The New Zealand Forest opened September 15, 2013 at the Washington Park Arboretum.  Read more about this new exhibit in the Seattle Times. 

Two new studies involving the University of Washington are shedding new light on the internal workings and risks from volcanoes, especially the ones in the Cascade range in Washington, Oregon and Northern California.  Read more and watch video on King5.com 

Teachable moments come along all the time for scientists conducting summer classes at University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Labs.  But few like this.  The Labs biological preserve at San Juan Island’s Argyle Lagoon became a makeshift laboratory Wednesday afternoon, June 26, after a call came in that a 12-foot-long sixgill shark had washed up on the beach.  Read more in the Islands Sounder. 

Julia Parrish was honored as a Champion of Change by the White House for her dedication to increasing public engagement in science and science literacy.  See Julia talk about the importance of citizen scientists to the work of the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST; she begins speaking at 11 minutes); you can also read more about COASST and its beginnings on the Champions of Change blog. 

On Saturday, May 11th, from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, the MATE Pacific Northwest Regional ROV Challenge will see teams of middle school, high school, and college students, compete using underwater robots known as remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) they designed and built. The event will be held at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way (650 SW Campus Dr) and is free to all.