Environment

Chemistry professor Matthew Golder and his research team are exploring ways to alter the chemical structure of plastics to keep them out of landfills.

Last December was the warmest on record for Washington state, which led many garden plants to show signs of small buds as early as February. Takato Imaizumi, UW professor of biology, explains how plants know when to bloom and whether this might change in warmer winters.

Emma Teal Laukitis, ’18, and her sister Claire not only catch and sell Alaska’s most famous fish, they help feed hundreds of thousands Alaskans through their donations.

Chemistry PhD alum Jonathan Cox spent most of 2025 in Kyrgyzstan, helping farmers improve their soil—and their crops—through soil testing. 

The rockhead poacher, which lurks in the shallow intertidal of the northeastern Pacific Ocean, is one freaky looking fish. Adam Summers, professor of biology and of aquatic and fishery sciences at the UW, is quoted.

Carnivorans, from mongooses to bears, evolved diverse body shapes in response to two major global cooling events, according to a study of 850 skeletons. Chris Law, a principal research scientist of biology at the UW and an affiliate curator at the UW Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, is quoted.

New research says birth rates for gray whales are still low, likely because of climate change affecting their food sources. However, melting sea ice has created new feeding opportunities, and scientists are hopeful the whales can adapt, allowing populations to rebound. Sue Moore, affiliate professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

The sharp, elongated bills of green hermit hummingbirds arent just fine-tuned for feeding; they also allow males to joust like knights over mates. Alejandro Rico-Guevara, associate professor of biology at the UW and curator of birds at the UW Burke Museum, is quoted.

A space-based wildlife tracking system that could revolutionize the study of animal migrations and behavior is set to get back online with SpaceX's recent launch. Briana Abrahms, associate professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

Hummingbirds often seem gentle from a distance. A closer look tells a different story. Life in the forest pushes each bird to compete, react fast, and make sharp choices. Alejandro Rico Guevara, associate professor of biology at the UW and curator of birds at the UW Burke Museum, is quoted.

Ten years ago the world met in France to agree to the landmark Paris Agreement a global commitment signed by almost 300 nations to ward off catastrophic climate change. Adrian Raftery, professor emeritus of statistics and of sociology, is quoted.

The spotted ratfish is a deep-ocean cartilaginous fish, part of the Chimaera genus that diverged from sharks about400 million years ago.Theyre commonly caughtaccidentallyby fishers in the Puget Sound. Karly Cohen, a postdoctoral researcher at the UW's Friday Harbor Labs, is quoted.

In the wake of One Ocean Week Seattle, participating University of Washington researchers share highlights, connecting the weeks events to ongoing efforts to understand and protect marine ecosystems and coastal communities.

A decade ago, nearly every country in the world adopted the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit the rise in global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius by 2100. Adrian Raftery, professor emeritus of statistics and of sociology, is interviewed.

Although cicadas are known to sing in unison, a new study shows the striking behavior of cicadas interacting with each other when a few cicadas sing, the others join. Saumya Gupta, a postdoctoral researcher of biology at the UW, is quoted.