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Arts and entertainment | UW Notebook

September 28, 2023

ArtSci Roundup: Faculty Concert, The Secret Language of Art Radicals, and more

This week, explore “how to use art for resistance” with Elisheba Johnson, head to Meany Hall for an engaging performance by the Turtle Island Quartet, and more. October 2, 7:30pm | Faculty Concert: UW Faculty Brass, Meany Hall UW faculty brass instructors and Seattle Symphony members David Gordon (trumpet), John DiCesare (tuba), John Turman (French horn), and Eden Garza (trombone) are joined by colleague Alexander White (trumpet) in this concert of works by several composers. $10 – $20 Tickets |…

Arts and entertainment | UW Notebook

September 21, 2023

ArtSci Roundup: Kicking the school year off with the Henry Art Gallery, Dawg Daze, and more

Through public events and exhibitions, connect with the UW community every week. This week, attend gallery exhibitions, Dawg Daze events, and more. As the UW community returns to campus, consider taking advantage of campus perks available to UW employees and students: Free admission to the Henry Art Gallery and Burke Museum Discounted tickets to performances by Meany Center, School of Drama, Department of Dance, School of Music, and more September 20 – 29 | Dawg Daze, UW Campus Enjoy one of…

Engineering | Environment | News releases | Research | Science

NSF funds internet-connected ocean observatory through 2028

The National Science Foundation has awarded the University of Washington $52.4 million over five years to continue operating the Regional Cabled Array, a cabled deep-ocean observatory about 300 miles offshore from Newport, Oregon. The grant is part of a $220 million total investment that will fund the internet-connected ocean observatory, known as the Ocean Observatories Initiative, through 2028.

Environment | Research | Science | UW News blog

September 15, 2023

Polar experiments reveal seasonal cycle in Antarctic sea ice algae

The frigid ocean surrounding Antarctica is home to much of the region’s photosynthetic life. A new University of Washington study provides the first measurements of how sea-ice algae and other single-celled life handle dramatic seasonal swings, offering clues to how this ecosystem might adapt to climate change.

Honors and awards | UW Notebook

September 14, 2023

Faculty/staff honors: Two professors on TIME100 AI list, UW President Ana Mari Cauce honored for contributions to León, and more

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.

UW News blog

UW claims top 3 spots on ‘Best Value’ list for Washington state; UW also ranks high on national list for educational and public impact

The University of Washington has been recognized on two lists that measure impact on students and communities. The UW placed third in the nation among public universities on the Washington Monthly 2023 National University Rankings, which ranks the school’s impact on its graduates and the nation. In a separate ranking, all three UW campuses topped the state for best value, according to SmartAsset, a financial services portal.

Health and medicine | News releases | Public Health | Research | Science

UW assessment finds fentanyl and methamphetamine smoke linger on public transit vehicles

Two years ago, as life regained its rhythm and public transit once again filled with people, train and bus operators spotted a troubling trend. Some operators reported instances of people smoking drugs on their vehicles, and worried that the haze it created could linger, potentially affecting workers’ physical and mental health.  Spurred by operators’ concerns, five transit agencies in Washington and Oregon approached researchers at the University of Washington with a yes-or-no question: Were transit operators being exposed to drug…

Official notices

September 5, 2023

Public Notice: UWMC-Northwest Major Institution Master Plan SEPA Draft EIS

 Project Name: UWMC-Northwest Major Institution Master Plan (MIMP) Proponent & Lead Agency: University of Washington Comment Period Closes: October 5, 2023 Description of Proposal: The UW Medical Center – Northwest Major Institution Master Plan will allow for space on the campus to accommodate projected population growth and corresponding increase in healthcare demands. It would also allow for replacing aging campus facilities with more energy efficient, lower maintenance, and appropriate systems for today’s medical center functional requirements. The Master Plan will…

Health and medicine | News releases | Population Health | Public Health

UW, Stanford launch resource to help health care professionals respond to climate concerns 

The case studies in Medicine for a Changing Planet, collated from clinical encounters around the world, support health professionals in recognizing and treating a variety of health-related conditions that can be traced to environmental stressors.

Environment | News releases | Research | Science

August 31, 2023

Study connects greenhouse gas emissions to polar bear population declines, enabling greater protections under Endangered Species Act

A new paper from the UW and Polar Bears International quantifies the relationship between greenhouse gas emissions and the survival of polar bear populations. The paper combines past research and new analysis to provide a quantitative link between greenhouse gas emissions and polar bear survival rates.

Administrative affairs | UW and the community | UW News blog

August 21, 2023

Statement from UW President Ana Mari Cauce on the departure of Jen Cohen, Director of Athletics

We’re grateful to Jennifer Cohen for her 25 years of outstanding service to the University of Washington, including the last seven years as the Director of Athletics. We wish her success in her next endeavor, and we thank her for all that she has done to make Husky Athletics a thriving program for our student-athletes and our global community of alumni, fans and supporters.

Environment | News releases | Research | Science

REBURN: A new tool to model wildfires in the Pacific Northwest and beyond

Researchers with the University of Washington and the U.S. Forest Service have developed a new tool, REBURN, that can simulate large forest landscapes and wildfire dynamics over decades or centuries under different wildfire management strategies. The model can simulate the consequences of extinguishing all wildfires regardless of size, which was done for much of the 20th century and has contributed to a rise in large and severe wildfires, or of allowing certain fires to return to uninhabited areas to help create a more “patchwork” forest structure that can help lessen fire severity. REBURN can also simulate conditions where more benign forest landscape dynamics have fully recovered in an area.

Education | Engineering | News releases | Research | Science

UW bioengineering researchers help create a roadmap to diversify faculty hiring

A team of biomedical researchers has developed a new method for hiring engineering professors. The primary goal is to actively recruit a more diverse group of applicants and improve the rate that doctoral students from historically excluded groups go on to become faculty members.

News releases | Research | Science

August 10, 2023

Muon g-2 doubles down with latest measurement, explores uncharted territory in search of new physics

A particle physics experiment decades in the making — the Muon g-2 experiment — looks increasingly like it might set up a showdown over whether there are fundamental particles or forces in the universe that are unaccounted for in the current Standard Model. On Aug. 10, the international team of scientists behind Muon g-2 — pronounced “g minus 2” — released the world’s most precise measurement yet of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. Calculating the muon’s magnetic moment at a high precision will indicate whether it is interacting solely with the particles and forces known today, or if unknown particles or forces are out there.

Environment | Expert quotes | Research | Science | UW News blog

August 9, 2023

In the Field: UW team to spend six weeks visiting deep-ocean observatory

Twenty-five undergraduates are among the participants on a 41-day cruise off the Oregon coast aboard the UW’s large research vessel, the R/V Thomas G. Thompson. Principal investigator Deborah Kelley, professor of oceanography, answers questions about the expedition to visit and maintain the cabled ocean observatory.

News releases | Research | Science

July 31, 2023

New algorithm ensnares its first ‘potentially hazardous’ asteroid

An asteroid discovery algorithm — designed to uncover near-Earth asteroids for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s upcoming 10-year survey of the night sky — has identified its first “potentially hazardous” asteroid, a term for space rocks in Earth’s vicinity that scientists like to keep an eye on. The roughly 600-foot-long asteroid, designated 2022 SF289, was discovered during a test drive of the algorithm with the ATLAS survey in Hawaii. Finding 2022 SF289, which poses no risk to Earth for the foreseeable future, confirms that the next-generation algorithm, known as HelioLinc3D, can identify near-Earth asteroids with fewer and more dispersed observations than required by today’s methods. That is important because, though scientists know of more than 2,000 near-Earth asteroids, they estimate that another 3,000 await discovery!

Expert quotes | Technology | UW News blog

July 27, 2023

Q&A: UW researcher discusses just how much energy ChatGPT uses

Training a large language model, such as ChatGPT, uses on average roughly equivalent to the yearly electricity consumption of over 1,000 U.S. households, according to Sajjad Moazeni, UW assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, who studies networking for AI and machine learning supercomputing.