Mar 31, 2014

Scientists up their ability to track salmon through DNA ‘fin-printing’

A partnership between the University of Washington and Alaska Department of Fish and Game has yielded a major breakthrough in DNA ‘fin-printing’ this week, improving the ability to conserve diminishing stocks of Chinook salmon. Implementing the new technique will allow scientists and managers to track specific stocks ensuring that no specific stock is overharvested. The results have been published in the journals Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences and Evolutionary Applications.

Mar 28, 2014

Governor Inslee and Dean Graumlich to be on climate panel, April 1

Join us on April 1 for Climate Action Goes To Washington (State): Energy Solutions in the Pacific Northwest. The event will feature Washington Governor Jay Inslee, College of the Environment Dean Lisa Graumlich, and other distinguished leaders for a discussion on the future of clean industry. The recent agreement between Washington state, British Columbia, Oregon and California to harmonize their climate and energy policies has the potential both to accelerate greenhouse gas reductions and to catalyze a strong, clean, and resilient economy.

Mar 28, 2014

Carbon dioxide in the tropical Pacific Ocean is increasing faster than expected

Research published by scientists at the College of the Environment Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean and NOAA has yielded new findings in the role that the tropical Pacific plays in regulating global CO2. The ocean acts both a source and sink for atmospheric CO2, and the tropical Pacific has always had a disproportionately large influence on that interplay.

Mar 27, 2014

Citizen scientists: UW students help state legislator with climate policy

In a twist on the concept of citizen scientist, University of Washington science students helped the state Legislature with environmental policy. During the past year and a half, four UW graduate students participated in a working group tasked with creating policies to satisfy the 2008 law requiring Washington state to reduce total greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Read more about these students and how they participated on UW Today.

Mar 24, 2014

David Montgomery talks to KUOW about the Oso landslide

On Saturday March 22, a powerful landslide occurred above the Stillaguamish River near the town of Oso in western Washington. David Montgomery, professor of Earth and space sciences, talks to Ashley Ahearn at KUOW about what causes such slides to occur. Listen to the story on KUOW. Since this report, Montgomery has shared his expertise through numerous other media outlets, including: Seattle Times Op-Ed: Map the runout risk for landslides like Oso New York Times: In a State Known for Landslides, a Deadly Mix of Loose Sediments and Heavy Rain KUOW: Geological Circumstances Behind Washington Mudslide PBS NewsHour: Washington state mudslide conditions present ‘nightmare scenario’ for rescue team, says geologist