Environment

  • Mount Rainiers glaciers are melting whats at stake?

    Once an eight-mile network of caves with an entrance in the lower part of Paradise Glacier, the Paradise ice caves were the most-visited tourist spot for decades before glacial melting caused large chunks of ice to begin to fall from the ceiling, endangering visitors and pushing officials to close access. Now, the caves are gone. Janneke Hille Ris Lambers, affiliate professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.
    06/23/2025 | Tacoma News Tribune
  • ArtSci People & Research in the Media: Spring Quarter Roundup

    The College of Arts & Sciences is home to many distinguished researchers, faculty, and students. Their work and contributions have been featured in media outside of the UW and across the country. Take a look at some ArtSci features from this past Spring Quarter. From AI to nature's poets, ArtSci in the Media has something for everyone!

    06/13/2025 | College of Arts & Sciences
  • Faculty/staff honors: Innovation grant, best paper, outstanding research award

    Recent recognition of the University of Washington includes an EarthLab Innovation Grant, the Best Paper Award from American Political Science Association and honorable recognition mention from the American Society for Theatre Research. UW professor Richard Watts and team awarded EarthLab Innovation Grant Richard Watts, UW associate professor of French, is part of an interdisciplinary team...
    06/11/2025 | UW News
  • Those little red hummingbird feeders are driving the bird's evolution

    Alejandro Rico Guevara is one of the foremost researchers on hummingbird bills. He has spent years studying how hummingbirds use their beaks to feed and fight. But his latest research looked at how human actions seem to be driving a high-speed example of evolution in hummingbird bills.Rico-Guevara, assistant professor of biology at the UW and curator of birds at the UW Burke Museum, is interviewed.
    06/04/2025 | KUOW
  • California's hummingbirds have changed their beaks in response to backyard feeders, study finds

    Many bird enthusiasts like to hang bright red feeders filled with homemade sugar water to attract hummingbirds to their gardens. Now, new research suggests this common practice may be driving rapid evolutionary change in one species in California. Alejandro Rico-Guevara, assistant professor of biology at the UW and curator of birds at the UW Burke Museum, is quoted.
    05/28/2025 | Smithsonian Magazine
  • Backyard feeders changed the shape of hummingbird beaks, scientists say

    A new study suggests that Anna's Hummingbirds in the western United States are not only keeping up with human influence on their habitat, they're thriving. Alejandro Rico-Guevara, assistant professor of biology at the UW and curator of birds at the UW Burke Museum, is quoted.
    05/26/2025 | NPR
  • Poet of the natural world

    Poet and teacher Martha Silano, ’93, died May 5, 2025, at the age of 63. A nationally renowned poet and beloved teacher, she captured the impacts of the climate crisis in her poetry. Martha received a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from the UW.

    05/14/2025 | UW Magazine
  • The worlds rarest penguins dont avoid heat they embrace it

    These birds have evolved to withstand the equatorial sun and shelter in volcanic rocks along a subtropical coastline. After 50 years, biologist Dee Boersma, professor of biology at the UW, continues to learn new things about the species.
    04/21/2025 | National Geographic
  • WA prepares to defend climate policies against Trumps latest order

    President Donald Trump ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday to find ways to block climate laws across the country, putting Washington in his crosshairs once more. Aseem Prakash, professor of political science at the UW, is quoted.
    04/14/2025 | The Seattle Times
  • These two biologists found purpose and love trying to save Nigeria's bats

    Biologists Benneth Obitte and Inoro Tanshi are exploring Nigerias bat diversity and trying to save it. Tanshi, postdoctoral researcher in the UW Department of Biology, is quoted.
    04/11/2025 | Science
  • Bonobo calls are more like human language than we thought

    Bonobos grunts, peeps and whistles may share an advanced linguistic property with human language. Shane Steinert-Threlkeld, assistant professor of linguistics at the UW, is quoted.
    04/04/2025 | Scientific American
  • House GOP members fight for Biden-era energy spending, including in WA

    Believe it or not, Republicans love renewable energy. How its packaged matters, though. Just dont mention climate change. Aseem Prakash, professor of political science at the UW, is quoted.
    03/27/2025 | The Seattle Times
  • House GOP members fight for Biden-era energy spending, including in WA

    Believe it or not, Republicans love renewable energy. How its packaged matters, though. Just dont mention climate change. Aseem Prakash, professor of political science at the UW, is quoted.
    03/27/2025 | The Seattle Times
  • Cloaked in color: UW-led research finds some female hummingbirds evolve male plumage to dodge aggression

    Trickery by female white-necked jacobin hummingbirds results in reduced aggression from other hummingbirds and increased access to nectar resources.
    03/20/2025 | UW News
  • WA scientists plan to publish report on nature that Trump canceled

    After President Donald Trump canceled a report on the state of nature in the United States, the scientists working on it many from the Seattle area say theyll continue their work and build on it. Phil Levin, professor of practice in environmental and forest sciences at the UW; Dr. Howard Frumkin, professor emeritus of environmental and occupational health sciences at the UW; Devon Pena, professor of anthropology at the UW and Josh Lawler, professor of environmental and forest sciences at the UW, are quoted.
    02/18/2025 | The Seattle Times