Dean’s Letter: Knitting together a complete picture of our planet

Luca Galuzzi

Earth Day, April 22, marks a time for the world to celebrate and demonstrate support for a healthy environment. In appreciation for nature and its importance for our own health and well-being, people all over the world come together to plant trees, coordinate recycling drives, and share the most equitable and sustainable ways to steward our environment. From my point of view, at the College of the Environment, every day is Earth Day! 

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Dean Graumlich appears with Governor Inslee and others on climate panel

Climate Action Goes To Washington: Energy Solutions in the Pacific Northwest featured Washington Governor Jay Inslee, College of the Environment Dean Lisa Graumlich, Grist senior writer David Roberts, and Paul Shukovsky, the Pacific Northwest correspondent for Bloomberg BNA. Moderated by journalist Chris Mooney, the panel discussion centered on climate change and what is being done to address it in Washington State and along the west coast. 

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UW experts part of technical team investigating Snohomish County mudslide

View of Oso landslide from the air

A national team co-led by a University of Washington geotechnical engineer will investigate what caused the March 22 mudslide in Snohomish County and what effects the disaster had on the nearby residential communities. The Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance Association is mobilizing to collect information about the landslide that occurred on a steep slope above the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River near Oso, Wash., 

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Citizen scientists: UW students help state legislator with climate policy

In a twist on the concept of citizen scientist, University of Washington science students helped the state Legislature with environmental policy. During the past year and a half, four UW graduate students participated in a working group tasked with creating policies to satisfy the 2008 law requiring Washington state to reduce total greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Read more about these students and how they participated on UW Today. 

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David Montgomery talks to KUOW about the Oso landslide

Google Image of Oso Landslide Area

On Saturday March 22, a powerful landslide occurred above the Stillaguamish River near the town of Oso in western Washington. David Montgomery, professor of Earth and space sciences, talks to Ashley Ahearn at KUOW about what causes such slides to occur. Listen to the story on KUOW. Since this report, Montgomery has shared his expertise through numerous other media outlets, including: Seattle Times Op-Ed: Map the runout risk for landslides like Oso New York Times: In a State Known for Landslides, a Deadly Mix of Loose Sediments and Heavy Rain KUOW: Geological Circumstances Behind Washington Mudslide PBS NewsHour: Washington state mudslide conditions present ‘nightmare scenario’ for rescue team, says geologist 

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