Dec 12, 2018

An interview with FieldNotes

Undergraduate students dedicate incredible time and effort each year to complete a capstone or other required research project, but the results are rarely published in a scientific journal. In spring 2018, four students from the College of the Environment set out to give the authors of this overlooked body of work a creative platform in which to share their work. The first issue of FieldNotes featured research on diverse topics, including the relationship between beaver dams and salmon migration, the impacts of ocean acidification on Puget Sound oysters and UW Environment’s efforts to promote STEM-based initiatives in underrepresented communities.

Read the Q&A »

Dec 10, 2018

Awards and Honors

College scientists honored at 2018 AGU annual conference

Joel Thornton, Allan Devol and Harold Tobin are each being recognized at the 2018 annual conference of the American Geophysical Union, the world’s largest earth and space society. Each year, the Union take the opportunity to recognize outstanding scientists in their field. Thornton, a professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences, received the Ascent Award from the AGU’s Atmospheric Sciences Section.

Ancient whale named for UW paleontologist Elizabeth Nesbitt

Elizabeth Nesbitt with some of the whale fossils in the Burke Museum’s collection.

A newly discovered species of whale — found preserved in ancient rock on the Oregon coast — has been named for a University of Washington paleontologist. “It’s a tremendous honor,” said Elizabeth Nesbitt, who is curator of invertebrate paleontology and micropaleontology at the Burke Museum and an associate professor in the UW’s Department of Earth and Space Sciences. Maiabalaena nesbittae lived about 33 million years ago and was described in a Nov.

Q&A: New Washington Sea Grant director brings love of learning, experience across sectors

Russell Callender, director of Washington Sea Grant effective September 2018.

Russell Callender spent nearly two decades working on coastal science, policy and management issues at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s headquarters near Washington, D.C. But throughout his tenure at the nation’s capital, he kept his eye on a position at an organization in the other Washington. When he saw the job posting last summer to lead Washington Sea Grant at the University of Washington, it took Callender all of about two minutes to start working on his application.

Washington’s state climatologist predicts this will be an El Niño year

Washington State Climatologist Nick Bond

Nick Bond is a University of Washington associate professor of atmospheric sciences who studies the link between ocean and atmosphere. He also serves as the state climatologist for Washington. Early reports suggest that the winter of 2018/2019 will be a weak to moderate El Niño year. For the Pacific Northwest, that probably means less snow in the mountains than the average.