Scientists and policymakers use scenarios called Shared Socioeconomic Pathways to project how today’s choices affect tomorrow’s world. But for complex subjects like public health, these intentionally simple scenarios don’t capture every complexity.


Scientists and policymakers use scenarios called Shared Socioeconomic Pathways to project how today’s choices affect tomorrow’s world. But for complex subjects like public health, these intentionally simple scenarios don’t capture every complexity.

A group of 175 researchers, including eight from the University of Washington, co-authored a commentary published in Earth’s Future and the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society that provides a roadmap for future climate assessments in the U.S. by synthesizing the science and identifying research priorities based on existing gaps.

Marina Alberti, a University of Washington professor of urban design and planning, studies how cities and natural ecosystems influence one another. UW News spoke to Alberti about how climate change is triggering evolutionary change within nature-based infrastructure projects — and what urban planners can do about it.

Ken Yocom has been named the next John and Rosalind Jacobi Family Endowed Dean of the University of Washington College of Built Environments, Provost Tricia Serio announced today. His appointment, effective July 1, is subject to approval by the UW Board of Regents. Yocom has served as interim dean since October 2024 and is a professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture, where he previously served as department chair. A longtime member of the UW faculty, Yocom brings deep institutional…

Workers from small, rural communities often move into the outer edges of cities, which offer greater economic opportunities but often have low-quality housing that is likely to suffer greater damage during an earthquake. The risk grows even more when migrants come from low-income or tribal villages.

A project in the UW College of Built Environments, led by researcher Judy Bowes, is examining how building architecture contributes to bird collisions, and the ways bird-safe glass and other designs can help address the problem.
Recent recognition for the University of Washington includes Emily M. Bender and Yejin Choi on the TIME100 AI list, President Ana Mari Cauce receiving a Decrees Award and Jeff Hou’s election to the American Society of Landscape Architects’ Council of Fellows.

In UW Architecture’s Making and Meaning class, students built benches to learn about design and construction, and to create community.

UW will be a core member of a consortium led by Stony Brook University that will build and operate The New York Climate Exchange – a carbon-neutral international hub focused on climate action and adaptation

This week, attend a Modern Music Ensemble performance, learn how creating great urban neighborhoods and environmental justice go hand in hand, witness percussionist Jeff Busch in a concert of Brazilian music, and more. March 7, 7:30 PM | Modern Music Ensemble, Meany Hall Cristina Valdés leads the UW Modern Music Ensemble in performances of works from the mid-20th century and beyond. Program includes pieces by Patricia Alessandrini, Kaija Saariaho, Christian Wolff, Huck Hodge, Sarah Hennies, and Huang Ruo. $10 tickets…

Attend lectures, performances, and more! February 22, 7:30 PM | DXARTS Winter Concert, Meany Hall 2023 marks the 75th year of musique concrète with the premiere of Pierre Schaeffer’s Cinq études de bruits (Five Studies of Noises), composed and premiered in 1948. In celebration, the Department of Digital Arts and Experimental Media (DXARTS) is pleased to host Annette Vande Gorne, who will present a program of recent work from the pioneers of this art of spatial sound crafted for…

Attend lectures, performances, and more! January 18 – February 15, 7:30 PM |History Lecture Series: Medieval Made Modern, Kane Hall The medieval period has always occupied a paradoxical position in our cultural memory. An age of fantasy unimaginably distant from historical reality, it is also an era onto which writers and artists—and now moviemakers and gamers—have long projected their fears and desires. Why do cultures remake certain figures from the past—but not others–in their own image? Join Professor Emerita Robin…

Recent and upcoming books from University of Washington faculty include those from the Jackson School of International Studies, the Department of Psychology and the Runstad Department of Real Estate.

The University of Washington today announced the establishment of the John and Rosalind Jacobi Family Endowed Deanship in the College of Built Environments, strengthening the school’s vision of a more just and beautiful world for all.

A study led by evolutionary biologists at multiple institutions, including the University of Washington, focuses on a specific plant in examining whether parallel evolution is occurring in cities all over the world.

A new book by Gregg Colburn, assistant professor of real estate at the UW, explores the factors that drive homelessness, and the cultural and economic shift that can ultimately benefit all — housed and unhoused.

The Nehemiah Studio, a UW class on mitigating gentrification in Seattle’s Central District, has been honored by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

Development has changed the face of the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, says Manish Chalana, associate professor of urban design and planning at the University of Washington, but it remains the heart of the city’s LGBTQ community.

The COVID-19 Mobility Survey, a partnership of the University of Washington and the Puget Sound Regional Council, showed how remote workers’ transportation, work and other lifestyle habits changed over the first several months of the pandemic.

In his latest book, “Sustaining a City’s Culture and Character: Principles and Best Practices,” Charles Wolfe asks: How can we create urban environments that are truly livable?

John Schaufelberger, UW professor of construction management and dean emeritus of the College of Built Environments, has received the 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Associated Schools of Construction.

A King County initiative to relocate people from homeless shelters to hotel rooms during the pandemic not only limited the spread of COVID-19, but also improved people’s mental health and well-being, and allowed them to focus on long-term goals.

Recent news about UW-authored books includes a UW Press book on salmon habitat restoration amid climate change and a paperback edition of a book on building reuse. Also, Anu Taranath’s “Beyond Guilt Trips: Mindful Travel in an Unequal World” is a Washington State Book Award finalist.

Social inequalities, specifically racism and classism, are impacting the biodiversity, evolutionary shifts and ecological health of plants and animals in our cities. That’s the main finding of a review paper published Aug. 13 in Science led by the University of Washington, with co-authors at the University of California, Berkeley, and University of Michigan.

Recent honors to University of Washington faculty and staff have come from Architect magazine, the Center for Research Libraries, member states of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the American Society of Human Genetics.

Three professors are teaming for a study of the mobility impacts of the coronavirus — and they are inviting UW faculty, staff and students to complete a short online survey to assist the research.

Recent honors to University of Washington faculty and staff have come from the Association of Asian Studies, the American Society of Public Administration, the Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography and Cascade Public Media.

Recent honors to University of Washington faculty and staff have come from the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture, the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the World Register of Marine Species.

This wasn’t how LaShawnDa Pittman expected to give her final exam review: At her kitchen table, laptop open, coffee cup at the ready, her 12-year-old Chihuahua named Espresso by her side. But as the first week of the University of Washington’s shift to online classes drew to a close, Pittman, an assistant professor of American Ethnic Studies, was talking with her students over the conferencing platform Zoom, first to answer logistical questions about the upcoming exam, then to provide a…

KUOW’s That’s Debatable on Wednesday will feature two University of Washington faculty members: Dan Schwartz, professor of chemical engineering and director of the Clean Energy Institute, and Kate Simonen, upcoming chair of the Department of Architecture and director of the Carbon Leadership Forum.

Rick Mohler, associate professor of architecture in the College of Built Environments, is now teaching his classes using Zoom. His architecture classes usually meet in person, but were conducted entirely online Monday.

A talk with UW architecture professor Tyler Sprague about his book “Sculpture on a Grand Scale: Jack Christiansen’s Thin Shell Modernism.” Plus books from Rick Bonus and Yong-Chool Ha.

It’s the year 2020, and where two or more are gathered, it seems, there is a podcast. Given the level of creativity among University of Washington faculty and staff, it’s no surprise that many high-quality podcasts are now being produced on campus. Here’s a look at three podcasts being created by UW departments or people, including a couple that have been underway for quite a while. UW Notebook will occasionally report on campus podcasts and ask a few questions of…

Recent honors to UW faculty and staff members include awards for architectural education and biomaterials research, fellowships in nursing and cloud computing, a professor named among Seattle’s most influential people and a big news year for “a burgeoning band of embodied carbon busters.”

Neile Graham is both a longtime administrator with the College of Built Environments and a published poet — and she has a new book of poetry out, called “The Walk She Takes.”

A teacher discusses respectful world travel, a historian explores Silicon Valley’s evolution, a professor and violist plays the music of Robert Schumann and a late English faculty member’s meditation on Seattle returns … Here’s a quick look at some gift-worthy books and music created by UW faculty in the last year — and a reminder of some recent favorites. O’Mara’s ‘Code’: History professor Margaret O’Mara provides a sweeping history of California’s computer industry titans in her book “The Code:…

A discussion of Brutalist architecture on the UW campus with professor Alex Anderson of the Department of Architecture.

Several UW schools and offices will team up to research how organizational practices can affect the interagency collaboration needed to keep the “internet of things” — and institutional systems — safe and secure.

Early results from a faculty-led survey on the University of Washington’s three campus estimate the extent of food and housing insecurity among students.

This week in the arts, celebrate 100 years of influence of the iconic choreographer Merce Cunningham; attend an East African Retro Pop concert with Alsarah and the Nubatrones, attend a graduation exhibition opening the Jacob Lawrence Gallery, and more. The Hip Hop Architect: Michael Ford April 10, 6:30 pm | Kane Hall, Room 130 The College of Built Environments is proud to host an evening with Michael Ford, a featured architect with BRANDNU Design. Ford is the Co-Founder of The…