Philanthropy: Making a Difference

Private gifts and grants have an enormous impact on the lives of our students, faculty and programs.  We thank every one of our supporters, be they individuals, corporations, private foundations, organizations or community partners. You help ensure that the College of the Environment and all of its exceptional schools, departments, centers, programs and people, remain and grow as national and global leaders in education, research and outreach across a broad array of environmental fields. For more information on ways to make a gift, or programs you can support, please contact Marilyn Montgomery, Associate Dean for Advancement, at 206-221-0906 or mmmontg@uw.edu.

Bill and Beatrice Booth make exceptional gift to fund three new endowments, benefitting School of Oceanography and Friday Harbor Labs

Thanks to the exceptional generosity of donors Bill and Beatrice Booth, three new endowed funds were established this summer: The Beatrice Crosby Booth Endowed Fellowship, benefiting students in the School of Oceanography; the Beatrice Crosby Booth Endowed Scholarship at Friday Harbor Laboratories; and the Karl M. Banse Endowed Professorship, which will be awarded to a biological oceanographer, in honor of Professor Emeritus Karl Banse. Beatrice Crosby Booth earned her M.S. in Biological Oceanography from UW in 1969, and went on to work at the UW as a biological oceanography researcher for 24 years. During her time at UW, Beatrice benefited from Dr. Banse’s mentorship, and spent considerable time at Friday Harbor Labs pursuing her research.  Beatrice was a pioneer in her field – one of the first women scientists in the Oceanography graduate program at UW. We are incredibly grateful to Beatrice and Bill for their extraordinary generosity, which will support generations of students in their studies in the School of Oceanography and at Friday Harbor Laboratories, and will enable Oceanography to attract and retain top faculty in biological oceanography.

Arboretum Foundation continues its generosity and partnership with UW Botanic Gardens

This summer, we received announcement of a generous commitment from the Arboretum Foundation, for a substantial level of support to the University of Washington Botanic Gardens for Fiscal Year 2015. The Arboretum Foundation, University of Washington, and City of Seattle have a long-established partnership in the administration, care, and funding of the Washington Park Arboretum.  This latest commitment will help support UW in maintaining and growing the exceptional plant collection sited at the Washington Park Arboretum.  We are very grateful to the Arboretum Foundation for its substantial and ongoing support, and look forward to our continued partnership in ensuring the future of the WPA as one of the Pacific Northwest’s most wonderful repositories of unique plants and natural spaces.

New and Noteworthy Partnerships

Adrienne Sutton, Research Scientist in the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean (JISAO), and three colleagues from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL)—Dick Feely, Simone Alin, and Chris Sabine—have been awarded more than $340,000 in funds from XPRIZE, for ocean acidification research. The PMEL Carbon Group is partnering with the Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE to improve understanding of ocean acidification through innovation of accurate, robust, and affordable pH sensors, focusing their studies on the Coastal Pacific.

Julie Keister, Assistant Professor in the School of Oceanography, was awarded funds of nearly $250,000 from Long Live the Kings, for research on zooplankton communities in Puget Sound. The study will explore relationships between zooplankton communities, environmental variability, and salmon returns. Long Live the Kings is a nonprofit based in Seattle, focused on restoring wild salmon and steelhead to the waters of the Pacific Northwest.

David Butterfield, Research Scientist in JISAO, has received over $250,000 in funds from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, in partnership with Marine Biological Laboratory, for research on Axial Seamount, which is an active submarine volcano located on the Juan de Fuca Ridge off of Oregon.  The research will explore the key players for carbon fixation in the subseafloor, describe their interactions with other microbes and viruses and how they impact carbon cycling, and examine their impact on geochemical carbon transformations using cutting-edge technologies and new observational tools.

There are many opportunities to help support the College of the Environment. If you would like to help, please consider supporting the College through the fund of your choice, or through some of our highlighted funds:

To explore funds within the College, visit the University of Washington Foundation website.