SEFS in the news: October 2023

Browse recent mentions of SEFS researchers in the news. Have news to share? Send your updates to sefscomm@uw.edu.

Wendy Gibble, associate director of the University of Washington Botanic Gardens, was featured in a FOX 13 article about climate impacts to wildflowers at Mount Rainier. 

SEFS-led research on tool use by crows published in Nature Communications

What’s happening inside a crow’s brain when it thinks about using a tool? Researchers at the University of Washington used to peer inside the brains of crows as they were challenged with a difficult task that required stone tools to solve. 

SEFS affiliate associate professor Nalini Nadkarni named National Geographic Explorer at Large

SEFS affiliate associate professor and UW alumna Nalini Nadkarni was appointed an Explorer at Large by the National Geographic Society this month for her work as a distinguished forest canopy researcher. 

While wildfire increases, SEFS-led research on historical fire regimes shows the Pacific Northwest is in a fire deficit

Despite increasing wildfire activity over the last few decades, contemporary fire years burn less than a quarter of the area burned on average historically. A recent study led by SEFS affiliate faculty members and Washington Department of Natural Resources forest ecologists Dan Donato and Josh Halofsky, and SEFS associate professor Brian Harvey, compared fire activity between 1985 and 2020 to historical fire amounts and severities. 

Employee Spotlight: Paige Eagle, SEFS Research Consultant

Get to know SEFS staff! This series provides an opportunity to find out more about SEFS staff members — what they do in their daily job and how they spend their time outside the office. 

SEFS students receive College of the Environment scholarships & funding

Twelve students in the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences have been awarded scholarship funding for the 2023-24 academic year from the College of the Environment, including ten undergraduate and two graduate students. 

2023 SEFS Salmon Barbeque

SEFS continued a longstanding tradition this week, hosting our annual salmon barbeque in the Anderson Hall Courtyard! Throughout the evening, we hosted over 300 SEFS students, faculty, staff, friends, and family, serving up fresh salmon, corn, and more. 

SEFS alumna Lucy Hutyra awarded MacArthur “genius grant”

SEFS alumna Lucy Hutyra, an environmental ecologist studying the impacts of urbanization on environmental carbon cycle dynamics, has been named a 2023 MacArthur Fellow. The MacArthur Fellows Program recognizes people of outstanding talent and enables recipients to exercise their own creative instincts for the benefit of human society. 

Anderson Hall Fall 2023 Update

As we kick off a new semester, we’re excited to share an update on the upcoming renovation of Anderson Hall. Last spring, the Washington State Legislature passed the 2023-25 state budget, including $28.65M toward the $40M cost to renovate Anderson Hall. 

Read the 2023-2028 SEFS Strategic Plan

We’re pleased to share the SEFS 2023-2028 Strategic Plan. Thanks to our faculty for their hard work in developing the strategic goals that will bring a renewed energy to our mission, and support SEFS researchers, faculty, and students working to improve the long-term sustainability and resilience of ecological and socio-environmental systems.