Marine plankton brighten clouds over Southern Ocean

Nobody knows what our skies looked like before fossil fuel burning began; today, about half the cloud droplets in Northern Hemisphere skies formed around particles of pollution. Cloudy skies help regulate our planet’s climate and yet the answers to many fundamental questions about cloud formation remain hazy. New research led by the University of Washington and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory suggest tiny ocean life in vast stretches of the Southern Ocean play a significant role in generating brighter clouds overhead. 

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Local team mentored by College of the Environment staff wins ROV competition

AMNO & CO

At this year’s Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) International Competition in St. John, Newfoundland, three high schoolers from Seattle nabbed the top prize for their ocean-ready remote-controlled submersible, beating teams from Russia, China, and Canada to name a few. Mentored by UW oceanographers, the group—named AMNO & CO—competed against 33 teams from six countries, proving that even the smallest team in their division could come out on top. 

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College of the Environment students, researchers at sea to learn more about deep-sea volcano eruption

Students onboard the R/V Thompson collect velella velella (by-the-wind-sailors) off the starboard side during the first leg of the expedition.

When the Axial Seamount, an underwater volcano, erupted off the coast of Oregon in April, researchers knew within minutes that something spectacular was happening more than 300 miles offshore. Precision hardware installed by the University of Washington last summer let scientists see its effects almost instantly from shore.­­ A team of researchers, engineers and students is now at sea working t­o maintain that equipment and assess the volcano’s aftermath. 

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UW Botanic Gardens ranked top in nation

Springtime at the University of Washington's Arboretum

The University of Washington Botanic Gardens is one of the best university gardens in the nation, according to a new ranking by Best Colleges Online. The UW tied for first place along with three other universities for the top honor. UW Botanic Gardens, which includes the gardens and programs at the Washington Park Arboretum and the Center for Urban Horticulture, has a collection of more than 11,000 plants, trees and shrubs.  

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JISAO, NOAA find that seafloor hot springs are significant source of ocean's iron

On the seafloor, volcanic and magmatic forces create hot springs that spew heated water into the depths of the ocean. Hot, acidic water scours metals from Earth’s crust, and these warm, chemical-rich waters support exotic deep-sea ecosystems. Historically, metals like iron and manganese were thought to quickly react and form particles that would clump together or stick to other things, causing them to sink to the seafloor. 

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