Enrollment at UW College of the Environment continues to climb

The UW College of the Environment has experienced tremendous growth in undergraduate student majors since its inception 15 years ago, with most of that growth coming in recent years. In the 2011-12 academic year, the College enrolled nearly 1,050 undergraduate students across seven different majors offered throughout the College. Fast forward to the current academic year, and there are nearly 1,900 students enrolled in eight majors (Marine Biology was added as a major in 2018-19). 

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UW cherry blossoms set for peak bloom in late March

cherry blossoms up close

Cherry trees on the University of Washington’s Seattle campus are waking up and getting ready to say hello. For the 29 iconic Yoshino cherry trees in the UW Quad, peak bloom will likely begin after March 20, according to UW arborist Sara Shores. “Historically, peak bloom in the Quad typically begins during the third full week of March and goes into the fourth week of March. 

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Scientists CT-scanned thousands of natural history specimens, which you can access for free

colorful, scanned images of animals

Natural history museums have entered a new stage of discovery and accessibility — one where scientists around the globe and curious folks at home can access valuable museum specimens to study, learn or just be amazed. This new era follows the completion of openVertebrate, or oVert, a five-year collaborative project among 18 institutions, including the UW, to create 3D reconstructions of vertebrate specimens and make them freely available online.

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Cryptic carbon: UW study finds hidden wetlands in the forest

When it comes to climate change, an important question is not simply how can humans stop emitting greenhouse gases, but how can we remove the greenhouse gases that we’ve already released? Many of Earth’s natural processes are already taking significant amounts of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, and our wetland ecosystems are some of the most effective at this work. 

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