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The latest news from the UW

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.

UW’s Joshua Lawler named fellow of Ecological Society of America

Joshua Lawler, a University of Washington professor in the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, has been named a 2021 fellow of the Ecological Society of America. Fellows are elected for life, and the honor recognizes scientists who advance or apply ecological knowledge in academics, government, nonprofits and the broader society.

ArtSci Roundup: Music of Today: Indigo Mist, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, 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.  Department of Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies (GWSS) celebrates 50 years + Beverly Guy-Sheftall – Say Her Name: The Urgency of Black Feminism Now April 5…

March 25, 2021

ArtSci Roundup: Fighting Visibility: Unpaid Gendered & Racialized Labor for the UFC, Beverly Guy-Sheftall – Say Her Name: The Urgency of Black Feminism Now, 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.  Fighting Visibility: Unpaid Gendered & Racialized Labor for the UFC March 31, 3:30 – 5:00 PM | Online In the first COM Spring Colloquium, hosted by the…

‘Reservoir of disease’ within young population shows challenge for Washington’s reopening plans

An analysis of Washington state Department of Health data — published after peer review March 24 — has found that people under 40 years old have continued to become infected by the coronavirus at increasing rates even as the incidence of infection among older populations declines. The publication was available previously in preprint form on medRxiv. The study led by Judith Malmgren, affiliated epidemiologist in the UW School of Public Health, postulates that the increased spread of the virus among…

March 22, 2021

Warming temperatures tripled Arctic lightning strikes over the past decade

Lightning strikes in the Arctic tripled from 2010 to 2020, a finding University of Washington researchers attribute to rising temperatures due to human-caused climate change. The results, researchers say, suggest Arctic residents in northern Russia, Canada, Europe and Alaska need to prepare for the danger of more frequent lightning strikes.

March 19, 2021

‘A turning point’: UW Population Health Initiative’s pandemic grants changed how the university works

A year ago, seemingly overnight, streets emptied, shops boarded up, grocery shelves were cleared, schools closed and the University of Washington led universities nationwide in moving all instruction online. Nearly all of us disappeared inside, stunned and staring out at a world suddenly paralyzed by something we’d only seen in movies or read about in books: a global pandemic. Then came the questions: How long will the virus keep us inside and shut down? What will happen to the people who…

March 18, 2021

‘By-the-wind sailor’ jellies wash ashore in massive numbers after warmer winters

Thanks to 20 years of observations from thousands of citizen scientists, University of Washington researchers have discovered distinct patterns in the mass strandings of by-the-wind sailor jellies. Specifically, large strandings happened simultaneously from the northwest tip of Washington south to the Mendocino coast in California, and in years when winters were warmer than usual.

March 17, 2021

How five global regions could achieve a successful, equitable ‘Blue Economy’

The future of an equitable and sustainable global ocean, or “Blue Economy,” depends on more than natural or technological resources. A new study finds that socioeconomic and governance conditions such as national stability, corruption and human rights greatly affect different regions’ ability to achieve a Blue Economy — one that is socially equitable, environmentally sustainable and economically viable.

ArtSci Roundup: Joff Hanauer Honors Lecture Series, Museums on a Mission?, 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 Hanauer Honors Lecture Series: Seattle/PNW History March 23, 5:00 – 6:00 PM | Online Daniel Bessner, Associate Professor in the Jackson School of International Studies invites us…

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.