College of the Environment Spring Celebration

Written by

Join us for Spring Celebration, the UW College of the Environment community’s end-of-the-year gathering and awards ceremony! Indulge in delicious food and beverages while grooving to music and engaging in fun games like table tennis and cornhole. All faculty, staff, students, postdocs and their guests are welcome to attend! Don’t forget to bring your ID. “Over 21” wristbands will be distributed at the doors for those wishing to drink beer or wine.
When: Wednesday, May 29, 2024 | 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Where: Fishery Science Building (FSH) Lobby, 1st Floor Patio and 2nd Floor Patio

REGISTER HERE!

Spring 2024 Symposium Schedule: May 22nd and May 28th

Written by

The Program on the Environment will host the Spring 2024 Capstone Symposium on Wednesday, May 22nd (online) AND on Tuesday, May 28th (in person) at the UW School of Aquatic Fisheries & Science.  All are welcome to attend and support students as they present on the culmination of their hard work over three quarters.

The Capstone Course Series is a highlight for many students, and serves to catapult some into their first jobs or even their dream careers.  Through internships, research, and social media training, students come out of the experience well equipped to communicate about the problem they sought to solve, and to tie their academic learning with specific research questions.

This event is open to the public, and we encourage students interested in learning about the Capstone, as well as members of the community, to join us.

The following links provide: Event Program, Video Presentations, and All Student Abstracts.

JUMP TO DAY 1 SCHEDULE

JUMP TO DAY 2 SCHEDULE

Spring 2024 Symposium Schedule

DAY 1:  Online Poster Symposium (Wed. May 22nd)

4:30 PM – 4:40 PM Welcome & Session Overview

4:40 PM – 4:50 PM Session A Speaker Intros

4:50 PM – 5:50 PM Poster Session A – Natural science, business, & sustainability

Jeron Atlas (Room #1) – Listen Up! Remote Acoustic Bird Monitoring for Assessing Forest Management Actions. Site Partner: The Great Peninsula Conservancy (Jeron’s page)
Dray Banfield (Room #2) – Snowpack and Snow Water Equivalent: Monitoring in a Washington Forest Treated by Thinning. Site Partner: Northwest Natural Resource Group (Dray’s page)
Forrest Baum (Room #3) – Using Data To Bring UW Air Travel Emissions Down To Earth. Site Partner: UW Hydro-Biogeochemical Research Group (Forrest’s page)
Chelsea Bressler (Room #4) – Act Now? Evaluating Local Perception and Implementation Limitations of Assisted Plant Migration. Site Partner: Friends of Lincoln Park (Chelsea’s page)
Mara Bridwell (Room #5) – Advancing Healthcare Sustainability: UW Medicine’s Energy and Waste Dashboard. Site Partner: UW Medicine (Mara’s page)
Sierra Briggs (Room #6) – Surf, Sand, and Sediment: Forage Fish Sediment Surveys as a Case Study for Responding to Insufficient Datum. Site Partner: Nisqually Research Nature Center (Sierra’s page)
Joe Bruun-Jensen (Room #7) – Brilliant Biomethane: Opportunities of Renewable Natural Gas in Propelling a Sustainable Future. Site Partner: AgroFora Bioenergy Systems (Joe’s page)
Taylor Clementz (Room #8) – Threatened Green Sturgeon: How Video Analysis Can Be Used To Quantify & Reduce Bycatch. Site Partner: NOAA Fisheries (Taylor’s page)
Dylan Fourneir (Room #9) – Adaptive Sampling Strategies to Capture Shifting Fishery Stocks in the Eastern Bering Sea. Site Partner: NOAA Fisheries (Dylan’s page)
Errol Funk (Room #10) – Snow Problem: How Forest Adaptation Strategies can Mitigate the Effects of Warming Winters. Site Partner: Northwest Natural Resource Group (Errol’s page)
Valerie Gwyneth (Room #11) – Sustainable Business Communication: Strategies for Effectively Conveying Sustainability Efforts to Consumers. Site Partner: Perennial Zero Waste (Valerie’s page)
Eric Holmquist (Room #12) – Analyzing Western Hemlock Decline in Seward Park. Site Partner: Friends of Seward Park (Eric’s page)
Jason Kung (Room #13) – Evaluating Social Infrastructure’s Impacts on Community Networks to Build Resilience. Site Partner: Climate Impacts Group (Jason’s page)
Tabitha Lederer (Room #14) – Forage Fish Distribution Across Tidal Elevations: Implications for Habitat Management. Site Partner: Nisqually Research Nature Center (Tabitha’s page)
Lena Lewis (Room #15) – Measuring the Sustainable Impact of a Construction Tool Reuse System. Site Partner: Seattle REconomy (Lena’s page)
Colin MacDonald (Room #16) – How Invasive Blackberry Affects Soil Conditions and the Implication for Ecological Restoration. Site Partner: City of Sammamish (Colin’s page)
James Moy (Room #17) – Visualizing a Path Towards Sustainability: A Model of Data Management for the Future. Site Partner: UW Medicine (James’ page)
Lia Pecunies (Room #18) – Strategic Alignment in Information Systems and Corporate Sustainability: A Knowledge Management Perspective. Site Partner: Harborview Medical Center (Lia’s page)
Timothy Reagan (Room #19) – Sustainability Within Hospitals: How Hospitals like Harborview Medical Center Can Become More Sustainable By Using Sustainability Frameworks to Track, Benchmark & Find Solutions. Site Partner: Harborview Medical Center (Timothy’s page)
Jacob Smith (Room #20) – What are We Wasting: A Deep Dive Analysis into Public Waste Receptacles and Waste Characterization. Site Partner: City of Renton Public Works Department (Jacob’s page)
Maya Smith (Room #21) – The Power of Purchasing and Partnerships: Government Money Makes Sustainability Go ‘Round. Site Partner: Perennial Zero Waste (Maya’s page)
Miriam Stearns (Room #22) – Evaluating the Impact of Invasive European Green Crabs on Native Fish Abundance and Size in Willapa Bay. Site Partner: Washington Sea Grant (Miriam’s page)
Grace Stevens (Room #23) – Red Beets? Try Green Beats: Sustaining Melodies, Harmonizing Futures. Site Partner: UW Bothell and Cascadia College (Grace’s page)
Muwei Zhang (Room #24) – Life and Death: How Does Western Hemlock Mortality in a City Park Affect Pileated Woodpecker Livelihoods? Site Partner: Friends of Seward Park (Muwei’s page)

5:50 PM – 6 PM Break

6 PM – 6:05 PM Session B overview

6:05 PM – 6:15 PM Session B – Speaker Intros

6:15 – 7:15 PM Poster session B – Agriculture & Food systems, education & outreach, policy & regulation

Hibo Abdi (Room #1) – Go RainWise: Outreach and its Impacts on Community Perception of Green Stormwater Infrastructure. Site Partner: Sustainable Ballard  (Hibo’s page)
Gracia Anderson (Room #2) – Why Should we Consider them a Stakeholder Group? Increasing Youth Engagement with Complex Waste Management Policies. Site Partner: Environment Washington (Gracia’s page)
Bella Bartlett (Room #3) – To Seed or Not To Seed: How A Community Garden Can Combat Food Deserts. Site Partner: Cactus Park Elementary School (Bella’s page)
Abigayle Cariño (Room #4) – The Complexity of Inequity: Investigating Accessibility to Environmental Education Resources for Underrepresented Students. Site Partner: NOAA Fisheries (Abigayle’s page)
Kitto Davison-Kunhardt (Room #5) – Tracking the Eco-Pulse, Community Environmental Awareness and Light Rail Development. Site Partner: Seattle Subway Foundation (Kitto’s page)
Brandon Espiritu (Room #6) – Redefining Impact: Unlocking the Transformative Power of Individual Environmental Action. Site Partner: Friends of Lincoln Park (Brandon’s page)
Graham Gaimari (Room #7) – Living in a City Doesn’t Have to Mean Living Disconnected from Nature. Site Partner: Weed Warriors, Nature Stewards Program (Graham’s page)
Jayce Gilles (Room #8) – Growing a Better Tomorrow: Exploring the Role of Community Gardens in Promoting Sustainability and Community Well-Being. Site Partner: Weed Warriors, Nature Stewards Program (Jayce’s page)
Grace Glisson (Room #9) – Diving into Marine Science: Using Telemetry to Teach Ecological Responsibility. Site Partner: NOAA Marine Mammal Laboratory (Grace’s page)
Kayla Lay (Room #10) – Compostable Products: Breaking Down Barriers and Building up Solutions. Site Partner: Compost Manufacturing Alliance (Kayla’s page)
Faith Murray (Room #11) – Healing from the INside OUT: a Research Study on the Impacts of Outdoor Environmental Learning on Overall Student Well-Being. Site Partner: Sound Salmon Solutions (Faith’s page)
Emily Muterspaugh (Room #12) – Modernizing Environmental Education: Integrating Telemetry Data into Academic Practices. Site Partner: NOAA National Marine Mammal Laboratory (Emily’s page)
Quynhnhu Nguyen (Room #13) – Evaluating Outreach Opportunities within RainWise to Increase Participation in Homeowner Green Infrastructure and Support Clean Water Goals. Site Partner: Sustainable Ballard (Quynhnhu’s page)
Miranda O’Herron (Room #14) – Farming in the Desert: Equitable and Sustainable Agriculture in Arid Climates. Site Partner: Cactus Park Elementary School (Miranda’s page)
Zola Ontiveros (Room #15) – Eat Dirt, It’s Good For You: An Analysis of Early Childhood Environmental Education. Site Partner: Chrysalis Forest School (Zola’s page)
John Romano-Olsen (Room #16) – Interdisciplinary Environmental Education: A Solution for Educational Inequities and Climate Inaction. Site Partner: Partner in Employment (John’s page)
Brit Skolnik (Room #17) – Breaking the Sound Barrier: Promoting Marine Environmental Outreach Across Formal and Informal Settings. Site Partner: NOAA Fisheries (Brit’s page)
Ayla Stone (Room #18) – Centering Environmental Justice: Fostering Equitable and Sustainable Communities in the Classroom. Site Partner: Basilica Bio (Ayla’s page)
Keara Taylor (Room #19) – How Hospitals Can Focus On Health In Regards To The Environment. Site Partner: Harborview Medical Center (Keara’s page)
Lauren Williams (Room #20) – Protecting Seattle’s Urban Canopy: Policy Revisions & Education. Site Partner: Cascadia Climate Action (Lauren’s page)
Jasmine Yu (Room #21) – Exploring the Gifts of Community Gardening: Environmentally, Economically, and Socially. Site Partner: Weed Warriors, Nature Stewards Program (Jasmine’s page)

7:15 – 7:30 PM Closing remarks

DAY 2: Oral Presentation Symposium & Celebration (In-Person, Tues. May 28th)

UW School of Aquatic Fishery & Sciences |  1122 NE Boat St, Seattle, WA 98105

Day 2 Program

4:30 PM – 4:40 PM Welcome & Housekeeping (Lobby)

4:40 PM – 5:10 PM Poster Highlights** & Refreshments

5:10 PM – 5:20 PM BREAK

5:20 pm – 5:25 PM Session introduction

5:25 – 5:35 Rexford Curtiss – Skyrocketing Social Media for Small Businesses: From Ground Zero to Success. Site Partner: Whidbey Island Grow Cooperative (Rexford’s page)
5:35 – 5:45 Jillian Evans – Moving Beyond the Like: Crafting Captions for Meaningful Environmental Engagement. Site Partner: Program on the Environment (Jillian’s page)
5:45 – 5:55 Sydney Belden – Transportation Transformation: How Seattle Wants the Link Light Rail to be Fixed and Why. Site Partner: Seattle Subway Foundation (Sydney’s page)
5:55 – 6:05 Maddie Keating – Exploring Personal Food Sovereignty: The Relationship Between Perception and Action in the Food Justice Movement. Site Partner: Whidbey Island Grow Cooperative (Maddie’s page)
6:05 – 6:15 Lizzie Hackett – Who’s Been Touching Your Food? An Analysis of Local Food Systems and their Impact on the Community, Economy, and Environment. Site Partner: Carnation Farmers Market (Lizzie’s page)

6:25 pm – 6:35 pm intermission

6:35 – 6:45 Kiley Foster – Oysters Gone Wild: Exploring Pacific Oyster Naturalization in the Salish Sea. Site Partner: NOAA Fisheries (Kiley’s page)
6:45 – 6:55 Ruby O’Malley – Playing for Keeps: Multimodal Learning in Outdoor Environmental Education. Site Partner: Sound Salmon Solutions (Ruby’s page)
6:55 – 7:05 Isaac Olson – Wellbeing Over Waste: Engaging Youth on Addressing Plastic Pollution. Site Partner: Environment Washington (Isaac’s page)
7:05 – 7:15 Stephanie Schmidt-Pathmann – Fostering Youth Engagement in Sustainability; Discovering Motivating Factors and Pathways to Action. Site Partner: Sustainability Ambassadors (Stephanie’s page)
7:15 – 7:25 Midori Sylwester – Carbon, Communication, and Climate: How We Can Reach Net Zero with Less than 1000 Acres. Site Partner: Northwest Natural Resource Group (Midori’s page)

7:30 – 7:35 PM closing remarks

7:35 – 8:30 PM Symposium ends & Celebration continues in lobby/lawn

**Note: the Judges will choose 10 posters from Day 1, which will be printed out and displayed during Day 2. Those poster authors will be invited to present their posters during the reception.

APPLY NOW: Autumn ENVIR 240 Peer TA positions

Written by

Are you a previous ENVIR 240 student who couldn’t get enough of the course content? Apply to be a TA for Autumn quarter 2024! See the flyer above for quick details, and check out this link for a complete job description. If you think you’d be a good fit and are eager to gain experience in a supporting instructor role, apply at this link.

Apply Now — Environmental Leadership Scholarships!

Written by

Environmental Leadership Scholarship applications are now open through the Program on the Environment! Applicants must be current ENVIR majors to apply, and must provide a written personal statement as well as a faculty recommendation. The deadline to apply for one of three $2000 scholarships is Wednesday, May 9th. Application link can be found here or by scanning the QR code in the flyer below.

Autumn 2024 Integrating Disciplines: Approved Courses

Written by

Wondering what courses you can take this summer to count towards one of 8 required Integrating Disciplines categories? Check out this helpful handout for a list of ENVIR courses and courses taught outside the major that can count for credits in each area.

2024 Trash Art Contest Winners – Congrats Benji!

Written by

This year’s Trash Art contest, held by UW recycling, has finally come to an end! Students & staff were invited for the fifth year in a row to submit artwork created from items normally thought of as trash, or a written work about waste and sustainability, that conveyed feelings or ideas about waste and sustainability.

Check out the link below to see all the wonderful submissions, including the winners of each submission category. PoE’s own Benji Blatt earned second place in the ‘Literature’ category for his poem titled Benny the Banana.

Trash Art winners: https://sustainability.uw.edu/blog/2024-trash-art-winners

ENVIR 495 Special Topics Summer Courses

Written by

Round out your summer quarter schedule with one (or both!) of these exciting new ENVIR courses, offered under ENVIR 495: Special Topics in Environmental Studies.

ENVIR 495 A, Talking Animals in Global Literature & Environmental Studies, explores the literary, political, and scientific significance of nonhuman talking animals across diverse cultural contexts. Learn what animals and their languages represent, develop expertise in interdisciplinary research & writing, gain experience with global literature and science communication, and deepen your appreciation for nonhuman animals. This course satisfies the Values & Cultures integrating discipline for ENVIR majors, and also earns a W credit.

ENVIR 495 B, Environmental Justice in the Middle East, explores connections between capitalism, imperialism, war, & ecology throughout the Middle East. In the Middle East, climate change will exacerbate preexisting vulnerabilities stemming from the conflicts, displacement, and marginalization. This course will therefore focus on environmental justice issues in various places within the region including Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Morocco. It will explore the transitional linkages between the different environmental justice struggles in the Middle East as well as discuss community organizing and resistance to environmental injustices such as land dispossession, denial of access to clean water and exposure to toxins. This course satisfies the Environmental Justice integrating discipline for ENVIR majors. 

 

Apply to join the College of the Environment Student Advisory Council

Written by

The Student Advisory Council (SAC) is the Dean’s level service body representing all academic units and relevant RSOs at both graduate and undergraduate levels. They are currently looking for new members from a variety of academic units, including one student from the PoE, to join.

The mission of the SAC is to act as a voice for the student population in the College of the Environment. Council members provide communication pathways between themselves, their student communities, and the Dean’s Office. By regular advising, dialogue, and collaboration with the Dean and Associate Deans of the College, the SAC provide recommendations on issues such as, but not limited to, College-level budgets, new initiatives, policies, and planning that affect students such as curriculum, communications, and DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion).

Members serve 1-year terms (Autumn – Spring) with a second year reappointment possible. The total annual commitment is to attend 3-4 meetings per quarter, except summer (typically 90-minutes plus some preparation for meetings). To serve on the SAC, students must be making satisfactory progress in their degree program at time of application and throughout their service on the council. For more information about the SAC see the profiles
of current members and the SAC webpage.

To apply: please complete the online application by Sunday, April 21st. Applications for the 2024-2025 College of the Environment Student Advisory Council will be reviewed by current members of the Student Advisory Council, who will make appointment recommendations to the Dean. Successful candidates will be notified of their appointment the week of May 6. All applicants should be prepared to attend the May 21 SAC meeting (4:30-6:30 PM).

Questions? Contact coenvsac@uw.edu, or coenvaa@uw.edu.

 

Tool Libraries: A Library, But For Tools (Visit One Today!)

Written by

Seattle REconomy is a nonprofit promoting sustainability and community through access to tools, ranging from drills and shovels to sewing machines and pressure cookers. There are also classes every month for bikers, gardeners, woodworkers, and everyone in between. On top of that is their seed library, workshop, bike repair station, and reuse store. Their resources, classes, and events are available to everyone regardless of place of residence or income.

This April, they are offering all new members a 15% discount to use at their ReUse Materials Shop, so come on down! They have two locations: The NE Seattle Tool Library and their new Shoreline Tool Library. The NE Seattle Tool Library is most accessible to UW students because it can be reached by taking the 372 bus that runs around campus.

Becoming a member is easy, and it can be done online or in-person. They have volunteers and a laptop at both tool libraries to help you out. All they ask for is an optional membership donation ranging from $0-$750 depending on what you can afford. Proof of income is not necessary. You can also volunteer with them once/month for an in-kind membership.

Learn more about Seattle Reconomy on their website: https://seattlereconomy.org

If you have any questions, please contact info@seattlereconomy.org

Climate Conversations & Connections – EarthLab Event

Written by

EarthLab presents an inclusive gathering focused on climate justice and community building. Across the Seattle, Bothell, and Tacoma campuses, University of Washington students actively engage in vital discussions about climate change and its profound implications for social justice. Now, we invite UW undergraduates from all campuses to unite for a transformative half-day event at the Husky Union Building.

This free event is a platform for grassroots conversations to build a stronger climate community, where student voices take center stage. Through facilitated discussions grounded in principles of social justice and equity, we aim to ignite excitement and optimism for concrete next steps towards collective climate action at UW.

Join us to connect with peers and faculty, to exchange ideas, and to be empowered to drive meaningful change. Free breakfast & lunch. Networking opportunities with UW faculty and staff. Stay for as long as you can. More information & registration link here.