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The latest news from the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ

August 30, 2016

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ student partners with WSECU for temporary art exhibit in the University District

Most landscape architecture projects conjure up an image of a permanent structure meant to be experienced indefinitely. But for Britton Shepard, a 2016 graduate of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµâ€™s landscape architecture master’s program, it means exploring the temporary nature of urban terrains. Earlier this year, Shepard brought life back to a vacant and demolished lot in the University District — although it was only a short-lived endeavor. Shepard’s thesis project “Site 1121: Field Notesâ€� centered around a Washington State Employee…

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ and City of Auburn launch first Livable City Year partnership

The Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ has begun a yearlong partnership with the City of Auburn, under the new Livable City Year program. Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ students and professors will work with the City of Auburn to advance the city’s goals for livability and sustainability throughout the upcoming academic year.

New discovery Proxima b is in host star’s habitable zone — but could it really be habitable?

The world’s attention is now on Proxima Centauri b, a possibly Earth-like planet about 4.22 light-years away. It’s in its star’s habitable zone — but could it in fact be habitable? If so, the planet evolved very different than Earth, say researchers at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ-based Virtual Planetary Laboratory.

August 25, 2016

Report explores factors that might attract children to marijuana edibles

A new report from the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ School of Law’s Cannabis Law and Policy Project identifies factors that make food attractive to children. Commissioned by the state Liquor and Cannabis Board, the report studied research on what makes food appeal to children and the role that marketing and branding play.

August 21, 2016

Is divorce seasonal? Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ research shows biannual spike in divorce filings

To everything there is a season — even divorce, new research from Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ sociologists concludes. Associate sociology professor Julie Brines and doctoral candidate Brian Serafini found what is believed to be the first quantitative evidence of a seasonal, biannual pattern of filings for divorce. The researchers analyzed filings in Washington state between 2001 and 2015 and found that they consistently peaked in March and August, the periods following winter and summer holidays. Their research, presented Aug. 21 at…

August 20, 2016

‘I miss you so much’: How Twitter is broadening the conversation on death and mourning

Death and mourning were largely considered private matters in the 20th century, with the public remembrances common in previous eras replaced by intimate gatherings behind closed doors in funeral parlors and family homes. But social media is redefining how people grieve, and Twitter in particular — with its ephemeral mix of rapid-fire broadcast and personal expression — is widening the conversation around death and mourning, two Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ sociologists say. In a paper presented Aug. 20 at the annual…

August 19, 2016

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ will host 2017 summer institute on teaching urban environmental issues

Faculty members from the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ College of Built Environments, Jackson School of International Studies and departments of French and Italian studies and history will team up in 2017 to give a new, three-week course for university and college instructors on urban environmental humanities.

Follow your nose: Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ’s young corpse flower relocates to Volunteer Park Conservatory for fetid first bloom

Visitors to Seattle’s Volunteer Park Conservatory are in for a stinking treat, courtesy of the Department of Biology at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ. The conservatory has taken in a young corpse lily, affectionately known as Dougsley, which is set to blossom this week or next.

Paleontologists with the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ’s Burke Museum discover major T. rex fossil

Paleontologists with the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture and the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ have discovered a Tyrannosaurus rex, including a very complete skull. The find, which paleontologists estimate to be about 20 percent of the animal, includes vertebrae, ribs, hips and lower jaw bones.

Notice of possible rule making preproposal statement of inquiry

Reasons why rules on this subject may be needed and what they might accomplish: To update WAC 478-160-163, Waivers of tuition and fees, with waivers recently enacted through state legislation, and to make other amendments that update obsolete information sources or otherwise streamline administrative procedures.

Study finds bias, disgust toward mixed-race couples

Interracial marriage has grown in the United States over the past few decades, and polls show that most Americans are accepting of mixed-race relationships. A 2012 study by the Pew Research Center found that interracial marriages in the U.S. had doubled between 1980 and 2010 to about 15 percent, and just 11 percent of respondents disapproved of interracial marriage. But new research from the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ suggests that reported acceptance of interracial marriage masks deeper feelings of discomfort —…

Interscatter communication enables first-ever implanted devices, smart contact lenses, credit cards that ‘talk’ Wi-Fi

“Interscatter” communication developed by Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ engineers allows power-limited devices such as brain implants, contact lenses, credit cards and smaller wearable electronics to talk to everyday devices such as smartphones and watches.

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ research backs up ongoing efforts to protect the enigmatic Nautilus

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ biologist Peter Ward’s body of research has helped policymakers recognize the impact nautiluses have on ocean ecosystems, as well as how they can — and cannot — replenish their numbers in the face of unrestricted, unregulated fishing. At a CITES meeting in September, Ward and his team hope nautiluses will get much-needed protections from trade and harvesting.

Unearthing trackers of the past: Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ computer scientists reveal the history of third-party web tracking

At the USENIX Security Conference in Austin, Texas, a team of Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ researchers on Aug. 12 presented the first-ever comprehensive analysis of third-party web tracking across three decades and a new tool, TrackingExcavator, which they developed to extract and analyze tracking behaviors on a given web page. They saw a four-fold increase in third-party tracking on top sites from 1996 to 2016, and mapped the growing complexity of trackers stretching back decades.

August 12, 2016

‘Hilloccio’ vs the ‘gas giant’: Suzzallo Library exhibit features powerful editorial cartoons from campaign 2016

The editorial cartoons filling a ground floor exhibit in Suzzallo Library through November are hard-hitting, but they fairly depict the wild campaign of 2016, and the serious issues the year has brought as well.

Q&A: Phil Levin joins Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ, The Nature Conservancy in new role

Phil Levin, a former senior scientist at NOAA Fisheries, recently began a joint role at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ and The Nature Conservancy. Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ Today sat down with Levin to find out why he took this job and what he hopes to accomplish.

New book ‘Cities that Think Like Planets’ imagines urban regions resilient to change

What does it mean for a city to “think like a planet”? Marina Alberti of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ College of Built Environments discusses her new book, “Cities that Think Like Planets,” published by Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ Press.

August 5, 2016

Employee open forums Aug. 15, 17 to report on Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ HR/Payroll Integrated Service Center

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ employees are invited to attend an open forum either Monday, Aug. 15, 1:30-2:30 p.m. in Odegaard 220 or Wednesday, Aug. 17, 1:30-2:30 p.m. in the HUB, Room 250, to learn more about the design of the HR/Payroll Integrated Service Center.   The goal of the center is to provide a single point of contact to effectively support faculty, staff and student employees with their human resources, academic human resources and payroll-related questions and service needs. Data input sessions last winter garnered more…

August 4, 2016

Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ geologist: Ancient Chinese flood is latest to match oral, geologic histories

A Science commentary written by Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ professor of Earth and space sciences David Montgomery discusses how recent geological findings support the historical basis for traditional tales about China’s Great Flood.

Local media moments recalled in Seattle Television History project

A wild-eyed television preacher, uncensored public access nuttiness, even a young Ellen DeGeneres featured on a local comedy show segment — when Stephen Groening had students explore the history of local television for a class, they sure found a lot of good stuff.

August 2, 2016

Justin Camputaro named director of the Husky Union Building at Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ

Justin Camputaro, with more than 15 years of experience in higher education administration, joined the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ as the new director of the Husky Union Building, effective July 18.

August 1, 2016

Twelve Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ faculty elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences

A dozen scientists and engineers from the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ have been elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences. According to a statement released by the organization, the new members were selected for “their outstanding record of scientific achievement and willingness to work on behalf of the academy in bringing the best available science to bear on issues within the state of Washington.” Three of the new members from Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ were chosen because they had been elected recently to…

July 31, 2016

President’s statement on shootings in Mukilteo

The following is a statement from Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ President Ana Mari Cauce on the shooting of four individuals in Mukilteo this weekend, three of whom – Anna Bui, Jordan Ebner, and Jake Long – were killed, and one of whom – Will Kramer – was wounded and is at Harborview Medical Center. Bui was a student at Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ Bothell, while Kramer is a student on the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµâ€™s Seattle campus. “Words are inadequate to address the bloodshed that occurred this…

July 28, 2016

Runstad Center report: Addressing condo construction defect liability may help promote affordable housing in Seattle

A new study from the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ’s Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies suggests that Seattle and Washington state could invite development of more affordable housing by easing the legal risk — or the appearance of risk — in condominium development, construction, liability and insurance.

July 27, 2016

Carbon-financed cookstove fails to deliver hoped-for benefits in the field

A study of the the first clean cookstove intervention in India financed through the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism found expected benefits from newer, more “efficient” stoves — based on their performance in lab tests — did not materialize in the field.

Middle schoolers build underwater robot in science summer camp

Middle school students tried their hands at designing and building underwater robots this week during a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration science summer camp in Seattle. The ROV workshop was a joint project by Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ-based Washington Sea Grant, NOAA and Atlantis STEAM.

July 25, 2016

Minimum Wage Study: Effects of Seattle wage hike modest, may be overshadowed by strong economy

The lot of Seattle’s lowest-paid workers improved following the city’s minimum wage increase to $11 in 2015, but that was more due to the robust regional economy than the wage hike itself, according to a research team headed by the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ Evans School.