Abigail Swann, assistant professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences and Department of Biology and Alex Gagnon, assistant professor with the School of Oceanography, each recently received an Early Faculty Development (CAREER) Program Award from the National Science Foundation. Swann works to understand when, where, and how plants influence the climate, and will receive support for her project titled “Ecosystem-driven Accelerations and Oscillations in the Coupled Earth System.”
Read more »Galapagos lakes reveal tropical Pacific climate since Biblical times
University of Washington oceanographers used clues from the Galapagos Islands — a dot in the middle of the Pacific Ocean — to trace El Niño patterns and seasonal tropical rains over the past 2,000 years. Evidence shows shifts that last for centuries, suggesting these tropical climate patterns have varied more radically and for longer durations than previously believed. The study is published the week of March 14 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Read more at UW Today »New technique tracks ‘heartbeat’ of hundreds of wetlands
Researchers from the College of the Environment recently developed a new, innovative approach to better understand the hydrology of Eastern Washington's wetlands. Their data will inform us about how these wetlands behalf seasonally and how they change as the climate warms.
Read more at UW Today »NOAA funds Washington Sea Grant to help communities protect their coasts
Washington SeaGrant was recently awarded nearly $900,000 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to help coastal communities protect against hazards, including tsunamis, winter storms and sea-level rise. The three-year project will help prepare Washington’s roughly 3,100 miles of coastline and more than 45 coastal cities for current and future hazards. The award is one of six NOAA Regional Coastal Resilience Grants awarded this year.
Read more at UW Today »Video contest challenges students to creatively define climate change
The UW’s School of Environmental and Forest Sciences is hosting its second-annual contest for undergraduate and high school students in Washington to create videos about what climate change means to them, in three minutes or less. The top five entries in each age group will be critiqued and judged by a panel of climate scientists, artists and filmmakers and screened in a public viewing at Seattle’s Town Hall this spring.
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