Research

What happens if you let teens craft the rules that dictate their use of phones at school? You get policy ideas with a nuanced, holistic perspective that rival those being officially issued by the adults in leadership. The UWs Youth Advisory Board, a group of approximately 20 teens from Seattle-area schools, recently published its first memo tackling this contentious issue. The UW's Rotem Landesman, doctoral student in the Information School, and Luca Magis-Weinberg, assistant professor of psychology, are 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.

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.

Nicole McNichols, associate teaching professor of psychology at the UW, writes, "On November 17, my students at the University of Washington heard from someone at the center of todays most complicated conversations about sexuality, labor, and the digital world. That person was Ari Kytsya, an enormously successful OnlyFans creator whose online presence is very different from what many people imagine when they hear 'OnlyFans model.'"

Emily Levesque, an associate professor of astronomy at the UW who specializes in massive stars and supernovas, joined host Leah Pezzetti on The Sky Above to discuss the biggest and best discoveries to come from the James Webb Space Telescope this past year.

Historian Coll Thrush researches the dark history of Pacific Northwest shipwrecks in "Wrecked." Thrush, who earned his master’s degree and Ph.D. in history at the University of Washington, spent six years combing through archives, oral histories and ship logs to unearth tales of sinking and survival, exploitation and tragedy. But in the process, he discovered a deeper narrative—an exploration of how people, place and power collided along the Northwest coast, and how nature always won.

While some dancers only appear weightless, Rachael Lincoln—with the help of climbing technology—literally defies gravity.

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.

The universe is full of mysteries that scientists have not yet been able to solve. And a big one has to do with what the universe is actually made of. Now physicists from the UW are taking a big swing at answering that question. Alvaro Chavarria, associate professor of physics at the UW, is quoted.

The University of Washington is proud to announce that 56 faculty and researchers who completed their work while at UW have been named on the Highly Cited Researchers 2025 list from Clarivate.

Geography major Edwin Bai has researched private cities, developed by individuals and corporations, that  "take the libertarian idea of low government regulation to the maximum." 

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.

Several English classes at Sedro-Woolley High School are implementing lesson plans designed by Linsey Kitchens to help students understand the limitations of artificial intelligence programs such as ChatGPT. The UW's Carl Bergstrom, professor of biology, and Jevin West, professor in the Information School, are mentioned.

Earlier this year, researchers at the University of Washington published a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on the spotted ratfish, sometimes called a ghost shark.Karly Cohen, a postdoctoral researcher at the UW's Friday Harbor Labs, is interviewed.

Getting help for parents of children with autism and receiving an early diagnosis can be costly and slow. Annette Estes, director of the UW Autism Center and a research professor of speech and hearing sciences at the UW, is quoted.