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Inside Hutchinson Hall, home of the University of Washington School of Drama, students work at tables as they learn to assemble patterns based on costume designs. They’re surrounded by dress forms, bolts of cloth, sewing machines and costumes in progress. This is the Costume Shop, the domain of Val Mayse, master dressmaker for the School of Drama.

A decade ago, Dustine Bowker went to a pizza party at the Husky Union Building.

Then a junior at Roosevelt High School in Seattle, Bowker, who identifies as being on the autism spectrum, came to the University of Washington to learn about a program designed to help people like him. He had to learn to recognize social cues, he said, and adapt to fit into many situations.

Many of us are familiar with the hummingbirds that visit feeders, plants and gardens around us. But these small creatures are unusual in the ways they push the limits of biology, says Alejandro Rico-Guevara, UW assistant professor biology and curator of ornithology at the Burke Museum. He and his students study hummingbirds and other birds that drink nectar.  “I think what really caught my attention is their personality – how they can be so fierce and so bold despite being…

Leaders from Washington higher education institutions met with national policymakers April 4 to discuss opportunities provided by the CHIPS and Science Act. U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene and National Science Foundation Director Sethuraman Panchanathan visited the University of Washington campus to talk about the legislation, which provides more than $100 billion to fund scientific research and workforce training. The UW and other Washington colleges and universities are poised to receive funds from the CHIPS and Science Act to invest in chip…

Students from the Lummi Nation School visited the University of Washington in earlh February for a real-time Q&A with astronaut Josh Cassada aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Cassada helped do space research on a plant science experiment the students sent to the ISS.

It’s ski season and cold sunny days fill outdoor enthusiasts with delight, but ski areas usually come with stairs, crowds and an infrastructure generally built for skiers and snowboarders who ride solo and on two legs.   
Observing this winter activity through a lens of accessibility and disability justice is the point of a new class developed by UW Bothell associate teaching professor Jason Naranjo. His course, “Disability & Society — A Focus on Community and the Outdoors,” pairs UW students with skiers from Outdoors for All, an organization that provides adaptive outdoor activities for people who, for cognitive or physical reasons, can’t simply pop on skis and hit the slopes.

These nocturnal flying mammals live in cities and rural areas and in most climates around the world – and maybe even in your own backyard.
Sharlene Santana, a University of Washington professor of biology and curator of mammals at the Burke Museum, explains that there are over 1,400 species of bats spanning an incredible diversity.

University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce delivered her annual address to the community on Oct. 20. Highlights of the speech are reflected in this video. The audience was invited to attend the event remotely via livestream. President Cauce talked about the power of public research universities to bring communities together across differences to address some of the world’s greatest challenges. Higher-education institutions, particularly the UW, are being called on to do great things, and “we will answer that call,”…

University of Washington Professor Joan Sanders and her team are creating a new type of prosthetic leg: one that automatically adjusts its fit throughout the day. Their latest prototype detects in real time how well the prosthesis socket and amputation site are fitting and responds by automatically changing the size of the socket, without the need for adjustments to padding or user action.

A University of Washington pilot project is exploring the use of fiber-optic sensing for seismology, glaciology, and even urban monitoring. Funded in part with a $473,000 grant from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, a nonprofit based in Vancouver, Washington, the new UW Photonic Sensing Facility will use photons traveling through a fiber-optic cable to detect ground motions as small as 1 nanometer.

This year, the School of Music’s Improvised Music Project focused on audio recording, inviting acclaimed recording engineer David Boucher for a weeklong workshop. The new format allowed students and faculty to gain experience with UW’s new mobile recording system while teaching fundamental recording and audio skills. 

On Saturday, for the first time since 2019, the UW held in-person Commencement ceremonies at Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium where the University conferred degrees on the Class of 2022. On Sunday, it welcomed alumni from the 2020 and 2021 school years for a Return to Husky Stadium Graduation Celebration.

With the EcoCAR Mobility Challenge, UW students modified a 2019 Chevrolet Blazer to use electrification, advanced propulsion systems and automated vehicle technology. It’s an opportunity for students — across four years — to take a car from design to a consumer-ready product.

In 2016, Alexes Harris was diagnosed with a rare blood cancer. But a search for a bone marrow donor turned up only five matches, and none ended up being a donor. People of color are underrepresented in the bone marrow registry; according to Be The Match, the nation’s largest bone marrow registry, white people have a 79% chance of finding a match. But a Black person’s potential match is only 29%, and Asian and Latinx people both have about a 47% chance. People of Native American ancestry have a 60% chance of finding a match.

Forest fire smoke can make you sick, and we’re experiencing more them. In terms of public health, it seems logical to reduce forest fires to limit unhealthy air pollution, but forest managers are increasingly seeing prescribed burning as an essential tool to reduce explosive wildfires. How should we plan to deal with the impacts of these fires?

With the start of spring quarter on March 28, face masks became optional — but still recommended — inside most UW facilities. In light of the policy change, UW News spoke with several experts about what to expect on campus, how the current science and transmission rates inform our policy, and emotions and feelings we may experience as a result of removing our face coverings.

Angélica Amezcua never thought she’d achieve a doctoral degree, never mind landing a tenure-track job at the University of Washington. Raised in Mexico, she moved to California when she was 11, and she’s the first in her family to earn a Ph. D. She once believed that a career in academia was unattainable due to the obstacles placed in society for people of color.