The Ģ����Ƶ’s 2026 incoming class reflects the University’s commitment to expanding access to a Ģ����Ƶ education for students from across Washington and from a broad range of communities and backgrounds.

Washington residents make up three-quarters of this year’s incoming class, and nearly four out of 10 are first-generation college students, according to the 2026-27 official enrollment count, which occurs 10 days after the start of the fall quarter. Ģ����Ƶ’s ongoing outreach to Washington high schools and communities is reflected in a student body that includes residents of 38 of Washington’s 39 counties.

There are additional indicators in the incoming class that the Ģ����Ƶ’s efforts to expand access and decrease disparities are making headway: The number of first-generation first-year students is up 4% from last year and there was a 5% increase in Pell Grant recipients.

“Seeing so many Washington students choose the Ģ����Ƶ reinforces our commitment to making a world-class education accessible to people from every corner of our state. Students from across Washington bring diverse experiences and perspectives that enrich our campus and foster collaboration,” ��Ģ����Ƶ President Robert J. Jones said. “As a public university serving the entire state, we have a responsibility to reflect the people and values of the communities we serve. That’s what it means to be the university for �²����󾱲Բ��ٴDz�.”

This year’s incoming class has a total of 12,552 first-year and transfer students enrolled across all three campuses, a 3.5% increase from last year.

Washington residents make up 75% of the incoming class across all three campuses, a 2.1% increase from last year. Of these students, 6,245 of the incoming first-year and transfer students at the Ģ����Ƶ in Seattle are Washington residents. At Ģ����Ƶ Bothell, 1,692 incoming first-year and transfer students are Washington residents. There are 1,455 Washington residents among the incoming first-year and transfer students at Ģ����Ƶ Tacoma.

There are 7,475 new first-year students at the Ģ����Ƶ in Seattle and 1,744 new transfer students. At Ģ����Ƶ Bothell, 1,149 new first-year students enrolled, alongside 651 transfer students. At Ģ����Ƶ Tacoma, 748 new first-year students enrolled, joining 785 new transfer students — a combined record high for the Tacoma campus. Of these transfer students, 1,468 in Seattle came from Washington community colleges, while 538 transfers at Bothell and 623 at Tacoma came from Washington community colleges. The total, 2,629, marks an increase on all three campuses.

The total number of students across all three campuses this year is 63,866. Enrollment at the Ģ����Ƶ’s Seattle campus is 52,338, 6,458 students enrolled at Ģ����Ƶ Bothell — the highest for this campus — and 5,073 are pursuing degrees at Ģ����Ƶ Tacoma. (The numbers reflect that three students are enrolled at more than one campus.) Of the 63,866 enrolled students across all three campuses, 46,987 are undergraduates (36,636 in Seattle, 5,938 in Bothell and 4,413 in Tacoma) and 16,879 are pursuing graduate or professional degrees (15,702 in Seattle, 520 in Bothell and 660 in Tacoma).

The number of international first-year and transfer students across all three campuses is 1,077, 99 more than 2025. In total, there are 7,333 international students enrolled across the three campuses, which reflects about a 7% drop from last year and correlates with national international student enrollment declines. Of all these international students, 6,951 are in Seattle, 222 are at Ģ����Ƶ Bothell and 160 are at Ģ����Ƶ Tacoma.

The official enrollment count — a snapshot in time — will later be presented to the Ģ����Ƶ Board of Regents.

For more information, contact Victor Balta at balta@uw.edu.��

Source

It’s a dizzyingly busy time for scientists searching for life on distant planets. To date, astronomers have and are searching the atmospheres of the most promising worlds for chemicals that might be byproducts of life. are particularly interested in atmospheres like Earth’s that trap enough heat to support liquid water on the planet’s surface, which scientists consider the key factor in determining whether a planet can support life as we know it. 

But scientists also want to distinguish between habitable and inhabited worlds. To do that, they need to know what sorts of atmospheric conditions on a planet can be explained without life, so that they can identify planets with atmospheres that can only be explained by life’s influence.

To provide that planetary baseline, Ģ����Ƶ researchers built a complex virtual Earth with one crucial tweak: no life.

in The Planetary Science Journal, the researchers simulated the Earth’s geochemical systems for 5 billion years — from its formation 4.5 billion years ago through roughly 500 million years in the future. The simulation modeled the exchange of chemicals between the core, mantle, crust, surface and atmosphere over time. It accurately predicted 19 planetary properties like heat flow through the mantle, but left out the influence of life on those systems. The simulation can be generalized to predict how an atmosphere might evolve on any rocky planet, and can help pinpoint evidence of life in atmospheres that don’t fit the model.

“This model can help us see how habitable but non-living planets might mimic living planets,” said lead author , who completed this research as a Ģ����Ƶ doctoral student of astronomy and is now a postdoctoral fellow at UC Riverside. “When we interpret observations of an exoplanet’s atmosphere, this tool will help us determine the probability that what we observe indicates life on the surface.”

Gilbert-Janizek’s work builds on a model developed in the lab of senior author , a Ģ����Ƶ associate professor of astronomy. Earlier versions of the model simulated the core, mantle, crust and stellar radiation, but did not include the surface or atmosphere. 

A planet’s atmosphere is shaped by many nonbiological factors, including heat and gases from the interior and from the planet’s star. But the atmosphere of a distant planet is also where astronomers hope to spot explicit evidence of life.

There are many ways that life might change an atmosphere: On Earth, plants and animals pump steady streams of oxygen and methane into the sky. Those two elements destroy each other when they mingle. Thus, an alien astronomer studying our planet might suspect that something alive is replenishing the supply of both gases.

That logic led human astronomer Gilbert-Janizek to add surface and atmosphere modeling to the existing Earth simulation, completing the picture of how chemicals move through all of the Earth’s systems. 

The result is a model that can be tuned to study any rocky exoplanet that astrobiologists find interesting. Researchers can plug in basic details about that planet and run the simulation to see whether the model can reproduce the observed atmosphere without the influence of life. If they can’t get a match, the planet in question gets even more interesting.

“Dr. Gilbert-Janizek’s work represents an exciting step toward understanding where life can exist in the universe,” Barnes said. “After more than a decade of work by many scientists, Dr. Gilbert-Janizek has finally completed a model of the Earth that simultaneously reproduces properties of Earth’s core, mantle, surface and atmosphere. That calibration gives us confidence that future simulations of exoplanets will be accurate.”  

Gilbert-Janizek says the new and improved model can also help inform the design of future telescopes built to study distant planets, like the proposed . 

“Realizing the ambitious goals of a telescope like the Habitable Worlds Observatory requires decades of work across many generations of scientists,” Gilbert-Janizek said. “I’m so grateful to join this lineage and one day pass the torch to the next generation so that we can continue chipping away at this question of whether or not we are alone in the universe.”

Other Ģ����Ƶ co-authors include former astronomy doctoral students , now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oklahoma and , now a high school teacher in the Seattle area.

A complete list of co-authors is .

This research was funded by NASA.

For more information, contact Gilbert-Janizek at sgilbert@ucr.edu or Barnes at rory@astro.washington.edu.

Source

The bivalve-rich beaches of Hood Canal were all summer after detection of a marine biotoxin that causes , a life-threatening foodborne illness that affects the nervous system.

Given that Washington’s commercial shellfish industry employs nearly 2,400 people and brings in more than $240 million each year, a monthslong closure during peak season had sweeping consequences.

Detecting harmful algal blooms early is critical for consumer safety and trust in the industry. The Washington State Department of Health oversees a that monitors toxin levels in shellfish tissue from various growing areas. The effort is supported by an unofficial partner: , a program launched by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 2006 that migrated to Washington Sea Grant several years later.

Unlike the DOH, SoundToxins screens the water for harmful algae, which can expedite detection. When SoundToxins monitors detected �� — a species of phytoplankton that produces the toxin that causes PSP — they quickly relayed the information to the DOH, which closed the impacted marine areas before anyone got sick.

Although this type of advance warning can save lives, the future funding of the program is uncertain. Washington Sea Grant relies on a patchwork of research grants and federal and state funds to operate SoundToxins. Recent cuts to research funding and the current state of Washington’s budget have illuminated the precariousness of funding for vital programs like this. Washington Sea Grant remains committed to working with state and federal partners to find the right funding pathway to keep SoundToxins running.

A quantified the value of SoundToxins with survey data. Ģ����Ƶ News spoke with program manager about the results and the program.

How is the monitoring program and the early detection of harmful algal blooms (HABs) valuable?

Michelle Lepori-Bui: Harmful algal blooms can be really detrimental to the shellfish industry as closures have a direct impact on revenue and because recalls and illnesses affect the reputation of shellfish as a safe and healthy food source. Robust monitoring programs and early warning of these events help protect public health and minimize these impacts. There are many benefits to early detection of HABs to the general public and recreational and commercial harvesters that can be hard to quantify. Farmers can benefit by modifying harvesting activities to minimize losses, avoiding recalls, and maintaining trust in the market, while shellfish consumers and coastal communities benefit from safe local food sources and working waterfronts.

How does the new study demonstrate the value of SoundToxins?

MLB: This survey sought to capture the many tangible and intangible benefits of the program and distill them into a single economic metric using an approach called ‘willingness to pay.’ The study found that shellfish growers value the program with a willingness to pay $533/year for phytoplankton monitoring. With changing environmental conditions, shellfish mortality events, and heat waves, growers are facing an extremely challenging production environment. The finding that they are willing to pay this amount, even during these challenging economic times, shows how valuable this program is to coastal communities.

How does SoundToxins support the state-led effort?

MLB: The DOH’s biotoxin monitoring program is a series of steps in compliance with the National Shellfish Sanitation Program that starts with monitoring for biotoxins in mussel tissue. Mussels typically pick up toxins faster than other species, so they are a good indicator, but other species are tested as well. If toxins are detected, they can initiate recreational and commercial closures.

We’re not part of the official regulatory process, but our work can guide the DOH’s efforts through early warning. We maintain a database populated with volunteer data and a map that uses red, yellow and green color coding to report HAB presence on the coast and in Puget Sound and surrounding waters. We notify the DOH via email when something changes and it uses that information to prioritize certain samples or request additional samples.

Who collects the data?

MLB: SoundToxins is a very cost-effective program because we have really amazing monitors, partners and volunteers. A lot of different folks do the actual monitoring. We work with tribes, growers, environmental education groups and individuals at 35 different sites throughout the region. We provide them with equipment and training and support the database, and they collect and analyze the samples, posting everything online within 24 hours.

What happened this summer? How was it different from years past?

MLB: We got an alert from our monitor in early June that they found Alexandrium cells in a sample from Hoodsport, which is pretty far south in Hood Canal. That alert went straight to the DOH and it reacted quickly, requesting more samples from various parts of Hood Canal.

Historically, there haven’t been many incidents of PSP in south Hood Canal. There were a few blooms in the early 2000s and a big bloom in 2015 that went further south than usual, close to Hoodsport but not to the end of Hood Canal. That was considered unprecedented and this year surpassed that.

It’s understood globally that harmful algal blooms are increasing in frequency, severity and impact. This is partially related to changing climate conditions. Also, phytoplankton like Alexandrium respond to nutrients in the water. The input of nutrients from human activities can influence blooms. We have seen things showing up in places they haven’t been before and increasing in intensity.

A lot of people are working on models to predict harmful algal blooms, but it’s complicated, especially in our area where there are a lot of complex water bodies. We need to continue doing the research to try to understand things better, but in the meantime, monitoring is critical.

Co-authors include Michelle Lepori-Bui, marine water quality specialist at Washington Sea Grant; , water quality specialist at Washington Sea Grant; Vera Trainer, a Ģ����Ƶ research scientist in environmental and forest science and director of the Olympic Natural Resource Center; of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; and of NOAA; and Jerry Borchert and Tracie Barry of WA DOH.��

This research was funded by the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science Prevention, Control, and Mitigation of HABs.

For more information, contact Lepori-Bui at mdtlb@uw.edu.��

Source

The U.S. House of Representatives this past summer that would make Daylight Saving Time (DST) permanent in the United States — meaning there would be no turning back the clocks each fall. Nineteen states, including Washington, . If the bill is ultimately signed into law, the change would go into effect in those states.

The bill is currently stalled in the U.S. Senate. are a central issue because permanent DST would lead to darker mornings from November to March. This would mean darker commutes for everyone, but how much would it affect children going to school? Ģ����Ƶ researchers did the math for 14 out of the 19 states that preapproved the change. Using school start times, enrollment data, and latitude and longitude measurements, the team calculated just how many days each child would be commuting to school in the dark and then added the trips together.

In Washington, there would be almost 35 million more trips to school in the dark under permanent DST compared to the current system of switching between DST and Standard Time twice a year. The other 13 states followed a similar trend, with Georgia having the highest deviation from the current system — 71 million more trips. When the researchers extrapolated these results for the rest of the country, it added at least 2 billion more dark commutes to school.

The team also analyzed traffic collision data from the U.S. and found that it was roughly twice as likely for a fatal crash involving a school-aged pedestrian to occur during dark mornings than after sunrise.

The researchers Oct. 29 in Current Biology.

“It’s called the ‘Sunshine Protection Act’ because you get an extra hour of light at the end of the day. But you will take that hour from the morning. You could call it the Sunshine Destruction Act,” said senior author , Ģ����Ƶ professor of biology. “These dark mornings will inequitably affect children who have to go to school at a certain time. It’s a very tangible metric that anybody from any state or socioeconomic background can relate to. Nobody wants their kids to go to school in the dark.”

Dark mornings affect everyone. Exposure to bright light in the morning helps set our circadian clock, which helps regulate many facets of our lives, such as our mood, sleep and appetite. Without that morning light, our bodies struggle to regulate these key functions.

“When we send kids to school in the dark, we are depriving them from an opportunity to get that morning daylight,” said lead author , a Ģ����Ƶ postdoctoral scholar in biology. “We were asking what’s the cost for these children. We wanted actual numbers, a real number of kids based on the geographic location of each school.”

The study revealed the areas that would be the hardest hit by the switch: communities on the western edge of their time zones, such as Forks, Washington, and communities with early school start times. For example, Mississippi and Alabama schools have an average start time of earlier than 8 a.m. and both balloon from about 2 million dark trips for each state under the current system to more than 20 million dark trips for each state under permanent DST.

“Some districts probably never experience a dark commute under the current system, and, if this passes, suddenly they will wake up to this new reality that their kids are going to school in the dark,” Rodríguez Ferrante said. “Keep in mind that we used the actual start time listed for each school, and a lot of schools offer breakfast or other things before school, so the kids could be getting there even earlier.”

The researchers argue that permanent DST would also undo the benefits of having a delayed start time for high school students, which is intended to account for teenagers’ shifted circadian clock compared to kids and adults.

“I’ve heard the argument, ‘If we’re in permanent DST, we can just delay the school start time to address these issues,'” de la Iglesia said. “Well, if we do that, you will end up going to work later. And everything is going to get delayed. You will get out of work an hour later, and you will miss the opportunity to enjoy your evening light. And essentially, we’re just going to be realigning everybody to solar time. That, by definition, is Standard Time.”

Daniel Zhang, a high school student, and Ģ����Ƶ biology undergraduate students , , Jessie Lu, , Elena Kully-Rivera, , are also co-authors on this paper.

For more information, contact de la Iglesia at horaciod@uw.edu and Rodríguez Ferrante at guadarf@uw.edu.

Source

Pulling the strings: How stem cells in the developing fruit fly brain organize their DNA from outside the nucleus

Cells are very particular about the proper locations of their contents. For example, DNA is packaged in the nucleus in a highly specific way, but researchers are still trying to understand how this happens. For stem cells in the brain of a larval fruit fly — model organisms used to study processes such as early development — the DNA is organized so that the center of each strand, called the centromere, is at the top of the nucleus. In a paper in the Journal of Cell Biology, Ģ����Ƶ researchers describe how proteins outside the nucleus work alongside proteins inside the nucleus to control the position of centromeres. The researchers observed this mechanism by imaging stem cells within larval fruit fly brains and then using machine learning to measure how centromere locations change when specific proteins are removed. The research team also followed the locations of two specific genes that are far away from the centromeres. Both genes lost their usual positions in the nucleus when the centromeres strayed from their normal location, suggesting that proper centromere positioning may be important for orienting the rest of the DNA in the nucleus. Studying how and why DNA is organized in these stem cells can help researchers better understand how stem cells are regulated and how brains develop.

For more information, contact lead author Jennifer Taylor, Ģ����Ƶ postdoc in biology, at jatay@uw.edu.��������������

The other Ģ����Ƶ co-author is . A full list of funding is .

Micro language models let AI run instantly on small devices like smartwatches

Though artificial intelligence can refer to many technologies, the current AI boom has been driven by large language models, or LLMs. They power chatbots and AI agents by running predictions based on ever-increasing amounts of variables called “parameters.” Current cutting-edge models are estimated to have several trillion parameters, making them far too large to run on slower phones or small devices like smartwatches. In a paper at EMNLP 2026, Ģ����Ƶ researchers introduced “micro language models,” which run with 8-30 million parameters. These models are small enough to run on devices with limited computing power and give users instant responses that fill the lag before the device can access an LLM through the cloud. For instance, a user could ask their smartwatch a question and the micro language model would start responding instantly; then after four to eight words, the LLM would complete the response. The micro language model made mistakes in 4% to 8% of responses that the other model corrected seamlessly before continuing. In a user study, nine out of 10 participants preferred the paired system to the lagging responses from only a cloud model.

For more information, contact ulm@cs.washington.edu or visit .

The Ģ����Ƶ co-authors are , , and . A full list of co-authors and funding is in .

Policy gaps impact migrant fishers in Washington state

The commercial fishing industry is key to Washington’s maritime economy, but there are concerns about exploitation and forced labor among fishers. While much of industry is regulated by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, exemptions in U.S. law mean some vessels aren’t subject to the same citizenship requirements. A research team from the Ģ����Ƶ Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies recently focused on understanding the experiences of migrant fishers pursuing albacore tuna, a highly migratory species, who dock or unload at ports in Washington state. Researchers found the exemptions allow migrant fishers to work without authorization or visas, leaving them vulnerable to forced labor and exploitation. Meanwhile, complicated policy and regulatory frameworks make it difficult to address workers’ rights violations. The researchers gathered information from 15 migrant fishers, 14 U.S. citizen fishers, and more than 35 subject matter experts. Every migrant fisher interviewed by the team reported experiences aligned with the International Labour Organization’s indicators of forced labor, and both migrant and U.S. citizen fishers reported difficult living and working conditions. Approaches to combating forced labor are varied and uneven, the researchers found, and additional work is needed to better understand and support the needs of Washington’s fishers. Along with the full report, the team also published .

For more information, contact , research director at the Bridges Center, at rerstad@uw.edu.

The other Ģ����Ƶ co-authors are , and .

Burrowing shrimp are on the move in a mudflat near you

Burrowing shrimp are a pest well known to shellfish growers. These pale-bodied creatures excavate mud as they dig into the ground, creating piles of sediment that suffocate oysters and clams growing on the surface. In estuaries on the west coast, shrimp beds reach densities of hundreds of shrimp per square meter, but the boundaries of beds change. in Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science shows that shrimp beds move up to 100 feet each year. The study took place at Willapa Bay over the course of three years and is the first to quantify how rapidly the boundaries of these beds shift over time. Researchers still don’t know why the shrimp move, but they observed a clear pattern in the ecosystem. Shrimp change the texture of sediment by eating organic matter and releasing finer particles, so sediment becomes muddier and more compact once they leave. After several years, these abandoned beds were colonized by eelgrass, a marker of ecosystem health. This “engineering” effect was less evident in areas where moving water keeps mud from settling. Studying these rapid shifts and the types of sediment left behind could ultimately help shellfish growers better protect their product.

For more information, contact co-author Jennifer Ruesink, a Ģ����Ƶ professor of biology, at ruesink@uw.edu.��������������

The other Ģ����Ƶ co-authors are Wesley Hull, Haleh Mawson, and . A full list of co-authors and funding is .

Source

Scientists may add a new dwarf planet to the official roster of our solar system.

The distant, icy body, provisionally dubbed 2026 ED138, orbits our system beyond Pluto. It was spotted earlier this month by a scientist combing through data from the Simonyi Survey Telescope at the . Initial measurements place ED138 among the largest dwarf planet candidates ever discovered beyond Neptune; if confirmed, it would join the five dwarf planets recognized by the : Pluto, Ceres, Eris, Haumea and Makemake.

The results were presented at a press conference today by , a senior astrophysicist at the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and by , a Ģ����Ƶ professor of astronomy and leader of Rubin’s solar system team. Holman first spotted the candidate and Jurić contributed additional observations.

“If confirmed as a dwarf planet, ED138 would join a very small family of worlds,” Holman said. “Rubin will image the whole southern sky again and again for 10 years, so any others hiding in the places earlier surveys skipped are now within reach.”

“Finding an object this big, roughly 1,000 kilometers across, is something that happens maybe once in a generation,” Jurić said. “It’s the largest trans-Neptunian object found in about 20 years, and Rubin turned it up while we were still commissioning the telescope.”

On the evening of Oct. 13, Holman was running data collected by Rubin earlier in 2026 through a search code he developed with colleague Kevin Napier. The code is built to look at billions of detections of moving objects, compare them and find the detections that correspond to the same object. Using this method, Holman uncovered ED138, and he immediately noticed that its brightness and distance indicated that it is unusually large.

“My first reaction was one of excited disbelief,” Holman said. “Objects like this are very rare, so I immediately started checking whether I or the code had done something wrong.”

To remove any doubt, Jurić searched through Rubin’s catalogs and images and found 20 more observations, going back to March 2026. The team also spotted ED138 in archival images from other surveys going all the way back to 2016, allowing the team to trace more than ten years of ED138’s orbit. 

ED138 is currently at a distance of about 46 astronomical units (), where 1 au is the average distance between the Earth and the sun. For reference, dwarf planet Pluto orbits at an average distance of 40 au. This classifies ED138 as a trans-Neptunian object () — objects that orbit the sun at a distance greater than Neptune’s.

Scientists study the size, composition and orbital trajectories of TNOs to understand how the solar system formed, how the giant planets migrated over time and how smaller objects have been scattered throughout this evolution. 

Not all TNOs are considered dwarf planet candidates, with the distinction being in the size and shape of the object. To be a dwarf planet an object needs to be massive enough for its own gravity to pull it into a round shape. Based on ED138’s distance, brightness and estimated surface reflectivity, the team estimates that its size is between 600 and 1,500 kilometers; icy bodies this large are expected to be round. Further observations are needed to measure its exact size and confirm its nature as a dwarf planet. 

ED138 was found in a region of sky close to the plane of the Milky Way — a crowded area filled with millions of stars. To most telescopes, ED138 has been lost among the myriad background sources, which is likely why it was not discovered until now. Rubin Observatory’s regular and continuous monitoring of the entire Southern Hemisphere sky, combined with powerful algorithms that sift through millions to billions of points of light to identify those corresponding to small moving objects, enabled the team to spot ED138 within the crowded field.

ED138 joins the rapidly growing sample of solar system objects discovered by Rubin since it began collecting early data in preparation for the (LSST), which began in June 2026. In April, before LSST formally began, the Rubin solar system team announced observations of over , which included roughly 380 new TNOs. At the time, the team called this large submission “the tip of the iceberg” and expressed their excitement for the discoveries to come once LSST began. With the discovery of ED138, those hopes are coming to fruition.

“Rubin is giving us an unprecedented capacity to explore the sky through a combination of speed, depth, and precision,” Jurić said. “And the discovery is just the beginning: Once we identify a new object, we can search back months, and sometimes even decades, finding it in images where nobody knew to look. This ability to both discover and ‘precover’ objects is transforming how quickly and accurately we can determine their orbits and understand the distant solar system.”

The public can interact with this discovery on , an interactive web-based app that provides an intuitive way to explore the structure of our cosmic backyard in three dimensions and in real time.

Operations of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory are funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

For more information, contact Mario Jurić at mjuric@uw.edu.

This story was adapted from a press release by NOIRlab. More images and video clips are available on the .

Source

There’s still time to return your ballot for the 2026 general election, but if you’re planning to vote by mail, you may want to hurry. That’s according to a research brief ��by a team led by the Ģ����Ƶ, which found that ongoing changes to U.S. Postal Service mail processes could double the percentage of ballots that arrive too late to be counted.��

Researchers estimate the mail delays could cause tens of thousands of otherwise valid ballots to be rejected. These mail delays disproportionately impact rural voters and those in outlying suburban communities.��

“This could affect 20,000 or more voters who put their ballots in the mail ahead of election day,” said research lead , professor of public policy and governance at the Ģ����Ƶ. “That may sound like a small number of voters in the grand scheme of things, but it could be really consequential, particularly in rural and outer suburban communities.”

The research brief — part of a led by the Ģ����Ƶ Evans School of Public Policy and Governance — has not yet been peer-reviewed. Researchers plan to submit it to an academic journal in the coming months.��

State law requires every ballot postmarked by Election Day to be counted. That system relied on the Postal Service’s practice of postmarking mail on the date it’s received. But new policies first rolled out in October 2023 shifted how the agency collects and processes mail.

Under the program — part of an — mail in ZIP codes more than 50 miles from a regional center is collected only once a day. That mail may not be postmarked until it reaches a processing facility, which could be the next day or even later.

RTO was implemented in about two dozen Washington ZIP codes in February 2024 and has since been expanded to . Rural voters are particularly likely to live in an RTO ZIP code, including over 90% of rural voters who voted in the 2024 general election.

To project the delays’ effects on ballot rejection rates, researchers analyzed voter-level ballot data and county-level rejection data from the Washington Secretary of State. They found that between 2020 and 2025, about 11% of primary ballots and nearly 5% of general ballots were postmarked before Election Day, but not received until after. While counted in past elections, these last-minute ballots are those most likely to be impacted this year.

Researchers also found that the late ballot rejection rate has risen significantly since RTO was implemented in 2024. Across Washington, the county average late ballot rejection rate was 1.1% in the 2025 general election — about twice as high as the typical rate in general elections. In that election, the ballot rejection rate for voters in RTO ZIP codes was 3.2%, more than double the rate for those in urban areas.��

It’s difficult to project exactly how many voters are at risk of having their ballots rejected in 2026, but Allard said he expected the number to rise.

“I think we’re at risk of having 1% to maybe even 1.5% of all ballots rejected for being late due to postal service delays, which would be unprecedented statewide,” said Allard, who is the Daniel J. Evans Endowed Professor of Social Policy.

He encouraged voters to consider using or putting their ballots in the mail at least a week before Election Day, which this year is Tuesday, November 3. Voters taking ballots to the post office also can ask their postal worker to postmark their ballot envelope on the spot.

“It shouldn’t fall only on the voters to solve this problem,” Allard said, “but there are steps we can all take to ensure our ballots are received on time.”��

Co-authors include , Ģ����Ƶ doctoral student of sociology; , Ģ����Ƶ doctoral student of public policy and governance; and of the University of California, Berkeley.��

For more information or to reach the researchers, contact Alden Woods at acwoods@uw.edu.��

Source

Come curious. Leave inspired.

The Ģ����Ƶ offers an exciting lineup of in-person and online events. From thought-provoking art and music to conversations on culture, history, and science, the Ģ����Ƶ community invites you to explore, learn, and connect across disciplines throughout the University. And you don’t have to wait until November: Take a look at everything still happening in October.

Go directly to the week you’d like to view:

• Week 1: November 2 – 8
• Week 2: November 9 – 15
• Week 3: November 16 – 22
• Week 4: November 23 – 29
• Week 5: November 30 – December 6

to receive a monthly notice when the ArtSci Roundup has been published.

ArtSci On Your Own Time:

Closing November 7 | (School of Art + Art History + Design)
The annual fall MFA show mediates on accumulation, the underground, labor & capacity, and the movement of systems and objects toward loss, disrepair, and failure. Spanning performance, installation, sound art, and found object sculpture, see the works of Jayden Dukes, Gaeun Kim, Cameron McGaff, and Skye Amber O’Brien. Free.

Opening November 7 | (Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture)
This exhibition focuses on the biodiversity and global importance of Earth’s largest terrestrial ecosystem and the last intact forest on Earth. See, hear, and feel the forest through stunning photography, interactive displays, commissioned artworks, first-person stories, and Burke Museum collections. Learn about stories of resilience, strength, and hope in a changing world. Presented in English and Spanish, the exhibition gives voice to the boreal through the words of Indigenous community members, scientists, conservationists, artists, and writers. It shares how knowing nature can offer a vision for a sustainable future.

(Biology)
Wednesdays, noon to 4 pm / 2nd and 4th Saturdays, 10 am – 2 pm
For nearly 70 years, the Biology Greenhouse at the Ģ����Ƶ has played a vital role in research and teaching. Whether focusing on plant-pollinator interactions, paleoclimatology, or other biological questions, the teaching collection has enhanced and inspired Ģ����Ƶ biological research. Visit the 4 Collection rooms and browse through an amazing diversity of plant species from around the world. Free.

Book Club | A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende (Ģ����Ƶ Alumni Association)
Readers’ Choice! In the late 1930s, civil war grips Spain. Hundreds of thousands flee to France, including a wounded army doctor and his brother’s widow. The two team up to seek refuge in Chile as Europe erupts in war — but life in exile comes with its own dangerous challenges. Ģ����Ƶ Alumni Book Club invites all curious readers to dig into personal stories, timely topics, and transformative fiction.�� Free.

Week 1: November 2 – 8

November 2 | (Chemistry)
Ram Seshadri is the Fred and Linda R. Wudl Professor of Materials Science and has served as the Director of the Materials Research Laboratory: A National Science Foundation Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (NSF-MRSEC) since 2015. He recently took on the additional role of associate dean for research in the College of Engineering. His research contributions are embodied in 450+ journal publications, and broadly address the topic of structure–composition–property relations in functional, crystalline inorganic, and hybrid materials. Ram is the editor of Annual Reviews of Materials Research and is a lead editor of Physical Review Materials. Free.

Virtual option – November 2 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
What do negotiations to end the war in Iran look like to those at the table? What role might the United Nations or Gulf States play in ending the violence in Gaza or Lebanon? Is there hope for diplomacy with Russia? Join us for a moderated conversation and Q&A with Ģ����Ƶ graduate and diplomat Dr. Mohamed Al-Hassan. With extensive experience navigating the US / Iran relationship; representing Oman at the United Nations and serving as the UN representative in Iraq; and leading Oman’s diplomatic mission to Russia, Dr. Al-Hassan brings an insider’s perspective on some of the most difficult diplomatic challenges of the day. Free.

Virtual – November 3 | ��(Jackson School of International Studies)
Helen Hardacre is Reischauer Institute Research Professor of Japanese Religions and Society, Harvard University. Her publications include The Religion of Japan’s Korean Minority (1984), Lay Buddhism in Contemporary Japan: Reiyukai Kyodan (1984), Kurozumikyo and the New Religions of Japan (1986), Shinto and the State, 1868-1988 (1989), Marketing the Menacing Fetus in Japan (1997), Religion and Society in Nineteenth-Century Japan (2002), Shinto, A History (2016), Constitutional Revision and Civic Activism in Japan (lead editor and contributor, 2021), and Shinto Shrines in Prewar and Wartime Japan (2025). Her current research concerns Shinto shrines in prewar and wartime Japan. She earned her Ph.D. from the Divinity School at the University of Chicago in History of Religions in 1980. Among her academic awards since 2000 are the following: John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellow (2003-04), Walter Channing Cabot Fellow (Harvard University, 2017), and Order of the Rising Sun (2018). Free.

November 4 | (School of Music)
A free lunchtime performance featuring Ģ����Ƶ School of Music students in the North Allen Library lobby. Presented in partnership with Ģ����Ƶ Libraries. Free.

November 5 | (Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture)
Admission to the Burke Museum is FREE and the museum is open until 8 p.m. on the first Thursday of every month. Get closer to the daily work happening in the Burke Museum’s visible collections storage, labs and workrooms during Free First Thursday. Free.

November 5 – 7 | ��(Digital Arts & Experimental Media)
DXFEST, a three-day festival showcasing artworks and music by artists in the DXARTS program, opens at Gallery 4Culture with a lecture-performance by Afroditi Psarra as part of her exhibition Pythia Embodied. The festival moves to Meany Center for the Performing Arts, where there will be a digital art exhibition and electronic music performances. The music works will be presented using the DXARTS Ambisonics Audio System, a state-of-the-art multi-channel system designed to provide immersive spatial audio experiences. Artworks by DXARTS artists will be on display in the theater’s lobby prior to the concerts and during intermissions. Free.

November 5 – 15 | ��(School of Drama)
Phèdre is a queen and a mother who has been cursed by the Gods. She receives news that the king, Theseus, is dead. Encouraged by her lady-in-waiting, Oenone, and fueled by her own feelings Phèdre confesses to the King’s son and heir, Hippolytus that she is in love with him. Soon after, King Theseus returns, alive and well, setting off a series of unforeseen consequences.

November 6 | (Cinema & Media Studies)
Join the Henry Art Gallery for a special screening of short films made by students in the Department of Cinema & Media Studies. Spanning a wide range of genres, including documentaries, comedies, dramas, and music videos, get an exclusive glimpse into the work of this emerging cohort of filmmakers. After the screening, stick around to meet the filmmakers and faculty guiding Cinema & Media Studies students’ creative projects and research. Free.

November 6 | ��(Classics)
Presented by Verity Platt (Cornell). Free.

Opening November 7 | (Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture)
This exhibition focuses on the biodiversity and global importance of Earth’s largest terrestrial ecosystem and the last intact forest on Earth. See, hear, and feel the forest through stunning photography, interactive displays, commissioned artworks, first-person stories, and Burke Museum collections. Learn about stories of resilience, strength, and hope in a changing world. Presented in English and Spanish, the exhibition gives voice to the boreal through the words of Indigenous community members, scientists, conservationists, artists, and writers. It shares how knowing nature can offer a vision for a sustainable future.

Week 2: November 9 – 15

November 9 | ��(School of Music)
Seattle Modern Orchestra’s (SMO’s) Ģ����Ƶ residency celebrates the legacies of longtime former School of Music professors and West Coast luminaries Stuart Dempster (b. 1936) and William O. Smith (1926-2020) with “90/100, Celebrating Stuart Dempster, William O. Smith, and West Coast Experimentalism.” Curated by longtime SMO clarinetist Rachel Yoder, the evening integrates elements of improvisation, deep listening, and playfully creative movement while rebooting elements of the composer/performer duo’s historic antics.

November 10 | (Clean Energy Institute)
A symposium on innovative technologies, strategies, and partnerships to accelerate a scalable and equitable clean energy future in Washington and beyond, featuring Ģ����Ƶ President Jones, former WA Gov. Jay Inslee, former U.S. Cabinet members Ernest Moniz and Sally Jewell, David Baker, and world-leading clean energy/materials researchers.

November 10 | (Meany Center for the Performing Arts)
Indonesian pianist Janice Carissa, a Gilmore Young Artist and Salon de Virtuosi recipient, is celebrated for crafting vivid musical narratives that transcend mere virtuosity. Her program spans centuries and styles, opening with Bach’s elegant French Suite No. 5 in G Major, moving to Granados’ passionate Goyescas, “El Amor y la muerte,” and Ravel’s darkly glittering La valse. The evening also features works by Olivier Messiaen and Indonesian composer Eunike Tanzil, showcasing Carissa’s expressive nuance, lyrical sensitivity and command of both classical and contemporary repertoire.

Virtual – November 12 | ��(Simpson Center for the Humanities)
Safia Aidid is an interdisciplinary historian of modern Africa and Assistant Professor in the Department of History and the African Studies Centre at University of Toronto. She holds a PhD from Harvard University. Her research addresses anticolonial nationalism, territorial imaginations, borders, and state formation in the Horn of Africa, with a particular focus on modern Somalia and Ethiopia. She is currently working on a book manuscript entitled “Pan-Somali Dreams: Ethiopia, Greater Somalia, and the Somali Nationalist Imagination.” Free.

November 13 | (Meany Center for the Performing Arts)
Isata Kanneh-Mason joins artistic forces with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, celebrated for its trademark conductor-less precision and collective spirit. The award-winning pianist from the renowned Kanneh-Mason family and the Grammy Award-winning orchestra present a program of favorites by Mozart and Haydn with Suites No. 1 and No. 3 from Handel’s Water Music and a newly commissioned work by Katie Jenkins, performed with the mindset of a collaborative chamber ensemble.

November 14 | ��(Henry Art Gallery)
James Turrell’s Light Reign is glowing again—and you’re invited to celebrate! After an extensive restoration, the Henry’s beloved Skyspace has been transformed with a new lighting system that brings renewed brilliance to this extraordinary work by one of the world’s most celebrated artists. Watch as the Skyspace’s exterior comes alive with light at dusk, illuminating the Henry in a spectacular display. Then step inside to experience the atmospheric interior as light and color create an environment unlike any other.��Free.

November 15 | ��(Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture)
Engage with professional archaeologists and researchers as they share their work. Learn about ancient technologies and local cultural heritage, try your hand at sorting artifacts, watch a flintknapping demonstration (that’s stone tool making!), and more.

Through November 15 | ��(School of Drama)
Phèdre is a queen and a mother who has been cursed by the Gods. She receives news that the king, Theseus, is dead. Encouraged by her lady-in-waiting, Oenone, and fueled by her own feelings Phèdre confesses to the King’s son and heir, Hippolytus that she is in love with him. Soon after, King Theseus returns, alive and well, setting off a series of unforeseen consequences.

Week 3: November 16 – 22

November 17 | ��(Honors)
Growing concerns about the health of America’s 250-year experiment in representative democracy should prompt us to think deeply about how civic belonging has been defined in U.S. society since the nation’s founding and what current efforts to restrict access and opportunities for civic participation mean for our collective futures. Civic Belonging in an Anti-Democratic Age brings together Ģ����Ƶ faculty whose teaching and research straddle law, politics, human rights, urban studies, and digital technologies for a lively interdisciplinary conversation about the stakes of belonging in U.S. society. Join us as we examine the current moment and ask how we can work towards a more inclusive democratic future. Free.

November 17 | (Simpson Center for the Humanities)
We humanists are hoping for, and many of us are fighting for, a new day in the United States when the production and circulation of knowledge are understood as keystones of democracy and of human thriving – and thus as deserving of substantial public investment. Having worked so long in the spirit of doing a lot with a little, how do we envision the humanities in conditions of abundance? What shifts in traditional academic culture and policy will help us meet those conditions? In the spirit of Octavia Butler’s future-oriented thinking, this talk draws together many threads of contemporary thinking to sketch a future where American universities center the values and practices of liberal arts-grounded humanistic inquiry. Free.

November 17 | (History)
The Pre-Modern World History Lecture: Dr. Noreña sketches the contours of the “new” global antiquity and argues that this rapidly emerging field can and should be fully global in its coverage and institutional organization. In this lecture, he explores how we might bring both Africa and the Americas into an agenda for a global antiquity that has been limited, for the most part, to Eurasia, and considers some of the main challenges for this field, both epistemological and practical. Free.

November 17 | (School of Art + Art History + Design)
This year-long program series honors the gallery’s commitment to social justice and to gather the community to think about the work of liberation through shared texts, art, film, music, conversation, and workshops. Each month, the club will approach the topic of liberation from several perspectives. Unlike your traditional book club, all the reading and study happens together, and preparation is not required. Come ready to attend a workshop, engage with a piece of art, or chat over a shared meal. Free.

November 18 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
Details coming. Free.

Virtual – November 18 | (Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture)
In this presentation, Jennfier Angaiak Wood will discuss her Yup’ik ancestry, give an overview of Yup’ik artistic tradition, and share examples of how she incorporates historic design elements into her contemporary artworks. Free.

November 18 – 19 | Jazz Infusions – / ��(School of Music)
Ģ����Ƶ Jazz Studies students perform in small combos over two consecutive nights of original tunes, homage to the greats of jazz, and experiments in composing and arranging. Free.

Virtual option – November 18 |�� �� (Jackson School of International Studies)
In this talk, Joanne Leow traces the process of writing and publishing her hybrid memoir Exhumations: In the Body of a Petrostate. By following the trajectory that her writing took from online writing to print journal to bound book, she considers what it means to publish work about Singapore while in the diaspora. Exhumations oscillates between socio-political and cultural analysis and a memoir of grief and illness. Seeing our porous bodies as part of a contaminated and compromised system based on extraction, violence, and political repression, her work asks what must be made visible in our current moment. In doing so, she draws from her time as a journalist for state media, her positionality as a “quitter,” and her current work as a scholar based in Canada. These intersecting experiences have allowed her to explore histories of activism, censorship, weapons manufacturing, terraforming, and petroleum refining in Singapore. Free.

November 19 | (Henry Art Gallery)
Artist Trenton Doyle Hancock discusses his varied career and current projects. Inspired by the world-building of comics, Hancock’s work iterates over time through the investigation of character, story, and symbols. Co-presented with the Ģ����Ƶ School of Art + Art History + Design, Hancock will address his use of popular culture, narrative, and autobiography to subvert cultural tropes and national mythologies. A Q&A with the audience will follow the talk. Free.

November 19 | ��(Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture)
Each month, hear from Burke staff about a book they recommend. Read the book ahead of time, or join to learn more about the selection. Free.

November 19 | ��(American Indian Studies)
Readings by Simon Ortiz and Sara Marie Ortiz, followed by audience Q&A. Storytelling offers a spiritual connection, a sharing of sacred breath. Literature, similarly, preserves human experience and ideals. Both forms are durable and transmit power that teaches us how to live. Both storytelling and reading aloud can impact audiences through the power of presence, allowing for the experience of the transfer of sacred breath as audiences are immersed in the experience of being inside stories and works of literature. Free.

November 19 | ��(Geography)
Alums share how their degrees in geography have shaped careers in climate risk, procurement, and user experience design. Featuring Derek Huling (Program Analyst, FEMA), Krystle Jumarawan (Geospatial Specialist II, Woven by Toyota), and Helen Elizabeth Olsen (Deputy Director, The Gates Foundation). Moderated by Professor Sarah Elwood. Free.

November 19 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
This talk examines the historical political divergence between China and Europe. While both regions experienced repeated shifts in territorial unification, political stability, and institutional development in earlier periods, from the medieval period onward, their trajectories increasingly diverged. Europe gradually evolved toward a polycentric political order, while China consolidated into a centralized and authoritarian state. This talk proposes the development of China’s imperial civil service examination system as a key driver of this divergence. Drawing on a synthesis of several recent works, it approaches the question from three complementary perspectives: macro-level patterns of political development, micro-level quantitative evidence on bureaucratic recruitment, and formal theories of political equilibrium and institutional change. Free.

November 19 | (School of Music)
Celebrated Russian pianist Mikhail Voskresensky leads a master class with Ģ����Ƶ piano students. Free.

November 20 | (Classics)
Eight years after demonstrators in Charlottesville, Virginia, chanted “Jews will not replace us!” at a rally whose promotional poster featured the acronym SPQR and where one group of activists carried shields emblazoned with images of the Roman fasces, most Classical scholars are aware that white nationalists and other hateful actors take inspiration from Greco-Roman antiquity. There is less consensus, however, about what this phenomenon means for those of us who research and teach about the ancient Greco-Roman world. In this lecture, Curtis Dozier, author of The White Pedestal: How White Nationalists Use Ancient Greece and Rome to Justify Hate (Yale University Press, 2026), draws on his ten years’ experience documenting appropriations of Greco-Roman antiquity by hate groups to bring into focus what white nationalist classicism reveals about the material we study, our discipline, our nation, and ourselves. Free.

November 19 – 21 | (Meany Center for the Performing Arts)
Taiwan’s Hung Dance makes its Seattle debut with BIRDY, a powerful and poetic work choreographed by the company’s founder and artistic director Lai Hung-Chung. Performed by eight dancers, the piece blends contemporary dance with elements of Chinese opera, Tai Chi and myth. Using striking props like rattan poles and flowing pheasant feathers (Ling Zi), BIRDY explores the tension between freedom and constraint, personal feeling and social pressure. The movement is bold, fluid and deeply human. BIRDY invites audiences to reflect on the desire to break free, and the quiet strength it takes to keep moving within the world around us.

November 22 | (School of Music)
Ģ����Ƶ music students perform music from the Baroque era under the direction of Tekla Cunningham. Free.

Week 4: November 23 – 29

November 24 | (School of Music)
Ģ����Ƶ voice students of Thomas Harper and Carrie Shaw perform works from the vocal repertoire. Free.

Week 5: November 30 – December 6

December 1 | (School of Music)
The Ģ����Ƶ Percussion Ensemble (Bonnie Whiting, director) performs contemporary music arranged for percussion ensembles.

December 2 | ��(Meany Center for the Performing Arts)
Celebrate the season with the legendary Michael Feinstein in a festive evening of song and storytelling. A champion of the Great American Songbook, Feinstein brings signature warmth, wit and impeccable style to beloved holiday classics and timeless standards. Backed by lush arrangements, he delivers an elegant, nostalgic journey filled with heart and swing. This joyful concert promises an unforgettable night celebrating the magic, romance, and spirit of the holidays.

December 2 | ��(School of Music)
The Studio Jazz Ensemble (Jacob Zimmerman, director) performs big band arrangements and repertory selections. The Modern Band (Cuong Vu, director) performs innovative arrangements of jazz standards, selections from the outer limits of the genre, and new original compositions.

December 2 | (School of Music)
A free lunchtime performance featuring Ģ����Ƶ School of Music students in the North Allen Library lobby. Presented in partnership with Ģ����Ƶ Libraries. Free.

December 3 | (Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture)
Admission to the Burke Museum is FREE and the museum is open until 8 p.m. on the first Thursday of every month. Get closer to the daily work happening in the Burke Museum’s visible collections storage, labs and workrooms during Free First Thursday. Free.

December 3 | (School of Music)
The Campus Band (Joshua Michael Smith, conductor) and Concert Band (Yuman Wu, conductor) present “Song and Dance,” performing music by Leonard Bernstein, James Barnes, Frank Ticheli and others.

December 3 | (School of Music)
Ģ����Ƶ keyboard students perform from the piano repertoire in the quarterly Brechemin Piano Series concerts. Free.

December 4 | (School of Music)
The Ģ����Ƶ’s top auditioned choirs present modern vocal works, music from around the globe, and great works from the sacred repertoire in shared quarterly concerts showcasing each group’s most recent work.

December 5 | (School of Music)
The Modern Music Ensemble (Cristina Valdés, director) presents works of our time in several concerts each year. Including repertoire from the early to mid-20th century and beyond, the group focuses on small ensemble and chamber orchestra works, performed by both undergraduate and graduate students. Free.

The ArtSci Roundup

The ArtSci Roundup is your guide to connecting with the Ģ����Ƶ—whether in person, on campus, or on your couch.

Those who receive monthly emails, with timely updates and engaging content wherever you are. Check the roundup regularly, as events are added throughout the month. Check out the ArtSci On Your Own Time section for everything from podcasts to videos to exhibitions that can be enjoyed when it works for you!

Do you have an event that you would like to see featured in the ArtSci Roundup? Connect with Lauren Zondag (zondagld@uw.edu).

Source

A coalition of housing developers, community organizations, childcare providers and educators today broke ground on the Mount Baker Redevelopment and Rainier Rising Early Learning Campus. The 3.8-acre project is expected to create 400 affordable apartments, provide high-quality childcare and be home to a first-of-its-kind early childhood learning center.

By bringing affordable housing, early learning and community resources together, families will be better supported. This development, across the street from Sound Transit’s Mount Baker light-rail station, creates a unique, transit-accessible place where affordable housing and high-quality early learning exist side-by-side, with resources and partnerships designed to support children and families more holistically.

“This moment represents a major milestone in bringing a long-envisioned, community-centered project to life,” said Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson. “The partnership reflects a belief that complex challenges require us to work differently — and together. No single organization or sector can address the interconnected needs of children, families and communities alone. This project demonstrates what is possible when government, community organizations, philanthropy and the university bring their respective strengths together around shared priorities.”

The redevelopment is the result of an eight-year collaboration between the Ģ����Ƶ College of Education, the City of Seattle Office of Housing, the State of Washington, Mercy Housing Northwest and El Centro de la Raza, among others. These organizations hold a shared commitment to children and families — and a belief that supporting thriving communities requires innovative approaches that work across traditional boundaries.

“Together, this project will bring affordable housing, high-quality early learning and family and community resources together in one dynamic, transit-accessible location,” said Mia Tuan, dean of the Ģ����Ƶ College of Education. “Rainier Rising Early Learning Campus creates an extraordinary opportunity to bring the Ģ����Ƶ’s world-class research and expertise in early learning into partnership with the knowledge and experience of our community partners — creating a place where research informs practice, innovation takes root and what we learn together can strengthen early learning for children and families well beyond this campus.”

Since 2018, the Ģ����Ƶ College of Education and partners across southeast Seattle have worked alongside families, educators and community leaders to imagine a space shaped by community needs and community voices. Co-designed with Rainier Valley residents, Rainier Rising Early Learning Campus (RRELC) was created to address longstanding inequities in access to affordable, high-quality childcare and preschool while centering culturally affirming, anti-racist care for children and families.

The Mount Baker Redevelopment — built in two phases — will create housing for more than 1,000 individuals. The first phase includes 239 affordable rental homes.

“The groundbreaking is an important milestone, but it is only the beginning,” said Colin Morgan-Cross, Mercy Housing Northwest. “Today, we come together to celebrate years of hard work in partnership, planning and community engagement. As we start of the next phase of work, we remain grounded in the fact that the impact of this project will be shaped not just by the buildings themselves, but by the relationships, programs and opportunities that grow from them.”

The development prioritizes affordable family living, cultural diversity and community safety. One-third of the homes will be reserved for families earning at or below 30% of the Area Median Income (AMI) and a total of 60% will be family-sized homes.

Mercy Housing Northwest, together with El Centro de la Raza, are developing more than 400 units of affordable housing. The completed project will be a community that reflects the voices and rich cultural tapestry of the Mount Baker neighborhood. Rooted in the shared principles of justice, equity and partnership, this redevelopment project addresses housing affordability, enhances public spaces and creates economic opportunities for residents and local businesses.

“There is an ongoing role for the community and our broader network of partners.,” said Estela Ortega, executive director of El Centro de la Raza. “This development means a life of dignity for families in our community — access to safe and affordable housing, supportive services and the opportunity to build a better future. As this project takes shape, we invite our neighbors, community members and partners to be part of the journey, share the story, and help create a place where families feel supported, connected, and rooted in our community for generations to come.”��

The $170 million Mount Baker Redevelopment funding comes from a variety of state, city and private sources.

The RRELC will be a first-of-its-kind early learning hub that will expand access to high-quality early care and education, bring research and evidence-based practices into partnership with community expertise, and strengthen the region’s early learning workforce. The space will consist of about 35,000 square feet split between two floors. An eight-classroom early learning space on the first floor is designed to serve more than 120 children from infancy through preschool. The second floor will host an ecosystem of early learning organizations who support children and families, professional development and adult learning.

What sets the RRELC apart is its integrated approach to learning, support and innovation. The campus will provide high-quality early education for local children while also serving as a training and demonstration center for educators, researchers and community partners. Through partnerships with healthcare providers, early learning organizations, and the Ģ����Ƶ, the campus will strengthen the early learning workforce, connect families to critical resources, and advance research-informed practices that can improve outcomes for children locally and nationwide.

Beyond the classroom, the RRELC will connect children and families with resources that support their health and well-being. Partners from across the Ģ����Ƶ — including Ģ����Ƶ Medicine, the School of Nursing, School of Pharmacy, School of Dentistry and School of Social Work — will work alongside community partners to bring their expertise to the campus and explore new ways to support children and families.

To honor former Ģ����Ƶ President Ana Mari Cauce’s role in advancing the RRELC from vision to reality, the early learning hub will feature the Cauce Community Space, a dedicated area for families and community members to gather, learn and access resources. This flexible-use space honors Cauce’s dedicated advocacy of this project during her presidential tenure, including uplifting the critical importance of robust, culturally centered and research-informed early learning practices at the local, state and national levels. Made possible through a gift from the Bezos Family Foundation, the Cauce Community Space will expand the RRELC’s holistic support to families and community members in Rainier Valley.

Additionally, the Ģ����Ƶ College of Education’s Cultivate Learning will bring its expertise in early childhood professional learning, coaching and quality improvement to the campus, creating opportunities for early learning educators to build their skills and learn promising practices. Cultivate Learning will occupy part of the second floor and facilitate classroom learning sessions and trainings for students and in-service professionals, and will amplify results to education leaders nationwide.

The RRELC’s total cost came to about $36 million with funds that were secured through a braided effort of philanthropy, federal, state, county and city resources. These costs are in addition to the funding for the Mount Baker Redevelopment.

In addition to housing and the RRELC, the development will include:

• Public Spaces: A 20,000-square-foot open space as the centerpiece of the development, fostering connection with the community and outdoor play and activities.
• Community Hub: 6,000-square-foot space for events, cultural programming, and services to support the residents and celebrate the neighborhood’s diversity.
• Support for Local Businesses: 4,000 square feet of commercial spaces designed to uplift BIPOC-owned and locally owned businesses.
• Climate Resiliency: Green design features include advanced stormwater management and beyond-code environmental practices.

The Mount Baker Redevelopment Project phase one and the RRELC is scheduled for completion by 2029. The architect for the Mount Baker Redevelopment is Runberg Architecture Group. Beacon Development Group is the developer consultant and Walsh Construction is the builder. For the RRELC, the architect is Mithun and Walsh Construction is the builder.

Source

Ģ����Ƶ a decade ago, a group of climate scientists described. Called the (SSPs), these scenarios suggest how socioeconomic development could evolve in worlds with differing challenges to climate adaptation and mitigation.��

One SSP, “Sustainability,” envisions a collective shift toward green energy, reducing economic inequities and investments in research and development. Another, “Regional Rivalry,” paints a picture of a world riven by nationalism and fighting over resources. In that future, high levels of conflict stifle economic development. Rich countries see slower population growth, while birth rates increase in poorer nations.��

Scientists and policymakers use SSPs to project how today’s choices affect tomorrow’s world. But for complex subjects like public health, these intentionally simple scenarios don’t capture every complexity. Under the SSP “Fossil-Fueled Development,” for example, the world doubles down on fossil fuels, spurring rapid economic growth. That growth, according to the scenario, would spur investments in education and health. But at the same time, increased emissions would degrade the environment, exacerbating health risks.

That description leaves many public health questions unanswered: Would hospital systems be better prepared to handle the increased volume? Could more frequent heat waves lead people to spend more time inside, amplifying mental health burdens?��

Last year, a group of 63 experts in climate change and health met in Vienna to extend the SSPs to better reflect the dynamic nature of public health over the course of the century. Their expanded narratives, published , provide comprehensive visions of possible population health and health system development and explore how communities might better prepare for shifting future health risks.

, a Ģ����Ƶ doctoral student in environmental and occupational health sciences, attended the workshop and is lead author of the accompanying paper. Ģ����Ƶ News sat down with Green to talk about where previous climate scenarios fell short, the conference’s work and how we can better prepare to keep each other safe in an uncertain future.��

What are the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways, and how do we use them?��

Carole Green: Shared Socioeconomic Pathways are a narrative framework that can be used in conjunction with pathways of greenhouse gas emissions to project future climate impacts to 2100. The SSPs are basically descriptions of the societal choices that affect the magnitude and pattern of interventions to protect human health and well-being.

The SSPs are essentially five possible alternatives for our future world. These pathways have been expanded to incorporate a wide range of issues of relevance for public health, and have been downscaled to describe what the future might look like in different countries and regions.

SSPs are featured in global processes like United Nations, where negotiators come from around the world to debate and agree on approaches to build resilience and sustainability to climate changes. The models help us understand how those choices interact and what the effects might be.��

We also use the SSPs in health research to understand the possible magnitude and geographic pattern of health impacts from climate change over the course of this century. Many projects at Ģ����Ƶ use future warming levels to analyze things like future wildfire impacts on Washington residents (research done by Ģ����Ƶ’s Climate Impacts Group).��

What do the SSPs leave out?��

CG: SSPs assume that humans will make socioeconomic changes in the future. The changes described in the pathways originally quantified GDP and population changes. Our work adds complexity, specifically to understand how the future of public health could evolve under these five pathways.

A lot of people are interested in heat waves, for example. Climate modeling alone can capture the planet’s warming, but doesn’t consider issues like how access to hospitals and healthcare could change by 2100. Current heat wave modeling looks at the climate interactions that shape health impacts but don’t explore how concurrent changes in society could interact with climate change to impact people’s well-being.��

Once you added complexity into the SSPs, what changed in your understanding of possible futures? Did you learn anything new or surprising?

CG: We learned that the drivers of health impacts are complex, and many are neither entirely good nor bad. Prioritizing sustainability, mitigation and adaptation will not necessarily lead to the best world for each future health outcome, but it definitely affects the future of health and well-being. Health futures we face globally are not predetermined. Different pathways could lead to vastly different health outcomes, with governance, health-system capacity, resources, equity, and cross-sectoral factors such as water and energy playing critical roles.

For example, under one of the scenarios, people don’t prioritize reducing greenhouse emissions, focusing instead on adapting to the changing climate. Strong investment in technology leads to quite a lot of wealth, which can benefit some health outcomes. But it’s not ideal, because people would also have to spend more time indoors because of the growing heat burden and would have to reduce connection to the outdoors and nature. You really don’t want to live in that scenario.

It’s very much a mix, which is challenging.��

Now that we have these fleshed-out scenarios, what does that allow us to do?��

CG: It allows us to have a more complex understanding of future health risks from climate change. Now we can add a layer of understanding and think about more variables than just warming levels and population numbers. It’s made of a lot of complexities that affect health, and those have their own effects.

In future climate scenarios, what does access to healthcare look like? What is the extent of food insecurity? How are we making sure people have access to clean air and water? When we have some understanding of those interactions, then it can motivate decision-makers to develop appropriate policies.��

What comes next?��

CG: We will apply these narratives to six different countries where there has been limited research using the SSPs. We’re working in Brazil, Senegal, South Africa, India, Vietnam and the Solomon Islands. We’ve started identifying key leads across these countries, where there is quite an appetite for this research. All countries are required to develop national health adaptation plans and to conduct vulnerability and adaptation assessments. They are also interested in modeling future health risks. We want to explore the extent to which the SSP narratives apply in their country’s context. Do they fit? How would they look different? There’s a lot of interest in building on local knowledge and bringing local experts together to talk about possible futures.��

We’re also quantifying specific disease burdens, universal healthcare access, water and sanitation infrastructure and digital health. Some quantifications will look at pairing SSPs with certain warming levels to project impacts.��

Last question: This group — including dozens of the world’s leading experts on climate and health — chose you to write the paper. How did that happen?��

CG: I am definitely not the leading expert in that room, so it was very much an honor to work on this and lead the writing. A lot of it comes from my advisor, , who is very supportive of me and my work. That’s been really meaningful. She encouraged me to take this on.

I often tell people that my job is to listen to experts and write down what they say. It was very meaningful to get to make those connections.��

For more information or to reach the researchers, contact Alden Woods at acwoods@uw.edu. Other Ģ����Ƶ authors include , professor of environmental and occupational health sciences, of global health, and of emergency medicine in the Ģ����Ƶ School of Medicine; and , research associate professor of urban design and planning.

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