December 7, 2020
A new University of Washington study provides the first look at how much noise pollution is impacting the Olympic Peninsula. The paper found that aircraft were audible across a large swath of the peninsula at least 20% of weekday hours, or for about one hour during a six-hour period. About 88% of all audible aircraft in the pre-pandemic study were military planes.
December 5, 2020
The UW’s Title IX Office acted swiftly to gather information, investigate the facts and render carefully considered decisions after fair hearings on these matters. The UW is committed preventing sexual assault and sexual harassment, and to supporting and protecting our students, faculty and staff while upholding due process, and properly investigating and addressing allegations of this nature.
December 3, 2020
A team led by scientists at the University of Washington and the University of California, San Diego has discovered that cowpeas — a type of bean plant — harbor receptors on the surface of their cells that can detect a compound in caterpillar saliva and initiate anti-herbivore defenses.
Online access to health care is crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic. About 20 UW undergraduates are part of a nationwide organization collecting used video-enabled devices and donating them to medical facilities for low-income and senior patients.
In October 2019, the UW shared information about the results of a University Complaint Investigation and Resolution Office (UCIRO) investigation into alleged sexual misconduct on the part of John Sahr, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and former interim director of the Robinson Center for Young Scholars. The adjudication proceeding has concluded and Sahr’s employment was terminated on Nov. 12, and his tenure has been revoked.
A team led by researchers at UW Tacoma, UW and Washington State University Puyallup has discovered a chemical that kills coho salmon in urban streams before the fish can spawn.
The tiny Stingray Nebula unexpectedly appeared in the 1980s is by far the youngest planetary nebula in our sky. But a team of astronomers recently analyzed a more recent image of the nebula, taken in 2016 by Hubble, and found that it has faded significantly and changed shape over the course of just 20 years. If dimming continues at current rates, in 20 or 30 years the Stingray Nebula will be barely perceptible.
A new University of Washington study finds that Black youth are more likely than white youth to be treated as “usual suspects” after a first encounter with police, leading to subsequent arrests over time. Even as white young adults report engaging in significantly more illegal behavior, Black young adults face more criminal penalties.
December 2, 2020
Excitement and relief over news of vaccines that help prevent people from getting sick, winding up in the hospital or dying from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, are warranted, says University of Washington’s Dr. Larry Corey. But, these messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines may not prevent people from getting infected or spreading the virus. Answering questions around how vaccines affect transmission of the virus is “of obvious importance” and research will be conducted once people begin getting vaccinated, Corey…
A talk with UW drama professor Scott Magelssen, who explores American aviation from the perspective of performance studies in his new book “Performing Flight.”
At the current rate of global warming, mass coral bleaching is expected to become more frequent and severe worldwide. An international consortium of scientists, including a coral researcher from the University of Washington, has created the first-ever common framework for increasing comparability of research findings on coral bleaching.
November 30, 2020
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. Katz Lecture: Margaret O’Mara, “Remaking the Silicon Society” December 8, 4:30 PM | Online How might a pandemic year of digitally mediated life change society for…
Nonprofit organizations throughout Washington state are struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic, as revenues and volunteering drop but demand for services remains high.
November 24, 2020
A research team led by the University of Washington and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has shown that microbes taken from trees growing beside pristine mountain-fed streams in Western Washington could make phosphorus trapped in soils more accessible to agricultural crops. The findings were published in October in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science.
Even before the pandemic and disagreements over social restrictions recommended by public health officials across the state, public health agencies in Washington were struggling due to a lack of resources. In recent weeks, firings, resignations and death threats targeting local health officials has led to a staffing crisis in the agencies most responsible for local pandemic response. Now, as these public attacks further cripple public health agencies, a University of Washington public health expert is calling for action to defend…
A new study reveals that 65 plant species have gone extinct in the continental United States and Canada since European settlement, more extinctions than any previous scientific study has ever documented.
Recent honors and awards for UW faculty and staff include a top young innovator, a new endowed faculty fellow, research grants awarded and a career achievement award in environmental political science.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science has named four University of Washington faculty members as AAAS Fellows, according to a Nov. 24 announcement from the organization. The four are part of a cohort of 489 new fellows for 2020, which were chosen by their peers for “their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.”
In this Q&A, UW Information School associate professor Jin Ha Lee discusses how video game and music fandom communities can be “places of light” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
November 23, 2020
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. Ladino Day 2020 — Revolutionizing Ladino: From the Printing Press to the Smartphone December 6, 10:00 – 11:30 AM | Online The 8th annual Ladino Day…
The global pandemic is hurting the seafood industry, and American fishmongers may flounder without more government aid, according to the largest study of COVID-19’s impacts on U.S. fisheries.
November 19, 2020
The University of Washington is proud to announce that more than 50 UW faculty and researchers have been named on the annual Highly Cited Researchers 2020 list from Clarivate.
The 2020 census has been subject to court fights, shifting deadlines and pandemic-related process adjustments. Sara Curran, director of the UW Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology, explains the developments with this year’s count.
A commitment to innovation powered the University of Washington to a No. 7 ranking for graduate entrepreneurship programs by The Princeton Review. The 2021 ranking marks an all-time high — solidifying UW and the Foster School of Business as a leader in entrepreneurial education and incubation within the Pac-12 and across the Western United States.
November 18, 2020
Responding to the burgeoning amounts of data being generated across disciplines, and the development of new tools for working with these data, the University of Washington now offers a minor track for non-STEM students in data science. It’s one of the first such programs in the country.
The American Geophysical Union announced that its members have elected Lisa Graumlich, dean of the UW College of the Environment, as the president-elect starting Jan. 1. After two years in this role Graumlich will begin a two-year term as president of the AGU board beginning in 2023.
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. Lessons (Not) Learned from the Holocaust | In the Bloodlands: History and Memory of the Holocaust in the U.S.S.R. November 24, 4:00 PM | Online As…
November 17, 2020
A team of organizations — led by the space technology company Astrobotic and including the University of Washington and the UW spinout WiBotic — has received a $5.8 million contract to develop a line of lightweight, ultrafast wireless chargers that could help both humans and robots live and work on the moon.
November 14, 2020
Download this B-roll here. The University of Washington welcomes back Tent City 3 — an organized tent-city community — to its Seattle campus for 90 days during winter quarter 2021. Move-in is scheduled to begin Dec. 19. The UW previously hosted Tent City 3 in winter 2017, in the same location it will be next quarter: parking lot W35, situated between John M. Wallace Hall and the Fishery Sciences buildings off Northeast Pacific Street. Tent City 3 will provide safe,…
November 13, 2020
Homelessness is a crisis in Washington and across the U.S. Last year, an annual count revealed that in King County alone, 11,200 people reported being homeless at the time of the survey. The numbers have only increased during the pandemic.
Students in the arts and other fields will have greater access to research texts and media thanks to an expansion of online resources by UW Libraries to help meet the needs of remote learning during the pandemic.
November 12, 2020
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. Livestream: Faculty Trio: Beethoven Piano Trios, Part III November 16, 7:30 PM | Online via YouTube Faculty colleagues Craig Sheppard, piano; Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, cello; and Rachel…
November 9, 2020
Concessions from U.S. presidents usually happen quickly, without drama, says UW history professor Margaret O’Mara.
November 5, 2020
Scientists from around the world, including the University of Washington, have established the Arctic Animal Movement Archive, an online repository for data documenting the movements of animals in the Arctic and Subarctic. With this archive, scientists can share their knowledge and collaborate to ask questions about how animals are responding to a changing climate.
November 4, 2020
A University of Washington meteorologist joins a national board for atmospheric research, an English professor’s story is honored and a Jackson School faculty member helps with research for a PBS show.
November 3, 2020
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. Lessons (Not) Learned From the Holocaust | “A Reply to Screamers”: How Americans Responded to the Holocaust November 10, 4:00 PM | Online In most accounts,…
November 2, 2020
The Husky Coronavirus Testing program, powered by the Seattle Flu Study, launched on Sept. 24 and now has more than 12,500 members of the UW community enrolled and has conducted more than 10,000 tests.
A University of Washington team led by Miqin Zhang, a professor of materials science and engineering and of neurological surgery, has developed a nanoparticle-based drug delivery system that can ferry a potent anti-cancer drug through the bloodstream safely. Their nanoparticle is derived from chitin, a natural and organic polymer that, among other things, makes up the outer shells of shrimp.
The biggest study yet of West Coast wildfire plumes shows how a smoke plume’s chemistry changes over time. Results suggest current models may not accurately predict the air quality downwind of a wildfire.
A new study led by paleontologists at the University of Washington indicates that the earliest evidence of mammal social behavior goes back to the Age of Dinosaurs. A multituberculate that lived 75.5 million years ago, Filikomys primaevus engaged in multi-generational, group-nesting and burrowing behavior, and possibly lived in colonies.