Dec 8, 2015

Combating global climate change is fun and games for EarthGamesUW

Rob Thompson, Will Chen, and Rachel Lee of EarthGamesUW working on their game AdaptNation at the Climate Game Jam.

EarthGamesUW, a new group at the University of Washington, is inspiring kids to combat climate change through gaming.

Nov 16, 2015

Natural Hazards and Resilient Communities Lecture Video: UW's John Vidale

Surviving Disaster: A tale of three Seattle tremblors

Unlike some natural disasters that we can depend on arriving at our doorstep every year—hurricanes, tornados, fires—earthquakes can be out of sight and out of mind because of their relative infrequency. But when the Big One strikes, it could be a real catastrophe for the Pacific Northwest coast, deeply disrupting the lives and economies throughout the region. John Vidale, professor of Earth and Space Sciences and chief seismologist for the State of Washington, wants people to be aware of the threats.

Nov 13, 2015

Oceans and Ocean Activism Deserve Broader Role in Climate Change Discussions

Less visible, but perhaps more indelible, signs of changing climate lie in the oceans. A University of Washington researcher in the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs argues in the journal Science that people—including world leaders who will gather later this month in Paris for global climate change negotiations—should pay more attention to how climate change’s impacts on ocean and coastal environments affect societies around the globe.

Natural Hazards and Resilient Communities Lecture Recap: Team Rubicon's Jake Wood

Air Force veteran Rebekah La Due, part of Team Rubicon's Operation: Good Medicine in Okanogan, Washington in October 2015.

Jake Wood was submitting applications for MBA programs when a magnitude 7.0 struck Haiti in 2010. Having just returned from tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, he was surprised by the similarities between the news footage from Port-au-Prince and what he had seen on the ground, during times of war as a marine. Unable to plug-in with traditional disaster relief organizations, who preferred monetary donations over extra hands, Wood and three friends charted their own path to Haiti and beyond.

Nov 4, 2015

Natural Hazards and Resilient Communities: Q&A with UW’s John Vidale

The UW’s John Vidale is a man of many titles—professor of Earth and Space Sciences, director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, and Washington state seismologist. More recently, Vidale helped launch the university’s M9 Project, a cross-disciplinary effort whose goal is to reduce the catastrophic potential effects of a Cascadia megathrust earthquake. Earlier this year, an article in the New Yorker stirred up panic nationwide over the looming possibility of megaquake along the Cascadia Fault.