The following is a statement from University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce on the recent death of student Katy Straalsund.
March 23, 2016
The latest news from the UW
March 22, 2016
Rebecca Thorpe’s book ‘American Warfare State’ honored
UW political scientist Rebecca Thorpe’s book “The American Warfare State: The Domestic Politics of Military Spending,” has been honored by the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation — the second award the well-received book has earned.
March 21, 2016
Better safe than sorry: Babies make quick judgments about adults’ anger
Adults often form fast opinions about each other’s personalities, especially when it comes to negative traits. If we see someone argue with another driver over a parking space, for instance, we may assume that person tends to be confrontational. Two new research studies with hundreds of 15-month-old infants demonstrate that babies form similar generalizations about others and make attempts to appease adults they consider prone to anger. The research, by scientists at the University of Washington’s Institute for Learning &…
March 17, 2016
Galapagos lakes reveal tropical Pacific climate since Biblical times
University of Washington oceanographers track 2,000 years of El Niño history, showing that it can shift in strength for centuries at a time.
March 16, 2016
Arts Roundup: Pianist Jeremy Denk, Grupo Corpo – and White Snow Wood Sculptures
UW World Series presents three events at Meany Hall this week: the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, pianist Jeremy Denk and Brazilian dance company Grupo Corpo. Visit the Henry Art Gallery to see its newest exhibition, “Paul McCarthy: White Snow Wood Sculptures,” or catch one of the last performances of the School of Drama’s “Brooklyn Bridge.” Jeremy Denk 7:30 p.m., March 18 | Meany Theater Pianist Jeremy Denk, winner of the prestigious 2014 Avery Fisher Career Prize, performs a…
New technique tracks ‘heartbeat’ of hundreds of wetlands
UW researchers have developed a new method to track how wetlands in Eastern Washington behave seasonally, which will also help monitor how they change as the climate warms.
March 15, 2016
Medicine, nursing programs top national rankings; dozens more UW programs highly rated
For the 22nd time in the past 23 years, the University of Washington ranked as the No. 1 primary care medical school in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2017 Best Graduate School rankings released Tuesday. The rural medicine and family medicine programs have also led the nation since those rankings began in 1992. In a new ranking this year, the UW’s doctor of nursing practice program is first among 149 programs nationwide. See all UW Medicine and other health sciences graduate…
Smartwatches can now track your finger in mid-air using sonar
A new sonar technology developed by University of Washington computer scientists and electrical engineers allows you to interact with mobile devices and smartwatch screens by writing or gesturing on any nearby surface — a tabletop, a sheet of paper or even in mid-air.
March 14, 2016
NOAA funds Washington Sea Grant to help communities protect their coasts
Washington Sea Grant was recently awarded nearly $900,000 to help coastal communities protect against marine hazards, including tsunamis, winter storms and sea-level rise.
Documents that Changed the World: ‘Hanging chads’ and butterfly ballots — Florida, 2000
With the Florida presidential primary a day away, Joe Janes is recalling the time of butterfly ballots and “hanging chads” — the presidential election of 2000 — in the latest installment of his podcast series, Documents that Changed the World. In the podcasts, Janes, a professor in the UW Information School, explores the origin and often evolving meaning of historical documents, both famous and less known. “This one has been on my list for a long time,” Janes said. “But…
March 11, 2016
TechConnect annual conference March 24
Members of the UW community are invited to a free daylong conference for technology professionals at the third-annual UW TechConnect Conference March 24. Sean Mooney, a professor of biomedical informatics and medical education and UW Medicine chief research information officer, will kick off the day with a keynote presentation starting at 8:30 a.m. Internet2 Senior VP and Chief Innovation Officer Florence Hudson will lead a morning session on future-proofing your career and environment through diversity and inclusion. Over 35 speakers from…
UW Combined Fund Drive partners with Make-A-Wish to donate airline miles
When Delilah was diagnosed with a congenital liver disorder, her mother Tabitha, recalls, “Doctors told us she wasn’t going to make it.” She’d need a new liver. She spent five months in Seattle Children’s Hospital waiting. It was a time of uncertainty and worry, but doctors eventually found a donor. Along the way, she qualified for a wish through Make-A-Wish® Alaska and Washington. Delilah wished to go on a cruise. Help Make-A-Wish grant a wish to every qualified child by…
Video contest challenges students to creatively define climate change
The UW’s School of Environmental and Forest Sciences is hosting its second-annual contest for undergraduate and high school students in Washington to create videos about what climate change means to them, in three minutes or less.
March 9, 2016
Arts Roundup: ArtVenture, Vicente Amigo – and Brooklyn Bridge
This week, catch the final events of two series: UW Drama’s Seattle Theatres Lost & Founded play readings and the School of Art + Art History + Design’s Critical Issues in Contemporary Art Practice lectures. Hear performances by the UW Wind Ensemble, UW Symphony, and Latin Grammy Award-winning flamenco guitarist Vicente Amigo. Bring the whole family to campus this weekend for a fairy tale-themed ArtVenture at the Henry Art Gallery. Critical Issues in Contemporary Art Practice: Park McArthur 7:00 p.m.,…
Quintard Taylor’s BlackPast.org history site gets redesign, first executive director
BlackPast.org, the online reference guide to African-American history started by University of Washington history professor Quintard Taylor, is getting an executive director — Chieko Phillips — and a website redesign.
Darkening of Greenland ice sheet due mainly to older, melting snow
A study by the UW and others finds that the darkening of the Greenland ice sheet is not due to an increase in wildfires, but is a side effect of a warming climate.
March 8, 2016
Evans School, Ruckelshaus Center featured when public policy administrators gather in Seattle March 17-22
The evolving nature of the public sector will be the topic when professionals and scholars from the UW’s Evans School for Public Policy & Governance and around the world gather in Seattle March 17-22 for the 77th annual conference of the American Society for Public Administration.
Family technology rules: What kids expect of parents
A new UW study is among the first to explore children’s expectations for parents’ technology use — revealing kids’ feelings about fairness and “oversharing,” the most effective types of household technology rules and families’ most common approaches.
March 7, 2016
UW increases focus on Indigenous knowledge
A longhouse-style building opened on the University of Washington campus in March 2015, on land where the longhouses and village of the Duwamish tribe once stood. Intellectual House, or wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ, is a tangible recognition of the area’s original inhabitants. And it is a catalyst for the university’s recent efforts to ramp up Indigenous learning in departments across campus. Over the past three years, the UW College of Arts & Sciences has added seven faculty members focused on Indigenous studies. Those…
March 4, 2016
UW video on clingfish takes top prize at Ocean 180 competition
A University of Washington team won first place in a science communication video contest that culminated during the recent Ocean Sciences Meeting.
March 3, 2016
Record percentage of women students in Informatics Program helps iSchool narrow the gender gap
The UW Information School’s 2015-16 undergraduate cohort in informatics is not only the school’s largest yet with 210 students, it also includes more women students than ever before — about 40 percent.
$750,000 Mellon Foundation grant will fund research, collaboration in arts
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded the University of Washington a three-year, $750,000 grant to support guest artists in developing new works, and to better integrate arts disciplines into the broader university curriculum.
The grant will support a Creative Fellowships Initiative, under which guest performing artist fellows will be recruited from around the world for one- to three-year residencies in dance, music and theater.
March 2, 2016
Arts Roundup: Strange Coupling, Malpaso Dance Company – and Faculty Chamber Concert
Chamber music takes center stage at the School of Music this week with a Faculty Chamber Concert and Schubertiade, both on March 6. Watch two different dance productions at Meany Hall, see an exhibition of student work at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery, or catch a reading of ‘Sons’ as part of UW Drama’s New Play Workshop series. Strange Coupling March 2-4 | Jacob Lawrence Gallery This short exhibition shows works by students who are applying to partner with professional artists…
UW aids city of Seattle on open data initiative
If people find it easier to get data from the city of Seattle going forward, they can in part thank the University of Washington. A team of UW faculty members and doctoral students spent the past six months working with the city on a new open data policy unveiled last week by Mayor Ed Murray. The policy requires all city departments to make their data as accessible as possible to the public while upholding privacy and security considerations. The UW…
March 1, 2016
The Animals to Hendrix: Authors discuss soundtrack of Vietnam War at March 7 event
For soldiers serving in the Vietnam War, music was a salve, a connection to home and a temporary respite from the horrors of combat. In “We Gotta Get Out of This Place,” Rolling Stone’s #1 Best Music Book of 2015, Doug Bradley and Craig Werner explore the importance of music to U.S. troops in Vietnam, relaying powerful, intimate stories told by veterans themselves. Bradley, a Vietnam veteran, teaches a course on the war with Werner, a professor of Afro-American studies…
Ice cores, polar bears and whale sounds at 11th Polar Science Weekend
Investigate a real ice core from Greenland, survey microbes from the coldest parts of the world, explore an Arctic ice camp and meet with polar scientists – many of whom are from the University of Washington. It’s all part of Polar Science Weekend, returning to Seattle’s Pacific Science Center March 4-6. The three-day event features interactive exhibits and opportunities to talk with top polar scientists who work in some of the most remote and challenging places on Earth. New this…
February 29, 2016
Life or illusion? Avoiding ‘false positives’ in the search for living worlds
New research from the UW-based Virtual Planetary Laboratory will help astronomers better identify — and thus rule out — “false positives” in the search for life beyond Earth.
Doctor, patient expectations differ on fitness and lifestyle tracking
With apps and activity trackers measuring every step people take, morsel they eat, and each symptom or pain, patients commonly arrive at doctor’s offices armed with self-tracked data. Yet health care providers lack the capacity or tools to review five years of Fitbit logs or instantaneously interpret data patients have been collecting about themselves, according to new UW research.
NASA data used to track groundwater in Pakistan
Pakistan’s water managers are using NASA satellites to more effectively monitor groundwater supplies, thanks to a partnership with UW civil and environmental engineers. It’s part of a larger effort to use the vast amount of data and observations collected by Earth-orbiting satellites to better quality of life in developing countries.
Statewide home sales, affordability up in fourth quarter of 2015
Home sale prices were up fractionally in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared to the third quarter but up 9.7 percent compared with the previous year, according to the UW’s Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies.
University Book Store to relocate South Campus Store’s services and products to flagship store
University Book Store announced Thursday that it has opted to close its store in the University’s South Campus building and move its products and services to the flagship store on University Way Northeast. Though the relocation date has yet to be determined, University Book Store is planning for sometime before June. “Our lease was up for renewal, so it was time to evaluate whether we were successfully fulfilling our mission to provide our students with the materials they needed to succeed,” said…
UW ranks No. 7 on Business First’s top 10 list
The University of Washington was ranked No. 7 by Business First, a Buffalo-based publication, for America’s top 10 best public colleges and universities, the publication released Tuesday, Feb. 23. Business First, owned by American City Business Journals, used a 20-part formula based on academic excellence, prestige, affordability, diversity and economic strength to calculate each of the 477 participating universities’ scores. Out of the six Washington institutions included in the report, the UW ranked first, following by Washington State University (No. 112). UC Berkeley…
February 26, 2016
2016 UW cherry blossom watch: 100 percent in bloom
The cherry trees in the Quad at UW will likely be in full bloom the week of March 14.
Transgender children supported in their identities show positive mental health
Studies of mental health among transgender people in the United States have been consistently grim, showing higher rates of depression, anxiety and suicide. But almost nothing is known about the mental health of a new and growing generation of transgender Americans — prepubescent children who are living openly as transgender with the support of their families. How do those children fare in an environment of openness and family support? When their gender identity is affirmed, are they happy? New University…
February 25, 2016
Driverless cars could increase reliance on roads
Driverless vehicles could intensify car use — reducing or even eliminating promised energy savings and environmental benefits, a new study co-authored by a University of Washington researcher finds. If people can work, relax and even hold meetings in their fully automated vehicles, they may drive more.
Documents that Changed the World: The Declaration of Independence’s deleted passage on slavery, 1776
The latest installment of Information School professor Joe Janes’ podcast series Documents that Changed the World discusses 168 powerful words condemning slavery that were excised from the Declaration of Independence at the last minute.
Herring fishery’s strength is in the sum of its parts, study finds
Just like a strong financial portfolio contains shares from different companies, the diverse subpopulations of herring from different bays and beaches around Puget Sound collectively keep the total population more stable, a new study finds.
February 24, 2016
Arts Roundup: Dance Majors Concert, Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’ – and Buy Art
It’s a busy week for the arts: the School of Drama collaborates with Seattle Children’s Theatre, Pacific MusicWorks presents Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” and the UW Concert and Campus Bands perform their winter quarter concert. Experience contemporary dance at the UW Dance Majors concert and head over to the School of Art + Art History + Design’s annual sale, Buy Art. “The Walk Across America for Mother Earth” February 24-28 | Glenn Hughes Penthouse Theater The School of Drama partners with…
University of Washington, Gonzaga University announce UW medical school partnership, launch initiative to advance medical education and research in Spokane region
The University of Washington and Gonzaga University have signed an agreement to continue, enhance and expand medical education and research in Spokane.
Clean, efficient cookstoves from UW-industry partnership to be manufactured in Kenya
A more efficient and clean wood-burning cookstove — developed by Vashon Island’s BURN Design Lab and UW mechanical engineers — will reduce the amount of fuel families need to collect or buy by 55 percent. It will also reduce exposure to the harmful particulate pollution produced by traditional cooking flames.