Faculty, students and staff work together to conduct cutting-edge research, education and outreach in a variety of interdisciplinary centers and programs.


Center for International Trade in Forest Products

The Center for International Trade in Forest Products strives to be a center of excellence to foster the international competitiveness and sustainability of the U.S. forest products industry. The Center helps forest products exports by monitoring foreign markets, applying research findings to solve problems that limit exports of forest products, and training professionals by providing funding for graduate level research on the international trade of forest products.

Center for Quantitative Science in Forestry, Fisheries and Wildlife

The Center for Quantitative Science in Forestry, Fisheries and Wildlife offers courses in mathematics and statistical methods as applied to problems in biology, ecology, the environment and renewable-resource management. In the 40 years since its inception, the Center has operated with the understanding that the cultivation and development of quantitative capability in students is essential to advancing the biological and resource management fields.

Center for Sustainable Forestry at Pack Forest

Located at the foot of Mt. Rainier, the Center for Sustainable Forestry at Pack Forest sits on 4,300 acres of working forestland. The Center’s mission is to advance the concept and practice of sustainability by engaging students, scientists, professionals, policymakers and community members through research, demonstration, service and continuing education and outreach in natural resources and environmental science and management. The Center seeks to identify the boundaries of sustainable forest ecosystems, including extraction of forest products while maintaining ecosystem integrity.

Climate Impacts Group

Climate Impacts Group is an integrated research and stakeholder engagement team linking climate science and decision making to support the development of climate resilience. Since 1995 they have worked to understand the implications of natural climate variability and global climate change for the Pacific Northwest and to develop, deliver and support the use of climate information in planning, policy-making and natural resource management. Climate Impacts Group is an EarthLab member organization.

EarthLab

EarthLab reimagines the world as it could be, while impacting the world as it is. Equal parts research engine and community catalyst, EarthLab harnesses the power of co-created solutions to our most imminent environmental challenges. Earthlab member organizations include the Center for Creative Conservation, the Center for Health and the Global EnvironmentClimate Impacts Group, the Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program at UW, the Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center, the M9 Project and the Washington Ocean Acidification Center.

Friday Harbor Laboratories

For over 100 years, the Friday Harbor Laboratories have been at the leading edge of research and teaching in marine biological sciences. The Labs are located in the San Juan Islands in an environment that affords a unique opportunity for marine research and teaching, with clean water, diverse habitats and pristine biological resources. A primary purpose of the Labs is to achieve excellence in education for graduate and undergraduate students and in research applied to basic and applied problems in the physical, biological and environmental sciences.

Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean and Ecosystem Studies (CICOES)

The Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean and Ecosystem Studies (CICOES) was established in 1977 and was known as the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean (JISAO) until 2020. CICOES exists for the purpose of fostering research collaboration between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University of Washington (UW) as well as academic partners at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Oregon State University. CICOES research is at the forefront of investigations on climate change, ocean acidification, fisheries assessments, and tsunami forecasting.

Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center

The Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (NW CASC) is one of eight federal regional climate centers, and is managed as a consortium between the University of Washington, Oregon State University and the University of Idaho with federal oversight from the U.S. Geological Survey. The goal of the center is to help safeguard the Northwest’s natural and cultural resources by providing managers and policy-makers across Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Western Montana with timely, relevant and actionable climate science. NW CASC is an EarthLab member organization.

Olympic Natural Resources Center

Located on the Olympic Peninsula in Forks, Washington, the Olympic Natural Resources Center provides scientific information to address critical issues and solve problems concerning forestry and marine sciences in the region. The Center serves as a catalyst for interdisciplinary and collaborative work, bringing together expertise from forest resources and ocean and fishery sciences.

Pacific Northwest Seismic Network

The Pacific Northwest Seismic Network collects and analyzes data to provide rapid and accurate information on earthquakes and volcanic activity in Washington and Oregon. Starting with five seismometers in 1969, the Network has grown to include over 150 seismograph stations. Data from the Network are used for research, daily monitoring and to provide information to emergency managers and the public in relation to seismic events.

Precision Forestry Cooperative

The School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, in collaboration with the School of Engineering, created the Precision Forestry Cooperative to conduct pioneering research in forest production, management and manufacturing. At a new scale of resolution and accuracy, the Cooperative’s goal is to foster economic and environmental benefits. Their mission is to develop advanced technologies to improve the quality and reliability of information needed for planning, implementation and monitoring of natural resource management, to ensure sustainable forest management and to increase the competitiveness of Washington’s forest sector.

Program on Climate Change

The UW Program on Climate Change (PCC) is an interdisciplinary program in climate science that strives to integrate education, research and outreach activities on campus. The Program’s goals are to create a strong sense of community among faculty and students interested in climate change, develop new courses on the issues of climate change, create an intellectual atmosphere establishing the UW as a place where important questions about how climate and our physical and human world interact are formulated and addressed, and to make the whole of the climate change effort at UW a powerful force in the training of future scientists and policy makers and in the understanding of past, present and future climate.

Quaternary Research Center

The Quaternary Research Center fosters interdisciplinary environmental research at the University of Washington through strategic investments in seed grants, expeditions, seminars and workshops, and through publication of the journal Quaternary Research. QRC-supported research focuses on the Quaternary geologic period—the last 2½ million years of Earth history—a time encompassing massive and abrupt changes of climate, sea level, global biota and ice extent, as well the evolution of humans and the advent of civilization. The QRC studies processes that drive environmental changes in order to understand how the Earth sustains humanity, and to prepare for future environmental changes.

Stand Management Cooperative

The Stand Management Cooperative strives to provide a continuing source of high quality information on the long-term effects of silvicultural treatments and treatment regimes on stand and tree growth and development and on wood and product quality. SMC is composed of forest industry, state, provincial and federal agencies, suppliers and universities who bring resources and expertise to the mission of the Cooperative.

University of Washington Botanic Gardens

The University of Washington Botanic Gardens‘ mission is to sustain managed to natural ecosystems and the human spirit through plant research, display and education. The living plant collection contains over 10,000 specimens representing nearly 4,200 distinct taxa. The UW Botanic Gardens serves students, faculty and staff, as well as the general public interested in horticulture, restoration ecology and conservation.

Washington Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit (WACFWRU)

The Washington Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, established in 1967, is a cooperative between the University of Washington; Washington State University; the US Geological Survey (home of the national Cooperative Research Units program); the US Fish and Wildlife Service; the Wildlife Management Institute; and the Washington Departments of Ecology, Fish and Wildlife, and Natural Resources.  The WACFWRU works to support conservation of fish, wildlife, and their habitats in Washington, the Pacific Northwest, and beyond by conducting management-relevant research, supporting decision makers through technical assistance, and training the next generation of conservation leaders. Research funding opportunities are available to University of Washington faculty interested in engaging in collaborative fish and wildlife research with federal agencies or Washington state agencies.

Washington Ocean Acidification Center

Established by the state legislature in 2013, the Washington Ocean Acidification Center is led by the College of the Environment and brings a regional focus to research priorities around ocean acidification. The Center will execute five important actions as directed by the Washington Legislature in response to ocean acidification in Washington State. In addition, the Center serves as a regional hub for research; helps train the next generation of scientists, managers and decision-makers to face the challenges posed by ocean acidification; and engages and connects with industry representatives, state, local, federal and tribal policymakers, and public opinion makers. The Center will receive guidance from an advisory board and a science advisory team. Washington Ocean Acidification Center is an EarthLab member organization.

Washington Sea Grant Program

Established in 1968, Washington Sea Grant Program is part of a national network of 30 Sea Grant colleges administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The program works towards restoring and protecting a healthy marine environment by identifying and addressing important marine issues, providing better tools for management of the marine environment and use of its resources, and initiating and supporting strategic partnerships within the marine community.