With that support , an atmospheric science professor at UW Bothell, and four undergraduate students from the Seattle and Bothell campuses spent recent months sampling the air near the tracks that go to the proposed West Coast export terminals.

Jaffe will present first results from the study in a at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 4 at UW Bothell. The results measure the amount of small- and medium-sized particles released by different types of trains in Seattle and in the Columbia River Gorge. He will give a second, more technical presentation of the results at the UW Seattle campus Friday, Nov. 22 at 3:30 p.m. in Johnson Hall 75.

The project began in April when Jaffe, frustrated by the lack of funding through traditional channels, put his research proposal on the crowd-funding website , by two UW graduates as a kind of Kickstarter dedicated to science research.

“There’s been a lot of questions and controversy about whether coal trains leak coal dust into the air,” Jaffe said. “I thought there were important scientific questions that needed to be answered.”

With help from a column in the and a from Cliff Mass, UW professor of atmospheric sciences, the project surpassed its funding goal, raising just over $20,500 in a week and a half. Jaffe used the extra money to add a second sampling site.

During the summer and fall the team sampled more than 500 trains, including passenger trains, trains carrying coal and other types of freight trains. The device bought for the project sampled air near the tracks, while a weather gauge tracked the wind direction and other variables and a webcam recorded the type of train passing by.

The team sampled for about a month at a North Seattle home near railroad tracks carrying coal north, one of about 20 locations offered by project supporters, Jaffe said. The team also sampled for about 10 days at a Columbia River Gorge site near tracks that carry trains west over the Cascade Mountains.

Four undergraduates tested all the equipment, developed the computer programs, put the instruments out in the field and checked on them periodically. They worked with Jaffe to analyze the data and identify the amount of small- and medium-sized air particles present as trains passed by.

The team is preparing to submit the findings to an open-access journal in atmospheric sciences, but Jaffe said he felt it was important to share preliminary results during the 2013 calendar year so that they could be useful in the current environmental assessment process.

“I want this study to inform the community, industry and those who are making the decision to increase coal train traffic through our region,” Jaffe said. “These preliminary findings should be a wake-up call that this region needs more in-depth research on the air quality impact, and funding for that research, in order to make a more informed decision.”

Crowd-funding the project meant working on a shoestring budget, under intense public scrutiny, and in this case with a tight timeline. But if there was no other funding source, Jaffe would do it all again.

“It strikes me as unusual that we have major public-policy decision taking place in an absence of information,” Jaffe said. “So would I do another? I guess I would.”

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For more information, contact Lisa Hall, public information officer at UW Bothell, at 425-352-5461 or lhall@uwb.edu. Contact Jaffe at 425-352-5357 or djaffe@uw.edu.

With a shared soccer and softball field, tennis courts, a sand volleyball court and a basketball court that will briefly double as an ice skating rink in February, the student-funded complex will meet the needs of a multitude of intramural sports and activities.

Kevin King, president of the Associated Students of the 天美影视传媒 Bothell and avid soccer player, says the complex is not just a sports field, but part of the UW Bothell community experience.

鈥淐ommunity is huge on this campus. So we鈥檝e been able to come together, play sports, build new friendships. That鈥檚 what we鈥檙e all about here at UW Bothell.鈥� King threw out the first pitch of the home run derby.

UW Bothell alumnus Eric Chan said he is thrilled that students will finally have a place where all sports and activities will be supported. He was among the group of Ultimate Frisbee enthusiasts who, in 2008, had trouble finding a place to practice due to a lack of funding.

鈥淥ftentimes, we would get kicked off the field or the lights would shut off because we never had the funding to reserve fields. So our captain Ali Bulzomi recognized this and brought it to the administration,鈥� Chan said. Bulzomi, a sophomore at the time, took the idea of an on campus sports field to vice chancellor of administration and planning, Marilyn Cox, who helped put the wheels in motion.

Chancellor Kenyon Chan commended all of the students who made the complex a reality and said their legacy will help develop the whole student. 鈥淎 center like this will allow students to blend both their physical fitness and their intellectual work so that they are well rounded and well developed throughout their college career.鈥�

Alumnus Chan says that even though he has already graduated he is happy to see the sports complex.

鈥淚t means that students will have an opportunity to meet other people, to learn and also get involved,” he said. “I would never have gotten involved so much in school if it wasn鈥檛 for the Ultimate Frisbee club. That led me to join student government, join different clubs and be captain of multiple different sports.鈥�

The sports and recreation complex is the first of three major construction projects to be completed over the next two years on the Bothell campus. The $68 million science and academic building is expected to open in late 2014. Also, the 4,500 square-foot Sarah Simonds Green Conservatory, complete with a greenhouse, education and exhibit space, is scheduled for summer 2013 completion.

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