Feb 7, 2017

Congrats to Aquatic and Fishery Sciences’ Chelsea Wood, ESA Early Career Fellow

Chelsea Wood, an assistant professor at the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, has been named an Early Career Fellow of the Ecological Society of America (ESA). The ESA chooses members for this distinction who have made or show potential to make outstanding contributions to a wide range of fields served by the society. Such contributions can include those who advance or apply ecological knowledge in academics, government, nonprofit organizations and the private sector through outstanding contributions to research, education and/or outreach.

UW-led study shows global evidence of the role of humans, urbanization in rapid evolution

Rapid urbanization, the researchers write, poses new challenges for species, some of which will adapt or relocate while others go extinct.

It has long been suspected that humans and the urban areas we create are having an important — and surprisingly current and ongoing — effect on evolution, which may have significant implications for the sustainability of global ecosystems. A new multi-institution study led by the University of Washington that examines 1,600 global instances of phenotypic change — alterations to species’ observable traits such as size, development or behavior — shows more clearly than ever that urbanization is affecting the genetic makeup of species that are crucial to ecosystem health and success.

Songbirds divorce, flee, fail to reproduce due to suburban sprawl

Anna’s hummingbirds have become year-round residents thanks in part to backyard hummingbird feeders.

Suburban development is causing some songbirds to divorce and leave their nests, causing a lapse in reproduction, according to a new University of Washington study.

Put people at the center of conservation, new study advises

Some small-scale fishers on the Andaman coast of Thailand are resentful about marine protected areas, as they were not consulted and their needs were not considered.

People must be part of the equation when it comes to conservation projects in order to increase local support and the overall effectiveness of the conservation efforts. That’s the main conclusion of a study published online on Nov. 29 in Biological Conservation. In it, a group of scientists from around the world recognize the need to consider the livelihoods of humans, their cultural traditions and dependence on natural resources when planning and carrying out conservation around the world.

10 UW Environment stories you may have missed over the summer

Journal pages list all the species of plants the UW Environmental Studies class has seen by the penultimate day of their backpacking trip in the Olympic National Park backcountry. Here, the group takes a break at Grand Pass.

At the conclusion of a long and arduous academic year, many students look forward to the rest and relaxation that comes with summertime. But while many are enjoying the glorious downtime of a few months without classes, others — faculty, undergrads, graduate students and postdocs — are in the field and in labs pushing their research forward. The summer of 2016 was no different.