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    November 2016

    Feature Story

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    Nov 21, 2016
    • Marine Science
    • Ocean Acidification

    Ocean acidification study offers warnings for marine life, habitats

    Coral off the coast of Mexico
    Christopher Harley/University of British Columbia
    Coral ecosystems, like these pictured off the coast of Mexico, will be hit hard as the oceans become more acidic.

    Acidification of the world’s oceans could drive a cascading loss of biodiversity in some marine habitats, according to research published Nov. 21 in Nature Climate Change.

    The work by biodiversity researchers from the University of British Columbia, the University of Washington and colleagues in the U.S., Europe, Australia, Japan and China, combines dozens of existing studies to paint a more nuanced picture of the impact of ocean acidification.

    While most research in the field focuses on the impact of ocean acidification on individual species, the new work predicts how acidification will affect the living habitats such as corals, seagrasses and kelp forests that form the homes of other ocean species.

    “This work demonstrates the value of international collaborations to address a problem that’s global in scope and crosses boundaries between distinct habitats and ecosystems,” said co-author Terrie Klinger, professor and director of the UW’s School of Marine and Environmental Affairs who also co-directs the Washington Ocean Acidification Center. “We can begin to test predictions with data from different locations to better understand likely ecosystem responses to ocean acidification.”

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    Nov 29, 2016
    • Genetics/Genomics
    • Marine Science

    Our closest worm kin regrow body parts, raising hopes of regeneration in humans

    A close-up view of the cut site and tail end of the worm.
    Shawn Luttrell/University of Washington
    A close-up view of the cut site and tail end of the worm the day it was cut.

    What if humans could regrow an amputated arm or leg, or completely restore nervous system function after a spinal cord injury?

    A new study of one of our closest invertebrate relatives, the acorn worm, reveals that this feat might one day be possible. Acorn worms burrow in the sand around coral reefs, but their ancestral relationship to chordates means they have a genetic makeup and body plan surprisingly similar to ours.

    A study led by the University of Washington and published in the December issue of the journal Developmental Dynamics has shown that acorn worms can regrow every major body part — including the head, nervous system and internal organs — from nothing after being sliced in half. If scientists can unlock the genetic network responsible for this feat, they might be able to regrow limbs in humans through manipulating our own similar genetic heritage.

    “Regeneration gives animals or populations immortality,” said senior author Billie Swalla, director of Friday Harbor Laboratories and a UW biology professor. “Not only are the tissues regrown, but they are regrown exactly the same way and with the same proportions so that at the end of the process, you can’t tell a regenerated animal from one that has never been cut.”

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    Nov 16, 2016
    • Marine Science
    • Resource Management

    2 UW scientists lead effort to craft ‘blueprint’ for holistic fisheries management

    global fisheriesTwo University of Washington professors are leading an effort to help U.S. fisheries consider the larger marine environment, rather than just a single species, when managing a fishery.

    Tim Essington, a UW professor of aquatic and fishery sciences, and Phil Levin, a UW professor of practice with the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences and lead scientist at The Nature Conservancy, head a taskforce convened by the Lenfest Ocean Program to guide managers on implementing ecosystem-based fisheries management. After two years of regional workshops, meetings and literature reviews, the group just released its recommendations report.

    Essington and Levin will take part in related briefings Nov. 16 on Capitol Hill and to the White House’s Council for Environmental Quality.

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    Nov 16, 2016
    • Geophysical Sciences
    • Resource Management

    Large forest die-offs can have effects that ricochet to distant ecosystems

    Abigail Swann, Dave Minor and Juan Villegas take measurements of live and dead trees in central New Mexico.
    Abigail Swann/University of Washington
    Abigail Swann, Dave Minor and Juan Villegas take measurements of live and dead trees in central New Mexico.

    Major forest die-offs due to drought, heat and beetle infestations or deforestation could have consequences far beyond the local landscape.

    Wiping out an entire forest can have significant effects on global climate patterns and alter vegetation on the other side of the world, according to a study led by the University of Washington and published Nov. 16 in PLOS ONE.

    “When trees die in one place, it can be good or bad for plants elsewhere, because it causes changes in one place that can ricochet to shift climate in another place,” said lead author Elizabeth Garcia, a UW postdoctoral researcher in atmospheric sciences. “The atmosphere provides the connection.”

    Just as conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean can have distant effects through what we now understand as El Niño, the loss of a forest could generate a signal heard around the world — including by other plants.

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    Nov 15, 2016
    • Weather

    How lightning strikes can improve storm forecasts

    lightening bolt strikes the ground
    This study used data from the UW-based World Wide Lightning Location Network, which has a global record of lightning strikes going back to 2004.

    Humans have always been frightened and fascinated by lightning. This month, NASA is scheduled to launch a new satellite that will provide the first nonstop, high-tech eye on lightning over the North American section of the planet.

    University of Washington researchers have been tracking global lightning from the ground for more than a decade. Lightning is not only about public safety — lightning strike data have recently been introduced into weather prediction, and a new UW study shows ways to apply them in storm forecasts.

    “When you see lots of lightning, you know where the convection, or heat-driven upward motion, is the strongest, and that’s where the storm is the most intense,” said co-author Robert Holzworth, a UW professor of Earth and space sciences. “Almost all lightning occurs in clouds that have ice and where there’s a strong updraft.”

    The recent paper, published in the American Meteorological Society’s Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, presents a new way to transform lightning strikes into weather-relevant information. The U.S. National Weather Service has begun to use lightning in its most sophisticated forecasts. This method, however, is more general and could be used in a wide variety of forecasting systems anywhere in the world.

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    Nov 2, 2016
    • Geophysical Sciences
    • Natural Hazards

    New study looks at what lies below Mount St. Helens

    The last major eruption of Mount St. Helens, about 50 miles northeast of Portland, was in 1980. The mountain spewed steam and ash in 2004, and has since been rebuilding a new lava dome.
    The last major eruption of Mount St. Helens, about 50 miles northeast of Portland, was in 1980. The mountain spewed steam and ash in 2004, and has since been rebuilding a new lava dome.

    The reason for the location of Mount St. Helens is an enigma. The volcano lies farther west than other peaks in the Cascades volcanic arc. Research published this week may begin to explain why. The last major eruption of Mount St. Helens, about 50 miles northeast of Portland, was in 1980. The mountain spewed steam and ash in 2004, and has since been rebuilding a new lava dome.

    The study was led by scientists at the University of New Mexico with co-authors at the University of Washington, Rice University and Cornell University. All are part of an ambitious effort to use remote sensing to better understand the hidden passageways beneath one of the country’s most dangerous active volcanoes. The UW Environment co-authors are Ken Creager and John Vidale, both professors in the Department of Earth & Space Sciences. Other co-authors are Brandon Schmandt at the University of New Mexico, Alan Levander at Rice University, Eric Kiser at the University of Arizona and Geoff Abers at Cornell University.

    The paper, published Nov. 1 in Nature Communications, analyzes compressional waves traveling through the crust and reflecting off the mantle below the volcano. Results show that on one side the mantle is largely serpentinite, a rare, moisture-absorbing, dark-green mineral that can look like a snake’s skin. But the mantle below the eastern half of the mountain is mostly olivine, a common mineral that allows water — thought to play a key role in volcanic eruptions — to percolate up and into the overlying crust.

    Read more at UW Today »

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    Events

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    December 5, 2016

    Environmental Studies Capstone Symposium

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    December 9, 2016

    International Policy Institute Arctic Fellows: Arctic Indigenous Economies

    Calendar Icon Check out our calendar for more events

    News From Around the College

    • Undergrad spotlight: Linnea Kessler, Environmental and Forest Sciences
    • UW community gathers to celebrate the completion of the Yesler Swamp Boardwalk, UW Botanic Gardens
    • UW Environment scientisits discuss what the current political climate will mean for climate education, Oceanography
    • On being a climate scientist, Program on Climate Change
    • Science AMA with Ph.D. Christine Stawitz, Aquatic and Fishery Sciences

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