In Our Nature

Finding the answer to the age-old question: are electric vehicles better than diesel?

If questions like this that deal with the environment and sustainability interest you, then create a proposal and apply to the Green Seed Fund!  Awarded $32,170, one group from last year’s funding cycle is working with the University of Washington Botanic Gardens to research electric and biodiesel utility vehicles. Using surveys to measure the use and opinions of the vehicles by staff and an opacity meter to measure the pollution from...

A research team is using a Green Seed Fund grant to test whether or not the indoor climate control system in the University of Washington student union building (HUB) is helping it save energy.

The Green Seed Fund awarded the group $75,410 last year, giving them the means to purchase a wide range of monitoring equipment. By attaching the devices to vertical rods, the group could record data such as air temperature, air velocity, and humidity from the ground to the ceiling. With this set up, the group proceeded to test the LEED-certified HUB building’s ability to regulate the indoor...

If you're thinking of applying for a Green Seed Fund grant to help launch a research project on campus sustainability, act fast. The funding deadline for this year is Dec. 11 at 5 p.m.

The Green Seed Fund aims to promote and fund research projects that advance sustainable research while contributing to the university’s sustainability goals. The fund was launched in 2013, and in its inaugural year 15 proposals totaling nearly $1 million were submitted. From that pool, proposals were selected and awarded nearly $279,000...

UW Research Associate Colleen Burge is quoted in a November 2014 Seattle Times article on the connection between climate change and ocean disease outbreaks in sea life. In the article As climate warms, more outbreaks of disease for sea life, journalist Craig Welch explores how rising sea temperatures may affect disease susceptibility and transmission in sea life ranging from dolphins and sea stars to coral, eelgrass, and seals. Burge is quoted several times on the challenges and complexity of...

A new book by John Marzluff, UW Professor of Environmental and Forest Sciences is promising to get lots of people chirping. Welcome to Subirdia: Sharing our Neighborhoods with Wrens, Robins, Woodpeckers, and Other Wildlife tells the story of the rich divesity of birds and other wildlife in our own back yards and how we can be better neighbors to them. A great read for the fall.

>>...

The UW Farm blog this week features a post from one of its current student volunteers on what the UW Farm means to her.

Junior Kate Doughty lists the ways working with the UW Farm has made her happier and healthier, as well as nuturing a love of working in the dirt and watching as seeds grow into plants and food.

UW News & Information recently reported on a new NOAA online tool, the IOOS (Integrated Ocean Observing System) Pacific Region Ocean Acidification Data Portal, that helps researchers and the fishing industry track ocean acidification in local waters and the open ocean. Developed in collaboraiton with several UW researches (including Jan Newton, Emilio Mayorga, and Troy Tanner) and researchers from other universities (including UW Alum Burke Hales, now at OSU), the new tool promises to help many and diverse stakeholders, especially the shellfish...

This Saturday (Nov. 22), explore the UW campus, discover new paths, try bike share and have fun!

The ENVIR 480 class is hosting a bike scavenger hunt ride, meeting at 10:30 a.m. on the HUB lawn. Admission is a canned food item which will be donated to the University Food Bank.

Download a PDF of the flyer

On Thursday, November 20, 2014 Jodi Melamed, Associate Professor of English and Africana Studies at Marquette University presented an engaging and provocative lecture at UW Bothell (UWB) titled "What are the Stakes of What Diversity Means? Capitalism, Collective Existence, the University, and Beyond". The lecture was part of UWB's IAS Distinguished Speaker lecture series that recognizes exemplary scholarship,...

If you're a UW student living in a residence hall, we need your help this weekend!

The annual One Thing Challenge is a competition between UW and Washington State University to see which campus is committed to being the greenest. The school with the most participants will gain bragging rights and the ceremonial awarding of the One Thing Cup - a trophy made from recycled materials.

CHOSE ONE THING:

The One Thing Challenge is a personal commitment to change one thing in your normal routine in order to be more...