A report prepared by the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs’ Dr. Robert Pavia and other researchers, for NOAA’s emergency response division, say it is unclear whether diluted bitumen will float in water and for how long the molasses-like mixture will remain at the surface. Learn more about the science and potential impacts of oilsands spills in rivers or coastal areas at this Calgary Herald story.
Read more »If you’ve ever seen Jack DeLap lead a bird walk, you can’t help but feel his passion for everything avian. Watch him parse the sounds of the forest – bending his ear for the beat of a wing, squinting for each feathered clue – and it’s impossible to tell a line between work and play for him. DeLap, a University of Washington doctoral candidate at the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, has been working with Professor John Marzluff for the past few years, and his dissertation research focuses on changes in Western Washington bird communities because of localized deforestation and suburban development.
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A mere glass full of water from Monterey Bay Aquarium’s 1.2 million-gallon Open Sea tank, among the 10 largest aquariums in the world, is all scientists really needed to identify the Pacific Bluefin tuna, dolphinfish and most of the other 13,000 fish swimming there. Researchers also for the first time used DNA from water samples to discern which of the species were most plentiful in the tank.
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The world is losing its large carnivores, their ranges are collapsing and many species are at risk of extinction. “Promoting tolerance and coexistence with large carnivores is a crucial societal challenge that will ultimately determine the fate of Earth’s largest carnivores and all that depends upon them, including humans,” write the co-authors of a review article, in the Jan. 10 issue of Science, about the largest carnivore species on Earth.
Read more »If you look up in the sky in north Seattle, you will likely see them every evening around sunset: Hundreds, perhaps thousands of crows flying overhead, headed in the same direction, just like clockwork. Those crows join up with more crows along their nightly route and eventually a murder of many thousands of crows converges on the rooftops and trees around the University of Washington, Bothell campus.
Read more at the Seattle PI »
