ϳԹ

Skip to content

News releases

Paleontologists with the ϳԹ’s Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture find that tiny organisms called foraminifera have a big story to tell about the health of Puget Sound. Two recent studies about the health of Bellingham Bay and inlets in the Bremerton area found the diversity and number of foraminifera — single-celled marine organisms that live on the sea floor — deteriorated significantly. The decline of these microscopic organisms is consistent with the deterioration of snails and other larger marine animals, even though analysis showed a reduction of chemical pollutants in Bellingham Bay and Bremerton over the same period of time.

When President Barack Obama visited the shrinking Exit Glacier in September, he pointed to a very obvious sign of our warming planet literally at his feet. Less visible, but perhaps more indelible, signs of changing climate lie in the oceans. A ϳԹ researcher argues in the journal Science that people — including world leaders who will gather later this month in Paris for global climate change negotiations — should pay more attention to how climate change’s impacts on…

A new book by ϳԹ geologist David Montgomery weaves history, science and personal challenges into an exploration of humanity’s tangled relationship with microbes, perhaps the least loved and most misunderstood creatures on Earth — and in you. “The Hidden Half of Nature: The Microbial Roots of Life and Health” comes out Nov. 16 from W.W. Norton & Co. Montgomery, a ϳԹ professor of Earth and space sciences, co-wrote the book with his wife, Anne Biklé, a biologist and…

In an era of Fitbits, Skinnygirl margaritas and kale mania, isn’t overeating simply a failure of willpower, an unwillingness or inability to make good choices? It’s not that simple, says Kima Cargill, a professor of clinical psychology at the ϳԹ in Tacoma. In her new book “The Psychology of Overeating,” Cargill places the blame for gluttony squarely at the feet of a culture gorged on consumerism. She contends that abundance of variety, lax regulation and sophisticated branding and marketing…

When Thaisa Way put a call out last spring to see if ϳԹ faculty members working on urban issues wanted to join forces, she wasn’t sure what the response would be. “There were a lot of people who said, ‘You’re not going to get anyone to show up,’” said Way, a ϳԹ associate professor of landscape architecture. But more than 80 people representing 12 of the ϳԹ’s colleges and schools turned up to the gathering, held on a Monday…

During its almost half-century on television, “Sesame Street” has tackled thorny issues ranging from divorce to death, food insecurity and parental incarceration. The show is now turning its attention to autism, and a ϳԹ expert played a pivotal role in the effort. Wendy Stone, director of the ϳԹ’s Research in Early Autism Detection and Intervention Lab, helped “Sesame Street” develop content for its See Amazing in All Children initiative, which launches today (Oct. 21). Stone thinks the project will promote…

In a study published this week in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers have used new high-performance computing methods and comprehensive data on the distribution of thousands of species to map the threat that climate change poses to birds, mammals and amphibians across the Western Hemisphere. They found that although Arctic areas have experienced the most rapid warming to date, climate-related threats to the Amazon basin’s biodiversity will eclipse those in other regions by the year 2100.

Continuing a recent string of noteworthy accolades, the ϳԹ held its place at No. 5 in the world on the National Taiwan University Ranking of Scientific Papers, which was released Friday. The ranking is based on performance of scientific papers in three major categories — research productivity, research impact and research excellence. “One of the major ways we contribute to the health and prosperity of our world is through research and scholarship. Given the excellence of our faculty,…

The ϳԹ is shifting $3 million to expand child care facilities on campus as part of a major initiative to enhance the culture of service in ϳԹ’s central administration, interim Provost Jerry Baldasty announced this week. The need for child care was one of several needs brought to light over the summer in a survey across all three ϳԹ campuses about what the administration does well and what it could do better. The ϳԹ will convert 12,000 square…

A group of young marine-disease researchers from around the country has contributed key information about sea stars’ immune response when infected with a virus that is thought to cause a deadly wasting disease. It’s the first time researchers have tracked how genes behave when encountering this naturally occurring pathogen, which could help explain how sea stars attempt to fight the virus and why they develop lesions and appear to melt.

A groundbreaking new report provides a sobering picture of the state of urban education in America, especially when it comes to educational opportunities for poor students and students of color, who now make up the majority of America’s public school students nationwide. The report provides the first citywide assessment of the changing and complex public school landscape in the U.S., enabling city leaders to assess the overall health of all of their cities’ schools, regardless of whether they are district-…

Meeting schedule 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14 at the University Temple Church, 1415 NE 43rd St. Noon to 2 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15 at the Husky Union Building, Room 340, on the ϳԹ campus. For more information, check the Campus Master Plan FAQ The ϳԹ is inviting students, staff, faculty and members of the community to participate in public meetings on Oct. 14 and 15 to kick off a two-year effort to develop the next master…

The number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) older adults in Seattle and King County is expected to double by 2030, and they face higher risks of disability, poor health, mental distress and isolation — along with a social service sector unequipped to deal with their needs. That’s the conclusion of a study released Oct. 6 and led by professor Karen Fredriksen-Goldsen and colleagues at the ϳԹ School of Social Work. The study identifies widespread social…