Environment

Come curious. Leave inspired. The UW offers an exciting lineup of in-person and online events. From thought-provoking art and music to conversations on culture, history, and science, the UW community invites you to explore, learn, and connect across disciplines throughout the University. And you don’t have to wait until June: Take a look at everything still happening in May. Sign up to receive a monthly notice when the ArtSci Roundup has been published. ArtSci On Your Own Time: Through July...

New research from a University of Washington scientist could give oyster farmers in Willapa Bay a fighting chance at battling burrowing ghost shrimp, little crustaceans that cause big problems. Jennifer Ruesink, professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

The history of life on Earth often feels like a story about giants. Huge dinosaurs, powerful predators and massive plant-eaters fill our imagination. But that is only part of the picture. Gregory Wilson Mantilla, professor of biology at the UW and curator of vertebrate paleontology at the UW Burke Museum, is quoted.

Explore recent research from the University of Washington: how sunbirds sip nectar through straw-like tongues, why the Seattle Fault might not pose as great a risk as previously thought, how to gauge landslide dam risk in the PNW, what marine microbes use for making meals and when the Simonyi Survey Telescope at the NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory will spot small inbound asteroids.

A research team led by the UW has identified a new species of an ancient rodent-like creature. The new species, named Cimolodon desosai, was about the size of a golden hamster, the researchers said. It likely scampered on the ground and in the trees and ate fruits and insects.

A Nigerian scientist's "personal experience" with a wildfire, its threat to endangered bats she discovered just days before, and her campaign to protect them, has won her the global Goldman Environmental Prize. Iroro Tanshi, postdoctoral scholar of biology at the UW and recipient of the award, is quoted.

New research published in Current Biology reveals sunbirds use their long tongues as a kind of makeshift straw to hoover up nectar in flowersthe first vertebrates known to do so. Alejandro Rico-Guevara, associate professor of biology at the UW and curator of birds at the UW Burke Museum, is mentioned.

A new study doubles the evolutionary history of the weasel family. Researchers, including Chris Law, a UW principal research scientist in the biology department, have determined that a fossil that was discovered in Spain belongs to a new species dating back to around 6.5 million years ago. This new species was likely similar in size to the smallest living weasel species today, the least weasel.

A University of Washington-led team discovered that modern Nautilus and Allonautilus species inhabit deeper waters than their extinct ancestors did over 500 million years ago, with juveniles living at twice the depth of mature adults.

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

Briana Abrahms, associate professor of biology at the University of Washington, studies how climate change affects human-wildlife interactions and increases conflict around the world. In January, she gave the keynote speech at the International Parliamentary Roundtable on Human-Wildlife Coexistence held in Botswana.

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.