uwnews.org | RSS news feed: news releases by Sandra Hines(shines@u.washington.edu) | University of Washington

Microbe understudies await their turn in the limelight

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 19:47:28 GMT

On the marine microbial stage, there appears to be a vast, varied group of understudies only too ready to step in when "star" microbes falter. Work led by the University of Washington provides the first evidence that microorganisms can be rare for long periods before completely turning the tables to become dominant when ecosystems change.

First Earth-like planet spotted outside solar system likely a volcanic wasteland

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:15:12 GMT

When scientists confirmed in October that they had detected the first rocky planet outside our solar system, it advanced the longtime quest to find an Earth-like planet hospitable to life. The rocky planet CoRoT-7 b is, however, a forbidding place. If its orbit is not almost perfectly circular, then the planet might be undergoing continuous, fierce volcanic eruptions, according to information presented at the American Astronomical Society meeting.

Scientists witness for first time magma streaming from volcano in deep ocean

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:45:49 GMT

For the first time scientists have seen molten lava flowing from a deep-ocean seafloor volcano, exploding into 35-foot-long streams of red and gold and rising as bubbles as much as 3 feet across. Volcanic rocks, especially pillow basalts, are one of the most common rock forms on Earth, and yet no one has ever seen them forming in the deep ocean before.

Pay attention to that man behind the curtain: Climate Wizard makes large databases of climate information visual, accessible

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:17:03 GMT

A Web tool that generates color maps of projected temperature and precipitation changes using 16 of the world's most prominent climate-change models is being demonstrated in Copenhagen, Denmark, in conjunction with the climate summit underway there. It also is the subject of a presentation Tuesday, Dec. 15, at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.

Grinch at work: one of arboretum's rare conifers cut down, stolen

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:11:00 GMT

Someone apparently wanting a free Christmas tree cut down one of the rarest conifers in the Washington Park Arboretum, a part of the University of Washington Botanic Gardens. It's estimated that the tree, a keteleeria, was worth more than $10,000.

UW smoothes pathway to 3-year bachelor's degree

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:50:26 GMT

The new Husky Advantage will allow some students to complete certain bachelor's degree programs in just three years.

UW oceanographer is a lead scientist in largest airborne survey of polar ice

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 01:00:42 GMT

During the next six years Operation Ice Bridge will use aircraft to conduct what NASA says is the largest airborne survey ever made of ice at the Earth's polar regions. Flights over Antarctica, with University of Washington oceanographer Seelye Martin as chief scientist, start Oct. 15.

Seaglider sets new underwater endurance and range records

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:32:53 GMT

A University of Washington Seaglider operated for 9 months and 5 days in the Pacific Ocean, an endurance record more than double what any other autonomous underwater vehicle has accomplished on a single mission. During that time it propelled itself a distance equivalent to crossing the Atlantic Ocean from New England to Europe, without periods of drifting with currents and while continually diving to collect data.

Fact sheet: UW receives largest-ever federal award to construct ocean observatory off the Pacific Northwest

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 19:50:00 GMT

The University of Washington is slated to receive approximately $126 million -- of which $35 million is stimulus money -- to begin installing nearly 500 miles of fiber-optic and power cable and seven science nodes on the seafloor off the Pacific Northwest. The cabled observatory will give scientists new ways to study the processes that influence global climate, store human-generated fossil fuel carbon, cause ocean acidification, support major fish stocks and threaten coastlines with storms and tsunamis.

Washington forests may be solution to state's green-energy quest

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:03:34 GMT

Wood is a popular fuel for heating homes in the Northwest but few people might see it as an important source of liquid fuels for motor vehicles. However, a new University of Washington report commissioned by the Washington Legislature suggests that woody biomass could represent the state's greatest opportunity to develop biofuels and reduce both green house gas emissions and dependency upon imported oil.

Scientists compile most comprehensive look at fish stocks

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:25:31 GMT

Twenty one fisheries management researchers and marine ecologists - many of whom have been at odds with each other in the past over the state of the world's fisheries - have collaborated on a groundbreaking paper that puts forth a common way to look at fish abundance and exploitation.

Western Washington appears poised for another extremely dry summer

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:00:00 GMT

If you feel as if Western Washington has had an unusually dry start to the summer this year, you're not mistaken. The extended dry spell from May 20 to July 4 this year in most of Western Washington means the region has already been drier than the period May 20 to July 4 of what turned out to be the driest summer on record

Earth's most prominent rainfall feature creeping northward

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:19:19 GMT

The rain band near the equator that determines the supply of freshwater to nearly a billion people throughout the tropics and subtropics has been creeping north for more than 300 years. If the band continues to migrate at just less than a mile a year, which is the average for all the years it has been moving north, then some Pacific islands near the equator may be starved of freshwater by midcentury or sooner.

Seaglider monitors waters from Arctic during record-breaking journey under ice

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:00:49 GMT

The University of Washington has surpassed its 2-year-old world record for operating a glider under the ice, this time by successfully operating one of its seagliders for six months as it made round trips hundreds of miles in length under the ice at Davis Strait.

Ice-free Arctic Ocean possible in 30 years, not 90 as previously estimated

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 16:00:45 GMT

A nearly ice-free Arctic Ocean in the summer may happen three times sooner than scientists have estimated. New research says the Artic might lose most of its ice cover in summer in as few as 30 years instead of the end of the century.

State may have brief window to slow loss of working forests to development

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:00:28 GMT

Today's slumping economy and housing market may reduce, temporarily, the insistent economic forces on Washington's private forestland owners to give up the cycle of harvesting and replanting trees in favor of converting the land to other uses, such as lots for houses.

DEIMOS joins MARS and its satellite of instruments on seafloor

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 23:00:17 GMT

The planet Mars has a moon named Deimos, so it seems only appropriate that the ocean observatory MARS in Monterey Bay have its own DEIMOS. This DEIMOS, however, is an underwater acoustic package designed to monitor movements of fish and zooplankton.

DNA evidence is in, newly discovered species of fish dubbed H. psychedelica

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 19:00:30 GMT

"Psychedelica" seems the perfect name for a fish that is a wild swirl of tan and peach zebra stripes and behaves in ways contrary to its brethren, including bouncing like a ball along the seafloor instead of swimming. The fish, which has rare forward-facing eyes like humans, also has a secretive nature. That could be the reason they weren't spotted by divers until just last year nor described in the scientific literature until now.

New state climate report indicates coming decades will be challenging

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:43:00 GMT

The most detailed report ever on how climate change could affect Washington paints a stark picture, but it should help the state avoid being surprised by climate-related changes coming down the road. The assessment is being released today, Feb. 11, to the state's Department of Ecology and the Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development.

Some of Earth's climate troubles should face burial at sea, scientists say

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 11:30:00 GMT

Making bales with 30 percent of global crop residues - the stalks and such left after harvesting - and then sinking the bales into the deep ocean could reduce the build up of global carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by up to 15 percent a year, according to just published calculations. That is a significant amount of carbon, the process can be accomplished with existing technology and it can be done year after year, according to a University of Washington researcher.

Tree death rate in Pacific Northwest doubled in 17 years

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 17:09:54 GMT

Trees are dying twice as fast as they did three decades ago in older forests of the western United States and scientists suspect warming temperatures are a contributing factor. In the Pacific Northwest and southern British Columbia, the rate of tree death in older coniferous forests doubled in 17 years.

Europa does the wave to generate heat

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:12:07 GMT

One of the moons in our solar system that scientists think has the potential to harbor life may have a far more dynamic ocean than previously thought. If the moon Europa is tilted on its axis even slightly as it orbits the giant planet Jupiter, then Jupiter's gravitational pull could be creating powerful waves in Europa's ocean, according to an oceanographer with the UW's Applied Physics Laboratory.

Spicing up your holidays is recipe for spicing up Puget Sound as well

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:56:24 GMT

'Tis the season and the waters of Puget Sound are "flush" with holiday spices and flavorings. Individuals and water managers are concerned about the antibiotics, painkillers, hormones and other substances that are swallowed, pass through us and become part of the treated sewage water that flows into Puget Sound. Measuring flavorings is a benign way of learning how substances may circulate, concentrate or dissipate in the Sound.

UW over-enrolled by more than 1,000 students

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 02:12:51 GMT

Undergraduate students returned to the University of Washington this fall in numbers well above what was expected, resulting in the Seattle campus having about 1,100 students more than predicted and authorized under the state budget for the UW.

Compared to all commercial carriers, log truckers have better safety record

Kathy Barnard ((509) 335-2806) and Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:48:42 GMT

A report on the log truck industry just delivered to the state legislature indicates that the number of traffic accidents involving log trucks declined 11 percent while collisions for all commercial trucks increased by 15 percent in Washington between 2004 and 2006.

New robot scouts best locations for components of undersea lab

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 23:07:01 GMT

Like a deep-sea bloodhound, Sentry - the newest in an elite group of unmanned submersibles able to operate on their own in demanding and rugged environments - has helped scientists pinpoint optimal locations for two observation sites of a pioneering seafloor laboratory being planned off Washington and Oregon. Successful selection of the two sites is a crucial step in developing an extensive sensor network above and below the seafloor on the Juan de Fuca Plate.

UW ranked 16th among 500 universities the world over

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 21:44:46 GMT

In time for the start of the Olympics, a kind of academic Olympics has been conducted by one of China's largest universities and the results show University of Washington ranked 16th among 500 universities around the world.

Scientists break record by finding northernmost hydrothermal vent field

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:50:46 GMT

Inside the Arctic Circle, scientists have found black smoker vents farther north than anyone has ever seen before. Dissolved sulfide minerals that solidify when vent water hits the icy cold of the deep sea have, over the years, accumulated around the vents in what is one of the most massive hydrothermal sulfide deposits ever found on the seafloor.

Seattle high-tech leader selected to head UW TechTransfer

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:34:42 GMT

A veteran executive of Seattle's high-tech community has been named to lead UW TechTransfer, the unit that commercializes the results of University of Washington research. Linden Rhoads, who has held senior management positions in Seattle-area companies for 20 years, becomes UW's vice provost for technology transfer Aug. 14.

UW regents approve proposed College of the Environment

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:45:19 GMT

The University of Washington Board of Regents yesterday approved the creation of a College of the Environment, a unit with the potential to be one of the nation's largest programs focused on environmental science, policy and management.

iRobot secures licensing agreement for UW's Seagliders

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:28:27 GMT

University of Washington record-holding, ocean-observing robots that operate at sea for months at a time -- traveling thousands of miles at the behest of operators on land directing activities via a satellite phone network -- will be commercially produced by iRobot under a licensing agreement announced this week.

When it comes to nitrogen, the 'fix' is in

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 08:00:00 GMT

The discovery in the last decade of new suites of microorganisms capable of using various forms of nitrogen -- discoveries that have involved a number of University of Washington researchers -- is one reason to rethink what we know about the nitrogen cycle. So says University of Washington's Claire Horner-Devine, assistant professor of aquatic and fishery sciences, in a recent Science magazine opinion piece.

New college to meet growing complexity, scale of environmental threats

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 15 May 2008 23:42:48 GMT

The University of Washington Board of Regents today received a preliminary blueprint for a new college that will position the UW to be the leader in environmental research and education, and to better resolve complex regional, national and international environmental challenges, according to Provost Phyllis Wise.

Chalk one up for coccolithophores

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 18:51:22 GMT

Scientists have feared that gradual acidification of the world's oceans would wreak havoc with organisms that build protective outer shells. But a new finding shows at least three species of coccolithophores - single-celled algae that are major players in the ocean's cycling of carbon - are responding to ocean acidification by building thicker cell walls and plates of chalk, contrary to what some recent lab experiments have shown.

While stability far from assured, Greenland perhaps not headed down too slippery a slope

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:22:43 GMT

In a pair of companion papers in Science Express this week, scientists investigate the role of surface meltwater on accelerating the flow of the Greenland Ice Sheet and outlet glaciers and conclude that, while surface melt plays a substantial role in ice sheet dynamics, it may not produce large instabilities. For one thing, it turns out that this meltwater has a much more subdued influence than had been thought on the fast-moving outlet glaciers that rapidly discharge ice to the ocean.

New fish has a face even Dale Chihuly could love

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 19:43:45 GMT

A fish that would rather crawl into crevices than swim, and that may be able to see in the same way that humans do, could represent an entirely unknown family of fishes, says a University of Washington fish expert.

Quincy Jones to be UW commencement speaker, receive honorary doctorate

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 21:55:04 GMT

Quincy Jones, a distinguished musician, composer, producer, arranger and conductor for more than six decades, will be the University of Washington commencement speaker June 14 in Husky Stadium. Jones, who was raised in Seattle, also will receive an honorary doctorate from the UW. The awarding of this degree was approved today by the board of regents.

UW undergraduates scrutinize Glacier Bay, share exploits by blog

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 23:10:56 GMT

Twenty-one University of Washington seniors and their professors will sail from Seattle Saturday on the UW's research vessel the Thomas G. Thompson to Glacier Bay. Once there they will embark on an intense four-day research cruise in the bay. Students, teachers and members of the general public are invited to follow the expedition online at http://courses.washington.edu/ocean444/2008/

Lost City pumps life-essential chemicals at rates unseen at typical black smokers

Michael Carlowicz (508-289-3771) and Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 17:33:38 GMT

Hydrocarbons -- molecules critical to life -- are being generated by the simple interaction of seawater with the rocks under the Lost City hydrothermal vent field in the mid-Atlantic Ocean. Being able to produce building blocks of life makes Lost City-like vents even stronger contenders as places where life might have originated on Earth.

UW, 1,500 colleges and groups across nation to brainstorm climate change solutions next week

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 23:21:15 GMT

Focus the Nation, a national teach-in next week on global warming solutions for America, involves the University of Washington and more than 1,500 other institutions across the nation - mainly colleges and universities. UW events Jan. 31 include a day-long program and a community/campus town hall meeting, for which more than 450 persons have already signed up

Ecologists, material scientists pursue genetics of diatom's elegant, etched casing

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 23:15:11 GMT

Scientists have discovered of whole subsets of genes and proteins that govern how one species of diatom builds its shell. For oceanographers, the work might one day help them understand how thousands of different kinds of diatoms - and their ability to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere - might be affected by something like global climate change.

Without its insulating ice cap, Arctic surface waters warm to as much as 5 C above average

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 23:30:18 GMT

Record-breaking amounts of ice-free water have deprived the Arctic of more of its natural "sunscreen" than ever in recent summers. The effect is so pronounced that sea surface temperatures rose to 5 C above average in one place this year, a high never before observed, says the Applied Physics Laboratory oceanographer who has compiled the first-ever look at average sea surface temperatures for the region.

Contrarian approach could mean more fish: Maximizing fishery profits could be new strategy for conservation

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 19:10:26 GMT

A new way of looking at maximizing fishery profits, published this week in Science, could lead fishers to buy into the idea of catching fewer fish than they are allowed under commonly used management guidelines. It could be a win-win for groups wanting to see depleted fish stocks rebuilt and fishers wanting to stay in business because, it turns out, conservation promotes both large fish stocks and higher profits.

UW launches cutting-edge DNA 'fin-printing' project for salmon

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 17:53:37 GMT

The ability of salmon to migrate extraordinary distances makes it hard at a management level to know whose fish are whose and at a biological level to unravel the mystery of their ocean migration. A $4.1 million effort just launched by the University of Washington's School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences aims to help by gathering genetic information for thousands upon thousands of Pacific Rim salmon populations and creating open-access databases for managers, treaty-makers and scientists.

Scientists ramp up ability of poplar plants to disarm toxic pollutants

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 22:49:59 GMT

The most common contaminant at Superfund sites is the industrial solvent trichloroethylene. Experimental poplar plants, several inches tall and growing in a solution laced with trichloroethylene, were able break down, or metabolize, the pollutant into harmless byproducts at rates 100 times that of the control plants.

Conifers or condos? NW Environmental Forum develops strategies

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 00:06:00 GMT

Northwest Environmental Forum participants are concerned that working forests in Washington are being converted to other uses ranging from pasture land to housing developments.

Fact sheet: Perennial ice, sometimes thick enough to defy icebreakers, may be key to predicting Arctic thaw

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 00:25:17 GMT

Sea ice that is more than a year old -- called perennial ice -- decreased by 23 percent during the past two winters in the Arctic Ocean as strong winds swept more ice than usual out Fram Strait near Greenland. That loss of perennial ice led to this summer's record-breaking ice retreat.

Rare albino ratfish has eerie, silvery sheen

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 15:52:48 GMT

A ghostly, mutant ratfish caught off Whidbey Island in Washington state is the only completely albino fish ever seen by both the curator of the University of Washington's 7.2 million-specimen fish collection and a fish and wildlife biologist with more than 20 years of sampling fish in Puget Sound.

Experts list: Arctic sea ice minimum for 2007 sets new record

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) and Vince Stricherz (206-543-2580) — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 20:43:55 GMT

University of Washington experts from the Applied Physics Laboratory and atmospheric sciences give their perspectives on this week's announcement that the ice extent minimum for 2007 in the Arctic Ocean was reached last weekend at a record-breaking low of 1.59 million square miles.

Coastal/global awards dovetail with proposed $130 million ocean observatory

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:58:38 GMT

This morning's announcement by the Joint Oceanographic Institutions concerning a $97.7 million award to a consortium of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Oregon State University and Scripps Institution of Oceanography for programs to learn more about coastal waters and the world's oceans follows just months after the University of Washington was selected to develop detailed engineering specifications for a cabled underwater research facility off the coast of Washington and Oregon.

Impacts on human health, agriculture to round out most comprehensive assessment of climate change on state

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 18:59:14 GMT

An assessment of the impact of climate change on the state, being launched this week by the University of Washington's Climate Impacts Group for the Washington Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development, is the most comprehensive ever.

Waters off Grays Harbor only second place in world where glass sponge reefs found

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 19:47:37 GMT

Thirty miles west of Grays Harbor, University of Washington scientists have discovered large colonies of glass sponges thriving on the seafloor. The species of glass sponges capable of building reefs were thought extinct for 100 million years until they were found in recent years in protected Canadian waters, the only place in the world they've been observed until now. The discovery during an expedition funded by UW Washington Sea Grant and School of Oceanography extends the range of reef-building glass sponges into open ocean.

University of Washington to develop specifications for large ocean observatory off coast of Washington and Oregon

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 16 May 2007 01:28:44 GMT

The University of Washington has been allocated $2.2 million for a planning phase to develop detailed engineering specifications for a cabled underwater research facility to be built off the coast of Washington and Oregon on the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate.

Kenyon S. Chan selected as chancellor of UW Bothell

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 21:03:11 GMT

University of Washington President Mark A. Emmert and Provost Phyllis Wise have announced that Kenyon S. Chan has been selected as the next chancellor of the University of Washington Bothell.

Glaciers not on simple, upward trend of melting

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 19:50:43 GMT

Two of Greenland's largest glaciers shrank dramatically and dumped twice as much ice into the sea during a period of less than a year between 2004 and 2005. And then, less than two years later, they returned to near their previous rates of discharge. Future warming may lead to rapid pulses of retreat and increased discharge rather than a long, steady drawdown, researchers say.

'Good vibrations' from deep-sea smokers may keep fish out of hot water

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 16:00:00 GMT

"Editors' Choice" in the current issue of Science magazine, tags them, "Singing Vents." Long assumed to be silent, fluids in black smoker hydrothermal vents not only produce a rumbling sound but, as an added surprise, are producing resonant tones. Have a listen to what University of Washington scientists have recorded in the eerie depths nearly a mile and a half below the surface.

Northwest scientists contribute to international report, see increased warming

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) and Vince Stricherz (206-543-2580) — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 15:53:51 GMT

Northwest climate scientists played key roles in a major new international study that shows climate change will have serious effects in the coming decades.

UW College of Forest Resources kicks off centennial with Gov. Gregoire Wednesday

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 18:54:55 GMT

In the same month that its faculty and staff members have been helping the state look to the future concerning working forests and the potential for biofuels from woody debris, the University of Washington's College of Forest Resources kicks off a year-long celebration of its 100th anniversary. A program Wednesday in Olympia includes Gov. Christine Gregoire, UW provost Phyllis Wise, forest resources dean Bruce Bare and students showcasing research.

New findings blow a decade of assumptions out of the water

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 08:00:00 GMT

The Atlantic Ocean doesn't receive the mother lode of fixed nitrogen, the building block of life, after all. Instead the Pacific and Indian oceans experience twice the amount of nitrogen fixing as the Atlantic, say researchers in this week's Nature. The title of an accompanying News and Views piece in the journal says it all, "Looking for N2 Fixation in all the Wrong Places."

Forum recommends incentives, innovation, investment for state's forests

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 08:00:00 GMT

A University of Washington College of Forest Resources think tank says Washington forests are being threatened from within. The 90 participants in the latest UW Northwest Environmental Forum concluded that incentives, innovations and investments by the state are among the things needed if Washington wants to improve the competitive and environmental performance of its timberlands.

'Speechless' and 'Mute' help break the silence of the leaves

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 08:00:00 GMT

Researchers have discovered two genes that guide land plants to develop microscopic pores that they can open and close as if each pore was a tiny mouth. Plants wouldn't have been able to move from water to land 400 million years ago if they hadn't evolved this ability, which protects them from losing too much moisture.

Microbe fixes nitrogen at a blistering 92 C, may offer clues to evolution of nitrogen fixation

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 08:00:00 GMT

A heat-loving archaeon capable of fixing nitrogen at a surprisingly hot 92 degrees Celsius, or 198 Fahrenheit, may represent Earth's earliest lineages of organisms capable of nitrogen fixation, perhaps even preceding the kinds of bacteria today's plants and animals rely on to fix nitrogen.

UW researchers advocate creation of national climate service

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) and Vince Stricherz (206-543-2580) — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 08:00:00 GMT

It's time for the United States to have a national climate service -- an interagency partnership led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and charged with understanding climate dynamics, forecasts and impacts -- say six members of the University of Washington's Climate Impacts Group. Their views appear online this week in the early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Serengeti patrols cut poaching of buffalo, elephants, rhinos

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 08:00:00 GMT

A technique used since the 1930s to estimate the abundance of fish has shown for the first time that enforcement patrols are effective at reducing poaching of elephants, African buffaloes and black rhinos in the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania.

Resilient form of plant carbon gives new meaning to term 'older than dirt'

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 08:00:00 GMT

A particularly resilient type of carbon from the first plants to regrow after the last ice age -- and that same type of carbon from all the plants since -- appears to have been accumulating for 11,000 years in the forests of British Columbia, Canada.

$1.5 million to advance promise of woody biomass for fuel in Washington

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 08:00:00 GMT

With a potentially huge supply of woody material thinned from Washington forests, the state's pulp and paper mills could become the "biorefining" backbone for turning woody plant material into fuel and other products, a University of Washington professor says.

UW experts available for background information on flooding, landslides

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 08:00:00 GMT

University of Washington faculty members are able to provide background on the ways local watersheds have been managed, the effects of land-use changes on watersheds or other information concerning flooding and landslides as the region continues to experience wet weather.

Backgrounder: Dispelling fears of a worldwide fisheries crisis

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 08:00:00 GMT

The nature of the fisheries crisis is a clash of objectives, not a collapse of world fisheries, says a University of Washington aquatic and fishery sciences professor.

Inaugural vendor fair to encourage use of minority- and women-owned businesses

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 08:00:00 GMT

Twenty-five small businesses that supply goods and services to the University of Washington will be showcased in a vendor fair Nov. 7 where they will have a chance to meet with a wide range of UW staff members who are responsible for purchasing decisions in their departments.

UW prof leads board advising NOAA on critical science issues

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 08:00:00 GMT

A University of Washington marine affairs expert has been named to chair the science advisory board of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the federal agency responsible for such things as weather and climate prediction, fisheries management and coastal area protection and restoration.

UW Botanic Gardens site of first regional conference on invasive plants in PNW

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) and Elizabeth Loudon (206-543-3889) — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 08:00:00 GMT

Invasive plants degrade ecosystems, lower land values and affect everyone giving impetus for a conference earlier this week on developing partnerships to address the problem in the Pacific Northwest.

Pioneering work assessing sustainable fisheries earns international award

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 08:00:00 GMT

Ray Hilborn, UW professor of aquatic and fishery sciences, and two University of British Columbia professors are being rewarded for their work in understanding the human impact on the world's fisheries and ocean environment with an international environmental award and $206,300.

Coastal ocean observatory extends miles up Columbia River

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 08:00:00 GMT

Scientists with a just-announced $19 million grant are poised to develop new technologies and infrastructures to monitor changes in the Columbia River and predict how they affect wide swaths of ocean.

Planning for stewardship an important part of successful ecological restoration

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) and Elaine Kraft (425-352-3395) — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 08:00:00 GMT

Restoring degraded ecosystems around Seattle -- and giving them a fighting chance to stay healthy -- can be as much about PR as the right plants. That's what students learn through the University of Washington's Restoration Ecology Network, a program of teaching and research recognized nationally in this week's issue of Science magazine.

Mussel strain: Same species responds differently to same warming, depending on location

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 08:00:00 GMT

Based on current trends for both air and water temperatures, by 2100 the body temperatures of California mussels found along thousands of miles of coast in the northeast Pacific Ocean could increase between about 2 degrees F and 6.5 F depending on where they live.

Sixth expedition to North Pole installs mooring in 2 � miles of ocean

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Mon, 08 May 2006 08:00:00 GMT

This year's University of Washington-led North Pole Environmental Observatory program, which ran April 10 through early May, was followed immediately by another UW-led expedition concerning what's called the freshwater switchyard of the Arctic Ocean, which is underway until about May 17.

Media Alert: Arbor Day, Earth Day photo opportunities

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 08:00:00 GMT

Among events planned in conjunction with Earth Day this year are the College of Forest Resources' annual Arbor Day Fair for area first- and second-graders, and a day of trail building and clean up with volunteers from the Student Conservation Association at the Washington Park Arboretum, a part of the UW Botanic Gardens.

Current understanding, emerging issues of coastal rivers is topic Wednesday

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 08:00:00 GMT

With few of the Pacific Northwest's 200 coastal rivers remaining unaltered by human development, watershed scientists are meeting this week to consider emerging policy issues and scientific challenges they foresee in the decade ahead. Ten presentations and a panel discussion are planned as part of the "Stewardship and Restoration of Coastal Rivers" conference, Wednesday.

Greenland's glaciers pick up pace in surge toward the sea

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 08:00:00 GMT

With warming temperatures as the possible underlying cause, scientists wonder what is pushing Greenland's glaciers out to sea as much as 50 percent quicker than before. As a glacier loses large pieces of ice on its leading edge, openings may be created for ice to stream through more quickly, sort of like water flooding through a sudden break in a dam.

Leave it to salmon to leave no stone unturned

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 08:00:00 GMT

Like an armada of small rototillers, female salmon can industriously churn up entire stream beds from end to end, sometimes more than once, using just their tails. A University of Washington researcher writes in this month's BioScience journal that the silt, minerals and nutrients that are unleashed cause changes in rivers and lakes far from the nests.

Devices tease out individual sounds from underwater racket

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 08:00:00 GMT

While biologists sort out what levels of noise go unnoticed, are annoying or cause harm to marine mammals, physical oceanographer Jeff Nystuen is giving scientists and managers a way to sift through and identify the sounds present in various marine ecosystems.Knowing what sound is already there is needed when trying to establish noise regulations.

Shopping list gets longer -- not less choosy -- in some of world's largest fisheries

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 08:00:00 GMT

A common notion is that in some places the more valuable species of fish have been fished out, but that didn't hold true in two-thirds of the world's large marine ecosystems selected for study by University of Washington researchers.

Silver-LEED winning Merrill Hall exemplifies energy-conservation efforts

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 08:00:00 GMT

Smart lighting choices and a solar panel provided by Seattle City Light are among the reasons the U.S. Green Building Council gave a silver LEED rating to the UW Botanic Gardens' Merrill Hall, site of today's announcement that the university is Seattle's largest Green Up partner.

Flap over fishes: Who's the smallest of them all?

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 27 Jan 2006 08:00:00 GMT

The authors of a paper in this week's Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Section B, who say their 7.9 mm-long fish from a peat swamp in Southeast Asia is the smallest fish and vertebrate known, have failed to make note of work published last fall that describes sexually mature, male anglerfishes measuring 6.2 mm to 7.4 mm in length.

Rainfall records falling: Background experts available on flooding, landslides

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 08:00:00 GMT

University of Washington faculty members are able to provide background on the ways local watersheds have been managed, the effects of land-use changes on watersheds, and other information concerning flooding and landslides as the region continues to experience wet, winter weather.

Effects from global warming tops agenda

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) and Vince Stricherz (206-543-2580) — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:00:00 GMT

The level and breadth of interest in the subject of climate change and its effects in Washington state was evidenced Thursday as a capacity crowd of more than 600 attended "The Future Ain't What It Used to Be: Planning for Climate Disruption," sponsored by King County and various state agencies.

Scientists believe open water in summer has become key to declining arctic ice

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 29 Sep 2005 08:00:00 GMT

As researchers Wednesday announced the lowest amount of ice cover in more than a century in the Arctic, the fourth consecutive year of record and near-record lows, two polar scientists at the University of Washington's Applied Physics Laboratory say they believe a tipping point has been reached.

Public to see live broadcast for first time of surreal seafloor off Washington

Cheryl Dybas (703-292-7734) and Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 08:00:00 GMT

NOTE SEPT. 29: Scientists intend to broadcast live from the ship as planned from 2 to 3 p.m. today, Sept. 29, provided the weather doesn't get so bad that the broadcast signal is disrupted. A storm underway at sea means that images from the seafloor will not be live, instead viewers will see video transmitted from the ship in recent days when it was possible to put the submersible in the water.

Amazon source of 5-year-old river breath

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 29 Jul 2005 08:00:00 GMT

The rivers of the Amazon basin are "breathing" far harder -- cycling the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide more quickly -- than anyone realized. Most of the carbon being exhaled as carbon dioxide from Amazonian rivers and wetlands has spent a mere 5 years sequestered in the trees, other plants and soils of the surrounding landscape.

Oceanographers work a quarter of the world away from ship they're 'on'

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) and Todd McLeish ((401) 874-7892) — Wed, 27 Jul 2005 08:00:00 GMT

Being seasick is not a problem for scientists on a major expedition now under way in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. That's because most of the researchers investigating the eerie Lost City hydrothermal vent field are working "aboard" a landlocked science command center in Seattle.

UW Botanic Gardens new umbrella name for Seattle's key horticultural features

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Mon, 25 Jul 2005 08:00:00 GMT

More than 320 acres of gardens and woodlands - including one of the oldest arboretums this side of the Mississippi - and one of the West Coast's largest horticulture centers and libraries began operating this summer under the umbrella "University of Washington Botanic Gardens."

Trio of plant genes prevents 'too many mouths'

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 07 Jul 2005 08:00:00 GMT

A signaling pathway required for plants to grow to their normal size appears to have an unexpected dual purpose of keeping the plants from wallpapering themselves with too many densely clustered stomata.

UW library turns 20, offers public glimpse of 'treasures'

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 17 May 2005 08:00:00 GMT

The 20th anniversary of the Elisabeth C. Miller Library at the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture will be celebrated Sunday, May 22, with an evening of events featuring the first public lecture by David Mabberley, the new director of the center and the Washington Park Arboretum, speaking on the "Treasures of the Miller Library."

Backlog of community college transfers to UW is eliminated

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 03 May 2005 08:00:00 GMT

There is currently no waiting list for community college students eligible to transfer to the University of Washington in Seattle.

Alaskan puzzles, monitoring provide insight about North Pacific salmon runs

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 26 Apr 2005 08:00:00 GMT

The University of Washington Alaska Salmon Program, the world's longest-running effort to monitor salmon and their ecosystems, has received nearly $2.4 million from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to expand its sampling scope and sophistication. The program has applications for Pacific salmon all along the West Coast.

To sea or not to sea: When it comes to salmon sex, size sometimes doesn't matter

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 08:00:00 GMT

The ones that stay and the ones that stray are biological puzzles among Pacific salmon, of whom the vast majority - but not all - travel thousands of miles to sea and back to the streams where they hatched, says Thomas P. Quinn, author of a recently released book, "The Behavior and Ecology of Pacific Salmon and Trout."

Pairs of Seagliders set endurance records

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 05 Apr 2005 08:00:00 GMT

Two ocean-diving gliders built at the University of Washington were retrieved late last month near Kauai after setting a world record by traveling a quarter of the way across the Pacific Ocean. Two other UW gliders, awaiting retrieval from the Labrador Sea, have set another world endurance record with a deployment of 193 days as of early April.

Fewer fish discarded after individual transferable quotas offered

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 24 Mar 2005 08:00:00 GMT

Contradicting previous assumptions, new fisheries research shows that allocating catch among vessels reduces the amount of fish discarded at sea.

Scientists search for seafloor eruption

Tue, 08 Mar 2005 08:00:00 GMT

The most intense swarms of earthquakes detected in the last 10 to 12 years on the far edge of the Juan de Fuca plate could indicate the eruption of magma from the seafloor or an underwater volcano some 200 miles off the Canadian coast.

Hydrogen and methane provide raw energy for life at 'Lost City'

Cheryl Dybas (703-292-7734) and Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 18:17:00 GMT

This week in Science, researchers publish for the first time findings about the gases produced at the unusual Lost City hydrothermal vent field and the organisms that make their living off them. Both are so different from so-called black-smoker hydrothermal vents that they may provide a whole new avenue for looking for the earliest life on Earth.

Tree-ring data reveals multiyear droughts unlike any in recent memory

Mon, 14 Feb 2005 08:00:00 GMT

Researchers have determined six multiyear droughts in the Columbia River Basin between 1750 and 1950 that were much more severe than anything in recent memory because they persisted for years, including one that stretched for 12 years.

Paun first recipient of new Fulbright on U.S.-Canadian trade

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 08 Feb 2005 08:00:00 GMT

The ways trust and dependency, economic and price uncertainties and legal contracts influence business-to-business relationships is the subject of research led by the first-ever holder of a Fulbright award specifically created for the study of Canadian-US trade.

From flames to flowers, lecture series focuses on sustaining NW world

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 08:00:00 GMT

"Forests Aflame: Strategies and Challenges for Managing Fire in the West," Feb. 10, is the first in a series of three public lectures about sustaining our Northwest world.

Dwindling snowpack is bad news for Washington's summer water needs

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) and Vince Stricherz (206-543-2580) — Wed, 26 Jan 2005 16:53:00 GMT

Warm winter rains that have curtailed the winter ski season in the Washington Cascades could also mean water shortages this summer.

From the ashes, Center for Urban Horticulture dedicates Merrill Hall Jan. 19

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 14 Jan 2005 08:00:00 GMT

Merrill Hall at the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture -- rebuilt nearly four years after an arson attack ruined the building and set back research, teaching and outreach -- is being dedicated during events open to the public Jan. 19 and 22.

Winds, ice motion root cause of decline in sea ice, not warmer temperatures

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 16 Dec 2004 08:00:00 GMT

Extreme changes in the Arctic Oscillation in the early 1990s -- and not warmer temperatures of recent years -- are largely responsible for declines in how much sea ice covers the Arctic Ocean, with near record lows having been observed during the last three years, University of Washington researchers say.

Birds, butterflies, bacteria: same law of biology appears to apply

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 08 Dec 2004 08:00:00 GMT

The connection between species richness and area occupied, recognized by biologists for more than a hundred years as a fundamental ecological relationship in plant and in animal communities, has been discerned for the first time at the microbial level.

Fastest glacier in Greenland doubles speed

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 07 Dec 2004 08:00:00 GMT

The world's fastest glacier, Greenland's Jakobshavn Isbrae, doubled its speed between 1997 and 2003. The rapid movement of ice from land into the sea provides key evidence of newly discovered relationships between ice sheets, sea level rise and climate warming.

Ocean ecosystems at risk if plug pulled on Mother Nature's 'blenders'

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 16 Nov 2004 08:00:00 GMT

The loss of seemingly inconsequential animal species in the top 6 inches or so of mud and sediment on the floors of the world's oceans is giving scientists a look ahead at the consequences of the steady decline of the Earth's biodiversity, according to assistant professor of biology Jennifer Ruesink.

Pioneering work on biological integrity earns conservation award

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Mon, 15 Nov 2004 08:00:00 GMT

James R. Karr, who helped define the characteristics of healthy waterways and developed a system for documenting aquatic well being, has received the top fishery conservation award from the American Fisheries Society, the nation's oldest and largest professional organization representing fisheries scientists.

Award will help unlock mysteries of one of Earth's most important organisms

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Mon, 08 Nov 2004 08:00:00 GMT

Virginia Armbrust has become a member of a select group of scientists named as Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation investigators in marine science and received an award of $4.1 million for her work.

Symposium weighs science's role in improving fisheries management

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 05 Nov 2004 08:00:00 GMT

In the midst of substantial debate surrounding recommendations made to the president by the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and Congressional work on reauthorizing the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the symposium "Improving Fishery Management: Melding Science and Governance," Nov. 15 and 16, will weigh the latest findings on how fisheries are managed.

Russell McDuff becomes director of UW School of Oceanography

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 29 Oct 2004 08:00:00 GMT

Russell McDuff, an internationally known researcher in marine geology and geophysics has been named director of the University of Washington's School of Oceanography.

Scientists sequence genome of kind of organism central to biosphere's carbon cycle

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 30 Sep 2004 08:00:00 GMT

The first ever genomic map of a diatom, part of a family of microscopic ocean algae that are among the Earth's most important inhabitants, has yielded surprising insights about the way they may be using nitrogen, fats and silica in order to thrive.

Collaborators designing data, control architecture for new generation of ocean observatories

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) and Doug Ramsey (858-822-5825) — Thu, 30 Sep 2004 08:00:00 GMT

Oceanographers and computer scientists designing cyberinfrastructure to link research institutions on land with several existing and planned ocean observatories off the west coasts of the United States, Canada and Mexico today received $3.9 million toward that effort.

Oceanographers seek to better understand ferocity of hurricanes like Frances

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 15 Sep 2004 08:00:00 GMT

While forecasting hurricane tracks has become better and better, our ability to determine the potential ferocity of such storms has not advanced nearly as far. Five floats from the University of Washington's Applied Physics Laboratory, loaded with instruments and deployed in the path of hurricane Frances, have transmitted data that may help scientists better understand ocean conditions that put a damper on tropical storms and those that pour on the gas.

Modest climate change could lead to substantially more and larger fires

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) and Vince Stricherz (206-543-2580) — Mon, 30 Aug 2004 08:00:00 GMT

The area burned by wildfires in 11 Western states could double by the end of the century if summer climate warms by slightly more than a degree and a half, say researchers with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service and Pacific Northwest Climate Impacts Group at the University of Washington.

Botanist known internationally for research, plant dictionary joining UW

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 27 Aug 2004 08:00:00 GMT

A former dean with Oxford University - who oversaw refurbishment of gardens in the heart of Oxford that are visited by many thousands every year and managed one of the most historically significant herbarium collections in the United Kingdom - has been named director of the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture and Seattle's Washington Park Arboretum.

Environmental costs of home construction lower with wise choice, reuse of building materials

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 24 Aug 2004 08:00:00 GMT

Most of the energy that goes into building U.S. homes is consumed - not by the power tools, welding and trucking during construction - but during the manufacture of the building materials, according to a comprehensive life-cycle assessment comparing typical wood-, steel- and concrete-frame homes.

Wott acting director, Hinckley steps down at Urban Horticulture

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 24 Jun 2004 08:00:00 GMT

Homes gobbling twice the land outside as inside designated urban areas

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 28 May 2004 08:00:00 GMT

A University of Washington study of a 180-square-mile swath east of Lake Sammamish shows that the low-density zoning that was intended to maintain the rural character and protect the natural environment could instead be altering forests in dramatic and unintended ways.

Denman series tackles menace of invasives

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 26 May 2004 08:00:00 GMT

Alien invaders skulking about in the Pacific Northwest face exposure Wednesday, June 2, during "Invasive species: Impacts of invasive plants, animals, insects and diseases in the Pacific Northwest," at the University of Washington's College of Forest Resources.

UW center to explore link between oceans and human health

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) and Pam Sowers (206-543-3620) — Fri, 23 Apr 2004 08:00:00 GMT

Algal blooms in Puget Sound and off the coast are increasingly producing domoic acid, which can sicken and - in high enough doses - kill humans, other mammals and birds when they eat fish or shellfish contaminated with the toxin. These toxic blooms will be the focus of a new national research center - the Pacific Northwest Center for Human Health and Ocean Sciences - at the University of Washington.

Freeing Nemo: Aquarium owners releasing non-native fish could endanger marine ecosystems

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 07 Apr 2004 08:00:00 GMT

Intentional and unintentional aquarium releases have been a leading cause of freshwater fish invasions, but now researchers from the University of Washington and the Reef Environmental Education Foundation have found 16 non-native species of fish -- apparently set free from home aquariums -- in ocean waters off the southeast coast of Florida.

Web site launched today features pioneer EarthDials from around the globe

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) and Vince Stricherz (206-543-2580) — Tue, 02 Mar 2004 08:00:00 GMT

Join a dozen "EarthDialers" starting today at http://planetary.org/mars/earthdial as the modern marvel of the webcam merges with the ancient technology for marking time, the sundial.

Small, smart, smooth: Seagliders topic of Feb. 11 public lecture

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Mon, 09 Feb 2004 08:00:00 GMT

Underwater gliders that can operate autonomously at sea for months at a time and travel thousands of miles are revolutionizing how oceanographers collect measurements.

Challenges of forest stewardship focus of public lecture

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Sun, 08 Feb 2004 08:00:00 GMT

The challenge of preserving Pacific Northwest natural resources is the subject of "Sustaining Our Northwest World: When Humans and Nature Collide."

One type of carbon so resilient it skews carbon cycle calculations

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 22 Jan 2004 08:00:00 GMT

Scientists interested in the Earth's carbon cycle - something that must be understood to assess the ongoing effects of carbon dioxide created by human actions, such as driving cars - have a new problem.

Potential for pathogens to evolve missing from emerging-disease models

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 11 Dec 2003 08:00:00 GMT

With outbreaks of new and frightening infectious diseases such as SARS and monkey pox jumping from the animal kingdom to humans, tracking their spread is vital to public health efforts to contain them. A novel mathematical model now gives public health leaders another tool to assess the risk of new infectious disease emergence that emphasizes the potentially perilous role of pathogen evolution.

Erosion on arid-north, monsoon-drenched flanks of Himalayas surprisingly similar

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 11 Dec 2003 08:00:00 GMT

Scientists have found that, despite a vast difference in precipitation between the north and south sides of the Himalaya Mountains, rates of erosion are indistinguishable across these mountains.

Rainfall may govern geological structure of Cascade mountain range

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 11 Dec 2003 08:00:00 GMT

Heavy rainfall causes both higher surface erosion rate and upheaval of underlying bedrock in the Washington Cascades mountain range, according to a study published in the Dec. 11 issue of the journal Nature.

Science wed with policy key to using, protecting ocean resources

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 19 Nov 2003 08:00:00 GMT

Dealing with pressing issues of the nation's 3.4 million square miles of ocean and the wise use of marine resources elsewhere around the world requires the integration of natural and social science with policy decisions, according to Professor Thomas Leschine, the new director of the University of Washington's School of Marine Affairs.

Major mutations, not many small changes, might lead way to new species

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 12 Nov 2003 08:00:00 GMT

Researchers writing in the Nov. 13 issue of Nature say perhaps it was a major change or two, such as petal color, that first forged the fork in the evolutionary road that led to today's species of monkeyflowers that are attractive to and pollinated by hummingbirds and separate species of monkeyflowers that are pollinated by bees.

Scientists trying to make sense of Arctic changes

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 28 Oct 2003 08:00:00 GMT

400 researchers traveled to Seattle this week for the first and largest meeting of international scientists studying all aspects of change in the Arctic

News briefing Tuesday, new B-roll video available: 400 to attend landmark SEARCH meeting in Seattle on all aspects of Arctic change

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 23 Oct 2003 08:00:00 GMT

400 to attend landmark SEARCH meeting in Seattle on all aspects of Arctic change

Center for Urban Horticulture begins rebuilding Merrill Hall

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 30 Sep 2003 08:00:00 GMT

The remaining shell of Merrill Hall is coming down and construction fencing is going up at the Center for Urban Horticulture. A groundbreaking ceremony tomorrow will mark the start of construction to replace the building, which was fire bombed May 2001 by domestic terrorists.

Without thinning the worst is yet to come for fire-prone forests

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 26 Sep 2003 08:00:00 GMT

When fires turn eastern Washington and Oregon forests into wastelands, valuable wildlife habitat is lost and it costs between $1,300 and $2,100 per acre in fire-fighting costs, lost buildings, economic suffering by nearby communities and degraded waterways, say University of Washington researchers in a recently published report.

Genomes of tiny microbes promise insight into oceans, climate change

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 14 Aug 2003 08:00:00 GMT

The world's smallest photosynthetic organisms, microbes that can turn sunlight and carbon dioxide into living biomass like plants do, are in the limelight this week. Three international teams of scientists announced the genetic blueprints for four closely related forms of these organisms, which numerically dominate the phytoplankton of the oceans.

Hydrothermal vent systems could have persisted millions of years, incubated life

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 23 Jul 2003 08:00:00 GMT

The staying power of seafloor hydrothermal vent systems like the bizarre Lost City vent field is one reason they also may have been incubators of Earth's earliest life, scientists report in a paper published in the July 25 issue of Science.

Internal waves appear to have the muscle to pump up mid-lats

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 24 Jun 2003 08:00:00 GMT

In a novel use of mooring data, a University of Washington researcher has calculated just how much punch waves appear to carry as they travel thousands of miles from where they originate.

Past PNW climate not a good guide for future, researcher says

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 22 May 2003 08:00:00 GMT

How global climate change may alter how we live in the Pacific Northwest will be discussed by University of Washington research scientist Nate Mantua Tuesday, May 27, 7 p.m., Kane Hall 120.

Physicist to lead UW oceanography, engineering laboratory

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 22 May 2003 08:00:00 GMT

The manager of a multi-million dollar research program for the Office of Naval Research and an expert on using sound energy to "see" inside the world's oceans has been named director of the University of Washington's Applied Physics Laboratory, a center for research and teaching that last fiscal year brought in $43 million in grants and contracts.

Just back from expedition: Scientists taking pulse of Arctic Ocean

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 15 May 2003 08:00:00 GMT

Retrieving the second year-round mooring ever used at the North Pole was among the challenges faced April 21 to May 9 during North Pole Environmental Observatory work led by James Morison, an oceanographer with the University of Washington's Applied Physics Laboratory.

Solid management, natural resilience both key to sockeye success

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 09 May 2003 08:00:00 GMT

The resilience of sockeye salmon runs in Alaska's Bristol Bay -- after a century of fishing they're as healthy as they've ever been - is about strength in numbers.

National Academy of Sciences names two from UW, one from Fred Hutchinson as new members

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 29 Apr 2003 08:00:00 GMT

An oceanographer striving to find the limits of life, a marine policy expert helping resource managers and citizens prepare for global climate change and a neurobiologist investigating the mechanism underlying the sense of smell became the University of Washington's newest members of the National Academy of Sciences today.

Photo opportunity -- UW's Arbor Day Fair attracting hundreds of youngsters

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 29 Apr 2003 08:00:00 GMT

Scientists returning to field of eerie thermal spires

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 15 Apr 2003 08:00:00 GMT

The remarkable Lost City hydrothermal vent field, so named partly because it sits on a seafloor mountain named the Atlantis Massif, was discovered in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean about 1,500 miles off the East Coast of the United States during an expedition that wasn't even looking for hydrothermal vents. Now the two scientists who were the first to travel in a submersible to the field after its serendipitous discovery Dec. 4, 2000, are leading a National Science Foundation-funded expedition to map and farther investigate the field.

15-foot hypodermic needles provide evidence for vast oceanic crustal biosphere

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 18 Mar 2003 08:00:00 GMT

Samples of fluid drawn from the crustal rocks that make up most of the Earth's seafloor are providing the best evidence yet to support the controversial assertion that life is widespread within oceanic crust, according to H. Paul Johnson, a University of Washington oceanographer.

Composted biosolids bind lead in soil, reducing danger of poisoning

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 28 Feb 2003 08:00:00 GMT

Adding composted biosolids rich with iron, manganese and organic matter to a lead-contaminated home garden in Baltimore appears to have bound the lead so it is less likely to be absorbed by the bodies of children who dirty their hands playing outside or are tempted to taste those delicious mud pies they "baked" in the backyard.

Northwest's summer water supply under siege from warmer climate

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) and Vince Stricherz (206-543-2580) — Thu, 06 Feb 2003 08:00:00 GMT

A warming climate the last 50 years has, through early melting, relentlessly reduced the water content of the Pacific Northwest's springtime snowpack, straining the supply of water for drinking, irrigation and other uses during the region's typically dry summers, new research at the University of Washington has found.

Expert seeks ways to foster development without depleting resources

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Mon, 13 Jan 2003 08:00:00 GMT

"Science and Technology for Sustainability," a free, public lecture by Harvard University's William Clark, will focus on linking research to policy by, for instance, moving from arguments over statistics and reports generated by hundreds of different businesses, non-profits and government agencies to debates based on mutually agreed-on environmental data.

'The end of the world' has already begun, UW scientists say

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Mon, 13 Jan 2003 08:00:00 GMT

In its 4.5 billion years, Earth has evolved from its hot, violent birth to the celebrated watery blue planet that stands out in pictures from space. But in a new book, two noted University of Washington astrobiologists say the planet already has begun the long process of devolving into a burned-out cinder, eventually to be swallowed by the sun.

Hitchhiking rocks provide details of glacial melting in West Antarctic

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 02 Jan 2003 08:00:00 GMT

Rocks deposited by glaciers on mountain ranges in West Antarctica have given scientists the most direct evidence yet that parts of the ice sheet are on a long-term, natural trajectory of melting.

UW Educational Outreach Web site, registration available following last week's fire

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Mon, 23 Dec 2002 08:00:00 GMT

The main University of Washington Educational Outreach building at 5001 25th Ave. N.E., near University Village, has been declared a total loss after an early-morning fire Dec. 19. Damage is estimated at $1 million.

Overfishing may diminish genetic diversity even when millions of fish remain

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 31 Oct 2002 08:00:00 GMT

Populations of marine fish may lose genetic diversity even if fishing stops while there are still several million individuals -- a number previously assumed to be enough to preserve a diverse gene pool.

Communities need technology, training for complexities of today's forestry

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Mon, 21 Oct 2002 08:00:00 GMT

A University of Washington and Washington State University program helping rural communities gain access to the latest technology and training for managing woodlands has received the highest national award for private-forestry education given by the National Woodland Owners Association and the National Association of Professional Forestry Schools and Colleges.

Economists weigh if housing will remain as bright spot for forest sector

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Mon, 23 Sep 2002 08:00:00 GMT

Orawin Velz, senior economist with Fannie Mae in Washington, D.C., will give the keynote address and John Mitchell, western regional economist with U.S. Bancorp out of Portland, is the luncheon speaker Thursday, the first day of an international forest-products markets conference sponsored by the University of Washington's Center for International Trade in Forest Products.

Economists weigh if housing will remain as bright spot for forest sector

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Mon, 23 Sep 2002 08:00:00 GMT

Local teacher documenting expedition bound for crossroads of the Arctic

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 20 Aug 2002 08:00:00 GMT

Log on starting Aug. 21 for Lake Stevens High School teacher Gail Grimes' reports as University of Washington's Rebecca Woodgate leads an expedition on the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Polar Star to a region of the Arctic where Atlantic and Pacific ocean waters interact in ways that could help explain the warming of the Arctic Ocean and thinning of the ice pack.

Conference considers ultrasound for cancer treatment, noninvasive surgery

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Mon, 29 Jul 2002 08:00:00 GMT

In what is only the second meeting of its kind, the first conducted in the United States, more than 200 researchers and students are expected in Seattle for presentations Tuesday through Aug. 1 as part of an international symposium on therapeutic ultrasound. Presentations will be conducted at the Washington Athletic Club.

Donor tiles paving way for better service to gardeners at UW

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Mon, 01 Jul 2002 08:00:00 GMT

The University of Washington's Center For Urban Horticulture has spent the past year re-creating and reconnecting -- work that's far from done even many months after the May 21, 2001, arson attack damaged the center's main building, rendering most if it beyond repair.

Smell like rotting animal flesh filling UW botany greenhouse again

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 29 May 2002 08:00:00 GMT

An Amorphophallus titanum, also known as a corpse flower in its native Sumatra and elsewhere because of its foul odor, began blooming late Wednesday afternoon in the greenhouse operated by the University of Washington's botany department.

Lecture by Harvard expert marks launch of new UW climate program

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 21 May 2002 08:00:00 GMT

Work on core curriculum is done, the first class of graduate students has been accepted and one of the world's top experts on global climate change, Harvard University professor James McCarthy, will present a free, public lecture here May 30 as the University of Washington launches its Program on Climate Change.

Special seminar: Rural landowners laboring to understand, comply with Forest-Fish rules

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 14 May 2002 08:00:00 GMT

the University of Washington's College of Forest Resources is bringing together representatives of four organizations that have been trying to help rural landowners understand and meet requirements of the new Forest and Fish Law.

Teachers from across Washington state join UW sea-going expedition

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 14 May 2002 08:00:00 GMT

Log on starting Wednesday to join researchers and five public-school teachers on an oceanographic expedition aboard the University of Washington's research vessel the Thomas G. Thompson as it works off our coast.

Scientists recover North Pole mooring from 2� miles deep in ocean

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 07 May 2002 08:00:00 GMT

Scientists returned last week from the North Pole after recovering 3,500 pounds of instruments and equipment from a mooring anchored to the seafloor for a full year, eight times longer than the only previous mooring at the pole.

Thousands of youngsters to visit UW's Arbor Day Fair starting May 1

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Mon, 29 Apr 2002 08:00:00 GMT

More than 2,200 students in the first-, second- and third-grades and their teachers have reserved spots at this year's Arbor Day Fair sponsored by the University of Washington's College of Forest Resources and its alumni association.

Wildflower seed mixes include some wicked bloomers

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 18 Apr 2002 08:00:00 GMT

When growing 19 packets of wildflower mixes University of Washington researchers found that each contained from three to 13 invasive species and eight had seeds for plants considered noxious weeds in at least one U.S. state or Canadian province.

Tropical streams, rivers 'exhaling' millions of tons more CO2 than thought

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 10 Apr 2002 08:00:00 GMT

U.S. and Brazilian researchers say the amount of carbon dioxide coming off streams, rivers and flooded areas of the world's tropical forests is triple that of some currently accepted estimates.

UW tops national primary-care medical school rankings

Leila Gray (206-685-0381) and Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 04 Apr 2002 08:00:00 GMT

The University of Washington is No. 1 among primary-care medical schools in the new U.S.News & World Report annual rankings of graduate programs and professional schools.

Summer chum return to Big Beef Creek in numbers not seen since '70s

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 07 Mar 2002 08:00:00 GMT

For the first time in decades hundreds of summer chum returned to Big Beef Creek Fish Research Station last fall. This follows five years of work to re-establish the run, an effort involving the UW, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the citizens of the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group.

Alaskan waters growing hospitable to sharks while seals and sea lions decline

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Mon, 25 Feb 2002 08:00:00 GMT

University of Washington professor of fisheries and aquatic sciences Vince Gallucci has studied shark population dynamics for more than a decade. During the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Boston earlier this month, Gallucci presented findings during the session "Not Enough Sea Lions, Too Many Sharks: Global Warming Signal?"

Hawaiian Ridge HOME to efforts to understand deep-ocean mixing

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 20 Feb 2002 08:00:00 GMT

The first-ever direct measurements of the energy flux of the "internal" tide along the Hawaiian Ridge were reported last week by University of Washington researchers at the American Geophysical Union and American Society of Limnology's Ocean Sciences meeting

Oceans to Stars Lecture Series: Molecular explorations reveal secrets of ocean life

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 20 Feb 2002 08:00:00 GMT

The quest to predict toxic-algae outbreaks, estimate how much of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide is being absorbed by the oceans and gain other insights into the lives of phytoplankton -- microscopic plants that generate about half the oxygen we breathe -- are subjects of a free, public lecture, "Molecular Explorations of the Oceans: New Ways to Study Marine Ecosystems," by University of Washington oceanographer Virginia Armbrust.

Dean Bruce Bare and College of Forest Resources turning to concepts of environmental and resource sustainability

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 15 Feb 2002 08:00:00 GMT

University of Washington President Richard L. McCormick has named long-time UW Professor Bruce Bare, an expert on the economics, management and sustainable use of forestlands, dean of the College of Forest Resources.

Scientists delve into North Pacific mystery of changing oxygen

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 13 Feb 2002 08:00:00 GMT

Oxygen in the upper waters of the North Pacific, an area that accounts for about 40 percent of the world's oceans, decreased as much as 15 percent in a little under two decades between the early 1980s and late 1990s.

Scientists apply Earth's hydrothermal plume dynamics to Europa

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 17 Jan 2002 08:00:00 GMT

The size of ice domes and movement of ice rafts on the surface of Europa, one of Jupiter's moons, are consistent with what one could expect of melting caused by a hydrothermal vent plume, or plumes, in an ocean beneath the ice, say oceanographers John Delaney of the University of Washington and Richard Thomson of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Panel considers land trusts, conservation easements for private forests

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 09 Jan 2002 08:00:00 GMT

Emerging strategies of using "land trusts," where private forests and wildlands are purchased or donated, or of managing such lands under "conservation easements," where the use of the property is restricted but the landowner retains the title, will be explored by regional and national experts at a lecture that is free and open to the public Wednesday, Jan. 16, at the University of Washington's College of Forest Resources.

Series examines sustainability of marine resources

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 08 Jan 2002 08:00:00 GMT

Most solutions to fisheries problems have been shortsighted and don't provide the right incentives for fishermen, resource managers or scientists, according to Ray Hilborn, University of Washington professor of aquatic and fisheries sciences and lead speaker for this year's Bevan Series on Sustainable Fisheries.

Urban Horticulture to brief public Nov. 19 on concepts, design for rebuilding

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 02 Nov 2001 08:00:00 GMT

Designers with the architectural firm Miller Hull Partnership of Seattle are now considering ways to rebuild Merrill Hall, which was firebombed at the University of Washington's Center for Urban Horticulture last May, and will explain the pre-design phase and seek comments from the neighborhood and campus community Nov. 19.

MEDIA ADVISORY: Marrakech conference prompts expert briefing on NW climate change

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) and Vince Stricherz (206-543-2580) — Thu, 01 Nov 2001 08:00:00 GMT

Expert briefing for reporters on the impacts of climate change on the Pacific Northwest

Fact sheet for reporters: Canopy research could lead to better forest management

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 18 Oct 2001 08:00:00 GMT

The crane and forest around it are closed to the general public because of safety concerns (the forest around the crane, for example, is a hard-hat area), there are scientific instruments on the forest floor and the area needs to be kept as pristine as possible for research to be meaningful. Please don't include the crane in travel or outdoors stories leading readers or viewers to think they can visit. This will only frustrate people and cause them to be upset with the research staff.

Story ideas for reporters: Investigations using crane range from water works to witches' brooms

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 18 Oct 2001 08:00:00 GMT

Going up -- A key factor in forest growth, and subsequent carbon sequestration, is the way trees take up and give off water. Work at the crane covers this process from below the forest floor to the very tops of the trees. A new project at the crane site is trying to determine the significance of what scientists call hydraulic lift in the root zone.

Statement of UW President Richard L. McCormick in the wake of Tuesday's terrorist attacks

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 11 Sep 2001 08:00:00 GMT

The unspeakable attacks this morning are an assault on America and on civilized society everywhere. These acts come from a source that combines hatred, ignorance and remorseless violence.

Columbia River trumps Pacific Ocean when conditions are right

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 17 Aug 2001 08:00:00 GMT

About three quarters of the water pouring into the Pacific Ocean from the West Coast comes from the Columbia River.

Keck Foundation funds major new initiative into deep-sea quakes, life

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 19 Jul 2001 08:00:00 GMT

New kinds of instruments and experiments -- made possible with a just announced $5 million award from the W.M. Keck Foundation of Los Angeles -- could give scientists the best way yet to study the rich microbial life that flourishes wherever the seafloor twists and buckles, and which is part of a biosphere beneath the Earth's surface that may dwarf all life on land or in the sea.

Scientists seeking secrets of 'Lost City'

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 11 Jul 2001 08:00:00 GMT

The remarkable hydrothermal vent structures serendipitously discovered last December in the mid-Atlantic Ocean, including a massive 18-story vent taller than any seen before, are formed in a very different way than ocean-floor vents studied since the 1970s, according to findings published July 12 in the journal Nature. The circulation of fluids that forms this new class of hydrothermal vents apparently is driven by heat generated when seawater reacts with mantle rocks, not by volcanic heat.

Bush names two from Washington to draft new ocean policy

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 19 Jun 2001 08:00:00 GMT

President George Bush has named University of Washington Professor Marc Hershman -- an expert on protecting and using coastal areas, developing seaports and the laws and policies governing U.S. ocean resources -- and William Ruckelshaus as initial members of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. The announcement from the White House Friday said the two Washington state residents were selected for the 16-member commission from nearly 30 finalists.

UW submits emergency funding request, seeks public's help to restore work after fire guts Center for Urban Horticulture

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 01 Jun 2001 08:00:00 GMT

Today University of Washington administrators and friends in the Legislature pledged to rebuild the Center for Urban Horticulture, torched May 21 in an arson attack that burned the center's main hall and destroyed or damaged years of research on ecosystem health and plant science.

Work of 50 faculty, staff and students harmed including research on plant genetics and ecosystem health

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 01 Jun 2001 08:00:00 GMT

Poplar research conducted at Center for Urban Horticulture since late '80s

Migrating impurities in ancient ice can skew climate research findings

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) and Vince Stricherz (206-543-2580) — Wed, 30 May 2001 08:00:00 GMT

Chemicals trapped in ancient glacial or polar ice can move substantial distances within the ice, according to new evidence from University of Washington researchers. That means past analyses of historic climate changes, gleaned from ice core samples, might not be entirely accurate.

UW condemns arson as misguided act that destroyed ecosystem research

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 23 May 2001 08:00:00 GMT

The University of Washington condemns this senseless act of arson that has destroyed decades of scientific inquiry aimed at improving the overall health of urban ecosystems. This misguided act has set back research concerning endangered plants in Washington, rehabilitation of degraded wetlands and even assistance for home gardeners. It is a vicious blow to some very gifted and dedicated faculty and students at the University of Washington. We abhor the violence and destructiveness of this act, and the potential risk to human safety. We hope the perpetrators are found and brought to justice.

Smell like rotting animal flesh fills UW botany greenhouse

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 08 May 2001 08:00:00 GMT

UW tops national primary-care medical school and nursing rankings

Leila Gray (206-685-0381) and Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 30 Mar 2001 08:00:00 GMT

The University of Washington is No. 1 among primary-care medical schools and nursing schools in the U.S. News & World Report annual rankings of graduate programs and professional schools.

Celebrate 50 years of ocean discoveries at UW open house March 31

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 22 Mar 2001 08:00:00 GMT

Tour one of the nation's most sophisticated oceanographic vessels, learn more about deep-sea vents where superheated water billows out of the seafloor feeding whole communities of unusual microorganisms and learn about the latest University of Washington efforts to explore the world's oceans at an open house the last weekend of March.

UW receives $3.6 million for studies in new field of space medicine

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 22 Feb 2001 08:00:00 GMT

University of Washington researchers are expected to receive $3.6 million over three years as part of a national consortium of institutions studying space medicine in hopes of someday sending men and women to Mars.

Sustainable timber harvests, habitat in Washington is topic Feb. 28

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 14 Feb 2001 08:00:00 GMT

The Washington Department of Natural Resources is in the process of re-calculating the amount of timber that might be sold from state timber lands and is expected to revise the 650 million board feet per year that has been used as a target since 1996. The environmental, economic and technical considerations when calculating a sustainable harvest level will be considered by five regional experts in Seattle Feb. 28, from 1 to 5 p.m., as part of the Denman Forestry Issues Series offered by the University of Washington's College of Forest Resources.

Experts list: Would state forestlands profit from 'green' certification?

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 11 Jan 2001 08:00:00 GMT

The University of Washington's College of Forest Resources recently brought together 10 experts on forest certification to provide information to state and Congressional leaders, county land commissioners, agency personnel, environmental groups and foresters. Following is a list of Web sites and experts that might be helpful for future stories about forest certification in Washington state and elsewhere.

Hydrothermal vent system unlike any seen before found in Atlantic

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 12 Dec 2000 08:00:00 GMT

A new hydrothermal vent field, which scientists have dubbed "The Lost City," was discovered Dec. 4 on an undersea mountain in the Atlantic Ocean.

Counting salmon essential measure of recovery efforts

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 01 Dec 2000 08:00:00 GMT

New director for UW's Center for International Trade in Forest Products brings market knowledge from Asia

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 19 Oct 2000 08:00:00 GMT

Paul Boardman, who has represented Washington state and the nation's forest-products industry in Japan since the early 1990s, has been named director of the Center for International Trade in Forest Products at the University of Washington's College of Forest Resources.

Transplanted sockeye salmon show rapid differentiation

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 19 Oct 2000 08:00:00 GMT

A run of salmon facing new environmental conditions diverged into two populations in as few as 13 generations - a time span of only about 60 years - according to research conducted at the University of Washington with sockeye salmon in Lake Washington and the Cedar River near Seattle.

'Argo' on quest for better climate forecasts

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 19 Sep 2000 08:00:00 GMT

A University of Washington oceanographer is in Washington, D.C., today for a press conference announcing the first phase of a program that could take climate forecasting to the next level of accuracy by routinely making measurements up to a mile beneath the sea surface at points across all the world's oceans.

Quake jars assumptions about crustal plumbing, life at mid-ocean ridges

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 14 Sep 2000 08:00:00 GMT

A small earthquake off the coast of Washington that caused hydrothermal vent systems miles away to pump out substantially warmer water at 10 times the rate and in an unexpected pulsing pattern has seafloor geologists questioning long-held assumptions about how fluid circulates within oceanic crust.

Sedro-Woolley, Kelso, Steilacoom, Bellingham teachers join UW expedition

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 25 Aug 2000 08:00:00 GMT

Teachers Beverly Mowrer of Sedro-Woolley High School, Cynthia Maldonado of Kelso's Cornerstone Christian Community School, Robert Mize of Steilacoom Historical School and Misty Nikula-Ohlsen of Bellingham's Whatcom Day Academy will sail Sept. 1 to 19 with scientists who are seeking information about the rugged, volcanically active areas on the seafloor 200 miles off the Washington coast.

Washington public school teachers join UW expedition

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 03 Aug 2000 08:00:00 GMT

Teachers Diane Nielsen of Mercer Island High School, Tom Lee of Battleground's Columbia Adventist Academy, Evan Justin of Vashon Island Middle School and Melissa Cohen of Seattle's Meany Middle School are among the teachers sailing Aug. 3 to 21 aboard the University of Washington's vessel the Thomas G. Thompson seeking information about the rugged, volcanically active areas on the seafloor 200 miles off the Washington coast.

Intriguing archaeological sites, isolated lake targets of Kuril expedition

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) and Joel Schwarz (206-543-2580) — Fri, 30 Jun 2000 08:00:00 GMT

Intriguing archaeological sites that may go back 15,000 years and a mountain lake pierced by a volcanic cone that has been isolated for at least 30,000 years are among the primary targets for an international team of researchers heading for the North Pacific in the sixth year of the International Kuril Island Project.

Tropical tree distribution could have implications for forest management, conservation

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 25 May 2000 08:00:00 GMT

Student foresters bring annual celebration back to Seattle campus

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 16 May 2000 08:00:00 GMT

Undergraduates from the University of Washington's College of Forest Resources will be explaining the range of careers possible in forestry today and competing in logger sports using chain saws, crosscut saws and axes during "Garb Day."

Biological legacies a key of ecological rebirth after Mount St. Helens eruption

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 02 May 2000 08:00:00 GMT

UW's Arbor Day Fair named one of best in the nation by National Arbor Day Foundation

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 19 Apr 2000 08:00:00 GMT

More than 2,200 first-, second- and third-graders and their teachers have reserved spots at this year's Arbor Day Fair sponsored by the University of Washington's College of Forest Resources and its alumni association.

Kristiina Vogt to return to UW as dean of College of Forest Resources

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Mon, 17 Apr 2000 08:00:00 GMT

Kristiina A. Vogt, a professor with the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and former University of Washington faculty member, has been selected by UW President Richard L. McCormick as the new dean of the College of Forest Resources, effective July 1.

UW researchers still monitoring plants, forest stands and seismic activity 20 years after eruption

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) and Vince Stricherz (206-543-2580) — Tue, 11 Apr 2000 08:00:00 GMT

The following is a list of experts at the University of Washington who can help reporters who are preparing stories to mark the 20th anniversary of the eruption of Mount St. Helens. The first three scientists listed still have active research programs at the mountain.

Clinton names Seattle researchers as Presidential Early Career Award winners

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) and Walter Neary (206-685-1323) — Tue, 11 Apr 2000 08:00:00 GMT

President Clinton today named University of Washington faculty members Nathan Mantua, a climate scientist, and Dr. David W. Russell, an assistant professor of medicine, as winners of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers.

Automated North Pole Station to take pulse of Arctic Ocean

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 05 Apr 2000 08:00:00 GMT

An international research team supported by the National Science Foundation will establish a camp at the North Pole this month. The scientists will use the camp to lay the groundwork for a five-year project to take the pulse of the Arctic Ocean and learn how the world's northernmost sea helps regulate global climate.

High school students test "ocean IQ" at contest sponsored by the UW

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 01 Mar 2000 08:00:00 GMT

Teams from Sedro-Woolley High School claimed first place - for the second year running - and teams from Garfield High School placed second and third Saturday during the state's Ocean Sciences Bowl sponsored by the University of Washington's College of Ocean and Fishery Sciences.

Volcanos, oceans and life in our solar system subjects of Feb. 15 lecture

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 04 Feb 2000 08:00:00 GMT

Free lecture "Volcanos, Oceans and Life in Our Solar System: A Fiber-Optic Telescope to Inner Space" by University of Washington oceanographer John Delaney.

Runstads give $1 million to UW real estate program

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 13 Jan 2000 08:00:00 GMT

Jon and Judy Runstad have pledged $1 million to establish the H. Jon and Judith M. Runstad Endowment for Excellence in Real Estate at the University of Washington. Income from the endowment will support a comprehensive new real estate program in the College of Architecture and Urban Planning.

UW hires Crew as executive director of new K-12 leadership institute

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 06 Jan 2000 08:00:00 GMT

Rudy Crew, who stepped down Wednesday after four years as chancellor of New York public schools, will become executive director of the University of Washington's new Institute for K-12 Leadership effective Feb. 1.

Climate change will have major Northwest impact in next 50 years

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) and Vince Stricherz (206-543-2580) — Tue, 09 Nov 1999 08:00:00 GMT

Can Washington, Oregon and Idaho handle average temperatures more than 5 degrees warmer, 5 percent more annual precipitation, one-third less winter snowpack and a mountain snow line as much as 1,500 feet higher?

Pristine Alaskan waterways and streams teeming with sockeye

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Mon, 20 Sep 1999 08:00:00 GMT

Half a dozen University of Washington undergraduates recently completed a six-week course in Alaska that took place in cabins reachable only by boat or floatplane and in streams filled with thousands of bright-red sockeye salmon fighting to spawn.

Predictions about fate of marine mammals in coming century among topics at mammalogists' meeting June 21-24

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 18 Jun 1999 08:00:00 GMT

How might whales, seals, sea lions, dolphins and other marine mammals fare 100 years from now if our human population and demand on the world's resources both double? The question will be among those explored during the annual meeting of the American Society of Mammalogists being held in Seattle for the first time ever.

Scientists use fossilized emu eggshells to discern changes in vegetation, provide additional evidence of human impact on Australian landscape

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 13 May 1999 08:00:00 GMT

A report in the May 14 issue of Science, describing a novel approach to reconstructing paleovegetation, presents the first continuous vegetation record from the Australian interior extending back to 65,000 years ago.

Puget Sound salmon runs among those considered for Endangered Species Act listing

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 09 Mar 1999 08:00:00 GMT

The National Marine Fisheries Service is expected later this month to announce its decision about listing more than a dozen West Coast salmon and steelhead populations under the federal Endangered Species Act. University of Washington experts may be able to help reporters with general information on such things as salmon health and how human activities impact salmon habitat.

Shift in climate cycle would mean winters that are wetter than average

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 02 Mar 1999 08:00:00 GMT

During a weekend presentation at a Northwest weather workshop in Seattle, University of Washington researchers Philip Mote and Alan Hamlet presented what they consider to be mounting evidence of a shift in the cycle that influences Alaska and Pacific Northwest climate for 10, 20 or 30 years at a time.

High school students test

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Mon, 01 Mar 1999 08:00:00 GMT

Teams from Sedro-Woolley High School claimed first and third places, and a team from Garfield High School placed second Saturday during the state's Ocean Science Bowl sponsored by the University of Washington's College of Ocean and Fishery Sciences

Asian pollution may have triggered stream changes at peninsula research site

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Sun, 06 Dec 1998 08:00:00 GMT

Forest resources experts at the University of Washington suspect that Asian air pollution has contributed to dramatic increases of nitrate, sulfate and acidity in precipitation during four of the last six years at their research site on Washington's Olympic Peninsula.

Conference addresses implications of global economic conditions for forest products industry

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 27 Oct 1998 08:00:00 GMT

The University of Washington's College of Forest Resources and Jay Gruenfeld Associates will co-sponsor a conference Dec. 7 and 8 focusing on international markets and trade for forest products with an emphasis on Pacific Rim countries.

University of Washington lecture series in October plumbs the ocean realm

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 24 Sep 1998 08:00:00 GMT

A lecture series celebrating the "International Year of the Ocean" will feature UW faculty who've traveled to the seafloor in tiny submersibles, studied salmon from the wilds of Alaska to the heart of Seattle, and collected samples from some of the coldest and hottest spots on earth in search of unusual microorganisms.

Novel approach to measuring ocean temperatures proved successful

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) and Vince Stricherz (206-543-2580) — Thu, 27 Aug 1998 08:00:00 GMT

An experiment to devise a new method for tracking large-scale changes in ocean temperature associated with events such as El Ni�o and with global warming indicates that scientists can successfully use low-frequency sound transmissions to measure the temperature of vast expanses of ocean.

UW ocean engineers design unique tools, adapt equipment for seafloor quest

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Sat, 18 Jul 1998 08:00:00 GMT

Both specially designed apparatus and off-the-shelf equipment - including three women's regulation softballs - were part of a suite of devices used successfully to cage and lift four sulfide chimneys from the seafloor off the coast of Washington and British Columbia.

Brief scientific background on sulfide chimneys (black smokers)

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Sat, 18 Jul 1998 08:00:00 GMT

Sulfide chimneys are pinnacle-shaped structures that form when super-heated seawater, richly charged with metals and volcanic gases, rises into the bitterly cold deep ocean from hot regions below the seafloor.

First time ever retrieval of "black smokers" from ocean floor reveals one of Earth's strangest and most enigmatic ecosystems

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Sat, 18 Jul 1998 08:00:00 GMT

Unusual sulfide structures shed light on origins of life on earth and possibility of life on other planetary bodies

First ever retrieval of complete "black smokers" from ocean floor reveals one of Earth's strangest and most enigmatic ecosystems

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 16 Jul 1998 08:00:00 GMT

Press briefing to announce results of "black smoker" expedition

In 17 days at sea, four UW undergraduates help investigate ocean's ability to absorb greenhouse gas

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Mon, 22 Dec 1997 08:00:00 GMT

Two days after their most recent research piece appeared in the journal Nature, University of Washington oceanography professors Steve Emerson and Paul Quay set sail on the UW's Thomas G. Thompson to seek more answers about subtropical oceans and how they absorb carbon dioxide, one of the so-called greenhouse gases.

UW physicist earns highest government award

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 20 Nov 1997 08:00:00 GMT

Experiments to understand single-bubble sonoluminescence -- where a pinpoint of light and extreme temperatures are created inside a tiny bubble when liquids are bombarded with high-pitched sound waves -- have earned the University of Washington's Tom Matula a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.

Diver-held sonar helps divers locate objects when visibility is zero

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 24 Sep 1997 08:00:00 GMT

Engineers at the University of Washington's Applied Physics Laboratory have developed a diver-held sonar with better resolution than any other hand-held sonar used today by the military or civilian sectors.

Ships depart to launch Ice Station SHEBA in the Arctic Ocean

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 19 Sep 1997 08:00:00 GMT

Two icebreaking ships are expected to depart Tuktoyaktuk, Canada, this weekend to establish Ice Station SHEBA in the Arctic Ocean, launching the largest and most complex science experiment ever supported in the Arctic by the National Science Foundation.

Ice Station SHEBA/Fact Sheet: Establishing ice station in October

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 05 Sep 1997 08:00:00 GMT

Ice Station SHEBA, Fact Sheet 2: SHEBA goal to improve climate predictions

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 05 Sep 1997 08:00:00 GMT

In October a Canadian Coast Guard ice breaker will be frozen in the ice about 300 miles north of Prudhoe Bay and left to drift for a full year as part of the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean (SHEBA) project.

Ice Station SHEBA, Fact Sheet 3: Opportunities for reporters to visit in spring 1998

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 05 Sep 1997 08:00:00 GMT

Flights from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to Ice Station SHEBA are scheduled about every three weeks next spring to rotate crew and scientists.

Warm, unusually calm weather may be reason Bristol Bay sockeye run was far smaller than expected

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 12 Aug 1997 08:00:00 GMT

The return of sockeye salmon to Alaska's Bristol Bay fell 15 to 20 million fish short of expectations, leading to significant economic and social hardship for fishermen, processors and local communities.

Interpretive walks offered to see world's largest canopy crane

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Mon, 16 Jun 1997 08:00:00 GMT

Interpretive walks to look at the 22-story Wind River canopy crane will be conducted most Saturdays this summer at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. The tours, which are free and open to everyone, start from the Whistlepunk Trailhead in the Wind River Ranger District, a part of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

About the Wind River Canopy Crane

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Sun, 01 Jun 1997 08:00:00 GMT

Canopy research could lead to better forest management

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Sun, 01 Jun 1997 08:00:00 GMT

From the Wind River canopy crane's gondola, scientists can gather samples, install instruments and conduct experiments in the canopies of trees as tall as 220 feet.

Whimsical worms and local TV weathercaster among hosts on UW's CD-ROM "The Sound"

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 15 May 1997 08:00:00 GMT

A CD-ROM created at the University of Washington mixes quirkiness with the very latest information about Puget Sound.

"TREEmendous Forest Story" is theme for Arbor Day

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 17 Apr 1997 08:00:00 GMT

Flood waters will rise and fire will befriend the forest when thousands of elementary-school youngsters descend on the University of Washington April 24, 25 and 26.

Student oceanographers to experience shipboard research April 16- 18

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Fri, 11 Apr 1997 08:00:00 GMT

Undergraduates with the University of Washington's School of Oceanography will have a chance this month to learn about shipboard research while gathering data about the waters west of Everett for the Washington State Department of Ecology.

Biosolids power plants taking hold in unused roadbeds and log landings

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Thu, 27 Mar 1997 08:00:00 GMT

Today the demand for biosolids as a fertilizer and soil conditioner outstrips the supply in this state, according to Chuck Henry, research associate professor with the College of Forest Resources at the University of Washington.

Infrared technology makes it possible to "see" breaking waves in open ocean as never before

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 31 Dec 1996 08:00:00 GMT

A new remote infrared imaging technique has given scientists a promising way to better understand breaking waves, according to a report in this week's issue of Nature

Infrared technology makes it possible to "see" breaking waves in open ocean as never before

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 31 Dec 1996 08:00:00 GMT

A new remote infrared imaging technique has given scientists a promising way to better understand breaking waves, according to a report in this week's issue of Nature.

Methane deep in ocean crust could feed chemical-hungry microorganisms

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Sun, 15 Dec 1996 08:00:00 GMT

Evidence is surfacing that searing temperatures and crushing pressures are creating a storehouse of nutrients needed by microorganisms living at the seafloor and, possibly, deep within the earth's crust.

Methane deep in ocean crust could feed chemical-hungry microorganisms

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Sun, 15 Dec 1996 08:00:00 GMT

School teachers leave Monday for one of the best "field trips" ever offered by the UW

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Wed, 07 Aug 1996 08:00:00 GMT

Nine public school teachers leave Monday morning to visit the site of one of the Northwest's most dynamic geological features to study the life forms that may pervade much of the Earth's crust.

Naturally occurring microorganisms gobbling toxic wastes at bottom of Eagle Harbor

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Tue, 30 Jul 1996 08:00:00 GMT

Ferry passengers traveling to and from Bainbridge Island no longer see the remnants of the last creosote plant on the south shore of Eagle Harbor. On shore, oily wastes foul the ground water and the soil below it, in some spots going deeper than 70 feet. Those marine sediments have polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in concentrations a hundred times greater than clean areas of Puget Sound.

Washington state school teachers on voyages of discovery

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Mon, 01 Jan 1900 08:00:00 GMT

School teachers, three of them from Washington state, worked alongside researchers, engineers and ship crew members on the expedition sponsored by the University of Washington and the American Museum of Natural History, New York, that returned to Seattle July 18 with the first large sulfide chimneys ever retrieved from the seafloor

Quick facts and figures about SHEBA

Sandra Hines (206-543-2580) — Mon, 01 Jan 1900 08:00:00 GMT

Sidebar infromation about Ice Station SHEBA.