The latest news from the UW

A lecture series presented by the UW College of the Environment will focus on “Surviving Disaster: Natural Hazards & Resilient Communities.” The five evening lectures will explore the latest developments in social and natural sciences that are helping people prepare for and respond to environmental disasters. Q&A with David Montgomery, who presents the first lecture Tuesday, Oct. 13 All presentations are at 7:30 p.m. in Kane Hall. The lectures are free, but registration is required at uwalum.com/hazards or by phone…

Poverty rates in Washington dropped between 2013 and 2014 for the first time in six years, but many people are increasingly struggling to get by, particularly in Seattle. Poverty in King County and around the state was the focus of the West Coast Poverty Center’s first annual summit Sept. 29. The University of Washington-based group brought together academics, social service providers and policymakers for half-day conference about poverty in the region. The discussion highlighted the fact that while King County…

The UW School of Law will be the location for the three-day Human Right to Family Planning Conference, Oct. 9-11. Lawmakers, researchers, academics and health care professionals will gather for this first-of-its-kind event to explore the relationship between the right to health and family planning, including abortion, and improving access to that care, locally and around the world. “It is not only for the privileged. It is not only for the wealthy. When women and adolescents do not get the…

A workshop on climate science, developed at the University of Washington and delivered for five years to scientists in this region, will become the framework for a new national workshop for early-career tribal members from across the country. The program, announced in September by the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Idaho, will be held for the first time in June 2016 at the campus in McCall, Idaho. It will involve scientists and educators from across the U.S. who…

The University of Washington’s Department of Construction Management and Skanska, one of the world’s leading construction and development firms, have partnered to offer a new certificate for Building Information Modeling. The new program was created to fill a current gap in the field of people trained to use data-rich virtual-reality modeling tools in building design. The 11-week program began Sept. 29 and is open to UW students and industry professionals locally and nationwide through online streaming. During the course, students…

As an academic, Cheryl Richey was empirical and analytical, dogged in her insistence on backing up practice with evidence. So it’s perhaps not surprising that as an artist, the University of Washington professor emeritus of social work lets her spontaneous, experimental side loose. “I think that absence of control is what I needed, because my academic self was very disciplined, very controlled,” said Richey, who retired from the UW in 2003. Richey, who now spends much of her time as…

While the rest of campus celebrates the beginning of autumn quarter and welcomes a record freshman class, the Office of Admissions is already focused on recruiting and admitting the class of 2016. The freshman application for Fall 2016 opens today, and the deadline is Dec. 1. Applicants will be notified March 15 through 31, 2016. On Nov. 3, the Office of Admissions hosts Husky Hopefuls, an evening devoted to college admission and financial aid. This event is offered only to…

Two University of Washington scientists are featured in a new series — created by the National Science Foundation, NBC Learn and The Weather Channel — that focuses on natural hazards. Each of the short videos features an NSF-supported scientist who studies one of ten types of natural disasters. Two of them are from the UW’s Department of Earth & Space Sciences. David Montgomery, a UW professor of Earth and space sciences, studies past and present landslides to try to understand…

In the age of “smart” technology, the devices we use ­— from phones that enable banking and shopping to personal robots and driverless cars — will leave a trail sharing who we are, where we go and what we consume. Over the next month, the University of Washington College of Engineering’s fall lecture series will feature faculty researchers balancing technological advances with the myriad hazards, seen and unseen, of our ever-more-connected world. The lectures are free and open to the…

Each year, around 1,100 undergraduate students around the United States die by suicide; in the last six years alone, 18 University of Washington students have taken their own lives. “That number sounds horrific, and it is, but it’s also squarely in line with the national average,” said Lauren Davis, director of school and campus programs at Forefront: Innovations in Suicide Prevention, an interdisciplinary organization based in the University of Washington’s School of Social Work. That reality prompted Forefront to organize the first…