Apr 1, 2019

UW students spearhead efforts to predict peak bloom for cherry trees

TJ VanderYacht collects data from one of the cherry trees in the UW Quad.

Each spring, thousands of visitors flock to the University of Washington campus to see the iconic cherry trees in the Quad. Class discussions, casual Frisbee tosses, lunchtime picnics and even wedding portraits all take place under the beautiful blossoms, which typically hit their prime in late March or early April. This year, they reached peak bloom on March 29. But there’s no easy way to predict when peak bloom will occur each year for the trees in the Quad.

How streamer lines prevent thousands of seabirds from becoming bycatch

Deploying behind boats in Alaska longline fisheries has saved thousands of seabirds per year.

More than a decade after streamer lines were introduced to Alaska’s longline fisheries, seabird bycatch is down more than 77%...but there’s still room for improvement.

Q&A: New Washington Sea Grant director brings love of learning, experience across sectors

Russell Callender, director of Washington Sea Grant effective September 2018.

Russell Callender spent nearly two decades working on coastal science, policy and management issues at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s headquarters near Washington, D.C. But throughout his tenure at the nation’s capital, he kept his eye on a position at an organization in the other Washington. When he saw the job posting last summer to lead Washington Sea Grant at the University of Washington, it took Callender all of about two minutes to start working on his application.

New resources support tribes in preparing for climate change

A tribal fire crew member in Oregon monitors a prescribed burn, a key tool for preventing large wildfires that are likely to become more common under climate change.

As the natural world responds to climate change, American Indian tribes across the country are grappling with how to plan for a future that balances inevitable change with protecting the resources vital to their cultural traditions. The University of Washington Climate Impacts Group and regional tribal partners have developed a collection of resources that may be useful to tribes at any stage in the process of evaluating their vulnerability to climate change.

Racial, ethnic minorities face greater vulnerability to wildfires

Firefighters respond to the Taylor Creek and Klondike fires in Oregon’s Rogue-Siskiyou National Forest in summer 2018.

Environmental disasters in the U.S. often hit minority groups the hardest. When Hurricane Katrina slammed New Orleans in 2005, the city’s black residents were disproportionately affected. Their neighborhoods were located in the low-lying, less-protected areas of the city, and many people lacked the resources to evacuate safely. Similar patterns have played out during hurricanes and tropical storms ever since. Massive wildfires, which may be getting more intense due to climate change and a long history of fire-suppression policies, also have strikingly unequal effects on minority communities, a new study shows.