March 23, 2020
When the UW moved to online instruction March 9, UW Facilities Services developed a three-week disinfection plan. Custodial staff are now working through more than 500 classrooms, lecture halls, libraries, auditoriums and shared spaces, with similar efforts under way in Bothell and Tacoma.
UW law professor Hugh Spitzer speaks to the power of state and local governments as officials consider measures to restrict movement to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
March 19, 2020
A new study led by the University of Washington finds dramatic increases in the abundance of a worm that can be transmitted to humans who eat raw or undercooked seafood. Its 283-fold increase in abundance since the 1970s could have implications for the health of humans and marine mammals, which both can inadvertently eat the worm.
March 18, 2020
UW researchers watched 25 participants scroll through their Facebook or Twitter feeds while, unbeknownst to them, a Google Chrome extension randomly added debunked content on top of some of the real posts.
University of Washington researchers have discovered that large predators play a key yet unexpected role in keeping smaller predators and deer in check. Their “fatal attraction” theory finds that smaller predators are drawn to the kill sites of large predators by the promise of leftover scraps, but the scavengers may be killed themselves if their larger kin return for seconds.
March 17, 2020
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 2021 Best Graduate School rankings released March 17.
This wasn’t how LaShawnDa Pittman expected to give her final exam review: At her kitchen table, laptop open, coffee cup at the ready, her 12-year-old Chihuahua named Espresso by her side. But as the first week of the University of Washington’s shift to online classes drew to a close, Pittman, an assistant professor of American Ethnic Studies, was talking with her students over the conferencing platform Zoom, first to answer logistical questions about the upcoming exam, then to provide a…
UW researchers are inviting the public to share their experiences on their regular commutes in a survey.
March 16, 2020
Recent honors to UW faculty and staff have come from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the Republic of Lithuania and Google.
March 15, 2020
The idea of building herd immunity – increasing the number of infected to such a degree that naturally occurring immunity would outstrip the coronavirus, while isolating the elderly and others at greatest risk of the disease – has been tossed around in the United States, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. This week, however, U.K. officials appear to be backing away from that approach. But the kind of “herd immunity” strategy being discussed in the U.K. does not acknowledge a critical…
March 12, 2020
The UW Advisory Committee on Communicable Diseases (ACCD) announced Thursday that a UW Seattle campus graduate student has tested positive for COVID-19. The student is recovering at home, out of state, and we wish them well.
It’s important to maintain human connection, even during a time of social distancing, UW psychology researchers say.
Researchers from the University of Washington School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences have discovered that ocean acidification impacts the ability of some oysters to pass down “memories” of environmental trauma to their offspring.
March 11, 2020
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee issued on Wednesday, March 11, an emergency proclamation that limits large events to minimize risks to public health during the COVID-19 outbreak. Here are how two UW experts responded to questions about the order.
Rick Mohler, associate professor of architecture, meets with his Research Design Studio students online. Normally a hands-on class with poster-size drawings and tabletop scale models, Mohler’s design studio has shifted to the small screen.
March 10, 2020
A documentary series produced and released this winter by YouTube features UW computer scientist Pedro Domingos and members of the UW-based Pacific Northwest Seismic Network.
KUOW’s That’s Debatable on Wednesday will feature two University of Washington faculty members: Dan Schwartz, professor of chemical engineering and director of the Clean Energy Institute, and Kate Simonen, upcoming chair of the Department of Architecture and director of the Carbon Leadership Forum.
March 9, 2020
Rick Mohler, associate professor of architecture in the College of Built Environments, is now teaching his classes using Zoom. His architecture classes usually meet in person, but were conducted entirely online Monday.
A University of Washington researcher calculates that 14.4 million workers face exposure to infection once a week and 26.7 million at least once a month in the workplace, pointing to an important population needing protection.
Students from different backgrounds in the United States enter college with equal interest in STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and mathematics. But that equal interest does not result in equal outcomes. Six years after starting an undergraduate STEM degree, roughly twice as many white students finished it compared to African American students. A new study by researchers at the University of Washington shows that teaching techniques in undergraduate STEM courses can significantly narrow gaps in course performance between students…
A talk with UW architecture professor Tyler Sprague about his book “Sculpture on a Grand Scale: Jack Christiansen’s Thin Shell Modernism.” Plus books from Rick Bonus and Yong-Chool Ha.
The wildflowers of Mount Rainier’s subalpine meadows, which bloom once the winter snowpack melts, are a major draw for the more than 1 million visitors to this national park in Washington state each spring and summer. But by the end of this century, scientists expect that snow will melt months earlier due to climate change. New research led by the University of Washington shows that, under those conditions, many visitors would miss the flowers altogether.
March 6, 2020
University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce sat down with Vice President of Student Life Denzil Suite for a candid conversation about how COVID-19 is affecting campus operations, why classes will no longer meet in person for the rest of the quarter and whether a student-led petition had an impact on the decision.
The University of Washington held a press conference at 12:30 p.m. Friday, March 6, 2020 to address the decision to move classes online in an effort to limit the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak, and address the UW staff member who received a presumptive positive test result.
The UW Advisory Committee on Communicable Diseases (ACCD) announced Friday that a University of Washington staff member who works in the Roosevelt Commons East building has received a presumptive positive test for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The employee is in self-isolation at home. Out of an abundance of caution, the building, which is located west of the UW’s Seattle campus in the 4300 block of 11th Ave. NE, has been closed for appropriate cleaning until further notice.
The University of Washington announced today that starting Monday, March 9, classes will no longer meet in person. For the remainder of the quarter, instructors have been asked to conduct classes and/or exams remotely, as possible, until the quarter concludes on March 20. Final exams will not be conducted in person, but may be conducted online when feasible, and at the instructor’s discretion.
A University of Washington researcher calculates that 14.4 million workers face exposure to infection once a week and 26.7 million at least once a month in the workplace, pointing to an important population needing protection as the novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19, continues to break out across the U.S. Marissa Baker, an assistant professor in the UW School of Public Health, based her calculations on research she published in 2018 in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine. In that paper, Baker…
Late last year, news broke that the star Betelgeuse was fading significantly, ultimately dropping to around 40% of its usual brightness. The activity fueled popular speculation that the red supergiant would soon explode as a massive supernova. But astronomers have more benign theories to explain the star’s dimming behavior. And scientists at the University of Washington and Lowell Observatory believe they have support for one of them: Betelgeuse isn’t dimming because it’s about to explode — it’s just dusty. In…
March 5, 2020
Nutritional science expert Anne-Marie Gloster, a lecturer in the UW School of Public Health’s Nutritional Sciences Program and expert in emergency food planning, has put together this list of things to think about and foods to have on hand if you should be called on to stay at home for an extended period. “Shopping intentionally and feeding ourselves mindfully is a delicious way to reduce our stress during this time of heightened awareness about our personal and community health,” Gloster…
The University is asking people to avoid coming to campus this year to comply with Gov. Inslee’s March 11 proclamation that prohibits large gatherings of more than 250 people as our region combats the spread of COVID-19.
University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce, joined by Dr. Geoff Gottlieb, head of the UW’s Advisory Committee on Communicable Diseases, met with the members of the ASUW Student Senate on March 3 to share the most current information and take questions about the University’s response and preparations for the novel coronavirus.
March 4, 2020
Updated March 6, 2020: Many of the events in this roundup have been postponed or cancelled. Information for a specific event will be at the link provided for that event. This week in the arts, School of Art faculty Whitney Lynn gives a lecture at the Art Building, UW Symphony and combined choirs perform at Meany Hall, Dr. Charlotte Coté shares lessons from the wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ – Intellectual House, and more! To learn about more events taking place, visit ArtsUW. Faculty Lecture with…
March 3, 2020
On March 3, Premera Blue Cross announced a $4.7 million grant to the University of Washington to establish the Rural Nursing Health Initiative to place current students in rural practices in Washington state.
Premera Blue Cross, a leading health plan in the Pacific Northwest, today announced a $4.7 million grant to the University of Washington to establish the Rural Nursing Health Initiative to place current students in rural practices in Washington state.
March 2, 2020
P. Dee Boersma, a UW professor of biology and director of the Center for Ecosystem Sentinels, is a finalist for the 2020 Indianapolis Prize for conservation, to be awarded later this year by the Indianapolis Zoological Society. Sue Moore, a scientist with the center and a UW affiliate professor of biology and of aquatic and fishery sciences, has won the 2020 IASC Medal, also known as the Arctic Medal, from the International Arctic Science Committee.
Ted Poor, assistant professor of drums in the UW School of Music, has a new album. “You Already Know,” was released Feb. 28 on New Deal/Impulse. UW Notebook caught up with Poor for a short Q and A.
UW researchers interviewed 22 athletes and staff members from three college athletics programs to see how collecting data from college athletes might encroach on their autonomy.
New research from the University of Washington finds that a natural aptitude for learning languages is a stronger predictor of learning to program than basic math knowledge.
February 28, 2020
This week in the arts, Art History professor Foong Ping discusses the reconceptualizing of the Seattle Asian Art Museum, four Native American Huskies share what “home” means to them, the exhibition As, Not For: Dethroning Our Absolutes opens at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery, and more! To learn about more events taking place, visit ArtsUW. Concert – Hélène Grimaud March 4, 7:30 PM | Meany Hall French pianist Hélène Grimaud brings a virtuosic program to Meany Center, performing music from her 2018 recording, Memory. In…
February 27, 2020
Throughout the month of November 2019, a team of University of Washington researchers chased storms in the Arctic Ocean. The project, Coastal Ocean Dynamics in the Arctic, or CODA, is looking at how water currents shift and waves hit the coast with more open water, to provide better forecasts and predictions for the region’s future.