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Dean's Letter
Interdisciplinary Innovation: Seeking
breakthroughs while courting failure
Interdisciplinary collaboration is never far
from my mind, but I am particularly focused on it this month. In the next four weeks, I will participate in
four different strategic planning retreats that run the gamut from the
College’s Executive Committee to the Woodland Park Zoo’s Advisory Board. I know
many of you are similarly engaged in planning, whether it is the upcoming
quarter, new research projects, or broader initiatives. The best planning
exercises are those where we pool our diverse expertise and perspectives to
tackle really big issues. And the most
creative yet durable strategies are those that arise from the cross-pollination
of different expertise and points of view.
News
 College names two new unit directors
The College of the Environment is pleased to share that Professor Billie Swalla has been named director of the Friday Harbor Laboratories on San Juan Island, and Professor Terrie Klinger has been named director of the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs.
 Diversifying what it means to be a "conservation professional"
The Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program at UW wrapped up its inaugural year, welcoming the first cohort of students to Washington state for jam-packed season of learning in the field. The goal of the program is to broaden participation within conservation and diversify what it means to be a “conservation professional.”
College of the Environment launches new forum for science communication
Last spring, the College of the Environment
kicked off Amplify, a new discussion series that brings together faculty,
staff, postdocs and graduate students interested
in communicating science beyond academia.
Moderated by Dean Graumlich, the inaugural event explored the costs and
benefits of sharing science with non-scientist audiences, being an advocate for science, and the
“secret benefit” of fun that some forms of outreach can provide. You can read more
about Amplify and upcoming discussions on the College website.
New faculty at the College of the Environment
We
extend a heartfelt welcome to new faculty joining the College of the
Environment this fall! The School of Environmental and Forest Sciences has
three professors joining their ranks: David Butman, Patrick Tobin, and Peter
Kahn; and Emily Roland
Saenger will join
the School of Oceanography.
Awards & Acknowledgements
Congratulations to College
of the Environment-affiliated scientists David Battisti, Qiang Fu, Michael
McPhaden, and James Overland on their election as fellows to the American
Geophysical Union. The organization’s mission is to “promote discovery in Earth
and space science for the benefit of humanity.”
Congratulations to the
Washington State Academy of Sciences inductees that are affiliated or work with
the College of the Environment, including André Punt, Eric D’Asaro, Bradley
Coleman, Alvin Kwiram, and Ann Bostrom. The organization is charged with providing expert scientific and engineering analysis to inform
public policy-making, and works to increase the role and visibility of science
in the State of Washington.
Congratulations
to Kiki Jenkins of the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs on being
awarded the Woodrow Wilson Career Enhancement Fellowship for Junior Faculty.
Spotlight
 Angela Feng, Senior in Environmental Studies
Spotlight is an ongoing series that will introduce you to the many members that make up the College community.
What might Program on the Environment student
Angela Feng and the internationally-known Seattle hip-hop star Macklemore have
in common? Besides their love for good music, they both share a commitment to
and passion for the environment. They are teaming up with others to raise
awareness on the importance of respecting nature, and are working on a campaign
for environmental protection in a south Seattle neighborhood.
For & About Students
 New thesis options for School of Marine and Environmental Affairs students
The
School of Marine and Environmental Affairs has new curriculum options for
Master of Marine Affairs (MMA) students, offering a professional track and a thesis
track. Curriculum requirements will vary depending on track. Professional track
students will focus on applied learning via a capstone project, and thesis
track students will develop and hone their research skills through a master's
thesis.
 UW students help install cabled deep-sea observatory
Students at the College of
the Environment got a taste of what doing oceanographic research is all about
this summer, spending numerous days at sea aboard the UW’s giant research
vessel, the Thomas
G. Thompson. The project: installing
an underwater, cabled ocean observatory that will give scientists a continuous
presence in the Pacific waters off of Oregon and Washington.
 Getting a glimpse inside Mount St. Helens
Earth and Space Sciences (ESS) graduate student
Carl Ulberg led teams of scientists from UW, the Cascade Volcano
Observatory, and Cornell University to install 70 broadband seismometers on and
around Mount St. Helens over the summer. The goal: to create images to better
understand the deep magma plumbing system under the mountain, as well as
earthquake activity and other unusual signals. The overall $3 million NSF-funded project, called imaging Magma Under St Helens (iMUSH), is led
by ESS’ Ken Creager, John Vidale, Heidi Houston, and Olivier Bachmann.
Philanthropy: Making a Difference
Private gifts and grants make all the difference in opening doors for new research and expanding educational opportunities for our students. We are grateful for our numerous donors’ generosity.
The
College of the Environment would like to thank Bill and Beatrice Booth for their
exceptional gift to fund three new endowments, benefitting School of
Oceanography and Friday Harbor Labs, and the Arboretum Foundation in its
continued generosity and partnership with UW Botanic Gardens. We would also
like to acknowledge
new and noteworthy partnerships with the XPRIZE Foundation, Gordon and Betty
Moore Foundation, and Long Live the Kings.
There
are numerous ways to help support research and students at College of the
Environment—please consider making a gift to the fund of your choice,
including:
- The
Program on the Environment Endowed Scholarship Fund
- Director's
Fund for Excellence in Oceanography
- Climate Impacts Group Gift Fund
To
learn more about these funds and how you can help, please visit the College of
the Environment website.
Private Funding Opportunities
Seeking private funding for your
project or program? Below are recent corporate and foundation opportunities
that may be of interest to you.
- Captain Planet Foundation: Grants
for Hands-On Environmental Education Activities
- AAAS Early Career Award for Public
Engagement with Science
- Environmental Solutions for
Communities Grant Program: Request for Proposals
- Mountaineers Foundation: Funding
for Research and Conservation of Pacific Northwest Wilderness
- National Geographic: Expeditions
Council Grant Application
Save the Date
 Join
us for our upcoming November 18 Amplify event, where scientists from the
College and beyond will explore how to communicate science online: the rewards,
the pitfalls, the trolls and the tweets. Stay tuned for final event details on
the Amplify section of the
College website.
 The
SustainableUW Festival October 20-25 is fast approaching! Led by the Environmental
Stewardship & Sustainability office, this expansion of the earlier Sustainability
Summit has morphed in to a full weeklong festival. Learn more about the festival, and
register any activities that your lab or unit might have on their webpage.
Join
the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences for their fall seminar series
this year, which will take place on Wednesdays at 3:30pm. Learn more on the
School’s website.
You can always stay up to date with the latest
events happening at the College of the Environment by checking out our Events
Calendar.
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