Natural Sciences Division

Learn about the sleep scientist and UW professor of biology, Horacio de la Iglesia, whose influential sleep research helped demonstrate the benefits of delaying school start times for Seattle high schoolers. Read writer Nicole Reeve-Parker's Faculty Friday, Spotlight.

A study measuring the sleep patterns of students at the University of Washington found that students fell asleep later in the evening and woke up later in the morning during winter, when daylight hours on the UW Seattle campus are limited and the skies are notoriously overcast. Researchers believe the students' natural circadian clocks were being "pushed back" or delayed in winter because they were not getting enough exposure during the day to natural light, and that getting more daytime light exposure can help reverse this.

In a study published Dec. 8 in Nature Astronomy, an international research team, led by Orsola De Marco of Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, analyzed 10 highly detailed exposures taken by the JWST of the Southern Ring Nebula. Their calculations show the central star that ejected the expanding nebula gas was originally three times the mass of the sun, and that unseen companions shaped the nebula's intricate features.

Astronomers at the DiRAC Institute have been preparing for a flood of data from the new Rubin Observatory. Now undergrads have joined the effort.

After committing to a new biology building in 2010, years of planning, relocation, and construction have culminated in the newly constructed greenhouse, and its doors are almost ready to open again. Taking the place of the old Botany Greenhouse, demolished in 2016, the new structure is located within the Life Sciences Building and, starting Dec. 1, will be open to the public on Thursdays from noon to 4 p.m. 

Through public events and exhibitions, connect with the UW community every week! Highlights of current and upcoming exhibitions:  October 27 – November 23 | Miha Sarani: Amends, Art Building The Jacob Lawrence Gallery is pleased to host Seattle artist Miha Sarani. This exhibition is a broad survey of Sarani’s work, focusing on portraiture while also...

Dianne Xiao, a University of Washington assistant professor of chemistry, has been awarded a 2022 Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering for her research on creating new materials to make chemical reactions that are compatible with renewable energy sources and raw materials.

Through public events and exhibitions, connect with the UW community every week! Highlights of current and upcoming exhibitions:  Until October 29 |The Traveling Jacob Lawrence Gallery: MFA Group Show, SOIL Art Gallery (Pioneer Square) October 27 – November 23 | Miha Sarani: Amends / November 2, 5 – 8 PM: Reception, Art Building November 6...

A study led by Thure Cerling, a professor at the University of Utah, and co-authored by Sam Wasser, a University of Washington professor of biology, used carbon isotope science to show that tusks from a guarded government stockpile in Burundi have somehow made their way into the hands of illegal ivory traders.

A new study by researchers at the University of Washington shows that losing a particular group of endangered animals — those that eat fruit and help disperse the seeds of trees and other plants — could severely disrupt seed-dispersal networks in the Atlantic Forest, a shrinking stretch of tropical forest and critical biodiversity hotspot on the coast of Brazil.

A research team led by UW Electrical & Computer Engineering and UW physics professor Mo Li has developed a method of using soundwaves to move excitons farther than previously thought possible. This allows them to be used to create transistors, switches, and transducers — leading to faster and more energy-efficient computing and optical devices.

Randall Kyes established the International Field Study Program-Indonesia at the UW. The month-long study abroad program provided field-based educational and research opportunities for students from the UW, Indonesia and other participating countries.

The University of Washington has joined the Alliance for Therapies in Neuroscience (ATN), a long-term research partnership between academia and industry geared to transform the fight against brain diseases and disorders of the central nervous system. Launched in 2021 by the University of California, San Francisco, UC Berkeley, Genentech — a member of the Roche group — and Roche Holding AG, the ATN seeks to accelerate the development of new therapies for a broad range of brain and central nervous system conditions.

The formation of the Pacific Alliance for Low Income Inclusion in Statistics and Data Science (PALiISaDS) is a new partnership supported by a $5,000,000 investment from the National Science Foundation’s Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics  (SSTEM) Program.  The partnership is led by the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of Washington, and also includes the University of California, Irvine, California State University Monterey Bay, California State University East Bay, California Polytechnic San Luis Obispo, and San Diego State University. 

Released last month, “The Neuroscience of You: How Every Brain is Different and How to Understand Yours,” is Chantel’s first book, and it arrived with a splash. A small tsunami, really; the highly anticipated text has been described by reviewers as “marvelous,” “hilarious,” “highly accessible,” “charming,” and “the smartest, clearest, and funniest book I’ve ever read about the brain.”