will celebrate the publication of TIPS to Study Abroad: Simple Letters for Complex Engagement, a book by students from Professor Anu Taranath’s 2013 study abroad to Bangalore, India.

TIPS to Study Abroad flyer

Through the unique medium of students’ letters to Things, Ideas and People (TIPS), the book “offers a simple method to help travelers- students and tourists alike- reflect on how moving from one culture to another sparks questions about identity, society and the meaning of travel itself.”

Professor Taranath’s unique approach to teaching abroad integrates on-campus classroom learning with international immersion. Students participate in quarter-long seminars on campus before and after the study abroad to allow time for in-depth preparation for and reflection on the experience. TIPS to Study Abroad is the culmination of the group’s experience and learning.

Community members are welcome at the book launch party at 7pm on Monday, May 12. The event will be held at University Temple.