Aug 18, 2014

UW program aims to diversify the conservation workforce

Doris Duke Conservation Scholars at UW are helping define how diverse groups shape conservation.

The Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program at UW wrapped up its inaugural year on August 14 in a symposium where students shared their experiences over the course of the summer. Focusing on the intersection of environment and society, the students spoke about the issues surrounding climate, water, biodiversity and food. Instead of learning about these topics solely in the classroom, a majority of their time was spent in the field around Washington state, including in our urban environments, along the coast, up in the mountains, and in the agricultural fields on the eastern side of the state.

Ancient shellfish remains rewrite 10,000-year history of El Niño cycles

Scientists by their very nature are inquisitive and creative, often figuring out novel ways to answer complex and perplexing questions. In a paper recently released in Science, College of the Environment oceanographer Julian Sachs and colleagues use ancient clam shells to peer into the past and piece together a 10,000 year history of climate driven by the El Niño Southern Oscillation.

Ocean’s most oxygen-deprived zones to shrink under climate change

Map showing low oxygen zones in the Pacific Ocean.

Climate change is complex, no doubt about it. Much of that complexity lies in the interconnectedness of our world, where scientists are continually striving to increase our understanding of how natural systems function and may be affected with the ripple effects associated with a changing climate. Sharpening our understanding helps us better predict what the future holds. In a recent paper published in Science, College of the Environment’s Oceanography associate professor Curtis Deutsch talks about a new link in the climate change story, and how it may play out in terms of the oxygen depleted zones of our oceans.

A unique lab class: UW students explore nation’s largest dam removal

The Friday Harbor Laboratories, located on the remote shores of the San Juan Islands, provide a unique setting for students to live and breathe marine research. This spring, a group of students from several different colleges and universities participated in one of the labs’ apprenticeships looking at the effects of the Elwha Dam removal on the Strait of Juan de Fuca’s marine environment.

Seattle 2100: Apocalypse or Utopia?

A changing climate is sure to alter the world and our region as we know it. Some of those changes are known, some of them unknown. On the heels of the recent National Climate Assessment, Seattle Weekly’s Kelton Sears visited the Climate Impact Group here at the College of the Environment and spoke with Lara Whitely Binder, CIG’s outreach specialist, to find out what’s in store for Seattle’s future.