Judy Twedt remembers the moment when she started to think differently about her work on climate change: when the U.S. pulled out of the Paris Agreement. “It was a turning point for me. I realized I needed to start engaging with people on an emotional level.” She thought deeply about how she wanted to spend the remaining two years of her PhD work at the University of Washington, and how to build the emotional connection of climate change as a centerpiece of her dissertation.
Read more »
The grand prize winners at the Alaska Airlines Environmental Innovation Challenge proved to judges that gardening and innovation go together naturally. BioPots took home the $15,000 Wells Fargo prize with their biodegradable planter pots made from biomass waste like spent beer grains. A team including students from the Bioresource Science and Engineering program captured the top prize ahead of 22 other teams from universities in Washington and Oregon.
Read more on the Foster School's blog »
Each year, the Seattle Aquarium recognizes individuals who are leaders in marine research, especially in the Pacific Northwest. This year that honor goes to Megan Dethier, a longtime researcher at the College of the Environment’s Friday Harbor Laboratories. She was recognized alongside George Willoughby from Friday Habor Labs’ Advancement Board, who received the Scott S. Patrick Award for his volunteer service.
Read more »
Every living thing leaves a genetic trail in its wake. As animals, plants and microbes shed cells and produce waste, they drop traces of their DNA everywhere — in the air, soil and water. Researchers are now able to capture the cells of animals, sequence their DNA and identify which species were present at a point in time. Think of it as genetic fingerprints that leave a trace of past activity.
Read more at UW Today »
It’s no secret that Arctic sea ice is melting. Polar bears, the poster child for climate change, are among the animals most affected by the seasonal and year-to-year changes in Arctic sea ice, because they rely on this surface for essential activities such as hunting, traveling and breeding. A new University of Washington study, with funding and satellite data from NASA, finds a trend toward earlier sea ice melt in the spring and later ice growth in the fall across all 19 polar bear populations, which can negatively impact the feeding and breeding capabilities of the bears.
Read more at UW Today »
