April 13, 2015
Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, has a hazy atmosphere and surface rivers, mountains, lakes and sand dunes. But the dunes and prevailing surface winds don’t point in the same direction. New research from UW astronomer Benjamin Charnay may have solved this mystery.
April 10, 2015
The University of Washington announced today it is increasing the minimum pay for its student workers to $11 an hour, effective April 1, 2015, consistent with its announcement March 31 that it was moving 70 non-student staff earning below $11 to the new level. Approximately 2,600 student workers are affected. On March 31, the University said it was working with student groups to assess the feasibility of increasing student worker wages. Student jobs at the UW are funded from a…
April 9, 2015
A patch of warm water off the West Coast, nicknamed “the blob” by a UW scientist, is part of a larger shift in the Pacific Ocean that may be responsible for widespread weather changes.
A University of Washington study assesses how accurately gender representations in online image search results for 45 different occupations — from CEO to telemarketer to engineer — match reality. Exposure to skewed image results shifted people’s perceptions about how many women actually hold those jobs.
April 8, 2015
What helps children who have just met form a connection? A new study shows that a simple game played together in sync on a computer led 8-year-olds to report a greater sense of similarity and closeness immediately after the activity. Children who played the same game but not in a synchronous way did not report the same increase in connection. The findings, published April 8 by PLOS ONE, give an example of how a physical activity performed in unison helps…
April 7, 2015
A UW postdoctoral scientist is among six nationwide recipients of the 2015 Carl Sagan Exoplanet Postdoctoral Fellowships. The Sagan Fellowships support recent postdoctoral students in research related to the scientific goals of NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program — specifically, to discover and characterize planetary systems and Earth-like planets around stars. Daniel Foreman-Mackey , an incoming postdoctoral researcher in the UW Department of Astronomy, will focus on using statistical methods to research exoplanet discoveries, with the goal of developing a framework for…
A new study finds the economic value of enjoying urban birds to be $120 million each year for Seattle residents and $70 million for people living in Berlin. Residents in both cities spend more than the average U.S. adult on bird-supporting activities, which then benefit the local economies as residents invest in bird food and conservation.
April 6, 2015
A new study implicates fishing in the collapse of forage fish stocks and recommends risk-based management tools that would track a fishery’s numbers and suspend fishing when necessary.
April 3, 2015
The country of El Salvador was torn apart by a brutal civil war from 1980 to 1992 that took the lives of 75,000 civilians, many the victims of massacres that wiped out entire villages. Throughout that war, thousands of children were forcibly disappeared from their homes and communities by agents of the Salvadoran state as a tactic to instill terror in the population. Faculty and 10 students of the University of Washington Center for Human Rights in its Jackson School…
The United States imprisons a larger percentage of African Americans than South Africa did at the height of apartheid. In Washington, D.C., three out of every four young black men are likely to serve time in prison, according to projections. Those stark facts are found in Michelle Alexander’s 2012 book “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.” In a searing indictment of the U.S. criminal justice system, Alexander argues that mass incarceration is a system of…
Robots such as household helpers, driverless cars and personal drones are — or will soon be —available to consumers. But what protections guarantee they won’t spy on us or surreptitiously sell us things? Could a robot be used to verify an alibi in a criminal court case? Who is liable if a driverless car crashes into a person? We Robot 2015, a conference being held April 10 and 11 at the University of Washington School of Law, will explore these…
University of Washington English professor Shawn Wong, who has designed and led numerous study abroad classes over the last 18 years, will address the importance of academic travel when he presents the UW Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity’s (OMA&D) 11th annual Samuel E. Kelly Distinguished Faculty Lecture on Thursday, April 16. His lecture titled “Tourist to Traveler: The Transforming Experience of Study Abroad” will take place at the Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center at 6 p.m., preceded by a reception…
April 2, 2015
The UW Astronomy Department celebrates its 50th anniversary this school year. Julie Lutz, research professor emeritus of astronomy, will review that history in a free public talk at 4 p.m. Thursday, April 9, in the Physics/Astronomy Auditorium. The astronomy department was formed in 1965 by George Wallerstein, Paul Hodge and Theodor Jacobson, for whom a UW observatory is named. At the time, NASA’s Gemini program was underway, Sputnik 1 was seven years in the past and the moon landing lay…
Ross Coen, UW doctoral student in history, discusses his book “Fu-Go: The Curious History of Japan’s Balloon Bomb Attack on America.”
Sally J. Clark, who has served on the Seattle City Council since February 2006, has been appointed director of regional and community relations at the University of Washington, effective May 18, 2015. “I am thrilled to welcome Sally to the University,” said Randy Hodgins, UW vice president for external affairs. “She brings a wealth of leadership experience to the office not only from her time on the Seattle City Council, but also in her neighborhood and economic development work. All…
The University of Washington and NASA are preparing for an effort next winter to measure rain in America’s rainiest place: Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. As part of the current gear-up phase, they are looking for volunteers to help track rain.
April 1, 2015
Three University of Washington undergraduates are among 260 students nationwide named as 2015 Goldwater Scholars. The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation scholarships are awarded to students who have “outstanding potential” and plan to pursue research careers in mathematics, natural sciences or engineering. The awards cover tuition, room and board, fees and books up to $7,500 annually. The 2015 Goldwater Scholars from UW are Ian W. Andrews, Gina L. Hansen and Alice C. Bosma-Moody. Andrews, who is from…
Welcome to a new quarter! The Henry Art Gallery kicks off this week with an Incite and Insight lecture featuring artist Suzanne Bocanegra. The School of Music quickly follows up with a faculty recital by Jazz Studies Professor Marc Seales and a Music of Today performance in collaboration with the Center for Digital Arts and Experimental Media (DXARTS).
March 31, 2015
The following statement is from University of Washington Interim President Ana Mari Cauce: “While I am very pleased to see that the Senate budget not only provides most of the state funding needed to pay for its tuition reduction bill, and makes additional investments for the next biennium, there are some troubling aspects to the proposal. Rejection of our collective bargaining agreements means that thousands of our employees will not receive the wage increases they deserve. There are other troubling…
The University of Washington announced today that it is bringing a small group of employees who currently earn below $11 an hour to that level, effective April 1, in keeping with the spirit of Seattle’s new minimum wage law. Of the approximately 39,000 non-student employees at the UW, 70 currently earn below $11 per hour. Effective Wednesday, they will reach the $11 level. “We are pleased to be moving in synch with the rest of the city,” said Interim UW…
Each year the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the fields of applied mathematics and computational science. A University of Washington mathematician is among 31 new fellows honored this year from academic, industrial and government institutions around the world. Anne Greenbaum, a UW professor of applied mathematics, is being recognized for her contributions to theoretical and numerical linear algebra. Her research interests are in non-normal matrices, numerical linear algebra, iterative methods for…
March 30, 2015
The University of Washington has three programs in the top 10 on LinkedIn’s rankings of university graduate school programs based on job outcomes in some select fields. The UW’s graduate program for software developers (ranked third), designers (fourth) and accounting professionals (seventh) were in the top 10 in their fields. “By analyzing the employment patterns of over 347+ million LinkedIn members from around the world, we were able to determine which graduate schools are the most successful in launching their…
What will be the effects of the city of Seattle’s minimum wage ordinance? Faculty from the UW’s schools of public affairs, public health and social work are teaming up for The Seattle Minimum Wage Study, a five-year research project to learn that and more.
On the UW campus, most people’s focus at this time of year is on pink cherry blossoms. But this time of year in the northern Atlantic Ocean, a massive bloom soon to appear at the ocean’s surface is a major event in our planet’s carbon cycle. Now UW-developed robots have captured what happens to these ocean blooms as they dissipate. Swirling ocean eddies carry microscopic plants far beneath the surface, creating a surprising end to the bloom that could have…
We are attached to our devices nearly 24/7. As our number of activities and time spent outdoors shrinks, it’s perhaps no coincidence that the larger society faces higher occurrences of depression, child and adult obesity and attention deficit disorder. Getting more people outside and engaged with nature is the topic of this year’s School of Environmental and Forest Sciences annual Sustaining Our World Lecture, 6-7 p.m. Thursday, April 2, in Kane Hall 210. The talk is free and open to…
March 29, 2015
Subject of Possible Rule Making: Chapter 478-168 WAC, Regulations for the University of Washington Libraries Statutes Authorizing the University to Adopt Rules on This Subject: RCW 28B.20.130. Reasons Why Rules on This Subject May Be Needed and What They Might Accomplish: Chapter 478-168 WAC has not received any substantive amendments to the code since 2004 and now requires various changes to conform with current practices of the University of Washington libraries. Process for Developing New Rule: Agency study, including review…
March 27, 2015
University of Washington Interim President Ana Mari Cauce comments on the proposed House budget.
One would imagine a glacier’s melt to be fairly quiet. That would be wrong. Recordings by current and former University of Washington researchers in fjords shows that melting at glacier edges in the narrow rock-edged canyons are some of the noisiest places in the sea. The study, published in Geophysical Research Letters, recorded the sound near glacier tongues in narrow fjords in the Arctic and Antarctica. The sounds were louder than any natural or human-generated ocean noise, at least within…
More than 40 University of Washington students will compete in the Alaska Airlines Environmental Innovation Challenge 2015. It asks students from around the state to identify an environmental problem, develop a solution, build a prototype and sell their idea to judges. Twenty-two interdisciplinary student teams will pitch and demonstrate their solutions April 2 at an invitation-only daylong event. The competition challenges students to come up with “clean-tech innovations” that reduce waste, minimize energy consumption or contribute to a healthier planet….
March 25, 2015
The Labor Archives of Washington, part of UW Libraries Special Collections Department, is creating an online resource called the Minimum Wage History Project to document the 2013-2014 campaign that succeeded in mandating a $15 minimum hourly wage in the cities of Seattle and Sea-Tac. The effort kicks off with a public program, “Preserving Solidarity Forever: The Minimum Wage History Project,” 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 11, in Kane Hall’s Walker-Ames Room. James Gregory, UW professor of history, will speak,…
March 24, 2015
No one would argue that exposing children to secondhand smoke is bad, but should it be considered child abuse? Taryn Lindhorst, a UW associate professor of social work, says no. In an opinion piece published online in the Annals of Family Medicine earlier this month, Lindhorst argues that treating children’s exposure to secondhand smoke as child abuse and reporting parents to authorities takes a punitive approach to addiction and harms both children and families. “Removing kids from their families, their…
March 23, 2015
University of Washington scientists have built a new nanometer-sized laser using a semiconductor that’s only three atoms thick. It could help open the door to next-generation computing that uses light, rather than electrons, to transfer information.
Mia Tuan has been named dean of the College of Education at the University of Washington, interim President Ana Mari Cauce and interim Provost Jerry Baldasty announced today. Tuan comes to the UW from the University of Oregon, where she has held a number of academic and leadership positions over the past 18 years. The appointment, effective July 1, 2015, is subject to approval by the UW Board of Regents. “Mia Tuan brings a wealth of successful administrative experience in…
Charles Johnson, English professor emeritus discusses three new books out, including the second children’s book in the Adventures of Emery Jones series, “The Hard Problem,” illustrated by Johnson himself.
Years ago, a fellow educator made a comment that stuck in Christine Stickler’s head. University students don’t need to travel to a foreign country for spring break to immerse themselves in another culture, she said — they can do that right here in Washington state. That observation led Stickler to launch the UW’s Alternative Spring Break program, which sends out teams of undergraduates to small rural and tribal communities throughout Washington to work with elementary and middle school students on…
March 20, 2015
The University of Washington’s Applied Physics Laboratory and Everett-based company OceanGate this month unveiled the first model of its joint project to build a new type of submarine for human research and exploration in the deep sea. Cyclops 1 was a developed over the past year and a half in the Applied Physics Lab’s co-laboratory space down by the Ship Canal. OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush introduced the vessel and gave tours of the inside March 11 on the dock of…
March 19, 2015
A UW geologist and geotechnical engineer look back at what the past year has meant, personally and professionally, as they helped recovery efforts from the nation’s deadliest landslide in our own backyard.
Suspending kids from school for using marijuana is likely to lead to more — not less — pot use among their classmates, a new study finds. Counseling was found to be a much more effective means of combating marijuana use. And while enforcement of anti-drug policies is a key factor in whether teens use marijuana, the way schools respond to policy violators matters greatly. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Washington and in Australia, compared drug policies…
The University of Washington’s latest step toward its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050 came last week, with the release of its Climate Action Strategy for Transportation, or CAST. The CAST follows the UW Climate Action Plan, a set of broad strategies to guide the UW to the goal of carbon neutrality that was released in 2009. The CAST suggests specific actions for reducing emissions in the transportation sector. “This represents an important step toward strategically reducing a significant portion…
March 18, 2015
Norman J. Johnston will be remembered as a dedicated and community-minded architect, city planner, teacher and critic. He died Monday, March 16, 2015, in his Seattle home. He was 96. Memorial for Norman J. Johnston 2 p.m. Sunday, May 31, University of Washington Club. Johnston earned a bachelor’s degree in art from the University of Washington in 1942. He returned to the campus in 1960 as a faculty member in architecture and urban planning, and taught until his retirement in…