College of the Environment

Nearly 30 years ago, a simple question sent University of Washington researchers into the Puget Sound lowlands to look for birds. With Seattle’s population swelling and housing developments pushing into once-forested suburbs, researchers wanted to know how land conversion was impacting birds, and whether the type of development mattered. The researchers returned to various development sites three…

Nobody is immune from the hazards of summer wildfires, even the experts. At the University of Washington, researchers study both how to mitigate and understand wildfire behavior and how air quality degrades as a result of burning blazes. While UW faculty contribute to a rapidly emerging body of research into the risks of fire and smoke season, they also contend with the decisions that the rest of…

Deputy Washington State Climatologist Karin Bumbaco discusses how El Niño works, what it has to do with climate change and how it might impact the Pacific Northwest this winter.

In late May, more than 120 colleagues from the University of Washington came together for an inaugural showcase and conversation about community-engaged research across the College of Environment. Community-engaged research is central to the University of Washington’s mission as a public university.

We are excited to announce several new leadership changes across the College of the Environment in the Department of Atmospheric and Climate Science, School of Marine and Environmental Affairs and EarthLab.  Becky Alexander has been named chair of the Department of Atmospheric and Climate Science, where she has been serving as the interim chair since summer 2025. She is a professor in the departm…

The University of Washington has secured a major investment from the National Science Foundation to lead the next chapter of the Seafloor Sampling Facility (SEASAM), a national oceanographic resource that will be housed within the School of Oceanography. SEASAM will provide scientists across the United States with access to seafloor samples critical for addressing some of the most pressing questi…

Join UW College of the Environment on July 13 for virtual talk and Q&A with Professor Cecilia Bitz at PNW Climate Week 2026.

As the world arrives in Seattle for five weeks of thrilling World Cup matches, the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network will be using the same seismometers that provide early warning for earthquakes to track the excitement and energy of the crowds.

As artificial intelligence quickly reshapes how people interact with the world in various ways, instructors and students are taking a closer look at its role in higher education.

When the opportunity arose to work with 5 million-year-old ice from Antarctica, Hailey Smith jumped at the chance.  Smith, a fourth-year undergraduate student, had spent the past year working with graduate student mentor Liam Kirkpatrick on a research project to decipher the origins of layering in ice core segments from Antarctica. These ice cores give us insights into atmospheric conditions mill…

Gazing at an ice fjord on a study abroad trip to Greenland, Cillian Elise Mullen, ’26, felt like an astronaut staring at the Earth from space. “You see this huge, beautiful thing that’s constantly active,” he says, “and you feel so small compared to everything going on outside of you.” Mesmerized by “the wonder of the world,” Mullen believes we should interact with, adapt to and support the envir…

David Catling, a UW professor of Earth and space sciences, has been elected as a fellow of the Royal Society. Founded in 1660, the Royal Society is the national academy of sciences of the United Kingdom and the world’s oldest continuous scientific academy. Fellows are elected from all over the world through a lengthy selection process based on scientific excellence. Catling’s contributions have i…

The UW College of the Environment’s Spring Celebration on May 26 will honor this year’s College award recipients. The 11 awardees, announced recently and selected through a College-wide nomination process, are recognized by their colleagues for making unique, inspiring and meaningful contributions to our community during the academic year.

The UW Department of Atmospheric and Climate Science has named undergraduate Zayna Haider as the inaugural recipient of the Steve Pool Memorial Fund for Students in Atmospheric and Climate Science, recognizing her academic excellence and interest in the field.

The “blue economy” is booming. From monitoring and mitigating climate change to bolstering coastal economies, there are more opportunities than ever for ocean science students to build meaningful careers in the field. That’s why on April 23, 138 students, industry professionals and researchers gathered at the University of Washington’s South Campus Center for the first-ever TIDES Conference, a fr…

Two SEFS students, Luciana Calle and Lorenzo McCleese, were awarded the 2026 Goldwater Scholarship. Both are third-year students expecting to graduate in 2027.

Fourteen students from the College of the Environment were recognized in the 2026 Husky 100. This honor celebrates graduate and undergraduate students who are making the most of their time at the University of Washington.

Moses Flores is a second-year student in marine biology and aquatic and fisheries sciences. Having grown up in Seattle, coming to the University of Washington for undergraduate studies was a lifelong dream.  But as one of the first people in his family to attend college, Flores found it difficult to navigate university life.  This year has been different. Flores is part of the inaugural cohort of…

In a new study, University of Washington researchers show that an Earth-sized planet likely needs at least 20 to 50% of the water in Earth’s oceans to maintain a critical natural cycle that keeps water on the surface. These new parameters could exclude many exoplanets in the so-called habitable zone.

The Ecological Society of America named the UW’s Claire Willing a 2026 Early Career Fellow. Willing, an assistant professor of environmental and forest science, studies fungal ecology, looking at how fungi are evolving and supporting plant communities as the climate changes.