Researchers have discovered what may be the earliest dinosaur, a creature the size of a Labrador retriever, but with a five foot-long tail, that walked the Earth about 10 million years before more familiar dinosaurs like the small, swift-footed Eoraptor and Herrerasaurus. UW Biology post-doc Sterling Nesbitt led the study – read more here. 

Washington State’s recent release of a Blue Ribbon Panel’s findings on how to mitigate and adapt to ocean acidification has garnered national attention.  CoEnv scientists and staff played an important role on the Panel – read more about ocean acidification, the report’s findings, and next steps here. 

For decades, a source of powerful earthquakes and volcanic activity on the Pacific Rim was shrouded in secrecy, as the Soviet government kept outsiders away from what is now referred to as the Russian Far East.  But research in the last 20 years has shown that the Kamchatka Peninsula and Kuril Islands are a seismic and volcanic hotbed, with a potential to trigger tsunamis that pose a risk to the rest of the Pacific Basin.  

A temperature record derived from measurements of an ice core drilled on James Ross Island, Antarctica, prompts a rethink of what has triggered the recent warming trends on the Antarctic Peninsula.  Read more about what Eric Steig – professor of Earth and Space Sciences – has to say about this. 

“Eight years until “Glacier National Park” is just “National Park.” The ice had been the lure to get the family to go see the great glaciers before they’re gone. But I misjudged how far gone they already are. As did the scientists.”  Read more on this piece by Danny Westneat of the Seattle Times.