School of Environmental and Forest Sciences

October 16, 2023 / Publications, Research, Wildfires

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.

October 13, 2023 / General

Facebook Share Email Share

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.

October 12, 2023 / Announcements, Student

Facebook Share Email Share

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.

October 12, 2023 / Events, General

Facebook Share Email Share

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.

October 5, 2023 / Alumni, Announcements, In the News

Facebook Share Email Share

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.

October 4, 2023 / Announcements, General

Facebook Share Email Share

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.

October 3, 2023 / Announcements, General

Facebook Share Email Share

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.

September 20, 2023 / Announcements, General

Facebook Share Email Share

SEFS associate professor recognized in inaugural cohort of UW Excellence in Global Engagement Award Nominees

SEFS Associate Professor Heidi Gough was recognized in the inaugural cohort of UW Excellence in Global Engagement Award Nominees as part of the UW Awards of Excellence Ceremony in June of 2023.

September 19, 2023 / Alumni, Research, Student

Facebook Share Email Share

Alumni Feature: ONRC graduate student Ally Kruper on research and community

Since transferring to the University of Washington in her junior year, SEFS alumna Ally Kruper has made the most of opportunities to get involved outside the classroom. Her passion for horticulture and working with communities led to an internship with the SER-UW Native Plant Nursery at the Center for Urban Horticulture.

September 19, 2023 / Publications, Research

Facebook Share Email Share

Fall snow levels can predict total snowpack in some western states, UW study finds

A recent study published in Geophysical Research Letters by UW researchers, including SEFS Associate Professor Laura Prugh, examines the relationship between early-season snow and total snowfall in the western U.S. Using data from a network of snow sensors, the researchers looked at air temperature and accumulated precipitation from 2001 to 2022 for over 800 sites.