College of the Environment

E-Newsletter

January 29, 2010
Vol. 2, No. 1


Announcements

Congratulations Graduates - Congratulations to the December 2009 College of the Environment graduates. The College granted a total of 27 undergraduate degrees and 24 graduate degrees (19 Master’s level; 5 PhDs).

Distinguished Staff - The following individuals from units in (or soon to be in) the College of the Environment have been nominated for 2010 Distinguished Staff Awards. These individuals have been nominated for extraordinary service beyond their basic job descriptions and for demonstrating the University of Washington's values of integrity, diversity, excellence, collaboration, innovation and respect. The campus community is cordially invited to attend a reception honoring all nominees on Wednesday, February 3, starting at 2:00 p.m. in the HUB Ballroom. A program that will honor each nominee begins at 2:15 p.m.

  • Carolyn Fisher, Assistant to the Director, School of Oceanography
  • Michelle Hall, Undergraduate Program Coordinator, Program on the Environment
  • Marc Morrison, Director-Technical Services, School of Forest Resources
  • Kathleen Newell, Research Scientist/Engineer-4, Administration Oceanography
  • Kathryn Stout, Administrator, Department of Atmospheric Sciences

APL/College collaboration - The following proposals received funding in the inaugural year of the Applied Physics Laboratory and College of the Environment call for cross campus collaboration. These awards are intended to support planning efforts and/or pilot projects needed to develop new collaborative research proposals.

  • Jim Thomson (APL) and Claire Horner-Devine (SAFS): “Hotspots in a Tidal Flat”, $40,000
  • Kristin Laidre (APL), Tom Leschine (SMA), and Harry Stern (APL), “Dynamics of Coupled Physical, Biological, and Human Systems in the U.S. and Canadian Arctic”, $30,000
  • Ron Lindsay (APL), Eric Salathe (JISAO), and Axel Schweiger (APL), “Toward a new UW Arctic Regional Coupled Climate Model”, $20,000
  • Renata Bura (SFR), Rick Gustafson (SFR), and Brian Marquardt (APL), “Development of Sensors for Hydrolysis of Cellulosic Biomass to Sugars and Fermentation of Sugars to Biofuels and Biochemicals”, $20,000

Donor and Community Outreach - The inaugural College of the Environment's Dean’s Winter Lecture, offered in partnership with the School of Forest Resources, and featuring Professor Dave Peterson, will take place on Wednesday, March 11th. It will be preceded by a reception and wine-tasting in the Walker-Ames Room for Dean’s Club members and special guests at 5:30 p.m., with the lecture to begin at 7 p.m., in Kane Hall 120. Dr. Peterson, IPCC co-author and co-Nobel Prize winner, will present his view from the tree line and explore how interdisciplinary science can help us prepare for climate change.

Recent Gifts


  • UW Botanic Gardens is the recipient of two significant gifts, one for $95,000 from the Miller Foundation (benefiting the Miller Library at the Center for Urban Horticulture) and one for $20,000 from the Stanley Smith Horticulture Trust to support outreach and communications.
  • The School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences has received a $50,000 gift from the Quinault Indian Nation to support research on the IHN virus in steelhead populations.
  • The School of Forest Resources has received a third pledge payment on a $250,000 pledge toward establishing the Byron and Alice Lockwood Professorship to provide faculty support for teaching and research on current and emerging issues affecting forests such as climate change, urbanization, population growth, and changing perceptions about timber and non-timber values. This will complement two other endowed funds established by the Lockwood family, one of which provides graduate fellowships and the other of which provides discretionary support to the Director of SFR.
  • Dr. Tom Rosmond, UW Oceanography BS 1966, has made a generous gift to create a new endowment in memory of his uncle and SFR alum Fred Rosmond (BS 1939) to support ongoing forestry education at the Olympic Natural Resource Center in Forks, WA.


Funding


Federal funding opportunities

  • NSF has announced a new research proposal solicitation on Water Sustainability and Climate (WSC). This is a multi-directorate solicitation involving the Directorates of Engineering, Geosciences, Biology, and Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences. The goal of the solicitation is to understand and predict the interactions between the water system and climate change, land use, the built environment, and ecosystem function and services through place-based research and integrative models. Studies of the water system using observations at specific sites in combination with models that allow for spatial and temporal extrapolation to other regions, as well as integration across the different processes in that system are encouraged, especially to the extent that they advance the development of theoretical frameworks and predictive understanding. The full solicitation can be found in the NSF program solicitation. Letters of Intent are due March 15, 2010. The full proposal deadline is April 15, 2010.


Private funding opportunities

  • The David and Lucile Packard Foundation Fellowships for Science and Engineering Program has invited the University of Washington to submit two applications from junior faculty in the natural sciences and engineering. The intent of the Fellowship Program is to provide support for unusually creative researchers early in their careers; faculty members who are well established and well funded are less likely to receive the award. It is further the intent of the Foundation to emphasize support for innovative individual research that involves the Fellows, their students, and junior colleagues, rather than extensions or components of large-scale, ongoing research programs. Eligible candidates are in the fields of physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology, astronomy, computer science, earth science, ocean science and all branches of engineering. Candidates engaged in the social sciences will not be considered. Because the UW is limited to two applications, there is an internal review process with a deadline of February 25, 2010. Please contact your chair/director if you are interested in applying and follow the application guidelines they have disseminated.
  • The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute is now accepting applications to their 2010 Internship Program. With state-of-the-art facilities and equipment that includes research vessels, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) to explore the deep ocean, MBARI offers teachers and students unique opportunities to be involved in advanced research and development projects. The 10-week MBARI Summer internship program is open to educators and college students (undergraduate and graduate level). Applications are due on February 10, 2010.

Please note that many corporations and foundations have requested that UW Advancement facilitate their relationship with University of Washington faculty, staff and students. As such, all solicitations, applications, or requests for private giving from foundations or corporations must be developed in partnership with UW Advancement. Please contact a member of the College Advancement Team before submitting a proposal to private organzations.


Colleagues in the News

(Jan 1 - Jan 28, 2010)

El Niño to top extreme tides(Nate Mantua/CIG, Jan 27, 2010)

UW expert to talk about warming (Peter Ward/ESS, Jan 26, 2010)

UW oceanographer studies Quartermaster Harbor's paralytic shellfish poisoning problem (Cheryl Greengrove/OCN, Jan 27, 2010)

El Nino helping Green River Valley avoid floods (Cliff Mass/ATMS, Jan 26, 2010)

Antarctica On The Major Dangers Of Climate Change (Ward & Steig/ESS, Jan 26, 2010)

Study offers new models for dam operations (CIG, Jan 22, 2010)

Asia is adding to smog in West, researchers say (Dan Jaffe/ATMS, Jan 20, 2010)

As climate warms, what will our rivers do? (Eric Salathe/JISAO, Jan 18, 2010)

Japan-based NOAA jet to help forecast Northwest-bound storms (Cliff Mass/ATMS, Jan 17, 2010)

As storms intensify, Washington coast to get full radar coverage (Cliff Mass/ATMS, Jan 13, 2010)

Small quake off Alki Sunday not at all unusual (John Vidale/ESS, Jan 11, 2010)

Feeling That Cold Wind? Here’s Why. (John M. Wallace/ATMS, Jan 9, 2010)

Which state volcano is most likely to erupt next? (Steve Malone/ESS, Jan 8, 2010)

The 2010s: Freakin' Awesome-With Lasers (David Montgomery/ESS, Jan 8, 2010)

Arthur C. Clarke's ‘2010’ still beyond reality (Peter Ward/ESS, Jan 8, 2010)

Sea Life welcome and a “boring” bonus (Jeff Adams/SEA, Jan 6, 2010)

Tidal tremors may predict giant quakes (John Vidale /ESS, Jan 5, 2010)

'Noise' about climate change (Climate Impacts Group, Jan 5, 2010)

Cold Arctic Pressure Pattern Nearly Off Chart (John M. Wallace, Jan 4, 2010)

C.I.A. Is Sharing Data With Climate Scientists (Norbert Untersteiner/ATMS, Jan 4, 2010)

Cold Arctic Pressure Pattern Nearly Off Chart (John Michael Wallace/ATMS, Jan 4, 2010)

An Economist Stands Up for a Less Dismal Science (Yoram Bauman/POE, Jan 3, 2010)

Upcoming Events

Check out the College events calendar for a comprehensive list of upcoming seminars, conferences, lectures, and other public events.

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If you have a suggestion for additional information that should be included in the College of the Environment bi-weekly announcements, please submit it to Becca Baughman.