Environment

Astronomers have issued an Earth Day call for environmentalism to be extended more fully to the final frontier, and for companies such as SpaceX and Amazon to dial back their plans for mega-constellations. Meredith Rawls, a research scientist in the UW Department of Astronomy, is quoted.

Daniel Schwartz, professor of chemical engineering at the UW and director of the UW Clean Energy Institute, is the author of this article explaining the process of developing greener technologies and the supports that are needed.

Jason Hodin, a research scientist at UW's Friday Harbor Laboratories, discusses whether sea stars bred in captivity can survive in the wild.

A video taken by Caitie Moore, a UW marine biology student, shows a baby orca jumping out of the water.

Aseem Prakash, professor of political science, discusses the situation in Afghanistan and its possible effects on climate change policy.

Jeff Riffell, a UW biologist, and Claire Rusch, a graduate student in biology, are mentioned in this article about recent mosquito experiments.

Physics professor Gerald Seidler has been awarded an $800,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to create waste disposal caskets for nuclear fuel byproducts.

Aseem Prakash, professor of political science, explains why climate policy is lacking even amidst increasing evidence of its importance.

Sharlene Santana, a UW professor of biology and curator of mammals at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, Jeffrey Riffell, a UW professor of biology, former UW postdoctoral researcher Zofia Kaliszewska, and UW doctoral alum Leith Leiser-Miller have authored a new study on the scent compounds of pepper.

Rachel Roston, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Washington School of Dentistry, describes her new research on the evolution of blowholes.

Recent UW graduate Shanelle Wikramanayake has led a study with profound impacts for the conservation of the rough-nosed horned lizard.

For thousands of years, the gray whales of the eastern Pacific have undertaken one of the longest annual migrations of any mammal — starting in the cold waters of the Arctic, then down past the densely populated coasts and beaches of California before finally finding refuge in the warm, shallow estuaries of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula, only to turn around and head back north a few weeks later. Starting in December 2018, this magnificent migration took a fatal turn. Sue Moore, affiliate professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

"As a marine biologist who has studied the effects of extreme weather events for decades, I expected it would be bad. The 'heat dome' brought record high air temperatures to the Pacific Northwest, and for the plants and animals living along our extensive coastlines the late June timing could not have been worse," writes Emily Carrington, professor of biology at the UW.

Briana Abrahms, an assistant professor of biology, explains the significance of climate change and human-wildlife conflicts.

Growing evidence suggests heat waves, droughts and other extreme events can boost lethal clashes between people and wildlife. Briana Abrahms, assistant professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.