Pulling the strings: How stem cells in the developing fruit fly brain organize their DNA from outside the nucleus

Cells are very particular about the proper locations of their contents. For example, DNA is packaged in the nucleus in a highly specific way, but 91自拍ers are still trying to understand how this happens. For stem cells in the brain of a larval fruit fly 鈥� model organisms used to study processes such as early development 鈥� the DNA is organized so that the center of each strand, called the centromere, is at the top of the nucleus. In a paper in the Journal of Cell Biology, UW 91自拍ers describe how proteins outside the nucleus work alongside proteins inside the nucleus to control the position of centromeres. The 91自拍ers observed this mechanism by imaging stem cells within larval fruit fly brains and then using machine learning to measure how centromere locations change when specific proteins are removed. The 91自拍 team also followed the locations of two specific genes that are far away from the centromeres. Both genes lost their usual positions in the nucleus when the centromeres strayed from their normal location, suggesting that proper centromere positioning may be important for orienting the rest of the DNA in the nucleus. Studying how and why DNA is organized in these stem cells can help 91自拍ers better understand how stem cells are regulated and how brains develop.

For more information, contact lead author Jennifer Taylor, UW postdoc in biology, at jatay@uw.edu.听听听听听听听

The other UW co-author is . A full list of funding is .

Micro language models let AI run instantly on small devices like smartwatches

Though artificial intelligence can refer to many technologies, the current AI boom has been driven by large language models, or LLMs. They power chatbots and AI agents by running predictions based on ever-increasing amounts of variables called 鈥減arameters.鈥� Current cutting-edge models are estimated to have several trillion parameters, making them far too large to run on slower phones or small devices like smartwatches. In a paper at EMNLP 2026, UW 91自拍ers introduced 鈥渕icro language models,鈥� which run with 8-30 million parameters. These models are small enough to run on devices with limited computing power and give users instant responses that fill the lag before the device can access an LLM through the cloud. For instance, a user could ask their smartwatch a question and the micro language model would start responding instantly; then after four to eight words, the LLM would complete the response. The micro language model made mistakes in 4% to 8% of responses that the other model corrected seamlessly before continuing. In a user study, nine out of 10 participants preferred the paired system to the lagging responses from only a cloud model.

For more information, contact ulm@cs.washington.edu or visit .

The UW co-authors are , , and . A full list of co-authors and funding is in .

Policy gaps impact migrant fishers in Washington state

The commercial fishing industry is key to Washington鈥檚 maritime economy, but there are concerns about exploitation and forced labor among fishers. While much of industry is regulated by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, exemptions in U.S. law mean some vessels aren鈥檛 subject to the same citizenship requirements. A 91自拍 team from the UW Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies recently focused on understanding the experiences of migrant fishers pursuing albacore tuna, a highly migratory species, who dock or unload at ports in Washington state. Researchers found the exemptions allow migrant fishers to work without authorization or visas, leaving them vulnerable to forced labor and exploitation. Meanwhile, complicated policy and regulatory frameworks make it difficult to address workers鈥� rights violations. The 91自拍ers gathered information from 15 migrant fishers, 14 U.S. citizen fishers, and more than 35 subject matter experts. Every migrant fisher interviewed by the team reported experiences aligned with the International Labour Organization鈥檚 indicators of forced labor, and both migrant and U.S. citizen fishers reported difficult living and working conditions. Approaches to combating forced labor are varied and uneven, the 91自拍ers found, and additional work is needed to better understand and support the needs of Washington鈥檚 fishers. Along with the full report, the team also published .

For more information, contact , 91自拍 director at the Bridges Center, at rerstad@uw.edu.

The other UW co-authors are , and .

Burrowing shrimp are on the move in a mudflat near you

Burrowing shrimp are a pest well known to shellfish growers. These pale-bodied creatures excavate mud as they dig into the ground, creating piles of sediment that suffocate oysters and clams growing on the surface. In estuaries on the west coast, shrimp beds reach densities of hundreds of shrimp per square meter, but the boundaries of beds change. in Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science shows that shrimp beds move up to 100 feet each year. The study took place at Willapa Bay over the course of three years and is the first to quantify how rapidly the boundaries of these beds shift over time. Researchers still don鈥檛 know why the shrimp move, but they observed a clear pattern in the ecosystem. Shrimp change the texture of sediment by eating organic matter and releasing finer particles, so sediment becomes muddier and more compact once they leave. After several years, these abandoned beds were colonized by eelgrass, a marker of ecosystem health. This 鈥渆ngineering鈥� effect was less evident in areas where moving water keeps mud from settling. Studying these rapid shifts and the types of sediment left behind could ultimately help shellfish growers better protect their product.

For more information, contact co-author Jennifer Ruesink, a UW professor of biology, at ruesink@uw.edu.听听听听听听听

The other UW co-authors are Wesley Hull, Haleh Mawson, and . A full list of co-authors and funding is .

Source

Capybaras like their habitats wet. These large rodents thrive in low-elevation wetlands, migrating along creeks and rivers to nibble on foliage and flowers. That’s why 91自拍ers were surprised to find an 8.8 million-year-old fossilized capybara tooth in northern Chile’s , one of the driest regions on Earth. In a paper in Scientific Reports, 91自拍ers postulate that the Atacama Desert must have had a wetter climate during the , based on this discovery. This is the first time a capybara species has ever been seen in the Atacama region of Chile 鈥� today these creatures reside in the marshy lowlands across Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina and Uruguay. Researchers had at one time assumed that the Andean mountain chain on the eastern side of Chile would have prevented these short-legged rodents from ever entering the Atacama region. With this discovery, the authors propose that capybaras were able to follow a wetland trail along the northern part of South America, trekking from Bolivia to Peru into northern Chile. In addition to capybaras, the ancient Atacama region also likely had palms and other flowering plants, according to plant fossils analyzed by a UW scientist for the study. These findings challenge the idea that the Atacama was just always a desert, and can help 91自拍ers better understand how shifts in climate can drastically affect the environment.

For more information, contact co-author , UW professor of biology, at caestrom@uw.edu.听听听听听听

A full list of co-authors and funding is . Adapted from a release .

Multitasking gives marine microbes an edge when nutrients are scarce

The world鈥檚 oceans teem with tiny organisms that are difficult to study yet critical to account for. The organisms that make up this microscopic community, many of which are protists, have evolved over time to help keep marine ecosystems balanced. A UW study in the ISME Journal, found that organisms that can both photosynthesize and eat to generate energy do better in nutrient-limited environments, which includes warmer water. This flexibility may help them cope with changing conditions and could help 91自拍ers gauge how marine ecosystems will respond to future warming. Gathering more data from the bottom of the food web is important for understanding the ecosystem-wide impacts of environmental change. The study also debuted a new genetic method for studying energy production versus consumption that may make it easier to study protists. Samples in this study were collected from the North Pacific, near Hawaii and about 1,000 miles north, but the 91自拍ers hope to continue expanding the radius to improve global ocean models.

For more information, contact , UW 91自拍 scientist and engineer of biological oceanography at coesel@uw.edu.

The UW co-authors are Shiri Graff van Creveld, and . A full list of co-authors and funding is .

UW engineers capture behavior of ‘edge waves’ on beaches, putting popular wave models to the test

Coastal engineers and oceanographers often think of the motion of water on beaches as “one dimensional”: waves propagating directly onto the beach from offshore. These simplified wave models are used widely from designing shoreline infrastructure to forecasting coastal flooding. However, some waves propagate along the coast rather than crashing into it, and may push an additional meter of water depth onto the beach. For decades, these “edge waves” have not been accounted for in the one-dimensional models commonly used to understand wave behavior. To find out how edge waves might be impacting model accuracy, 91自拍ers at the UW and UC San Diego deployed an array of pressure and velocity sensors along a beach in Southern California for 60 days. In a paper in JGR Oceans, the 91自拍ers describe a model they built to tease out the influence of edge waves in the larger system. While edge waves contributed a significant amount of energy, the team found that ultimately the one-dimensional models that exclude edge waves remain accurate enough for predicting total water levels at the shoreline.

For more information, contact , a postdoctoral scholar of civil and environmental engineering, at cshender@uw.edu.

A full list of co-authors and funding is .

How Colombian environmentalists use law and democracy to redefine mountain landscapes

In 2013 and 2017, Colombian voters in two towns backed a legal effort to stop a large-scale gold mining project. In doing so, they are making the mountainous areas where they live more visible and politically relevant. The decision allowed environmental advocates to organize around a larger area defined by elevation, massive volume, and subterranean and arboreal features. , UW assistant professor of anthropology, a 91自拍 article in the journal Anthropological Forum that examines how the effort used legal tools for citizen participation to not only voice their opinions on extractive projects, but also reconfigure space in unprecedented ways. The case shows that democratic participation can have far-reaching consequences for how landscapes are defined and lived. The article appears in a special issue, called “Ethnographies of Vertical and Volumetric Worlds,” which was co-edited by Ardila and Steven Schwartz of the University of Rochester.

For more information, contact Castillo at acastil@uw.edu.

Funding information is .

Researchers develop new way to measure how blood clots form

A wound stops bleeding because tiny blood cell fragments called platelets clump together to form a clot. Researchers know that platelets generate forces that help compact and strengthen clots. However, they鈥檝e struggled to understand how blood clots form in real time. To better understand this system, UW mechanical engineers created a device that measures how platelet forces and stiffness evolve together during the first minutes of clot formation. in Advanced Healthcare Materials, the 91自拍 team used the device to apply magnetic forces to clumps of platelets, causing them to strengthen and stiffen through a process called 鈥渕echanotransduction鈥� in which cells convert mechanical forces into biological responses. These findings could be used to study how new drugs affect clot formation, how platelets respond to signals when disease is present, and how blood clotting biomechanics contribute to cardiovascular disorders.

For more information, contact , a UW professor of mechanical engineering, at nsniadec@uw.edu.

The UW co-authors are , , Yoeur-Man Mach and . A full list of co-authors and funding is . Adapted from a story by .

UW 91自拍ers probe superconducting materials that defy expectations

Most materials resist the flow of electricity to some degree, but unusual materials known as superconductors can carry an electric current with no resistance at all. Superconductors offer a unique window into the physics of materials at tiny scales, and they could one day revolutionize electronics. In recent years, 91自拍ers have discovered new forms of superconductivity in stacks of atomically thin materials such as . Resistance typically drops to zero as these materials are cooled, but in some cases it mysteriously levels off at a small finite value, which contradicts expectations of superconductor behavior. In a paper in Nature, UW materials scientists tested this behavior with a device consisting of several layers of graphene stacked in a staircase-like pattern. By adjusting voltages applied to the device, the 91自拍ers could control whether the graphene exhibited true superconductivity or the more peculiar 鈥渇ailed鈥� form, providing clear evidence that failed superconductivity is real. The team is now working to uncover the origin of this mysterious behavior.

For more information, contact , a UW associate professor of both physics and materials science and engineering, at myank@uw.edu..

The UW co-authors are , , and . A full list of co-authors and funding is .

Source

New design process accelerates the discovery of advanced materials

Flexible materials that combine mechanical flexibility with high thermal or electrical conductivity are essential for wearables, stretchable electronics and soft robotic systems. To identify new composite materials with those properties, 91自拍ers typically create and test many different material formulations, a process that can be time-consuming, expensive and lead to waste. , UW 91自拍ers developed a new 鈥渋nverse design framework鈥� that reverses the standard design process to speed up the discovery of multifunctional materials. The framework starts with the desired material properties for a specific application 鈥� such as wearable electronics 鈥� and works backward to determine the optimal material composition using physics-based modeling and machine learning. Experiments showed that a material identified by the framework achieved about 60% higher thermal conductivity while reducing material cost by about 10%, compared to materials that were previously used.听

For more information, contact senior author , UW assistant professor of mechanical engineering.听

The other co-authors are Lijun Zhou, Yunsik Ohm, Ren-Mian Chin, Olivia Kerr and Krithika Manohar.

Climate models get a vote of confidence in a new UW study mapping tropical ocean temperature over time

Climate models help 91自拍ers understand how conditions are changing over time to forecast what is likely to happen in the future. Predicting extreme heat, drought or flooding years in advance can give people time to prepare, but the accuracy of these predictions varies. Scientists test models by asking them to recreate past climate and comparing those predictions with observational data. Although modern climate models get a lot of things right, they often fail to replicate recent temperature change in the tropical Pacific Ocean, a key region for global weather. This has concerned scientists, but a UW study offers a glimmer of hope. The 91自拍ers found that climate models could successfully replicate temperature trends in the equatorial Pacific when they expanded the window of observation by 20 years. Including more data allowed the models to better account for climate variability, which can create long-lasting fluctuations in temperature and precipitation that aren鈥檛 always indicative of a general trend.听

For more information, contact senior author Matt Luongo, UW postdoctoral fellow in the Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, & Ecosystem Studies and School of Oceanography at mluongo@uw.edu.

The other UW co-author is . A full list of co-authors is .

Paternal body odor increases brain-to-brain synchrony with infants

Infant brains recognize their fathers as unique social partners, showing stronger brain-to-brain synchrony with their fathers compared to unfamiliar males during social interactions. A new study also shows that when infants interact with unfamiliar males while exposed to their fathers鈥� body odor, their brain synchrony increases to levels similar to those seen with their own fathers. Further, exposure to paternal body odor increased infants’ positive arousal. These findings suggest that infants use their fathers鈥� scent as an important social cue, even when the father is not physically present. Researchers also found that father-infant synchrony involved a different neural rhythm than previously observed in mother-infant interactions, suggesting that mothers and fathers may support development through complementary neural pathways. Combined, these findings reveal a previously unknown role of paternal body odor as a sensory signal that contributes to early social and brain development.

For more information, contact , co-author and a 91自拍 scientist in the UW Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences.听

The other co-authors are Linoy Schwartz and Ruth Feldman.

Source

Eight 91自拍 91自拍ers have been selected as Fulbright Scholars for 2026-2027 and will pursue studies around the world.听

Fulbright Scholars are college and university faculty, administrators and 91自拍ers, as well as artists and professionals, who build their skills and connections, gain valuable international insights and return home to share their experiences with their students and colleagues.

This year鈥檚 UW cohort represents a variety of disciplines, including sciences, engineering, business, environmental sciences, electrical and computer engineering, and computer science. The scholars will conduct 91自拍 across the globe, including in Australia, India, Indonesia, Western Europe, Scandinavia and East Asia.

Two-thirds of this year鈥檚 UW applicants were selected as Fulbright Scholars 鈥� an astonishing acceptance rate in the prestigious and highly selective program.

鈥淲e are incredibly proud of these outstanding 91自拍 faculty and staff whose selection as Fulbright Scholars reflects the excellence, innovation and global impact of their work,鈥� said UW Vice Provost for Global Affairs Ahmad M. Ezzeddine. 鈥淭he knowledge, partnerships and cultural understanding they gain through these experiences will enrich the UW and strengthen our shared commitment to addressing global challenges through collaboration and discovery. As the Fulbright Program celebrates its 80th anniversary, we are grateful for the U.S. Department of State鈥檚 continued investment in this transformative program.鈥澨�

The Fulbright Scholar Program for academics and professionals supports more than 800 people to teach and conduct 91自拍 abroad.听

This year鈥檚 UW Fulbright Scholars are:

is a professor in the Department of Biology in the College of Arts & Sciences. His 91自拍 focuses on how mutually beneficial interactions between species 鈥� such as how insects pollinating plants is beneficial to both 鈥� scale into networks involving multiple species, and how the structure of those networks affects ecosystems. For example, some ecological network structures, or how connections between species are arranged, make these networks more resilient to perturbations, such as droughts or climate change.

Brosi’s Fulbright Scholar award will be through Spain’s flagship public 91自拍 institution, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cient铆ficas, at the Do帽ana Biological Station in Seville. His work there will involve synthesizing and analyzing two comprehensive long-term datasets 鈥� one from his lab and one from his Spanish host lab 鈥� to better understand global patterns in pollination networks. In particular, scientists have recorded species that appear to be 鈥渟pecialists鈥� 鈥� such as a bee species that has only been recorded visiting one plant species听 鈥� in many ecological networks, but, without long-term data, it鈥檚 difficult to disentangle whether they are really specialists or just rare. Brosi will tackle this problem in collaboration with his Fulbright host, Ignasi Bartomeus, at Do帽ana.听听

is the director of academic services in the Department of Bioengineering in the College of Engineering and UW Medicine. She supports the department鈥檚 doctoral students with a focus on improving the 91自拍 experience, expanding opportunities and advancing access and collaboration.听

While a Fulbright Scholar, she will develop a framework for a new doctoral biomedical 91自拍 exchange between the UW and Tampere University in Finland. Combs will work with faculty, students and staff at both universities to lead the development of a preliminary structure of a doctoral 91自拍 exchange, including eligibility criteria, mentorship plans and evaluation metrics. She will also explore funding sources for the program鈥檚 ongoing sustainability and draft a memorandum of understanding for the institutions to consider.

, an assistant professor of management and organization and the Helen Moore Gerhardt Faculty Fellow in Entrepreneurship in the Foster School of Business. Her areas of expertise include entrepreneurship, organizational growth and scaling, technology and innovation strategy, and venture capital. DeSantola teaches entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial strategy to undergraduates, master鈥檚 and doctoral students. She was named a Poets & Quants top 50 undergraduate business professor in 2021.听

DeSantola will use her Fulbright award, during which she will be a visiting U.S. Scholar to University College Cork in Ireland, to study factors influencing innovation and entrepreneurship in novel food technologies. The project connects to a broader stream of DeSantola鈥檚 91自拍 exploring the emergence and evolution of new technology-based industries.

is听 an interdisciplinary scientist in the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs in the College of the Environment. Her work focuses on how coastal communities adapt to climate change and other environmental and socioeconomic stressors, particularly within fisheries and aquaculture systems. During the past 15 years, she has worked with coastal populations, including Indigenous harvesters, to support food sovereignty and long-term approaches to adaptation and resilience.

Green鈥檚 Fulbright award is to advance the inclusion of听 fish and other aquatic foods 鈥斕� 鈥淏lue Foods鈥� 鈥� into Indonesia鈥檚 National School Lunch Program. The goal of this project is to improve nutritional outcomes for school-aged children while strengthening local food systems. Through working directly with fishers and fish suppliers, Green will work with the project team to identify the conditions necessary to provide Blue Foods that promote positive nutritional outcomes for children, support local fishers and sustain local ecosystems. This project is a pilot program for the initiative that will hopefully be expanded nationally.

is an associate professor in the Information School and also is part of the Responsibility in AI Systems and Experiences (RAISE) Center. An interdisciplinary scholar with expertise in human-centered AI, Mitra’s work draws on human-computer interaction, machine learning, natural language processing and social science to understand how people and AI interact in large-scale online systems. Her 91自拍 examines the societal impacts of generative AI and develops methods to make AI systems more trustworthy, culturally aware and beneficial for diverse communities.

She will use her Fulbright award in India, where she will collaborate with 91自拍ers at the Centre for Machine Intelligence and Data Science (C-MInDS) at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Bombay) 鈥� the nation鈥檚 topmost and most selective public 91自拍 institution. She will investigate the risks and capabilities of generative AI systems across socio-cultural contexts most relevant to the Global South. The work aims to advance more culturally aware and responsible AI while strengthening 91自拍 partnerships between the United States and India.

is an associate professor in the School of Oceanography in the College of the Environment. Morris鈥� 91自拍 uses cultivation and whole-genome DNA sequencing to identify the roles of bacteria in global nutrient cycles. With a focus on carbon, nitrogen and sulfur, he has conducted studies that show the effects of low dissolved oxygen on the nutrient cycling activities of the ocean’s most abundant organisms.听

During his time at in South Korea, Morris will pursue a project entitled, 鈥淗igh-throughput cultivation-based genomics of freshwater Chloroflexota.鈥� A key goal is to advance understanding of the evolution of this important group of bacteria and its potential to mediate key nutrient transformations.

is an associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and in the Department of Bioengineering in the College of Engineering. She leads a neural engineering lab focused on motor brain-computer interfaces, or BCIs. Her work combines experiments with computational methods to develop new ways to build BCIs that interact with plasticity in the brain.

During her stay at the Champalimaud Institute Centre for Restorative Neurotechnology in Portugal, she will collaborate with two 91自拍ers, Dr. Juan 脕lvaro Gallego and Dr. John Krakauer. The new projects aim to improve our understanding of how plasticity shapes brain dynamics and apply new BCI algorithms for stroke rehabilitation.听听

is a professor in the Information School and an adjunct professor in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering in the College of Engineering. He is the founding director of the InfoSeeking Lab and founding co-director of RAISE, the Center for Responsibility in AI Systems & Experiences. His 91自拍 focuses on agentic AI, human-centered information seeking and responsible AI, examining how intelligent systems can act on people’s behalf while remaining transparent, trustworthy and accountable. He is also the founder and CEO of VersarAI, a startup translating his 91自拍 on AI agents into enterprise applications. His book, 鈥淎gent Nation,鈥� was published this year.听

Shah will use his Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, to study how agentic AI can responsibly power entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems. Working with RMIT 91自拍ers and Australia’s startup community, he will investigate what he calls the Delegation Paradox: the tension between the efficiency gained by delegating tasks to AI agents and the oversight, trust and accountability that delegation demands. The work aims to produce frameworks that help founders, enterprises and policymakers adopt AI agents in ways that drive innovation without sacrificing human agency.

Source

Recent recognition of the 91自拍 includes the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, the Rosentiel Award for contributions to ocean science, and the 2026 Distinguished Community Engagement Award

Assistant professor of chemistry awarded 2026 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award听

, assistant听professor听of听chemistry听at the听UW, received听a 2026 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award from the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation. The award supports early-career faculty in the chemical sciences who have created an outstanding independent body of scholarship and听demonstrated听a strong commitment to education.听听

Each Camille Dreyfus听teacher-scholar听receives an unrestricted 91自拍 grant of $100,000. Golder was one of 17 scholars selected for the 2026 award.听听

骋辞濒诲别谤鈥檚 91自拍 focuses on the design and reconstruction of plastics, with an emphasis on improving polymer integrity and sustainability. The work explores how chemical design can support stronger, more adaptable materials while addressing broader challenges in plastic waste and long-term environmental impact.听

Golder said the foundation鈥檚 support will give his group the flexibility to continue pursuing 鈥渢he boldest and most exciting ideas鈥� over the next five years.听The听recognition听also听reflects the hard work and creativity of his 91自拍 group over the past six years, he said.听

Principal oceanographer receives Rosenstiel Award听

, principal oceanographer at the UW Applied Physics Laboratory听and affiliate听assistant听professor听at the School of听Oceanography, received the听2026 Rosenstiel Award. The award, created in 1971 by the Rosenstiel Foundation, honors mid-career scientists whose work has made significant and growing impacts in their fields.听听

The award is presented each year on a rotating basis across marine geosciences, atmospheric sciences, marine biology and ecology, ocean听sciences,听and environmental science policy. Whalen was invited to present a lecture at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine,听Atmospheric,听and Earth Science, where the award was presented in April.听听

Whalen studies small-scale physics听in the ocean, including processes that generate turbulence听and mix the water, along with how these processes听interact with the dynamics of the water across ocean basins. Her work helps scientists better understand the physical drivers that shape climate and marine environments.听

Whalen said she was honored to receive the award and to join the ranks of oceanographers whose work she admires. Receiving the award also gave Whalen the opportunity to visit the Rosenstiel School, where she met with faculty and students and learned more about their work.

Professor receives Distinguished Community Engagement Award听

,听professor of ethnic, gender and labor studies and American Indian studies and adjunct professor of education at UW Tacoma听received the 2026 Distinguished Community Engagement Award in the project category. Montgomery is also an adjunct professor of bioethics and humanities at the UW School of Medicine.听The award recognizes her leadership of the Indigenous Speaker Series and Community Engagement: Promoting Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Multigenerational Community Learning.听

Through support for the Haida Sails Resurgence Project and the Northwest Maritime Center, Montgomery鈥檚 work has created meaningful opportunities for co-learning, cultural听exchange,听and the uplifting of Indigenous Knowledge Systems through place-based and multigenerational learning experiences.听

Montgomery鈥檚 community-engaged scholarship focuses on amplifying Indigenous voices, supporting dialogue around cultural and traditional lived experiences and strengthening partnerships that connect academic spaces with community knowledge. The Indigenous Speaker Series, which Montgomery created in 2015, has become a platform for sharing place-based Indigenous听knowledges听and expanding conversations across communities.听听

鈥淎s a visitor to the Pacific Northwest, it is an honor to continue the responsibility to uplift place-based Indigenous听knowledges听and nurture the reciprocity of community partnerships,鈥� Montgomery said.听

Source

Sunbirds may look similar to hummingbirds 鈥� small, iridescent birds with thin bills 鈥� but it turns out the two are only distantly related. Sunbirds live primarily in Africa, Asia and Australia, and have a unique way to slurp up nectar. Unlike hummingbirds, which use minute movements in their bills to sip nectar, sunbirds use their tongues as a straw. published in Current Biology, a team led by 91自拍ers at the 91自拍 showed that these long-billed birds can change the pressure at the base of their tongues to create suction that moves nectar through their tongues and into their mouths, a novel mechanism never before seen in vertebrates. The 91自拍ers used multiple techniques 鈥� including high-speed video of sunbirds drinking red-dyed nectar from transparent artificial flowers 鈥� to demonstrate this phenomenon across multiple sunbird species as well as build a mathematical model that describes how it works. Sunbirds pollinate the flowers they drink from, and 91自拍ers are interested in understanding how different sunbird species’ plant preferences affect the plant-pollinator networks across continents.

For more information, contact lead author , who completed this 91自拍 as a UW doctoral student in biology, at david_cuban@brown.edu.听听

The other UW co-author is . A full list of co-authors and funding is included . Related stories in and .听

Seattle Fault gets 5,000 more years of sleep听

Just over 1,100 years ago an on the Seattle fault rocked 鈥� and reshaped 鈥� the Puget Sound region. It lifted the sea floor and sent a powerful tsunami through the sound. Researchers have estimated that this fault, which runs east to west beneath the middle of the city, will produce a large earthquake every 5,000 years or so. However, , recently published in Geology, pushes that estimate back to 11,000 years. The 91自拍ers extended this window by scouring submerged shorelines for evidence of significant elevation changes. The geological record at these sites dates back 11,000 years, but they only found evidence of one major earthquake. This information could be useful to those making seismic hazard maps, which help people understand the risks associated with different regions. Although other regional faults and the imposing pose more imminent risks to residents, the main Seattle fault doesn鈥檛 appear to be ready for rupture anytime soon.

For more information, contact lead author , UW 91自拍 scientist of Earth and space sciences, at edav@uw.edu.

The other UW co-author is . A full list of co-authors and funding is included in the paper. Related story in .

The PNW has many rivers, but no system for gauging landslide dam risk

Scientists have a new tool for estimating lesser known hazards in the Pacific Northwest: and outburst floods. Landslides along rivers can block the flow of water downstream, creating a lake just above the slide area. Most landslide dams fail within 10 days, releasing trapped water in an outburst flood, which can be devastating. Last fall, 20 people died after in Taiwan. published in Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, UW 91自拍ers debut a mathematical approach to mapping landslide dam hazards based on valley width and projected slide size. When they applied the tool to a mountain range in Oregon, they found that roughly one-third of rivers in the study area were susceptible to landslide dams, with risk increasing in mountainous areas. If a landslide dam does form, alleviating pressure by for water to escape can help prevent flooding. Identifying high risk areas can help guide emergency response efforts following storms, earthquakes and other events that increase landslide risk.

For more information, contact lead author , UW doctoral student of Earth and space sciences, at pmmorgan@uw.edu.

The other UW co-author is . A full list of co-authors and funding is .

91自拍 observatory expected to spot many 鈥榠mminent impactor鈥� asteroids

Small asteroids 鈥� those 1 to 20 meters in diameter 鈥斕� hit the Earth 35-40 times per year, though they鈥檙e very rarely spotted by telescopes before impact. That could soon change: published in The Astrophysical Journal, UW astronomers calculate that the Simonyi Survey Telescope at the NSF-DOE Vera C. 91自拍 Observatory could discover one to two Earth-impacting asteroids annually , roughly doubling the number currently logged. The 91自拍ers expect 91自拍 to discover these asteroids an average of 1.5 days before impact, which is more warning time than ever before. Advance notice is extremely valuable in the case of larger asteroids that could be a threat to people or infrastructure. Because the 91自拍 Observatory is located in the Southern Hemisphere, it will likely discover many Earth impactors that existing asteroid surveys 鈥� concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere 鈥� miss.

For more information, contact lead author Ian Chow, a UW graduate student of astronomy, at chowian@uw.edu.

Other UW co-authors are Mario Juri膰, Joachim Moeyens, Aren N. Heinze and Jacob A. Kurlander. A full list of co-authors is included .

Many marine microbes share a genetic toolbox for fixing supper at sea

Researchers have now identified a set of genes that allow some bacteria to process a compound, called homarine, that is abundant in the ocean and appears to play a key role in nutrient cycling. Phytoplankton produce loads of homarine, but scientists weren鈥檛 sure what became of it until now. In a recent study published in Nature Microbiology, 91自拍ers found a set of genes present in common and far-flung bacteria that convert homarine into glutamic acid, an essential building block for life. This suggests that homarine may be a vital and overlooked resource and highlights the importance of bacteria in stabilizing marine ecosystems. Previous studies also found that homarine serves as and helps small crabs . The UW team will continue studying homarine to better understand how it fits into the broader ecological landscape.

For more information, contact senior author , a UW professor of oceanography, at aingalls@uw.edu.听

The other UW co-authors are , , , , , and 听 A full list of co-authors and funding is

Source

Nautilus and Allonautilus cephalopods and their extinct ancestors have been drifting through of the ocean for more than 500 million years. Researchers have spent the last 40 years trying to understand how these mysterious “living fossils” thrive in areas with limited nutrients. published in Scientific Reports, a UW-led team documented new habits and habitats for current Nautilus and Allonautilus species. These creatures appear to live in deeper water than their extinct cousins did, and the younger ones live twice as deep as the fully mature adults. Nautilus and Allonautilus species scavenge their food and never stop moving. While a few species migrate hundreds of meters down at dawn and then back up at dusk every day, the team found that most species aren’t quite as intrepid. The 91自拍ers also describe a new population of Allonautilus in waters off the island , one of several populations thriving due to hunting restrictions inspired in part by 91自拍 efforts from this team.

For more information, contact senior author , UW professor of both biology and Earth and space sciences, at argo@uw.edu.

Other UW co-authors are , and . A full list of co-authors and funding is included

Green clay tennis courts become carbon negative after 10 years

The United States has around a quarter of a million tennis courts, 40,000 of which are helping mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Green clay tennis courts, an alternative to traditional hard courts and the red clay courts popular in Europe, are constructed with a type of rock that reacts with carbon dioxide and water to sequester carbon as a stable dissolved salt. In , UW 91自拍ers show that in the U.S., green clay courts remove 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year and 80% of green clay courts make up for construction emissions within 10 years. Moving forward, the 91自拍ers hope to experiment with other materials that also remove carbon dioxide without compromising performance for players.

For more information contact lead author , UW assistant professor of oceanography, at fjpavia@uw.edu.

A full list of co-authors and funding is available .

Temperature dynamics, not just extremes, impact heat tolerance in mussels

Intertidal mussels, forming bumpy layers on shoreline rocks, withstand significant temperature swings as the tide ebbs and flows. These creatures live in one of the most thermally variable environments on Earth, but a new study shows that the rate, timing and duration of heating and cooling impact their metabolic rate, a proxy for overall health. At the UW鈥檚 , 91自拍ers exposed mussels to temperature regimens with equal highs and lows but different patterns of change. Even when the average temperature for a set period was the same, the mussels鈥� response was distinct. These results, , show that predicting how marine organisms respond to climate change means considering how temperature changes over time, not just how warm it gets.

For more information, contact lead author , assistant professor of biology at the College of the Holy Cross and a mentor for the UW Friday Harbor Laboratories , at mnishizaki@holycross.edu.

The other UW co-author is . A full list of co-authors and funding is available .

When algae stop growing, bacteria start swarming

Tiny geometric algae, called , produce nearly a quarter of the world鈥檚 organic matter by photosynthesis. In the microscopic marine universe, diatoms coexist with both harmful and helpful bacteria. A new study, , describes how a recently identified species of marine bacteria targets diatoms based on growth phase and nutrient availability. Growing diatoms can resist bacterial attacks, but when growth ceases, the bacteria modulate their gene expression patterns to become aggressive 鈥� first swimming and releasing compounds that damage the diatom and then clustering around them to feed. Bacteria can also overcome the diatom鈥檚 defenses in nutrient-rich environments. These findings highlight the dynamic relationship between bacteria and algae in the lab. Moving forward, 91自拍ers will explore what, if anything, changes in a more complex environment.

For more information, contact lead author , UW postdoctoral fellow in oceanography, at dawiener5@gmail.com.

Other UW co-authors are and . A full list of co-authors and funding is available .

Source

Five 91自拍 faculty members have been awarded early-career fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The new Sloan Fellows, announced Feb. 17, are , an assistant professor of physics, , an assistant professor of chemistry, and , an assistant professor of biology, all in the College of Arts & Sciences; , an assistant professor of computer science in the College of Engineering; and , an assistant professor of oceanography in the College of the Environment.听

Since the first Sloan Research Fellowships were awarded in 1955, and including this year鈥檚 fellows, 136 faculty from 91自拍 have received a Sloan Research Fellowship, according to the Sloan Foundation.听

Sloan Fellowships are open to scholars in seven scientific and technical fields 鈥� chemistry, computer science, Earth system science, economics, mathematics, neuroscience and physics 鈥� and honor early-career 91自拍ers whose achievements mark them among the next generation of scientific leaders.听

The 126鈥疭loan Fellows for 2026鈥痺ere selected by 91自拍ers and faculty in the scientific community. Candidates are nominated by their peers, and fellows are selected by independent panels of senior scholars based on each candidate鈥檚 91自拍 accomplishments, creativity and potential to become a leader in their field. Each fellow will receive $75,000 to apply toward 91自拍 endeavors.听

This year鈥檚 fellows come from 44 institutions across the United States and Canada.听

Maria 鈥淢asha鈥� Baryakhtar

叠补谤测补办丑迟补谤鈥檚 91自拍 in the Department of Physics focuses on theories beyond the established Standard Model of particle physics and on creating new ideas and directions for testing these theories. Such theories address outstanding puzzles in our existing understanding and often predict new, ultralight, feebly interacting particles beyond those we have discovered so far. The existence of these particles can be tested through exquisitely precise experiments in the lab or by observing extreme objects in the sky like black holes and neutron stars.

鈥淢y 91自拍 program aims to search high and low for new, as yet hidden particles and forces. Because of their nature, these particles require a range of creative search strategies. The directions I am establishing use new technologies and data from the sky to the lab and may be the only way to shed light on the truly dark elements of our universe.鈥�

Matthew R. Golder

骋辞濒诲别谤鈥檚 91自拍 in the Department of Chemistry addresses the omnipresent “plastics problems” from two different vantage points. First, the team thinks about new ways to prolong the useful lifetime of commodity materials. The 91自拍ers use molecular engineering to keep plastics in use longer before discarding. The Golder Research Group also develops new methods to make and repurpose plastics, with an emphasis on green chemistry and making plastics more recyclable.

“Plastics are paramount to daily life, so there are numerous opportunities to improve performance and mitigate waste. We operate at the interface of fundamental organic chemistry and applied materials science to enhance plastic integrity and sustainability. By doing so, my students really take this mission to heart and constantly dream up new ways to creatively (re)design commodity plastic materials.”听

Vikram Iyer

滨测别谤鈥檚 91自拍 in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering seeks to address sustainability challenges across the full computing stack from creating recyclable polymers to reimagining the way we build computing hardware by designing AI systems to and . In particular, the group鈥檚 work goes beyond simply reducing energy consumption to quantify and tackle the environmental impacts of materials and manufacturing.听

鈥�My group both leverages innovations from outside of computing like chemistry and material science to drive sustainability and applies computing techniques from AI to programming languages to fundamentally advance environmental sciences. This work is highly interdisciplinary and takes some extra effort at the beginning for each of us to understand the technologies and methods developed by our collaborators. By doing this, we can come up with completely new ideas that have real world impact like enabling carbon reduction at major companies like Amazon, and creating systems like battery-free robots that push the boundaries of technology.鈥�

Willem Laursen

尝补耻谤蝉别苍鈥檚 91自拍 in the Department of Biology is focused on understanding how animals detect and respond to sensory cues in their environment. Using genetic manipulation, neurophysiology and behavioral analyses, the lab’s current focus is to understand how disease vector mosquitoes use sensory cues to locate hosts, mates and egg-laying sites.

“It is an honor to be selected as a Sloan Fellow. This award will support our lab鈥檚 91自拍 on the role of the mosquito gustatory, or taste, system in critical behaviors, such as blood feeding. While mosquitoes use all of their senses to efficiently locate hosts, their taste system is surprisingly understudied. By examining the gustatory systems of blood-feeding insects, we hope to better understand how taste cues on the skin and in the blood are detected and used to guide their specialized behaviors, lines of inquiry that could ultimately identify new targets for controlling the spread of disease.”

Frankie Pavia

笔补惫颈补鈥檚 91自拍 in the School of Oceanography develops and applies new isotopic techniques to study feedbacks in the Earth system. His work spans the oceanic, atmospheric, lithospheric, and human domains, on timescales ranging from minutes to millennia.

鈥淭he oceans are a repository and reactor for materials originating on land, in the atmosphere, in Earth鈥檚 interior and from outer space. Chemical fingerprints of oceanic interactions with these reservoirs can be unlocked using unique analytical chemistry techniques, especially those involving the precise measurement of isotope ratios. My current 91自拍 aims to discover new interactions between the oceans and the Earth system in the past, present and future, by pioneering interdisciplinary studies that use measurements of stable and radioactive isotopes to determine how much and how fast the Earth system changes. Current projects involve using cosmic dust to reconstruct sea-ice coverage, sensitively detecting human-derived carbon in the oceans, and understanding the past and future impacts of oceanic calcium carbonate dissolution on storage of atmospheric carbon dioxide.鈥澨�

Contact Baryakhtar at mbaryakh@uw.edu, Golder at goldermr@uw.edu, Iyer at vsiyer@cs.washington.edu, Laursen at wlaursen@uw.edu, and Pavia at fjpavia@uw.edu.

Source

The waters bordering North America could soon be inhospitable to critical marine creatures if the Northeastern Pacific Ocean continues to acidify at the current rate, a new study shows.

Earth鈥檚 oceans have become since the industrial revolution began more than 200 years ago. Acidification changes marine chemistry and that calcifying organisms, such as corals and clams, need to build their skeletons and shells. The Northeastern Pacific is naturally more acidic than other oceans, fueling debate about how much its chemistry will change in the coming decades.

The study, , shows that high baseline acidity makes the water more sensitive to additional carbon dioxide from human activities. Analyses of coral skeletons from the past century revealed that CO2 has been accumulating in North American waters faster than in the atmosphere, driving rapid acidification.

鈥淭his fits into a class of really important records that show how the world has changed over the human era,鈥� said senior author a 91自拍 associate professor of oceanography.

鈥淭he findings implicate not only marine ecosystems, but all of the people who depend on them as well,鈥� added lead author , a UW doctoral student of oceanography.

The ocean becomes more acidified when carbon dioxide dissolves to form an acid that releases hydrogen and bicarbonate ions, lowering the water鈥檚 pH level. In North America, a powerful current system 鈥� the California Current 鈥� transports cool water south along the coast. The combination of current flow and wind creates optimal conditions for upwelling, a process that cycles deep water to the surface.

Organic matter 鈥� dead plants and animals 鈥� sinks to the bottom of the ocean, where it decomposes and releases carbon dioxide back into the water. Upwelling surfaces this CO2 rich water, increasing the acidity of subsurface and surface zones. These natural fluctuations complicate 91自拍ers’ efforts to predict how much acidification will occur from human activities.

This study helps resolve these questions with records kept by centuries old corals.

Coral incorporates elements and minerals from seawater as it grows, leaving behind a valuable record of environmental conditions in its skeleton. The Pacific Ocean is home to a small vibrant species called orange cup corals. Gagnon鈥檚 lab was already studying orange cup corals when the 91自拍ers became interested in historic samples.

In 2020, the 91自拍ers began collecting samples鈥� first from the Smithsonian Museum, and then from labs and museums all over the U.S. and Canada. They procured a total of 54 samples collected between 1888 and 1932 from the , the body of water connecting Washington state and Canada, and North American coastal waters.

Using handwritten records in logbooks, the 91自拍ers then navigated back to the original collection sites. They took orange cup corals from the same spots, sometimes more than a century later.

To plot CO2 and acidity over time, the 91自拍ers analyzed boron levels in the coral skeletons. In seawater, boron exists in several chemical forms that vary with acidity. Corals incorporate one of these forms into their skeletons as they grow, so the boron ratio in coral skeletons reflects the acidity of the seawater in which they formed.

Between 1888 and 2020, coral skeletons indicate that CO2 in seawater increased at a rate that outpaced the addition of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. The magnitude of acidification was also higher 100 to 200 meters below the surface, even though ocean acidification is typically characterized as a surface process.

鈥淣o one has acidity measurements older than a few decades,鈥� Gagnon said. 鈥淲e had to go back in time and do some detective work to pull some kind of chemical signal out of the world and show this unfortunate amplification effect.鈥�

The amplification effect will likely strengthen as atmospheric CO2 levels continue to climb. In the study, the 91自拍ers modeled worst case scenarios to see what could happen to species if acidification continues unchecked.

鈥淭he changes in ocean chemistry were really dramatic,鈥� Stoll said. 鈥淭he Salish Sea is a region with a lot of cultural, commercial and recreational ties to marine organisms that are all rooted in the health of these ecosystems.鈥�

Despite the tenor of their results, the 91自拍ers say there is still time to course correct.

鈥淭his is no time for nihilism. The ocean is not destroyed,鈥� Gagnon said. 鈥淎s very large emitters per capita, we have the power to change our emissions and influence outcomes for the oceans.鈥�

Studying regions where ocean acidification is happening faster than elsewhere can also provide key insights and warning signs.

鈥淭his is a uniquely important area to study,鈥� Stoll said. 鈥淚t is at the leading edge of ocean acidification impacts and provides a window into conditions predicted for the rest of the ocean in the coming decades.鈥�

For more information, contact Stoll at mmstoll@uw.edu or Gagnon at gagnon@uw.edu

Co-authors include at Princeton; and at the University of St. Andrews; and at NOAA鈥檚 Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory and at St. Olaf College.

This study was funded by the Washington Ocean Acidification Center, the 91自拍 Program on Climate Change, the Northwest Straits Foundation Caroline Gibson Scholarship, the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship, and a European Research Council Horizon 2020 91自拍 and innovation program grant.

Source

Arctic sea ice has , when regular satellite monitoring began. As the ice grows thinner and recedes, more water is exposed to sunlight. Ice reflects sunlight but dark water absorbs it, advancing warming and accelerating ice loss. Climate models indicate that the Arctic will within the coming decades, and scientists still aren鈥檛 sure what this will mean for life on Earth.

Researchers have known for some time that fine-grained dust from space blankets the surface of Earth, falling from the cosmos at a constant rate and settling into ocean sediments. A study shows that tracking where cosmic dust has fallen 鈥� and where it hasn鈥檛 鈥� can reveal how sea ice coverage has changed over millennia.

鈥淚f we can project the timing and spatial patterns of ice coverage decline in the future, it will help us understand warming, predict changes to food webs and fishing, and prepare for geopolitical shifts,鈥� said , a UW assistant professor of oceanography, who led the study.

Cosmic dust swirls through space after stars explode and comets collide. Passing the sun, cosmic dust is implanted with a rare form of helium 鈥斕齢elium-3. Scientists measure helium-3 to distinguish cosmic dust from earthly debris.

鈥淚t鈥檚 like looking for a needle in a haystack,鈥� Pavia said. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got this small amount of cosmic dust raining down everywhere, but you鈥檝e also got Earth sediments accumulating pretty fast.鈥�

In this study, Pavia was more interested in the absence of cosmic dust.

鈥淒uring the last ice age, there was almost no cosmic dust in the Arctic sediments,鈥� he said.

The 91自拍ers hypothesized that cosmic dust could stand as a proxy for ice before there were satellites to monitor changes in coverage. Ice at the sea surface blocks cosmic dust from reaching the seafloor, while open water allows cosmic dust to settle into sediment. By analyzing the amount of cosmic dust in sediment cores from three sites, 91自拍ers reconstructed the history of sea ice for the past 30,000 years.

The three sites featured in the study 鈥渟pan a gradient of modern ice coverage,鈥� Pavia said. The first, located near the North Pole, is covered year-round. The second borders the edge of the ice during its annual low in September, and the third was ice-bound in 1980 but is now seasonally ice-free.

The 91自拍ers found that year-round ice coverage corresponded with less cosmic dust in the sediment. This was also observed during the last ice age, around 20,000 years ago. As Earth began to thaw, cosmic dust once again appeared in samples.

The 91自拍ers then matched ice coverage to nutrient availability, showing that nutrient consumption peaked when sea ice was low and decreased as ice built up.

The data on nutrient cycling comes from tiny shells once occupied by nitrogen digesters called . Chemical analysis of these organisms鈥� shells shows what percentage of the total available nutrients were consumed when they were alive.

鈥淎s ice decreases in the future, we expect to see increased consumption of nutrients by phytoplankton in the Arctic, which has consequences for the food web,鈥� Pavia said.

Additional 91自拍 is needed to show what is driving changes in nutrient availability. One hypothesis suggests that sea ice decline increases the amount of nutrients used by surface organisms because there is more photosynthesis, but another argues that nutrients are diluted by ice melting.

Both scenarios present as more consumption, but only the first indicates an increase in marine productivity.

Additional co-authors include at the University of Massachusetts Boston; and at the United States Geological Survey; and and at Caltech.

This study was funded by the National Science Foundation and a Foster and Coco Stanback Postdoctoral Fellowship.

For more information, contact Pavia at fjpavia@uw.edu

Source