UW News blog
August 3, 2015
UW gets top green honor from Princeton Review
The University of Washington has again been named to Princeton Review’s Green Rating Honor Roll, receiving the highest possible score for the 2014-15 school year. This is the fifth year in a row the UW has achieved this distinction and the seventh year overall since the program began eight years ago. The UW was among…
UW-developed program boosts community-wide prevention, study finds
Almost 30 years ago, two University of Washington researchers developed a program that aimed to reduce problem behaviors among young people by implementing preventive measures at the community level. That program, Communities That Care, is now being used in states across the nation and has been shown to reduce risk factors that lead to problems…
July 29, 2015
Two UW researchers elected AGU fellows
Two University of Washington scientists have been elected as new fellows of the American Geophysical Union. The Earth sciences group recognizes only one in 1,000 members each year for major scientific work and sustained impact. The UW honorees are among 60 new 2015 fellows from U.S. and international institutions. They will both be honored in…
‘Odd’ Puget Sound conditions prompt multi-agency awareness day
It’s been a strange summer for Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean that feeds it. Water temperatures are warmer than usual, shellfish harvesting has been closed because of a long-lived toxic algae bloom, and oxygen levels in some areas continue to drop, meaning fish kills could be a reality this fall. Local scientists from multiple…
NOAA funds UW, partners to investigate West Coast harmful algal bloom
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced last week it is committing $88,000 in event-response funding for our state to monitor and analyze an unusually large and long-lived bloom of toxic algae that has been affecting shellfish in the region. UW-based Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems, or NANOOS, was awarded $75,000 of the…
July 24, 2015
UW historian Quintard Taylor’s BlackPast.org website honored by National Education Association
BlackPast.org, an extensive online reference center for African-American history and African ancestry created by UW history professor Quintard Taylor, has been honored by the National Education Association. The website has won the 2015 Carter G. Woodson Award, given annually by the education association and the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, which…
July 23, 2015
UW astronomer, students report irregularities in ‘rare, exotic’ binary system
UW astronomers were recently reminded that the diplomatic axiom to “trust, but verify” also applies to scientific inquiry when they analyzed fresh data from a distant galaxy. As they reported in July in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, a puzzling stellar phenomenon may not be what other astronomers had reported. They studied…
Free oil-spill prevention kits for Washington boaters
Recreational boaters and commercial fishing boats in Western Washington can get free oil-spill reporting and cleanup kits this summer as part of a new campaign to prevent spills in Puget Sound. Washington Sea Grant, based at the UW, along with U.S. Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound, the Washington Department of Ecology and the state’s Clean…
July 22, 2015
Two UW art professors honored with 2015 Seattle Mayor’s Arts Awards
Of the five recipients of 2015 Seattle Mayor’s Arts Awards, two — Robin K. Wright and Akio Takamori — are faculty members in the UW School of Art + Art History + Design. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray’s office announced the awards on Tuesday, July 21. The awards, notes say, “recognize the contributions of artists, creative…
July 21, 2015
UW hosts conference on medieval text ‘Piers Plowman’
“Piers Plowman” is not only a 14th century alliterative narrative, it is also the reason a hundred scholars are coming to the UW this week. The Piers Plowman International Conference will be held July 23-25 in Alder Hall and the Simpson Center for the Humanities. “The poem is a work contemporary with Chaucer in the…
July 20, 2015
UW joins Seattle Sounders FC, others to support clean water partnership
In many areas of the world, women and girls walk an average of six kilometers to collect water for their families that often isn’t even safe to drink. Five Washington-based organizations — University of Washington, Washington Global Health Alliance (WGHA), PATH, Washington State University’s Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health and World Vision…
July 17, 2015
‘Lives matter’: Simpson Center project marries animal, postcolonial studies
The study of animals meets up with postcolonial studies in The Postcolonial Animal, a cross-disciplinary research project hosted by the UW’s Simpson Center for the Humanities. The work, notes from the center state, “considers relations between human and nonhuman lives and with indigenous ways of knowing” and “follows a conviction that violence toward any life…
Two UW faculty members named to Justice Department Science Advisory Board
Two University of Washington faculty members have been appointed to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs Science Advisory Board. Sociology professor Robert Crutchfield was named chair of the board’s justice system transparency and accountability subcommittee, and Alexes Harris, an associate professor of sociology, was named a new board member. The 25-member board,…
July 10, 2015
Ice core records show how huge volcanic eruptions cooled the planet
When big volcanoes like Mount St. Helens or Mount Pinatubo really blow their tops, the skies darken and temperatures drop. But since such massive eruptions – luckily for us – are fairly uncommon, scientists have few examples to help them piece together the details of how much it cools, and how far and long the…
July 9, 2015
UW Botanic Gardens ranked top in nation
The University of Washington Botanic Gardens is one of the best university gardens in the nation, according to a new ranking by Best Colleges Online. The UW tied for first place along with three other universities for the top honor. UW Botanic Gardens, which includes the gardens and programs at the Washington Park Arboretum and…
July 8, 2015
UW’s Conservation magazine snares top writing honors
The UW-based Conservation magazine has won a gold award in a national competition sponsored by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, or CASE. Conservation shares this top honor with a magazine from Stanford Medicine. The award recognizes magazines produced by universities or colleges for special external constituencies, including publications affiliated with individual colleges…
New maritime security project draws Coast Guard’s top admiral to visit UW
Puget Sound’s complex maritime landscape — with huge port operations, ferries, commercial fishing fleets, cruise ships, recreational boaters, U.S. Navy ships, and tribes — makes a good test bed for investigating and improving security practices. A new University of Washington research center that has uncovered “profound actionable implications” for improving maritime security nationwide is drawing…
July 1, 2015
International meeting on the inner life of ocean diatoms
A meeting on campus the week of July 7, “Molecular Life of Diatoms 2015” will bring together leading experts on diatoms—the same type of drifting algae now causing a huge harmful algal bloom off the West Coast—to discuss the perils and promise of these microscopic algae that live throughout the world’s oceans. A dazzling variety…
June 25, 2015
Harry Potter celebrated with ‘Muggles & Magic’ library exhibit
A new, staff-created exhibit brings a little bit of Hogwarts to Suzzallo and Allen libraries, with books, games, action figures and even scholarly articles about that famous, lightning-browed “boy who lived.” The exhibit is called “Muggles & Magic: Harry Potter @ the Libraries.” The main attraction sits just outside the Suzzallo Reading Room, which is…
June 24, 2015
UW Spokane Center opens to the public
A ribbon-cutting and celebration featuring the UW Husky Marching Band, Cheer Team and Harry the Husky marked the opening of the UW Spokane Center on Wednesday. UW interim Provost Jerry Baldasty, a native of Spokane, was joined by Spokane Mayor David Condon for a brief ceremony that kicked off an afternoon of activities for all ages with…
June 17, 2015
UW workshop aims to marry NASA data with Earthly needs
Satellites orbiting our planet gather vast amounts of data that have the potential to be used for the greater good — to give residents in flood-prone areas early warning, predict where mosquito-borne disease outbreaks are likely or monitor soil to grow healthier crops. But unlocking that potential requires packaging NASA observations in a way that…
June 15, 2015
New magazine highlights Northwest climate research
Researchers at the UW and many federal, state, municipal and Tribal agencies are looking at what climate change may bring for our region. A new magazine brings together some of these stories, including many featuring UW climate scientists. The inaugural edition of the annual Northwest Climate Magazine was published in May by three regional federal…
June 11, 2015
Conference next week will discuss future of Arctic, sub-Arctic seas
While the Shell drilling platform sits in a Seattle port and its future is hotly debated, a conference on changing Northern waters – including the Chukchi Sea where the oil company plans to use the rig to search for oil – will be held June 15-17 on the UW campus. The symposium is the 10th…
June 8, 2015
David Shields and UW alum publish new collaborative memoir
The prolific David Shields, New York Times best-selling author and University of Washington professor of English, has a new book out, titled “That Thing You Do With Your Mouth: The Sexual Autobiography of Samantha Matthews as Told to David Shields.” The book is an extended monologue by Matthews — who is Shields’ cousin once removed…
June 5, 2015
Finding his voice: UW aphasia expert’s work with country musician Billy Mize featured in film
Country musician Billy Mize worked with great people in his long career — Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Buck Owens, Glen Campbell and many more. He also worked in a different way with Diane Kendall, now a University of Washington professor of speech and hearing sciences and director of the UW’s Aphasia Research Laboratory. Aphasia is…
May 29, 2015
History professor Elena Campbell publishes book on Russia and the ‘Muslim question’
Elena I. Campbell, a University of Washington associate professor of history, has published her first book, which studies Russia’s policies toward Muslims in the 19th and 20th centuries and the impact of the “Muslim Question” on the modernizing path the country would follow. “The Muslim Question and Russian Imperial Governance” was published early this spring…
May 28, 2015
How do preschoolers start learning science?
One of the best ways children learn is by copying what they see others do. Now new research shows that this learning strategy can be used even with things that cannot be seen, including invisible scientific concepts. Weight, for example, is a concept that cannot be seen directly, and it puzzles most preschool-aged children. While…
May 27, 2015
In ‘Unending Hunger,’ poverty knows no borders
As a graduate student and food justice activist in Santa Barbara, California, Megan Carney became aware that many migrant women in the area struggled to feed their families. Her recently published book “The Unending Hunger: Tracing Women and Food Insecurity Across Borders,” examines the personal and political aspects of hunger and tells the stories of…
May 26, 2015
UW EcoCAR 3 team to compete on home turf
Sylvie Troxel didn’t own a driver’s license when she joined the University of Washington’s EcoCAR team as a freshman four years ago. A lifelong bus rider, she knew virtually nothing about cars. She had never manufactured anything before she started working in the UW machine shop where students fabricate the components to turn an iconic…
Seattle sushi chef to speak May 29 on converting to all sustainable fish
How can a sushi bar eliminate some of its most popular fish from the menu and still be profitable? One local establishment accomplished this, claiming that sustainable seafood is more important than profits in the long term. Hajime Sato, owner of Mashiko Japanese restaurant in West Seattle, will speak about his experience converting his sushi…
New Center for Communication, Difference and Equity opens
The University of Washington communication department will open its new Center for Communication, Difference and Equity with public events May 27 to 29, on campus and off. “The CCDE is a space — a physical space, intellectual space and community space — where we as a department and as a university are going to be…
May 21, 2015
UW wins national award for promoting women’s participation in undergraduate computing
The National Center for Women & Information Technology awarded its inaugural grand prize for excellence in recruiting, engaging and supporting women undergraduates in computer science to the University of Washington’s Department of Computer Science & Engineering (CSE). The national nonprofit that works to increase women’s participation in computing and technology selected UW CSE as the…
May 20, 2015
“Student Voices Making Change” symposium May 27 at HUB
More than two hundred high school students from four area high schools will visit the campus for a daylong seminar in the HUB May 27 as part of Teachers and Texts, which in turn is part of the UW in the High School program, sponsored by Professional and Continuing Education. The event is called the…
May 18, 2015
David Shields’ book — now a James Franco film — to screen at Hugo House
“I Think You’re Totally Wrong: A Quarrel,” a film directed by James Franco based on UW English Professor David Shields‘ latest book, with former student Caleb Powell, will be shown at Seattle literary venue Hugo House at 7 p.m. May 30, 31 and June 1. The screenings will be U.S. premiere for the film, which…
Runstad Center graduate student team wins low-income housing challenge
An interdisciplinary team of UW graduate students and its proposal for a 69-unit affordable housing development in Tacoma’s Wedge neighborhood has won the 24th annual Bank of America Low-Income Housing Challenge, held May 14 in San Francisco. The team was organized by the Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies, which is in the UW College…
May 15, 2015
David Ferry to give annual Theodore Roethke reading May 28
Poet David Ferry will give the 52nd annual Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Reading at 8 p.m. Thursday, May 28, Kane Hall’s room 130, also known as the Roethke Auditorium. The event is free and the public is invited. Ferry is the author of eight books of poetry, including “Bewilderment: New Poems and Translations,” which won…
May 13, 2015
Friday Harbor Labs event May 16 features marine science, scuba demos
If you’re looking for an escape this weekend, hop a ferry to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island and check out UW marine science research ranging from invertebrates and plankton to quirky fish and ocean acidification. The UW’s Friday Harbor Laboratories will host its annual open house Saturday, May 16, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m….
May 12, 2015
UW wave expert to appear tonight on TV’s ‘The Deadliest Catch’
The lead-up to the 11th season of The Deadliest Catch, the hit reality TV show about crab fishing in Alaska, is “The Bait,” in which captains of crab boats discuss some of the elements featured on the program. Tonight a University of Washington oceanographer will talk to the captains about one of the main reasons…
Top student climate change films to screen May 15 at Town Hall
Short clips ranging from Claymation and music videos to documentary and animated shorts that tell the story of what climate change means to local high school and college students will be shown in a first-ever video contest put on by the UW’s School of Environmental and Forest Sciences. Update: Watch the winning videos Ten of the…
May 11, 2015
Atmospheric scientist Bob Houze awarded Symons Gold Medal
The Royal Meteorological Society has awarded Robert Houze, a UW professor of atmospheric sciences, the Symons Gold Medal. The London-based society awards this international honor every two years to recognize distinguished work in meteorology, and it is considered one of the most prestigious awards in the field. Houze will deliver the society’s Symons Gold Medal…
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