Jan 30, 2019

UW-based group launches national challenge to recreate first moon landing — with drones and Lego robots

A flying drone carries a lunar lander above a map of the moon’s surface. The landing spot is the actual site of the Apollo 11 landing. Other craters that teams will explore are circled in red.Dennis Wise/University of Washington

UW Northwest Earth and Space Sciences Pipeline marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing with a cool challenge for elementary, middle and high school students.

One year into the mission, autonomous ocean robots set a record in survey of Antarctic ice shelf

A Seaglider, with the Getz Ice Shelf in the background, being prepared for deployment in January 2018 under the neighboring Dotson Ice Shelf.

A team of ocean robots deployed in January 2018 have, over the past year, been the first self-guided ocean robots to successfully travel under an ice sheet and return to report long-term observations. Beyond mere survival, the robotic mission — a partnership between the University of Washington’s College of the Environment, the UW Applied Physics Laboratory, the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, the Korean Polar Research Institute and Paul G.

Join us for the 2019 UW Environmental Career Fair

The UW Environmental Career Fair at Mary Gates Hall.

On February 20, some of the region’s most notable organizations working in environmental and natural resources—including Boeing, Port of Seattle and The Nature Conservancy—will be on-hand at the UW Environmental Career Fair! The event gives students a unique opportunity to connect with potential future employers and explore career options across the nonprofit, government, and private sectors. Open to UW students and alumni, this year’s fair includes working environmental professionals from more than 30 organizations in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

Nominations for 2019 College of the Environment Awards open through Feb. 22

Dean Lisa J. Graumlich (center) with 2018 College of the Environment Award winners.

Update: Due to the inclement weather, the nomination deadline has been extended to Friday, February 22, 2019. Do you know a student, faculty or staff member who deserves recognition for their work at the College of the Environment? Nominations for the 2019 College of the Environment Awards are open through Friday, February 22, 2019 at 5:00 p.m. Submit your nominations in any or all of these categories: Distinguished Staff Member Exceptional Mentoring of Undergraduates Graduate Dean’s Medalist Outstanding Community Impact: Staff, Faculty, or Student Outstanding Diversity Commitment Outstanding Teaching Faculty Undergraduate Dean’s Medalist Full details, including criteria and eligibility and past winners, are available online.

For 35 years, the Pacific Ocean has largely spared West’s mountain snow from effects of global warming

Washington state’s Mount Shuksan in February 2014.

A new study has found that a pattern of ocean temperatures and atmospheric circulation has offset most of the impact of global warming on mountain snowpack in the western U.S. since the 1980s. The study from Oregon State University, the University of Washington and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory was published Jan. 11 in Geophysical Research Letters. “The western U.S. has received a big assist from natural variability over the past 35 years,” said lead author Nick Siler at Oregon State University, who began thinking about the project as a doctoral student in atmospheric sciences at the UW.