Thursday, June 25, 2009
UW researchers along as 'Around the Americas' vessel circumnavigates North and South America

UW scientists are leads for five of the eight science projects on board a 64-foot boat that is sailing 25,000 miles all the way around North and South America. The point is to raise awareness about the plight of the oceans, according to a press release from sponsors Pacific Science Center and Sailors for the Sea, a nonprofit that enlists the boating community to protect and restore oceans and coastal waters. The expedition, being called "Around the Americas," is on a 13-month journey that will take the ship Ocean Watch to a dozen countries Full Story

Thursday, April 16, 2009
UW students to learn firsthand of culture, corals, islands threatened by sea level rise

Given projected sea level rise, the Marshall Islands in the tropical Pacific Ocean are expected to be underwater in 90 years. And in the nearer future the islands face flooding and a degradation of the coral reefs on which they make their money. This summer, a UW professor is leading an Exploration Seminar to the area which will involve students in addressing these problems. Full Story

Wednesday, March 4, 2009
DNA evidence is in, newly discovered species of fish dubbed H. psychedelica

"Psychedelica" seems the perfect name for a species of fish that is a wild swirl of tan and peach zebra stripes and behaves in ways contrary to its brethren. So says University of Washington's Ted Pietsch, who is the first to describe the new species in the scientific literature and thus the one to select the name. Full Story

Thursday, January 8, 2009
New vessel provides platform to test innovative equipment, conduct research

Equipment and instruments developed for use on deep-ocean expeditions, on the seafloor or under the ice at the North Pole need thorough testing before being sent to sea. The UW Applied Physics Laboratory's new vessel, delivered this fall, provides just such a platform for testing. Full Story

Wednesday, December 17, 2008
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Update your contact information here: http://www.washington.edu/alumni/membership/addresschange.html Full Story

Thursday, December 4, 2008
Spicy Puget Sound: Fish swim in 'big, dilute latte,' research shows

'Tis the season and the waters of Puget Sound are "flush" with holiday spices and flavorings. Individuals and water managers alike 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. The sampling also emphasizes just how connected our actions are to Puget Sound, according to Rick Keil, a UW associate professor of oceanography. It's a message worth reinforcing following yesterday's unveiling of Puget Sound Partnership's action agenda for improving the health of the Sound. Full Story

Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Sanford's research focuses on places that are hard to reach and forces that are difficult to measure

September is considered one of the good-weather months in Denmark Strait, between Greenland and Iceland. Nevertheless, waves 3 feet above Tom Sanford's head were breaking on the main deck, forcing him to the next deck up in order to launch scientific probes into the churning Nordic Sea. The exasperated captain finally convinced Sanford to suspend his work by saying, "Even the Icelandic fishermen are in port." It was time to concede the point, says Sanford, someone whose career has focused on places that are hard to reach and forces that are difficult to measure. Full Story

Thursday, November 13, 2008
Internationally known oceanographer's memorial Nov. 16 on campus

Warren Wooster, who died Oct. 29 at the age of 87, will be remembered at a memorial from 2 to 4 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 16 at the University of Washington Club. Wooster was an international leader in bringing oceanographic science to the management of fisheries and other marine resource Full Story

Monday, October 27, 2008
Voyage to Knowledge

The triangular area of the North Pacific bounded by Seattle, Hawaii and Northern Japan gulps so much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere that it just about counters all the CO2 given off by the Pacific at the equator, an area twice as vast. Scientists do not really know why some of those North Pacific waters support such explosive phytoplankton growth, but the carbon dioxide going from the atmosphere to the water drops "like mad" as it is used by the tiny plants to grow into blooms that are visible from outer space, according to Steven Emerson, UW oceanography professor and co-chief scientist on an expedition this fall that involved seven scientists and 20 UW graduate and undergraduate students to study the situation. Full Story

Tuesday, October 14, 2008
North Pole ever closer to having no ice

For Arctic expert Ignatius Rigor, this is one bet he'd rather lose. The University of Washington scientist has studied the quirks of the North Pole for years. He knew that as of this spring, the ice up there was unusually thin and brittle. The planet, he knows, is warming. He figured he was safe in his wager with fellow polar gurus that the area of ice would have shrunk to a record low this summer, beating last year's astonishing disappearing act. Full Story