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The latest news from the UW

May 3, 2021

Earthquake early warnings launch in Washington, completing West Coast-wide ShakeAlert system

The U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Washington-based Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, and state emergency managers on Tuesday, May 4, will activate the system that sends earthquake early warnings throughout Washington state. This completes the rollout of ShakeAlert, an automated system that gives people living in Washington, Oregon and California advance warning of incoming earthquakes.

UW announces COVID-19 vaccine requirement for students

The University of Washington on Monday announced it will require all students on all three of its campuses to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before the start of the autumn quarter. The announcement comes with six weeks remaining in the spring quarter to provide time for students who are in the area to get vaccinated before summer.

Genetically engineered grass cleanses soil of toxic pollutants left by military explosives, new research shows

A team, which includes researchers from the University of Washington, demonstrated that over the course of three years, a genetically engineered switchgrass could break down an explosive chemical in plots of soil at a military range.

April 30, 2021

UW’s new Mobile Health & Outreach Van will serve community and student experience

Getting basic health care to medically underserved populations in Seattle, while providing real-world experience for students hoping to practice in a health care field, takes wheels. Now, through a student-led, interdisciplinary effort by health science departments at the University of Washington, those “wheels” — on the new UW Mobile Health & Outreach Van — are ready.

6 UW-affiliated researchers elected to the National Academy of Sciences

Five faculty members and one affiliate professor at the University of Washington are among 120 new members and 30 international members elected to the National Academy of Sciences: Anna Karlin, professor of computer science and engineering; Rachel Klevit, professor of biochemistry; Randall LeVeque, professor emeritus of applied mathematics; Julie Theriot, professor of biology; Rachel Wong, professor of biological structure; and Julie Overbaugh, professor at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and a UW affiliate professor of microbiology.

April 28, 2021

Report: UW No. 4 in country for economic impact as a result of federal research investments

The University of Washington is the No. 4 higher education institution in the country in terms of total economic impact as a result of federal research expenditures. The UW alone contributed $306.8 million to the U.S. gross domestic product and helped to produce more than 3,908 jobs, according to The Science Coalition’s fourth Sparking Economic Growth report, released earlier this month.

UW Spokane Center to move into historic SIERR Building

The University of Washington’s Spokane Center will soon serve the community and its constituents from new offices in Spokane’s historic Spokane Inland Empire Railroad (SIERR) Building, located in the heart of Spokane’s growing University District. The UW Spokane Center will relocate May 1, 2021, to new offices at 850 E. Spokane Falls Blvd. from its office at 201 West Main, where it has been housed since 2015.

UW launches GeoHazards Initiative; names Paros Chair in Seismology and GeoHazards

Leveraging the tectonic laboratory of the Cascadia subduction zone, the University of Washington today announced a new effort to best understand how to study and live with the threats of earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanos, landslides and other seismic hazards. Dubbed the GeoHazards Initiative, the interdisciplinary work aims to develop and promote the adoption of early detection systems both on land and at sea to help prevent the loss of human life and property.

April 27, 2021

Thousands of baby sea stars born at UW lab are sign of hope for endangered species

Scientists at the University of Washington, in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy, are raising sunflower sea stars in captivity, with the goal of learning more about this species and exploring eventual reintroduction to the wild, if determined to be advisable.

April 26, 2021

ArtSci Roundup: Rosmersholm, The Jews of Ottoman Izmir: Dina Danon in Conversation with Devin E. Naar, 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.  Online: Rosmersholm May 6 – May 9 | Online Presented by the School of Drama, this sexually-charged study of faith and heartbreak, widely considered Ibsen’s darkest and most…

April 21, 2021

ArtSci Roundup: Exhibitions at The Henry Art Gallery, From ‘Permit Patty’ to ‘Karen’: Black Rearticulations of Racial Humor, 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.  The Henry Art Gallery: Exhibitions on view through April Ongoing | The Henry Art Gallery The Henry Art Gallery, located on the UW campus, is internationally…

Q&A: It’s not just social media — misinformation can spread in scientific communication too

When people think of misinformation, they often focus on popular and social media. But in a paper published April 12 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, University of Washington faculty members Jevin West and Carl Bergstrom write that scientific communication — both scientific papers and news articles written about papers — also has the potential to spread misinformation.

A growing problem of ‘deepfake geography’: How AI falsifies satellite images

Using satellite photos of three cities and drawing upon methods used to manipulate video and audio files, a team of researchers led by the University of Washington set out to identify new ways of detecting fake satellite photos and warn of the dangers of falsified geospatial data.

April 20, 2021

Oral history project captures Washingtonians’ pandemic experiences

Manuel S. Martinez, a lifelong campesino, trabajador and community organizer, recalls the beginning of the pandemic. Interviewed by UW student Adriana Martinez.  Zoom, masks, family and politics — these are some of the lasting memories shared by participants in a University of Washington student oral history project. Undergraduate seniors in the Public Health Global Health major at the UW School of Public Health partnered with the Washington State Historical Society to record the experiences of friends, family and associates living through the…

April 19, 2021

Arguing on the internet: UW researchers studying how to make online arguments productive

UW researchers worked with almost 260 people to understand online disagreements and to develop potential design interventions that could make these discussions more productive and centered around relationship-building.

April 14, 2021

Faculty/staff honors: Guggenheim fellowship, Fulbright award, cybersecurity policy advocate

Recent honors and achievements for UW faculty and staff include a Guggenheim fellowship in film history, a Fulbright fellowship for bioethics research in South Africa and membership in a new state cybersecurity team formed by the National Governors Association.

ArtSci Roundup: Ghetto: The History of a Word, CJMD Spotlight: Public opinion in U.S. broadcast news, 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.  Joseph and Friends: A Svoboda Scavenger Hunt April 19 – May 14 | Online The Svoboda Diaries Project is an interdisciplinary digital humanities project dedicated to…

April 13, 2021

Deep earthquakes within the Juan de Fuca plate produce few aftershocks

In the Cascadia subduction zone, medium- and large-sized “intraslab” earthquakes, in which the slip happens within the oceanic plate and below the continental plate, will likely produce only a few detectable aftershocks, according to a new study from the University of Washington and the U.S. Geological Survey.

Vaccines debate: ‘Escape variants’ of the coronavirus are a serious future threat

With COVID-19 cases on the rise again in many parts of the country — including Washington state where three counties were pushed back to Phase 2 effective Friday — there’s a growing debate between continuing to give both doses of Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines close together, or giving them months apart in order to get first shots in more shoulders faster. The argument for giving more people the first dose before circling back months later to give the second, which…

April 8, 2021

UW receives $30 million gift to renovate Haring Center for Inclusive Education, underscoring the importance of early childhood education

Since 1964, the University of Washington Haring Center for Inclusive Education has provided innovative special education and early learning, improving the lives of children and youth with neurodevelopmental disorders and other disabilities.

Official notice: UW accreditation evaluation by Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

Next week the UW will undergo a comprehensive evaluation visit by its accrediting body, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. This review will involve an assessment of the UW’s initiatives and efforts related to student success, its institutional effectiveness and mission, as well as governance, resources and capacity.

April 7, 2021

Perinatal patients, nurses explain how hospital pandemic policies failed them

With a lethal, airborne virus spreading fast, hospitals had to change how they treated patients and policies for how caregivers provided that treatment. But for maternity patients and nurses some of those changes had negative outcomes, according to a new University of Washington study. “We found that visitor restrictions and separation policies were harming families and nurses. The effects for patients included loneliness, isolation and mistrust, while nurses described mistrust and low morale,” said Molly Altman, lead author of the…

First results from Muon g-2 experiment strengthen evidence of new physics

The first results from the Muon g-2 experiment hosted at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory show fundamental particles called muons behaving in a way not predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics. These results confirm an earlier experiment of the same name performed at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Combined, the two results show strong evidence that our best theoretical model of the subatomic world is incomplete. One potential explanation would be the existence of undiscovered particles or forces.

April 5, 2021

Retiring Alaska Airlines CEO, proud Husky Brad Tilden, honored with updated UW aircraft livery

The retirement of Alaska Airlines CEO Brad Tilden after a 30-year career with the company – at least in one way – had the University of Washington written all over it. Horizon Air recently unveiled a special Huskies-themed livery on a Q400 (tail number #N435QX) in honor of Tilden, who earned his MBA at the UW and has maintained a strong partnership with the University for several years. Tilden retired March 31.

ArtSci Roundup: Borders and Blackness: Communicating Belonging and Grief, Drop-in Session: Meditation Inspired By Nature, 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.  Curating in Conversation: A Panel Series on Sharing Northwest Native Art and Art History with the Public April 12, 7:00 – 8:30 PM | Online In…

April 1, 2021

John Schaufelberger to receive 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award from national Associated Schools of Construction

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.

CDC, UW study finds significant vaccine distrust within incarcerated populations, increasing risks

Fewer than half of inmates in jails and prisons surveyed in a study by the CDC and University of Washington said they would accept a COVID-19 vaccine, while the majority either said they wanted to wait before getting the vaccine or would refuse one. “This is a population already at risk for COVID-19, and outbreaks among incarcerated people can worsen inequities in COVID-19 outcomes as well as contribute to spread in the surrounding community,” said lead author Dr. Marc Stern,…

New system that uses smartphone or computer cameras to measure pulse, respiration rate could help future personalized telehealth appointments

A UW-led team has developed a method that uses the camera on a person’s smartphone or computer to take their pulse and breathing rate from a real-time video of their face.

March 29, 2021

University of Washington graduate and professional disciplines rank highly in US News’ ‘Best Graduate School’ lists

The University of Washington’s graduate and professional degree programs were widely recognized as among the best in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2022 Best Graduate School rankings released March 30.