UW News
The latest news from the UW
March 17, 2021
‘Forgetting Nature’: Peter Kahn offers warning in short documentary film
The message of “Forgetting Nature,” a new documentary film featuring Peter Kahn, is short but powerful: We humans are losing our connection to the natural world, at our great peril.
Tag(s): College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Psychology • Peter Kahn • School of Environmental and Forest SciencesMarch 16, 2021
‘Telling Stories’: Imagined tales of artificial intelligence presented by the UW Tech Policy Lab
Tales of artificial intelligence and its effects on future life are gathered in “Telling Stories: On Culturally Responsive Artificial Intelligence,” presented by the UW Tech Policy Lab.
Tag(s): Batya Friedman • College of Engineering • Darren Byler • Hannah Almeter • Information School • Nicholas Logler • Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering • Ryan Calo • School of Law
Relearning normalcy, focusing on the positive: UW psychologist on the vaccine phase of the pandemic
University of Washington psychology professor Jane Simoni discusses how COVID-19 vaccines are gradually spurring the return to normal life, and the role of positive public health messaging.
Tag(s): College of Arts & Sciences • COVID-19 • Department of Psychology • Jane SimoniMarch 15, 2021
New Stroum Center podcast series ‘Jewish Questions’ explores anti-Semitism, features UW faculty
“Jewish Questions,” a podcast from the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies, explores issues of Jewish life, politics, history and culture
Tag(s): Ana Gómez-Bravo • College of Arts & Sciences • Devin Naar • Jackson School of International Studies • Jewish Questions • Laurie Marhoefer • Liora Halperin • Noam Pianko • Stroum Center for Jewish Studies • Susan GlennMarch 12, 2021
Soundbites & B-roll: UW arborist on cherry blossom viewing tips
UW arborist Sara Shores recommends looking for cherry blossoms in your local parks and neighborhood streets. There are dozens of different varieties of blossoming cherry and plum trees in the Seattle area, with blooms visible from early February until May, for some species.
Tag(s): Sara Shores
Role of solvent molecules in light-driven electron transfer revealed
In a study published Feb. 15 in Nature Chemistry, a research team led by Munira Khalil, professor and chair of chemistry at the University of Washington, has captured the rapid motions of solvent molecules that impact light-driven electron transfer in a molecular complex for the first time. This information could help researchers learn how to control energy flow in molecules, potentially leading to more efficient clean energy sources.
Tag(s): College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Chemistry • Munira KhalilMarch 11, 2021
Mindfulness program in campus dorms, groups improved students’ mental health
Amid a growing mental health crisis among teens and young adults nationwide, a pilot program teaching mindfulness and coping techniques to students at the University of Washington has helped lower stress and improve emotional well-being.
Tag(s): Center for Child and Family Well-Being • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Psychology • Liliana Lengua • Robyn LongMarch 10, 2021
Helpful behavior during pandemic tied to recognizing common humanity
A new University of Washington study finds that an identification with all humanity, as opposed to identification with a geographic area like a country or town, predicts whether someone will engage in “prosocial” behaviors particular to the pandemic, such as donating extra masks or coming to the aid of a sick person.
Tag(s): Andrew Meltzoff • Center for Neurotechnology • College of Arts & Sciences • College of Engineering • Department of Psychology • Katharina Reinecke • Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering • Rajesh Rao • Rodolfo Cortes Barragan
Large computer language models carry environmental, social risks
Computer engineers at the world’s largest companies and universities are using machines to scan through tomes of written material. The goal? Teach these machines the gift of language. Do that, some even claim, and computers will be able to mimic the human brain.
Tag(s): Department of Linguistics • Emily M. BenderMarch 9, 2021
ArtSci Roundup: Bambitchell: Dolphins, ships and other vessels, Illustrating Injustice: The Power of Print, and More
During this time of uncertainty and isolation, find solace in digital opportunities to connect, share, and engage. Each week, we will share upcoming events that bring the UW, and the greater community, together online. Many of these online opportunities are streamed through Zoom. All UW faculty, staff, and students have access to Zoom Pro via UW-IT. Protest,…
Tag(s): African Studies Program • ArtsUW • Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture • College of Arts & Sciences • Comparative History of Ideas Program • Department of Dance • Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilization • Henry Art Gallery • Jackson School of International Studies • Law Societies & Justice Department • Meany Center for the Performing Arts • Meany Hall for the Performing Arts • School of Music • Simpson Center for the Humanities
Dr. Anne McTiernan releases memoir, ‘Cured: A Doctor’s Journey from Panic to Peace’
Balancing motherhood and medical school is a challenge, but panic attacks and memories of childhood trauma make the path all the more difficult. With therapy, Dr. Anne McTiernan found her way through. Now she discusses her experiences in an intimate memoir, “Cured: A Doctor’s Journey from Panic to Peace.”
Tag(s): Anne McTiernan • Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center • School of Public Health
Alexa, do I have an irregular heart rhythm? First AI system for contactless monitoring of heart rhythm using smart speakers
UW researchers have developed a new skill for a smart speaker that for the first time monitors both regular and irregular heartbeats without physical contact.
Tag(s): Arun Sridhar • College of Engineering • Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering • School of Medicine • Shyam GollakotaMarch 8, 2021
Watch the UW cherry blossoms virtually this year and avoid coming to campus due to COVID-19
The University of Washington once again is asking people to enjoy the iconic campus cherry blossoms virtually this year to promote physical distancing and safety during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Tag(s): cherry blossoms • Sara Shores • UW FacilitiesMarch 4, 2021
A year with COVID-19: A chronology of how the UW adapted — and responded — to the pandemic
On March 6, 2020, the University of Washington became the first university in the U.S. to announce a move to remote instruction and work in an effort to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. Here’s a look back at the past year, from the perspectives of how the UW community adapted and the impact the…
Tag(s): COVID-19 • COVID-19 studies
Video: UW students join the front lines of the vaccination effort
By the end of February, around 350 UW students had signed up to be volunteer vaccinators in clinics from Tacoma to Marysville.
Tag(s): COVID-19 • Jane Jacobson • Jocelyn Ludlow • School of Dentistry • School of Medicine • School of Nursing • School of Pharmacy • School of Public Health • School of Social Work
Can’t solve a riddle? The answer might lie in knowing what doesn’t work
With the help of about 200 human puzzle-takers, a computer model and functional MRI images, University of Washington researchers have learned more about the processes of reasoning and decision making, pinpointing the brain pathway that springs into action when problem-solving goes south.
Tag(s): Andrea Stocco • Chantel Prat • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Psychology • Lauren GrahamMarch 3, 2021
The UW is a Fulbright top producer
The University of Washington is proud to be included on the list of U.S. colleges and universities that produced the most 2020-2021 Fulbright students.
Tag(s): Fulbright ProgramMarch 2, 2021
UW Center for an Informed Public co-authors report on mis- and disinformation surrounding the 2020 U.S. election
The Election Integrity Partnership, a nonpartisan coalition of research institutions, including the University of Washington, that identified, tracked and responded to voting-related mis- and disinformation during the 2020 U.S. elections, released its final report, “The Long Fuse: Misinformation and the 2020 Elections” on Tuesday, March 2. The report is the culmination of months of collaboration among approximately 120 people working across four organizations: the UW Center for an Informed Public, Stanford Internet Observatory , Graphika and the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab.
Tag(s): Center for an Informed Public • College of Engineering • Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering • Kate Starbird
ArtSci Roundup: UW Museums Reopen, Uncharted Waters, UW Dance Presents, and More
During this time of uncertainty and isolation, find solace in digital opportunities to connect, share, and engage. Each week, we will share upcoming events that bring the UW, and the greater community, together online. Many of these online opportunities are streamed through Zoom. All UW faculty, staff, and students have access to Zoom Pro via UW-IT. 2021…
Tag(s): ArtsUW • Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Communication • Department of Dance • Department of History • Henry Art Gallery • Meany Center for the Performing Arts • Meany Hall for the Performing Arts • School of Drama • School of Music • UW Drama
Rating tornado warnings charts a path to improve forecasts
A new method to rate tornado warnings shows that nighttime tornadoes in the U.S. have a lower probability of detection and a higher false-alarm rate than other events. Summertime tornadoes, occurring in June, July or August, also are more likely to evade warning.
Tag(s): Alexandra Anderson-Frey • College of the Environment • Department of Atmospheric and Climate Science • weather
Faculty/staff honors: Field research grant, staffer’s play streams, cartoon remembrance
Recent honors and achievements by UW faculty and staff include a grant for field research in the Middle East, a staffer’s play being streamed by a Seattle theater and a professor’s cartoon remembrance of a relative lost to COVID-19.
Tag(s): College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Cinema & Media Studies • Department of Slavic Languages and Literature • Holly Arsenault • Jackson School of International Studies • Jose Alaniz • School of Drama • Stroum Center for Jewish StudiesFebruary 26, 2021
Video: You’ve heard of garage bands — now you can hear the ‘UW garage chorale’
The University of Washington Chorale has found an unlikely place to practice. Once a week, 8 of the 60 member singing group meets, standing 6 feet apart, in a campus parking garage for 30 precious minutes. Despite the sounds of passing cars and some machinery whirring nearby, the sound they can make together – in person – is wonderful.
Tag(s): Giselle Wyers • School of Music • University of Washington ChoraleFebruary 25, 2021
Q&A: Race, medicine and the future power of genetic ancestry
Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine that they “do not believe that ignoring race will reduce health disparities” but rather that “such an approach is a form of naive ‘color blindness’ that is more likely to perpetuate and potentially exacerbate disparities,” five Black geneticists set out to explain the pitfalls of leaving race…
Tag(s): COVID-19 • Department of Biostatistics • population health • School of Public Health • Timothy ThorntonFebruary 24, 2021
Record-high Arctic freshwater will flow through Canadian waters, affecting marine environment and Atlantic ocean currents
The Arctic Ocean’s Beaufort Sea has increased its freshwater content by 40% over the past two decades. When conditions change this freshwater will travel to the Labrador Sea off Canada, rather than through the wider marine passageways that connect to seas in Northern Europe. This has implications for local marine environments and global ocean circulation.
Tag(s): Applied Physics Laboratory • College of the Environment • Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean and Ecosystem Studies • oceanography • polar science • Polar Science Center
Scientists describe earliest primate fossils
A new study published Feb. 24 in the journal Royal Society Open Science documents the earliest-known fossil evidence of primates. These creatures lived less than 150,000 years after the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction event that killed off non-avian dinosaurs and saw the rise of mammals.
Tag(s): Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Biology • evolution • Gregory Wilson Mantilla • paleontologyFebruary 23, 2021
ArtSci Roundup: Fermented Face with Candice Lin, After Democracy: A Conversation with Zizi Papacharissi, and More
During this time of uncertainty and isolation, find solace in digital opportunities to connect, share, and engage. Each week, we will share upcoming events that bring the UW, and the greater community, together online. Many of these online opportunities are streamed through Zoom. All UW faculty, staff, and students have access to Zoom Pro via UW-IT. Fermented…
Tag(s): African Studies Program • ArtsUW • Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Asian Languages & Literature • Department of Communication • Department of History • Department of Political Science • Environmental Studies • Henry Art Gallery • Jackson School of International Studies • Meany Center for the Performing Arts • Meany Hall for the Performing Arts • School of Art + Art History + Design • School of Drama • Simpson Center for the Humanities
Logging change in Puget Sound: Researchers use UW vessel logbooks to reconstruct historical groundfish populations
To understand how Puget Sound has changed, we first must understand how it used to be. But unlike most major estuaries in the U.S., long-term monitoring of Puget Sound fish populations did not exist until 1990. Now researchers have discovered an unconventional method to help fill in gaps in the data: old vessel logbooks.
Tag(s): College of the Environment • Puget Sound Institute • School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences • Tessa Francis • Tim Essington • UW Tacoma • Washington Sea GrantFebruary 22, 2021
UW launches Faculty Diversity Initiative
The University of Washington today announced an initiative to further the UW’s goals for diversity, equity and inclusion, including $5 million in funding for faculty hiring in the next two years. The initiative builds upon and supports efforts University wide and aims to accelerate and benchmark progress on an annual basis.
Tag(s): Ed Taylor • Mark Richards • Mary Lidstrom • Race • Robin Angotti
Effective treatment for insomnia delivered in a few short phone calls
Insomnia — trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or waking up too early — is a common condition in older adults. Sleeplessness can be exacerbated by osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis causing joint pain. While there are effective therapies for treating insomnia in older adults, many people cannot get the treatment they need because…
Tag(s): Michael V Vitiello • School of Medicine • School of Nursing • Susan M. McCurryFebruary 19, 2021
‘Small moon’ shapes allow DNA devices to attach in precise orientations
A team of engineers, including one at the University of Washington, has developed a technique that allows for the precise placement of molecules formed from folded DNA in not only a specific location but also in a specific orientation
Tag(s): Chris Thachuk • College of Engineering • Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering
UW partners in new postdoctoral program to diversify the science and engineering faculty at America’s research universities
At our nation’s research universities, including the University of Washington, underrepresented minorities make up less than 6% of the faculty across non-medical science, technology engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. This severe underrepresentation among faculty has persisted for decades and comes, in part, from a lack of diversity among the doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars in these fields who elect to pursue faculty positions.
Tag(s): Joy Williamson-Lott • Julia Parrish • Mark Richards
Vice Provost for Research Mary Lidstrom stepping down after 15 years
After more than 15 years serving as Vice Provost for Research, Mary Lidstrom will step down from her position on Aug. 31, 2021, with plans to return full time to the faculty, concentrate on her research, and establish mentoring and diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Tag(s): College of Engineering • Department of Chemical Engineering • Mary Lidstrom • Office of ResearchFebruary 18, 2021
Faculty/staff honors: Polymer Physics Prize, anthropology dissertation award
The Polymer Physics Prize from the American Physical Society and a dissertation award from the Society for American Archaeology.
Tag(s): archaeology • College of Arts & Sciences • College of Engineering • Department of Anthropology • Department of Chemical Engineering • Department of Chemistry • Ian Kretzler • Samson JenekheFebruary 17, 2021
Q&A: ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system arriving in Pacific Northwest
After years in development, an earthquake early warning system known as ShakeAlert is on the cusp of being released in Oregon and Washington. Harold Tobin, director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, answers questions about the coming rollout.
Tag(s): College of the Environment • Department of Earth and Space Sciences • earthquakes & seismology • Harold Tobin • Pacific Northwest Seismic Network • ShakeAlert
ArtSci Roundup: Katz Distinguished Lecture: Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Contemporary Environmental Issues In Taiwan, Global Perspectives on Restorative Justice & Race, and More
During this time of uncertainty and isolation, find solace in digital opportunities to connect, share, and engage. Each week, we will share upcoming events that bring the UW, and the greater community, together online. Many of these online opportunities are streamed through Zoom. All UW faculty, staff, and students have access to Zoom Pro via UW-IT. Joff…
Tag(s): ArtsUW • Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture • College of Arts & Sciences • College of the Environment • Comparative History of Ideas Program • Department of Dance • Department of English • Department of Geography • Environmental Studies • Henry Art Gallery • Jackson School of International Studies • Jazz • Meany Center for the Performing Arts • Meany Hall for the Performing Arts • School of Art + Art History + Design • School of Law • School of Music • Select Department of Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies Department of Gender, Women & Sexuality StudiesFebruary 16, 2021
UW books in brief: Historian Anand Yang explores British ‘penal transportation’; world music textbooks by Patricia Shehan Campbell
Historian Anand Yang writes about the British history of shipping of convicted criminals to other continents; and new world music education books from ethnomusicologist Patricia Shehan Campbell.
Tag(s): Anand Yang • College of Arts & Sciences • Jackson School of International Studies • Patricia Campbell • School of Music
UW chemist and oceanographer named Sloan Fellows
Two faculty members at the University of Washington have been awarded early-career fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The new Sloan Fellows, announced Feb. 16, are Ashleigh Theberge, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Jodi Young, an assistant professor in the School of Oceanography.
Tag(s): Ashleigh Theberge • Jodi YoungFebruary 10, 2021
Online tool displays Pacific Northwest mountain snow depth
How’s the snow on Northwest mountains this year? Overall a little deeper than normal, but it depends where you look. A new collaboration between the University of Washington, the Northwest Avalanche Center lets you see how the current snow depth compares to past years for nine sites in Washington and two in Oregon.
Tag(s): College of the Environment • Karin Bumbaco • Office of the Washington State Climatologist • weather
List of 1,000 inspiring Black scientists includes seven from UW
Seven University of Washington scientists are included in Cell Mentor’s list of 1,000 inspiring Black scientists, published in December 2020. Cell Mentor is a collaborative resource between Cell Press and Cell Signaling Technology.
Tag(s): Ayokunle Olanrewaju • Bobby Wilson • College of Arts & Sciences • College of Engineering • Franck Kalume • James Carothers • Jessica Ray • School of Medicine • Tam'ra-Kay Francis • UW Bothell • Warren BuckFebruary 9, 2021
ArtSci Roundup: Monsen Photography Lecture, Meany On Screen: Martha Graham Dance Company, and More
During this time of uncertainty and isolation, find solace in digital opportunities to connect, share, and engage. Each week, we will share upcoming events that bring the UW, and the greater community, together online. Many of these online opportunities are streamed through Zoom. All UW faculty, staff, and students have access to Zoom Pro via UW-IT. Monsen…
Tag(s): ArtsUW • Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture • College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Dance • Department of Germanics • Department of Political Science • Henry Art Gallery • Meany Center for the Performing Arts • Meany Hall for the Performing Arts • School of Music« Previous Page Next Page »
