Natural Sciences Division

Ashleigh Theberge, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry, and Jodi Young, an assistant professor in the School of Oceanography, have been named 2021 Sloan Fellows.

Any parent doing the hard work to teach their kids about the dangers of racism must also look inward. All of us have internal biases that manifest both implicitly and explicitly and, if we’re not careful, we may be subtly influencing our children to have those biases, too. A UW study is referenced.

The pledges countries made to reduce emissions as part of the 2015 Paris agreement are woefully inadequate, and the world must nearly double its greenhouse gas-cutting goals to avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change, according to research published Tuesday. Adrian Raftery, professor of statistics at the UW, is quoted.

Amid an acrid national controversy, the CDC proposed detailed criteria for returning students to classrooms. Carl Bergstrom, professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

Professor of biology Carl Bergstrom is featured in this article for his popular course "Calling BS: Data Reasoning in a Digital World."

Optimism is tempered by the fact that while case numbers have been decreasing steadily, they are still much higher than they were during the first wave. And looming over all the recent progress is the threat of more contagious coronavirus variants that are already spreading rapidly in the U.S. — along with concerns that variants could pose problems for the current round of vaccines. Carl Bergstrom, professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

Seven UW scientists were included on Cell Mentor's list of 1,000 inspiring Black scientists, including postdoctoral chemistry fellow Tam’ra-Kay Francis and Assistant Professor of mathematics Bobby Wilson.

One of the first actions by President Biden after his inauguration was bringing the U.S. back into the Paris climate agreement. A new study from a researcher at the University of Washington shows people how much more we will have to do, to meet the goals in that accord. Adrian Raftery, a professor of statistics, is quoted.

Adrian Raftery, professor of statistics, and Peiran Liu, doctoral student in statistics, have co-authored a new study that found that the planet has a less than 5% chance of staying within the goal of 2 degrees Celcius warming this century.

Assistant Professor of chemistry Alexandra Velian has been named a Cottrell Scholars by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement, receiving $100,000 for the continuation of her research and educational accomplishments.

Miguel Morales, professor of physics, has authored a new series on quantum mechanics for a general audience.

Five months after findings pointing to life floating in the clouds of Venus, scientists are not quite sure what to make of the data and what it might mean. It might spur a renaissance in the study of Venus, which has largely been overlooked for decades. It could point to exotic volcanism and new geological puzzles. It could indeed be aliens. Or it could be nothing at all. Victoria Meadows, professor of astronomy, is quoted.

Some of Island County’s best-known climate activists are young, including members of the South Whidbey–based United Student Leaders. But in this retirement destination, where a quarter of the residents are over 65, there are plenty of elders who share the teenagers’ planetary worries. Richard Gammon, professor emeritus of chemistry at the UW, is quoted.

Just as the United States seems to have emerged from the worst of a surge in coronavirus cases that ravaged the country for months and peaked after Americans crowded indoors for the winter holidays, public health officials are concerned about another potential superspreader date: Super Bowl Sunday. Carl Bergstrom, professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

This article highlights the Clean Energy Bridge to Research program, with special focus on Vanessa Zambrano, for whom the program helped kickstart her career.