In total, there are 120 members in the U.S. and 24 international members added to the academy this year. They bring the total number of active U.S. members to 2,617 and the total number of international members to 537. Membership in the Academy is among the highest honors a scientist can achieve.

, the Calvin professor of atmospheric sciences at the UW, uses satellite observations, ground-based instruments, computer models and theory to explore how clouds affect the climate system, and how changes in different layers of the atmosphere are related to climate change.

Fu earned a bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degrees from Beijing University and a doctorate from the University of Utah. He was on the faculty at Canada鈥檚 Dalhousie University before joining the UW in 2000, where he has been a full professor since 2006.

His previous honors include being named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, of the American Geophysical Union and of the American Meteorological Society. He also received the Alexander von Humboldt Research Award and the AMS Jule G. Charney Medal for significant research.

, a professor emeritus of biology at the UW, focuses on evolutionary issues involving the physiology, behavior and ecology of cold-blooded animals, especially of lizards and flies. His recent research has looked at how these animals that rely on external sources of heat will be affected by climate change. Other studies have looked at the effects of altitude on mountaineers, and how baby name trends may be influenced by climate change.

Huey earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley, a master鈥檚 from the University of Texas, Austin, and a doctorate from Harvard University. He joined the UW faculty in 1977 and became full professor in 1984. He was chair of the biology department from 2008 to 2011, and retired from teaching in 2014, though he continues to do research.

Huey has been honored as a Miller Research Fellow and as a J. S. Guggenheim Memorial Fellow, and is a past president of the American Society of Naturalists. He was previously elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and to the Washington State Academy of Sciences.

, an affiliate faculty member in biology at the UW and faculty member at the University of Texas, Austin, is also among this year鈥檚 newly elected members. Torii, who was a core member of the UW faculty from 1999 to 2019, studies stem cells and plant development.

The National Academy of Sciences recognizes achievement in science by election to membership, and 鈥� along with the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine 鈥� provides science, engineering and health policy advice to the federal government and other organizations. All the new members will be formally inducted during the 2025 annual meeting.

Climate leaves indelible marks on our lives 鈥� impacting where we live, what we eat, our work and our leisure. Two scientists recently documented one of climate鈥檚 lesser-known impacts: our given names.

Co-authors , a professor emeritus of biology at the 天美影视传媒, and , professor of biological sciences at Ohio University, reported that the popularity of certain month and season names for girls varies by geographic region in the continental United States. The name April dominates monthly names in southern states where spring arrives early in the year. June is more popular in northern states where spring blooms later. Autumn is also more prevalent in the northern U.S., a region known for its brilliant fall foliage.

The trends, in Evolutionary Human Sciences, surprised even the researchers.

鈥淚 thought that climate and the environment might influence the choice of baby names, but I never thought we would see a clear trend for either month or seasonal names, simply because parents take into consideration many factors when they name their child,鈥� said Huey. 鈥淏ecause of these other factors 鈥� including strong cultural trends and traditions 鈥� I expected that there鈥檇 be too much social 鈥榥oise鈥� in the data and we鈥檇 have a low chance of seeing any environmental 鈥榮ignal.鈥� But the signals were there, and they were strong.鈥�

Miles added: 鈥淢y initial reaction was we may not find any trend in the baby names. Parents have many reasons for selecting a name for their child, e.g., honoring a relative, actor or even whimsy. I was surprised to the significant environmental influence on names associated with seasons and months.鈥�

The authors analyzed data on baby names from 1910 to 2021 collected by the U.S. Social Security Administration. Other researchers have used this database to document boom and bust cycles for names across decades. But this study is among the first to look for a role of climate.

The data showed that month-based names 鈥� the most popular being April, May, June and August 鈥� were more than 9 times more prevalent for baby girls than baby boys. Seasonal names were 182 times more numerous in girls than boys, with Summer and Autumn the most popular overall. August was the only prevalent month or season name that was more common in boys.

Huey and Miles broke apart the prevalence of the five popular season and month names for girls by state, which is how they started to uncover clear geographic trends. April鈥檚 relative frequency decreased with the latitude of each state, making it most common in in the south, while Autumn increased strongly with latitude and was most common in northern states. In states along the southern border of the continental U.S., April was much more common than June, and the opposite was true for states along the northern border. And Autumn was by far the most common season name in northern-border states, but not in states along the southern border.

The strong geographic trends for April, June and Autumn likely reflect climate. April is more popular in places like Texas and Florida, where spring weather arrives relatively early in the year. June is more popular in northern states, like Maine and Wisconsin. And the prevalence of the name Autumn in the northern U.S. correlates with the picture-perfect fall colors in this region.

鈥淲hat makes these geographic trends so striking to me is that we could still see them for April, June and Autumn even though these names have gone through major 鈥榖oom鈥� and 鈥榖ust鈥� cycles over the decades,鈥� said Huey.

June was very popular in the early 20th century, but April ascended after World War II, peaking in the 1980s. Seasonal names were 鈥渧irtually unknown鈥� until the late 1970s, said Huey.

Climate change is shifting seasonal patterns, with spring 鈥渁rriving鈥� earlier and autumn 鈥渁rriving鈥� later. Miles and Huey checked to see if month and season names were also shifting 鈥� whether April, for example, had recently become more popular in northern states. They did not find a shift, and reason that such a 鈥渟ignal鈥� 鈥� if it exists 鈥� may be difficult to see because some month names have been decreasing overall in popularity in recent decades.

鈥淚t鈥檚 also possible that we need more time to learn whether climate change is affecting the popularity of some of these names,鈥� said Huey.

An ecologist, Huey鈥檚 prior research looked at the effect of temperature and other environmental factors on animals ranging from lizards to marine life. Studying baby names, though a divergence for him and Miles, who is also an ecologist, has shown a novel way that human culture is impacted by the surrounding climate.

Huey and Miles are also curious if climate will have other effects on baby names. In addition to months and seasons, plant names 鈥� such as Rose, Lily and Willow 鈥� are popular. It鈥檚 possible those names also vary by geography and climate, and could shift as the planet warms.

鈥淲e won鈥檛 know unless someone looks,鈥� said Huey. 鈥淎nd, for the U.S. at least, there is a great dataset for that.鈥�

For more information, contact Huey at hueyrb@uw.edu.

As the world鈥檚 tallest peak, Mount Everest draws more than 500 climbers each spring to attempt the summit during a small window of favorable conditions on the rugged Himalayan mountain that tops out at just over 29,000 feet.

A new study led by researchers at the 天美影视传媒 and the University of California, Davis, finds that the success rate of summiting Mount Everest has doubled in the last three decades, even though the number of climbers has greatly increased, through the dangerous 鈥渄eath zone鈥� near the summit. However, the death rate for climbers has hovered unchanged at around 1% since 1990.

The were published Aug. 26 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE. They represent the most comprehensive look at success and death rates in the published literature on Everest. The paper also identifies patterns in the characteristics of mountaineers 鈥� such as age, sex and prior experience 鈥� that might influence their likelihood of summiting or dying during the spring climbing season.

“Mount Everest is still a very dangerous mountain, and climbing it will never become a walk in the park, because it鈥檚 way above the limits of what most people can do,” said lead author , a UW professor emeritus of biology. 鈥淯nfortunately, reported statistics of risk on Everest are often inaccurate. By analyzing climbing data, we provide accurate information on the chances of success and on the chances of dying, thereby helping climbers make an informed decision about whether to attempt this great peak.鈥�

These patterns also can help Nepal and China in deciding whether to institute restrictions on climbers such as maximum age or experience level, Huey added.

Huey and colleagues analyzed the success and death rates for all first-time climbers who had a permit to summit Everest during the period of 2006 to 2019. Previously, they applied the same statistical methods to climbers during the period of 1990 to 2005 and, as a result, they were able to compare success and death rates between the two periods.

During 1990 to 2005, more than 2,200 first-time climbers attempted to summit Everest. During 2006 to 2019, that number increased to more than 3,600 climbers. Importantly, the researchers focused on climbers with paid permits, excluding climbers with additional tasks 鈥� such as high-altitude porters, photographers and support staff 鈥� along with climbers who attempted to summit in other seasons, or who were attempting the summit for the second time or more.

They also excluded a handful of years from the analyses when extreme events such as ice fall avalanches or earthquakes led to cancellations of the climbing season.

Comparisons between the two periods show that:

• Summit success rates from the first period to the second period have essentially doubled; two-thirds of climbers now reach the summit, verses one-third previously
• The overall death rate of around 1% hasn鈥檛 changed
• A contemporary 60-year-old climber has the same success rate (about 40%) as a 40-year-old climber in the prior period 鈥� i.e., 60 is the new 40
• A contemporary 60-year-old climber has about the same death rate (about 2%) as a 48.5-year-old in the earlier period
• More women are attempting the climb in recent years (14.6%) verses the previous period (9.1%)
• Women and men had very similar odds of success or death in both periods
  

  

The researchers say the doubling of the summit success rate is likely due to a number of factors. Weather forecasting has dramatically improved since the 鈥淚nto Thin Air鈥� , Huey said, giving climbers more information on the best window to push for the summit. Some climbers are using elevated flow rates of supplemental oxygen 鈥� and doing so lower on the mountain. The most popular routes have fixed lines, meaning climbers can clip into ropes tethered to the mountain for their ascent and descent, making it safer if they fall.

Increased experience of expedition leaders and high-altitude porters may also have helped boost success rates. Interestingly, while more climbers are making it to the top in recent years, today鈥檚 climbers are actually less experienced in climbing tall peaks in Nepal than climbers who attempted Everest in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Finally, the researchers looked at the effects of crowding near the summit for the past two climbing seasons (permits in spring of 2020 because of COVID-19). Detecting possible effects of crowding is difficult with available information, they said, but their analysis didn鈥檛 show any impacts of crowding on success or death rates. However, crowding must slow climbers, increasing their exposure in the death zone, they added.

The data for these analyses came from , a comprehensive website based on archival interview records of . Hawley, a news correspondent for Reuters based in Kathmandu, and originally from Chicago, maintained the official record of all climbers and summit successes for Everest and hundreds of other Nepalese peaks until she died several years ago. The project continues under new leadership.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a remarkable data source,鈥� Huey said. 鈥淪he was legendary 鈥� climbers used to say you have not climbed Mount Everest until Ms. Hawley says you鈥檝e climbed Mount Everest.鈥�

Other co-authors are and of the University of California, Davis, and Richard Salisbury of the University of Michigan, who created and maintains The Himalayan Database. No outside funding contributed to this paper.

For more information, contact Huey at hueyrb@uw.edu

天美影视传媒 researchers and collaborators have found that the same principle will apply to marine species under global warming. The warmer water temperatures will speed up the animals’ metabolic need for oxygen, as also happens during exercise, but the warmer water will hold less of the oxygen needed to fuel their bodies, similar to what happens at high altitudes.

The , published June 5 in , finds that these changes will act together to push marine animals away from the equator. About two thirds of the respiratory stress due to climate change is caused by warmer temperatures, while the rest is because warmer water holds less dissolved gases.

“If your metabolism goes up, you need more food and you need more oxygen,” said lead author , a UW associate professor of oceanography. “This means that aquatic animals could become oxygen-starved in the warmer future, even if oxygen doesn’t change. We know that oxygen levels in the ocean are going down now and will decrease more with climate warming.”

The study centered on four Atlantic Ocean species whose temperature and oxygen requirements are well known from lab tests: that live in the open ocean; Atlantic that live in coastal waters; sharp snout that live in the subtropical Atlantic and Mediterranean; and common , a bottom-dwelling fish that lives in shallow waters in high northern latitudes.

Deutsch used climate models to see how the projected temperature and oxygen levels by 2100 due to climate change would affect these four species’ ability to meet their future energy needs. If current emissions continue, the near-surface ocean is projected to warm by several degrees Celsius by the end of this century. Seawater at that temperature would hold 5-10 percent less oxygen than it does now.

Results show future rock crab habitat would be restricted to shallower water, hugging the more oxygenated surface. For all four species, the equator-ward part of the range would become uninhabitable because peak oxygen demand would become greater than the supply. Viable habitats would shift away from the equator, displacing from 14 percent to 26 percent of the current ranges.

The four animals were chosen because the effects of oxygen and temperature on their metabolism are well known, and because they live in diverse habitats. The authors believe the results are relevant for all marine species that rely on aquatic oxygen for an energy source.

“The Atlantic Ocean is relatively well oxygenated,” Deutsch said. “If there’s oxygen restriction in the Atlantic Ocean marine habitat, then it should be everywhere.”

Climate models predict that the northern Pacific Ocean’s relatively low oxygen levels will decline even further, making it the most vulnerable part of the ocean to habitat loss.

“For aquatic animals that are breathing water, warming temperatures create a real problem of limited oxygen supply versus elevated demand,” said co-author , a UW professor of biology who has studied metabolism in land animals and in human mountain climbers.

“This simple metabolic index seems to correlate with the current distributions of marine organisms,” he said, “and that means that it gives you the power to predict how range limits are going to shift with warming.”

Previously, marine scientists thought about oxygen more in terms of extreme events that could cause regional die-offs of marine animals, also known as dead zones.

“We found that oxygen is also a day-to-day restriction on where species will live, outside of those extreme events,” Deutsch said. “Ranges will shift for other reasons, too, but I think the effect we’re describing will be part of the mix of what’s pushing species around in the future.”

Other co-authors are of the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany; , a former graduate student at the University of California, Los Angeles; and at the University of Rhode Island. The research was funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the National Science Foundation and the Alfred Wegener Institute’s PACES program.

###

For more information, contact Deutsch at cdeutsch@uw.edu or 206-543-5189 or Huey at hueyrb@uw.edu or 206-543-1505.