A team of industrial, academic, and nonprofit institutions that was among the top finishers of the recent ocean acidification XPrize is donating its winnings to a University of Washington lab that helps track ocean conditions worldwide. The donation, made Oct. 13 during an event at the UW College of the Environment and announced by Honeywell, will allow the UW and the international Argo program to begin broadening observations to include ocean acidification.
Read more at UW Today »Gear, not geoducks, impacts ecosystem if farming increases
The equipment used to farm geoducks, including PVC pipes and nets, might have a greater impact on the Puget Sound food web than the addition of the clams themselves. That’s one of the findings of the first major scientific study to examine the broad, long-term ecosystem effects of geoduck aquaculture in Puget Sound, published last week in the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea’s Journal of Marine Science.
Read more at UW Today »Natural Hazards and Resilient Communities: Q&A with UW’s Kate Starbird
From city to city and across continents, barriers to communication are fewer than ever before. In an increasingly connected world, where the 24-hour news cycle reigns and a billion people are on Facebook, people have grown accustomed to instant, accessible information that spans the globe. Kate Starbird, assistant professor at the UW’s College of Engineering, is exploring a new type of “digital volunteerism” that leverages social media as an online meeting place during crises.
Read more »UW study: Will Puget Sound’s population spike under climate change?
What began as mere speculation has started to take a more serious turn. Climate change is now implicated in flooding, droughts, heat waves and other catastrophes that computer models predict will become more common. Suddenly, a region long mocked for its gloomy weather seems like it could be a welcome refuge from a hot, dry future. A UW graduate student recently took an in-depth look at the issue, which would have implications for the region’s long-term water supplies, transportation and other infrastructure.
Read more at UW Today »UW's Alaska Salmon Program: A Living Laboratory
Sarah Schooler spent her summer in the Alaskan bush, collecting data on salmon and the habits of hungry grizzly bears with the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences.
Read more at the UW homepage. »