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The latest news from the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ

March 23, 2020

Video: Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ custodial staff in the midst of massive ‘deep clean’ of campus

When the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ moved to online instruction March 9, Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ Facilities Services developed a three-week disinfection plan. Custodial staff are now working through more than 500 classrooms, lecture halls, libraries, auditoriums and shared spaces, with similar efforts under way in Bothell and Tacoma.

March 19, 2020

‘Sushi parasites’ have increased 283-fold in past 40 years

A new study led by the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ finds dramatic increases in the abundance of a worm that can be transmitted to humans who eat raw or undercooked seafood. Its 283-fold increase in abundance since the 1970s could have implications for the health of humans and marine mammals, which both can inadvertently eat the worm.

‘Fatal attraction’: Small carnivores drawn to kill sites, then ambushed by larger kin

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ researchers have discovered that large predators play a key yet unexpected role in keeping smaller predators and deer in check. Their “fatal attractionâ€� theory finds that smaller predators are drawn to the kill sites of large predators by the promise of leftover scraps, but the scavengers may be killed themselves if their larger kin return for seconds.

March 17, 2020

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ graduate and professional disciplines rank highly in US News’ Best Graduate School lists

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµâ€™s graduate and professional degree programs were widely recognized as among the best in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2021 Best Graduate School rankings released March 17.

‘It’s a good test’: Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ faculty, students adjust to an online end to the quarter, prepare for spring

This wasn’t how LaShawnDa Pittman expected to give her final exam review: At her kitchen table, laptop open, coffee cup at the ready, her 12-year-old Chihuahua named Espresso by her side. But as the first week of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµâ€™s shift to online classes drew to a close, Pittman, an assistant professor of American Ethnic Studies, was talking with her students over the conferencing platform Zoom, first to answer logistical questions about the upcoming exam, then to provide a…

March 16, 2020

Faculty/staff honors: Lithuanian state decoration; National Heart, Lung, Blood Institute award; Google research awards

Recent honors to Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ faculty and staff have come from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the Republic of Lithuania and Google.

March 15, 2020

Why COVID-19 strategies built around the concept of ‘herd immunity’ are problematic

The idea of building herd immunity – increasing the number of infected to such a degree that naturally occurring immunity would outstrip the coronavirus, while isolating the elderly and others at greatest risk of the disease – has been tossed around in the United States, the United Kingdom and elsewhere.  This week, however, U.K. officials appear to be backing away from that approach. But the kind of “herd immunityâ€� strategy being discussed in the U.K. does not acknowledge a critical…

March 12, 2020

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ graduate student tests positive for COVID-19

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ Advisory Committee on Communicable Diseases (ACCD) announced Thursday that a Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ Seattle campus graduate student has tested positive for COVID-19. The student is recovering at home, out of state, and we wish them well. 

March 11, 2020

Soundbites: Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ experts respond to Gov. Inslee’s limits on crowd sizes

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee issued on Wednesday, March 11, an emergency proclamation that limits large events to minimize risks to public health during the COVID-19 outbreak. Here are how two Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ experts responded to questions about the order.

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ faculty join radio debate on climate change solutions

KUOW’s That’s Debatable on Wednesday will feature two Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ faculty members: Dan Schwartz, professor of chemical engineering and director of the Clean Energy Institute, and Kate Simonen, upcoming chair of the Department of Architecture and director of the Carbon Leadership Forum.

Underrepresented college students benefit more from ‘active learning’ techniques in STEM courses

Students from different backgrounds in the United States enter college with equal interest in STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and mathematics. But that equal interest does not result in equal outcomes. Six years after starting an undergraduate STEM degree, roughly twice as many white students finished it compared to African American students. A new study by researchers at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ shows that teaching techniques in undergraduate STEM courses can significantly narrow gaps in course performance between students…

Book notes: Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ architectural historian Tyler Sprague explores the work of Kingdome designer Jack Christiansen

A talk with Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ architecture professor Tyler Sprague about his book “Sculpture on a Grand Scale: Jack Christiansen’s Thin Shell Modernism.” Plus books from Rick Bonus and Yong-Chool Ha.

Climate change at Mount Rainier expected to increase ‘mismatch’ between visitors and iconic wildflowers

The wildflowers of Mount Rainier’s subalpine meadows, which bloom once the winter snowpack melts, are a major draw for the more than 1 million visitors to this national park in Washington state each spring and summer. But by the end of this century, scientists expect that snow will melt months earlier due to climate change. New research led by the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ shows that, under those conditions, many visitors would miss the flowers altogether.

March 6, 2020

Video: President Cauce on the decision to end in-person classes for the quarter

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ President Ana Mari Cauce sat down with Vice President of Student Life Denzil Suite for a candid conversation about how COVID-19 is affecting campus operations, why classes will no longer meet in person for the rest of the quarter and whether a student-led petition had an impact on the decision.

Press conference: Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ’s response to COVID-19

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ held a press conference at 12:30 p.m. Friday, March 6, 2020 to address the decision to move classes online in an effort to limit the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak, and address the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ staff member who received a presumptive positive test result.

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ staff member has presumptive positive test for COVID-19

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ Advisory Committee on Communicable Diseases (ACCD) announced Friday that a Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ staff member who works in the Roosevelt Commons East building has received a presumptive positive test for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The employee is in self-isolation at home. Out of an abundance of caution, the building, which is located west of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµâ€™s Seattle campus in the 4300 block of 11th Ave. NE, has been closed for appropriate cleaning until further notice.

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ classes will no longer meet in person through end of quarter

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ announced today that starting Monday, March 9, classes will no longer meet in person. For the remainder of the quarter, instructors have been asked to conduct classes and/or exams remotely, as possible, until the quarter concludes on March 20. Final exams will not be conducted in person, but may be conducted online when feasible, and at the instructor’s discretion. 

Millions of US workers at risk of infections on the job, Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ researchers calculate, emphasizing need to protect against COVID-19

A Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ researcher calculates that 14.4 million workers face exposure to infection once a week and 26.7 million at least once a month in the workplace, pointing to an important population needing protection as the novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19, continues to break out across the U.S. Marissa Baker, an assistant professor in the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ School of Public Health, based her calculations on research she published in 2018 in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine. In that paper, Baker…

Dimming Betelgeuse likely isn’t cold, just dusty, new study shows

Late last year, news broke that the star Betelgeuse was fading significantly, ultimately dropping to around 40% of its usual brightness. The activity fueled popular speculation that the red supergiant would soon explode as a massive supernova. But astronomers have more benign theories to explain the star’s dimming behavior. And scientists at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ and Lowell Observatory believe they have support for one of them: Betelgeuse isn’t dimming because it’s about to explode — it’s just dusty. In…

March 5, 2020

The food you need: Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ expert on preparing for an extended home stay

Nutritional science expert Anne-Marie Gloster, a lecturer in the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ School of Public Health’s Nutritional Sciences Program and expert in emergency food planning, has put together this list of things to think about and foods to have on hand if you should be called on to stay at home for an extended period. “Shopping intentionally and feeding ourselves mindfully is a delicious way to reduce our stress during this time of heightened awareness about our personal and community health,â€� Gloster…

Visitors should avoid coming to Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ campus to see cherry blossoms amid COVID-19 outbreak

The University is asking people to avoid coming to campus this year to comply with Gov. Inslee’s March 11 proclamation that prohibits large gatherings of more than 250 people as our region combats the spread of COVID-19.

President Cauce, Dr. Geoff Gottlieb discuss Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ COVID-19 response at ASÄ¢¹½ÊÓÆµ senate meeting

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ President Ana Mari Cauce, joined by Dr. Geoff Gottlieb, head of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµâ€™s Advisory Committee on Communicable Diseases, met with the members of the ASÄ¢¹½ÊÓÆµ Student Senate on March 3 to share the most current information and take questions about the University’s response and preparations for the novel coronavirus.

March 4, 2020

ArtsÄ¢¹½ÊÓÆµ Roundup: Guest Artist trio Meridian performs and hosts a master class, Scandinavian 30 lecture asks us to contemplate Tom of Finland, and more

Updated March 6, 2020: Many of the events in this roundup have been postponed or cancelled. Information for a specific event will be at the link provided for that event. This week in the arts, School of Art faculty Whitney Lynn gives a lecture at the Art Building, Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ Symphony and combined choirs perform at Meany Hall, Dr. Charlotte Coté shares lessons from the wÇ�É«Ç�bÊ”altxÊ· – Intellectual House, and more! To learn about more events taking place, visit ArtsÄ¢¹½ÊÓÆµ. Faculty Lecture with…

March 2, 2020

New honors for scientists studying ‘ecosystem sentinels’

P. Dee Boersma, a Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ professor of biology and director of the Center for Ecosystem Sentinels, is a finalist for the 2020 Indianapolis Prize for conservation, to be awarded later this year by the Indianapolis Zoological Society. Sue Moore, a scientist with the center and a Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ affiliate professor of biology and of aquatic and fishery sciences, has won the 2020 IASC Medal, also known as the Arctic Medal, from the International Arctic Science Committee.

A conversation with Ted Poor, Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ faculty, jazz drummer, with new album out, ‘You Already Know’

Ted Poor, assistant professor of drums in the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ School of Music, has a new album. “You Already Know,” was released Feb. 28 on New Deal/Impulse. Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ Notebook caught up with Poor for a short Q and A.

February 28, 2020

ArtsÄ¢¹½ÊÓÆµ Roundup: Ted Poor debut album release show, The Women of Lockerbie opens, and more

This week in the arts, Art History professor Foong Ping discusses the reconceptualizing of the Seattle Asian Art Museum, four Native American Huskies share what “homeâ€� means to them, the exhibition As, Not For: Dethroning Our Absolutes opens at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery, and more! To learn about more events taking place, visit ArtsÄ¢¹½ÊÓÆµ. Concert – Hélène Grimaud March 4, 7:30 PM | Meany Hall French pianist Hélène Grimaud brings a virtuosic program to Meany Center, performing music from her 2018 recording, Memory. In…

February 27, 2020

Video: Warming Arctic means less ice, bigger waves

Throughout the month of November 2019, a team of Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ researchers chased storms in the Arctic Ocean. The project, Coastal Ocean Dynamics in the Arctic, or CODA, is looking at how water currents shift and waves hit the coast with more open water, to provide better forecasts and predictions for the region’s future.