In research presented last month at the Third International Symposium on the Ocean in a High CO2 World, FHL‘s Emily Carrington‘s lab found that in water with a pH more acidic than 7.6, the silky threads that anchor mussels to their homes, called byssus fibers, was significantly weakened. They also found that higher temperatures weakened the byssus fibers, with threads about 60 percent weaker in 77 degree Fahrenheit water than in cooler 65 degree water. 

You may not feel it, but the way we do and share science is transforming. The Internet, increased computing power, and the profusion of “big data” are making it more efficient for scientists to do research in a collaborative way. From open-access publication to citizen science, from crowdfunding to documentation of negative results and unfunded grant proposals, the universe of “open science” is continuing to grow. 

Next week will be the University of Washington’s third Sustainability Summit, an annual event that celebrates leadership and accomplishments in environmental stewardship and sustainability. While events will take place throughout the week, Wednesday evening will feature a conversation about energy involving a leading Northwest energy and climate expert, Microsoft’s chief environmental strategist and other panelists. Lisa Graumlich, dean of the College of the Environment, will be moderating the panel. 

Fernando Resende, assistant professor in SEFS, is creating technology to be used in the vast swaths of beetle-killed trees across the West, a technology that would not only produce liquid biofuels but would also mitigate forest fires and beetle infestations. Learn more about Resende’s exciting project here! 

Conservation costs money, and the benefits don’t always outweigh the costs. To shed light on how conservation decisions may provide benefits or costs to larger regional goals, researchers from SEFS, and other collaborators, developed an economic model aimed at maximizing the ROI on the cost of the acquisition of lands for conservation. Their work was cited as the Editors’ Choice in Science; read the original open access paper here!