Approximately 90% of the U.S. population . A significant portion of the water supplying those systems comes from forested lands, which means that policies impacting forests also impact our water access.

In 2001, the Clinton administration passed the , blocking 60 million acres of national forest land from development to limit industrial timber harvest and preserve forest ecosystems. Although popular with the public, the roadless rule drew immediate criticism from timber and related industries. Last summer, the federal government announced plans to rescind it.

A new study from the 天美影视传媒 and Conservation Science Partners, , highlights the potential consequences of losing those protections by mapping how the roadless rule protects rivers.

鈥淭he roadless rule supports the drinking water supply for 25 million Americans and offers critical protection of wildlife habitat and recreational assets. In short, rivers in roadless areas are essential for both people and nature,鈥� said lead author , a UW professor of aquatic and fishery science.

To show how forests impact freshwater, the researchers looked at nearly 110,000 square miles of national forest representing 2,488 officially designated 鈥渞oadless areas.鈥� They cross-referenced the roadless areas map with a recent study assessing river protections nationwide to see where rivers and roadless areas overlap, and therefore which rivers were vulnerable to losing protection.

The researchers found that more than 80,000 miles of rivers in the continental U.S. receive some protection from the roadless rule. Of those protected segments, nearly 62,000 miles of river are protected by only the roadless rule. That water reaches 25 million people across the country, often at downstream distances far from roadless areas.

Research shows that forested lands provide higher quality water because soil microbes and plant roots filter contaminants before water arrives at treatment facilities. Cleaner water requires less processing, reducing potential treatment costs for public utilities. Some water utilities are investing in watershed protection as a way to save money and limit chemical use as demand for water rises.

鈥淔orest cover is well recognized for generating economic benefits by avoiding the large capital costs of water treatment plants needed to ensure clean, safe drinking water for people,鈥� said Olden.

Roadless areas are also vital strongholds for sensitive aquatic species, Olden added. At-risk species such as the use protected habitat for spawning and raising young. Hunters and anglers also value roadless areas because they support such productive fish and wildlife habitat and offer unparalleled opportunities for outdoor recreation.

After the U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the plan to rescind the roadless rule last year, more than half a million people submitted comments during the public comment period, which ended in September. According to the Center for Western Priorities, more than expressed opposition to the plan.

Earlier this year, Republican lawmakers attempted to by attaching it to the Wildfire Prevention Act, which supports prescribed burns and forest thinning to fight megafires. Their to justify clawing back protections claimed that rescinding the roadless rule would allow for better forest management, but . Research shows that roadbuilding in formerly roadless areas is more likely to increase fire risk.

鈥淭o be clear, the rule does not block any management action that supports forest health, wildfire mitigation or recreation,鈥� Olden said. 鈥淚n fact, energy projects, transmission lines and mining development remain permitted within roadless areas.鈥�

Roadbuilding and logging can cause sediment build up in lakes and rivers, which must be filtered out. Chemicals from construction can also end up in the water supply. Reductions in forest cover resulting from rescinding the roadless rule may compromise water quality in the U.S., among other negative consequences for animals and ecosystems.

The U.S. Forest Service says it is reviewing public comments and a proposed rule and draft statement of environmental impact this year.

鈥淎ny decision to rescind or downgrade the roadless rule that may put forested lands at risk requires careful consideration of the numerous benefits they offer to people and nature,鈥� said Olden. 鈥淥ur study offers data to inform such decisions.鈥�

This study was funded by the 天美影视传媒 and from a contract from American Rivers to Conservation Science Partners.

For more information, contact Olden at olden@uw.edu.

New images of cigar-shaped M82 galaxy capture millions of stars

The Messier 82 galaxy, known as M82 or the Cigar galaxy, has long fascinated researchers with its astronomical rate of star formation 鈥� approximately 10 times faster than the Milky Way. Researchers have pored over grainy, low-resolution, images taken by previous generations of telescopes, which weren鈥檛 powerful enough to see through the thick cloud of dust surrounding the galaxy. The , however, can pierce straight through with extremely sharp vision. That enabled a team of astronomers from multiple institutions, including NASA and the UW, to capture new high-resolution images. Posted June 23, the images include more than 16.5 million individual stars and provide the clearest look yet at M82鈥檚 , the flattened central hub that contains most of the galaxy鈥檚 stellar mass. That could help scientists understand how M82 formed and for how long it has been producing stars so prodigiously.

For more information, contact team member a UW research professor of astronomy, at benw1@uw.edu.

All images are included in NASA鈥檚

New study maps pollution disparities by state and sector across almost 20 years

Air quality in the United States has improved markedly since the landmark Clean Air Act passed in 1970. However, the gains have not been equally shared: Today, communities of color and low-income communities are exposed to disproportionately more air pollution than the overall population. In in Science Advances, UW researchers created the first comprehensive map cataloging how air quality inequity has changed per state and economic sector from 2002 to 2019. The study confirmed that, despite improvements in overall air quality, pollution tends to be concentrated in Black, Hispanic and low-income communities. The findings include specific state-level opportunities for improvement across 11 sectors 鈥� for example, disparities in construction-related emissions in Florida increased significantly during the study period. The findings and resulting database could help policymakers across the country prioritize environmental justice projects.

For more information, contact senior author , UW professor of civil and environmental engineering at jdmarsh@uw.edu.

The other UW co-authors are , , and . A full list of co-authors is .听

Researchers observe ultrafast chemistry happening in real time

Molecules are not static. Instead, they are having little dance parties 鈥� their atoms wiggle and twist around in space. Occasionally, upon receiving a burst of energy, the bonds holding atoms together in a molecule can break and reform with the atoms in a different configuration. While the number of atoms stays the same, the orientation of these atoms determines a molecule’s chemical properties 鈥� an important part of its identity. In , a UW-led team witnessed firsthand, and for the first time, a molecule turning into its “alter ego.” The researchers observed a hydrogen atom, also known as a proton, jump to a new position by bonding to a different atom in the same molecule. This process, which happens within a few millionths of billionths of a second, is important for various fundamental processes, including photosynthesis, and when DNA acquires mutations. To understand why, and how, this happens so fast, the researchers developed a new tool that probes molecular structure on an ultrafast timescale. They were able to use this technology to detect how the molecule’s wiggles allowed the proton transfer to happen. These findings will help researchers test existing theories about these ultrafast chemical dynamics and develop new molecules for clean energy processes.

For more information, contact senior author , UW professor of chemistry, at mkhalil@uw.edu.听听听

Co-authors , and completed this work while at the UW. Funding information is .

Random events leave lasting signature on the atmospheric methane record, new study shows

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas with a complicated life cycle. It鈥檚 released into the atmosphere by both natural and industrial processes, and there are multiple pathways by which it鈥檚 broken down. Recently, atmospheric methane levels have reached record highs but the rate of accumulation has been somewhat inconsistent over time. To understand why, researchers are looking at climate records preceding the industrial era, via ice cores. These deep cylinders of glacial ice document slow swings in atmospheric methane levels spanning decades, or even centuries. This pattern is typically associated with gradual climate change, but in , UW researchers show that it doesn鈥檛 have to be. Instead, they reveal that short-term, random events, such as fires or changes in wetlands, can spark gradual shifts. Not only does this clarify the historical record, but it also adds nuance to modern trends.

For more information, contact senior author , UW doctoral student of atmospheric and climate science at emei@uw.edu.

The other UW co-authors are and . A full list of co-authors is .

Data spanning nearly half a century shows that endangered southern resident killer whales are spending less time in inland waters, whereas their larger cousins, Bigg鈥檚 killer whales, are increasingly present in Puget Sound.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration southern resident killer whales as endangered in 2005 after rapid population decline in the late 1990s. Now, , split into three pods: J, K and L. Bigg鈥檚 鈥� sometimes referred to as transients 鈥� are more common, but difficult to count because they travel in smaller groups over wider ranges.

Looking at data from 鈥檚 Sightings Archive between 1978 and 2022, 天美影视传媒 researchers modeled migratory trends based on observations from researchers, recreational boaters and whale watchers. They found that K and L pods are visiting Puget Sound less often, but the J pod remains well represented. The data on Bigg鈥檚 corroborates recent results showing a steady increase in inland waters.

The results in PLOS One.

鈥淲e do see increasing transient presence over time, but we don鈥檛 see a definitive decline or overall increase for the southern residents. Their presence here is much more variable,鈥� said lead author , a UW postdoctoral researcher of marine and environmental affairs.

Key behavioral and subtle physical differences . The southern residents eat salmon, while Bigg鈥檚 prey on seals, porpoises and other marine mammals. Seals and sea lions rebounded in Washington after the Mammal Protection Act, which may have drawn Bigg鈥檚 killer whales to inland waters, but that doesn鈥檛 explain the changing distribution of southern residents.

Because southern residents are organized into tight matriarchal societies led by female elders, researchers believe that social cues may play an important role.

鈥淒oes J pod know something that K and L don鈥檛? Or vice versa? We like to think about which pods have really old grandmas left and who’s teaching them where to go,鈥� said co-author , a marine mammal specialist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), West Coast Regional office.

Policies to protect southern residents typically apply to all pods. With K and L spending more time in coastal waters, NOAA for southern residents in 2021 to include 16,000 square miles of marine waters between the U.S. and Canada border and Point Sur, California.

Measures like the , which encourages commercial ships to slow down where whales are present, aim to mitigate the impact of noise. Boats are also of the southern residents.

Indications of changing habitat have prompted some to question the need for such regulations in Puget Sound, but these results underscore their continued importance.

鈥淓ven though we鈥檙e seeing less of K and L pods, we still have to think about how our actions impact J pod. They鈥檙e still hanging around,鈥� Koehn said.

The study also notes that southern residents and Bigg鈥檚 are sharing habitat more often, though it isn鈥檛 clear whether they mingle or avoid each other. This raises questions about their relationship and underscores the importance of accounting for both in management decisions.

鈥淗aving more transients around could be good for the southern residents, because they eat marine mammals that also eat salmon,鈥� Rand said.

But if the southern residents avoid the transients, their increased presence could be disruptive. Researchers are actively studying threats to the southern residents 鈥� including prey availability 鈥� to support the imperiled population.

This analysis wouldn鈥檛 have been possible without consistent contributions from citizen scientists. People who report whale sightings using apps like Whale Alert help researchers provide data to policymakers, which can be consequential for the whales.

鈥淭his study quantitatively shows things that people have been suspecting,鈥� Rand said. 鈥淭here are more transients here in Washington, but the southern resident鈥檚 story is a bit more complicated.鈥�

Additional co-authors include of the Whale Museum and of NOAA Fisheries Northwest Fisheries Science Center.

This study was funded by Washington Sea Grant, NOAA Fisheries West Coast and the Puget Sound Partnership.听

For more information, contact Rand at zrand@uw.edu.

Why is it important to study mosquitoes?听

Willem Laursen: Mosquitoes have been an enduring scourge of humanity for millennia. Their bites are a nuisance to humans and animals alike, and ancient texts describe illnesses consistent with mosquito-borne diseases, such as malaria, long before the source of transmission was understood.

Globalization and climate change are expanding the geographic range of many mosquito species, and their increasing resistance to insecticides threatens the long-term effectiveness of current control strategies. As a result, we urgently need new approaches for controlling mosquito-borne disease.

If we can better understand the genetic and sensory basis of mosquito behavior, we might be able to find new opportunities to disrupt disease transmission. Critical behaviors such as host seeking and blood feeding are highly specialized and difficult to model in other organisms, making it essential to study these mechanisms directly in mosquitoes themselves.

Andrea Durant: These mosquito-related problems are not just for humans. Warmer winters and early-season snowmelt have led to massive swarms of mosquitoes coinciding with wildlife migration, which changes foraging patterns in the Arctic tundra and forces animals like caribou to use precious energy reserves on evading these mosquito-blackened skies. Mosquito swarms are also a big problem for agriculture, particularly cattle herds.

What do you study?

AD: My lab studies how mosquitoes maintain a stable internal environment when faced with changing external conditions. Mosquitoes start their life as an egg that is deposited in or near water, and the larval, or juvenile, stages are aquatic. Unlike the terrestrial flying adult mosquito that has agency in its choice of residence, a mosquito larva is tied to wherever it hatches 鈥� it must survive and develop there, or die.

Sometimes the aquatic reservoirs where an adult female has selected to lay her eggs can be quite extreme, such as very polluted freshwater and seawater. We study specialized adaptations that allow these larvae to survive 鈥� most mosquito species require clean freshwater for larval development. Our goal is to reveal how mosquitoes have been able to successfully expand their habitats to places like urban sewage systems and salty coastal habitats.

WL: In my lab, our research focuses on understanding how mosquitoes sense things at the cellular level. We are trying to determine what proteins mosquitoes use to detect human-associated cues, such as heat and humidity. By identifying the cellular and molecular machinery mosquitoes use to find hosts, food sources, mates and egg-laying sites, we hope to better understand how specialized behaviors, such as blood feeding, evolve, and to uncover new targets for controlling the transmission of mosquito-borne diseases.

Jeffrey Riffell: My lab studies the 鈥渉ow鈥� of mosquito biting behavior. We also study how they visit flowers and plants 鈥� yes, they can pollinate certain plants! 鈥� to understand their natural behaviors. By learning more about mosquito physiology and behavior, we would like to develop new tools for traps and ways to control mosquitoes around people’s homes.

Tell us what it’s like to be someone who studies mosquitoes.

JR: Mosquitoes, all day and all the time. Although we try to minimize the potential for mosquito biting in the lab and in our field sites, you have to grin and bear it when dealing with these little vampires.听

WL: Being around large swarms of mosquitoes all day does desensitize me a bit. Sometimes I will be out hiking or camping with family members and I won’t be paying much attention until I start hearing complaints about the mosquitoes. Working with mosquitoes also leads me to do funny things, such as collecting sweat or wearing a nylon stocking for days to collect human odors for behavioral assays.

Rearing transgenic mosquitoes in the lab is a bit like ranching: We have to keep track of large herds of animals. Because the life stages live in different environments, we have to constantly shuttle them around between water-filled trays, for the larvae/pupae, and cages, for the terrestrial adults. We also have to move the adults around on a specific schedule to make sure they have access to our artificial blood feeders. Some lab members jokingly put a sign on the door that says “Welcome to The Ranch.”

AD: Willem is to a rancher as I am to a protagonist in “Swamp People.” We often venture outside of the lab to hunt mosquitoes in their natural habitat in urban and peri-urban areas. Sometimes we find ourselves in picturesque places like the beautiful pillow basalt coastlines of the San Juan Islands. Most often, I can be found headfirst in a nutrient-rich septic system in someone’s backyard filled with mosquito larvae or marching into the fray of massive swarms of saline-tolerant mosquitoes that await in tidal marshlands and mangrove forests.

What is the coolest mosquito fact you know?

WL: There are over 3,500 species of mosquitoes, with vastly different appearances, life histories and host preferences. Many are generalists. A few strongly prefer humans and some feed from cold-blooded animals like frogs or earthworms. The large amber-encased Toxorhynchites elephant mosquito shown in the movie “Jurassic Park” feeds on other mosquito larvae and doesn鈥檛 actually drink blood at all.

JR: I like These mosquitoes are very pretty, and they shoot their eggs into tree holes.

What鈥檚 one thing you wish people understood about mosquitoes?

AD: The incalculable misery that mosquitoes exert on humans and other animals certainly overshadows any appreciation for the importance of mosquitoes in nature. Many species of mosquitoes are critical to biodiversity and are actually fundamental to the food chain. There are numerous examples of areas with reduced breeding success and animal survival because there have been effective vector control programs and non-targeted mosquito eradication efforts.

For more information, contact Laursen at wlaursen@uw.edu, Durant at durantan@uw.edu and Riffell at jriffell@uw.edu.

The ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system has been rapidly expanding since its launch in 2021. Now, researchers at 天美影视传媒 affiliated Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (PNSN) have finished all planned installations, bringing the two-state total to spread across Washington and Oregon.

ShakeAlert detects ground motion from earthquakes before it is felt, giving people precious time to drop, cover and hold on. An earthquake exceeding magnitude 5 will trigger an automated cell phone alert from the , or WEA, which also sends AMBER alerts. Millions of people benefit from the network as is, but the researchers are still exploring ways to improve it.

鈥淲hen we launched ShakeAlert, we felt confident that we had enough seismic stations to do a good job with early warning, but that wasn鈥檛 the optimal number. Now, with the buildout complete, we have coverage where it was lacking at launch,鈥� said , director of PNSN and a UW professor in Earth and space sciences.

However, expanding the network to include sensors on the ocean floor could help Pacific Northwest residents contend with the area鈥檚 greatest hazard 鈥� the Cascadia Subduction Zone.

The West Coast is a hotbed for seismic activity. Nestled in the , an array of volcanoes circling the Pacific Ocean where 90% of Earth鈥檚 quakes occur, the region鈥檚 volatile geology clashes with its growing population. Early warning systems can give people seconds to minutes of time to prepare for shaking, and a sense of how strong it will be.

Just over a year ago, a midsized earthquake under Orcas Island offered ShakeAlert in Washington. Multiple seismometers in the area picked up the signal and ran it back to headquarters for verification. The earthquake wasn鈥檛 quite big enough to trigger a WEA automated alert, or cause major damage, but in the affected region it did notify people听with early warning apps such as MyShake, as well as all Android mobile devices.

鈥淭he system detected the earthquake rapidly, accurately assessed its magnitude and automatically sent out a warning 鈥� all in a handful of seconds,鈥� said Tobin. 鈥淚t was the first event that met all the criteria in Washington and it worked really well.鈥�

During a larger earthquake, warnings will be automatic no matter the app or operating system. Warnings will also trigger certain public safety measures: Schools can connect PA systems to ShakeAlert for rapid updates, public transit may slow trains to avoid derailment and fire station doors will go up to allow firetrucks out even if electricity is lost.

Right now, the system is most effective for land-based earthquakes because the sensors are on land. Expanding the sensor network to include offshore, ocean bottom seismometers could improve detection and warning time for offshore earthquakes, namely a much-anticipated megathrust earthquake at the Cascadia Subduction Zone.

鈥淭he fundamental problem we have is that our seismic network 鈥� hundreds and hundreds of stations 鈥� is on land, but the biggest earthquake hazard comes from off our coast,鈥� Tobin said. 鈥淓arthquake detection works much better when the earthquake is in the area of your network, not off to one side.鈥�

Seismometers can be placed on the ocean floor, but they must be connected to cables for early warning, which is expensive. Japan installed an impressive that cost $120 million following the devastating 2011 earthquake. The country now has more than 200 seismometers covering its subduction zones.

The Cascadia Subduction Zone has a handful of existing offshore sensors 鈥� five near Vancouver Island and two off the coast of Oregon. A UW-led project this summer to the Oregon cable, which spans hundreds of seafloor miles, crossing the subduction zone twice. None of the offshore sensors are in the ShakeAlert network, but adding them could be impactful.

, a UW postdoctoral researcher in Earth and space science, recently at the Seismological Society of America鈥檚 annual meeting detailing the potential benefits of adding offshore seismic monitoring.

Krauss found with modeling that incorporating just a few ocean bottom sensors improved detection time for offshore earthquakes and warning time for millions of people. In hypothetical earthquake scenarios, the sensors picked up ground motion faster and improved magnitude estimates because they were closer to the fault.

鈥淪hakeAlert is all about figuring out that an earthquake is happening as fast as possible, so having sensors nearby is essential,鈥� Krauss said. 鈥淏ut in these magnitude 8 or 9 scenarios, it’s not just about detecting it, but realizing how big it is, and fast.鈥�

The researchers also explored incorporating telecommunications cables into the sensor network using a method called distributed acoustic sensing (DAS), which records ground motion based on cable stretch. Incorporating DAS could extend the reach of existing cables even further than sensors, translating to 鈥渉uge warning time improvements,鈥� Krauss said.

Different combinations produced varying improvements in both detection and warning time, depending on where the hypothetical earthquake occurred. Regardless, having sensors always beat not having them. While there are several hurdles to clear before ocean bottom sensors can be brought into ShakeAlert, Krauss said none are insurmountable.

鈥淎lthough we鈥檝e marked this milestone of completing our station buildout, that doesn’t mean we鈥檙e not continuously improving the ShakeAlert system,鈥� Tobin said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e working to make it faster, better and more reliable.鈥�

For more information, contact Tobin at htobin@uw.edu and Krauss at zkrauss@uw.edu.听听

Fish that split their lives between fresh and salt water often face obstacles getting back and forth. Dams and roads fracture river networks and interfere with traditional migratory routes, sparking concerns about fish health and abundance, as well as biodiversity on a broader scale.

Efforts to restore fish passage are cropping up across the country, but these projects come with hefty price tags. In a new study, , 天美影视传媒 researchers explore whether this money is being well spent by examining the process that determines which projects are prioritized.

The current standard, called score and rank, involves evaluating barriers one by one and assigning a score based on potential gains, such as habitat expansion. Top-ranking projects become leading candidates for funding, but score and rank systems don鈥檛 always account for barriers in the full river context. High-scoring projects can yield stranded investments, where removing the barrier doesn鈥檛 have the desired outcome because of other barriers downstream or immediately upstream.

鈥淚deally, barriers that are most downstream will score higher, because they need to come out before the fish can benefit from upstream restoration, but approaches to scoring vary, so this isn鈥檛 always the outcome,鈥� said lead author , a UW associate professor of marine and environmental affairs.

As an alternative to score and rank, this study presents a mathematical computer program called optimization. Optimization synthesizes many inputs to make the most of a budget. It can serve as a performance indicator for other systems and highlight opportunities for improving an underperforming system.

鈥淚t’s looking at a portfolio instead of going barrier by barrier. In doing so, you can explicitly account for watershed connectivity and evaluate the performance of score and rank,鈥� Jardine said.

As concerns about the health of rivers mounted in recent years, state and federal governments have allocated billions of dollars toward reconnecting them. Fragmentation is an established threat to biodiversity, and recent studies show that a vast majority of river length is not protected by conservation measures.

Washington state is in the midst of a court ordered multibillion dollar effort to remove barriers that block salmon and steelhead from swimming upstream to spawn. The combines score and rank with optimization in a hybrid approach. Similar projects elsewhere tend to use score and rank.

鈥淚 think people see optimization as a black box because it’s not as obvious why a barrier rose to the top of the priority list,鈥� Jardine said. 鈥淲ith score and rank, they understand the scores and the process, but we don鈥檛 really know what the outcome will be.鈥�

In this study, researchers use fish passage in Western Washington as a case study to compare score and rank to optimization. They show that score and rank performs decently well when the only goal is opening up as much habitat as possible, but adding other variables into the mix, such as habitat quality, compromises its performance.

While optimization has the capability to balance variables, it might not work for everyone. The program needs data to run and someone with a mathematical background to run it. Still, even small tweaks to the score and rank approach can produce results that rival optimization.

鈥淢ajor change is hard, but minor changes may be enough,鈥� Jardine said.

Because these projects often represent the values of multiple stakeholders, it鈥檚 important to include safeguards against stranded investments.

鈥淵ou need to work from downstream up to make sure the success of a project isn鈥檛 contingent upon other projects,鈥� Jardine said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e spending a lot of money on this, but the total cost of restoring all barriers is much higher than the budget, so it’s really important that we make the most out of the financial resources that we have.鈥�

Additional co-authors include , a UW postdoctoral researcher in environmental and marine affairs; , who completed this research as a UW master鈥檚 student in environmental and marine Affairs;听 J Kahn, who completed this research as a UW master鈥檚 student in quantitative ecology and resource management; Andrew Cooke, a UW research consultant in environmental and forest sciences, , a UW research scientist in environmental and forest sciences; , a UW associate professor of aquatic and fishery sciences and , , , and of NOAA.

This study was funded by Washington Sea Grant and the Rae S. and Bell M. Shimada Endowed Faculty Fellowship in Memory of Warren S. Wooster.

For more information, contact Jardine at jardine@uw.edu.听 听听

Is it a doctor’s job to get the best outcomes for their patients or to tell the truth? What happens when these two things are not aligned? These are questions that 天美影视传媒 students have to wrangle with in Biol 180: Introductory Biology. The goal, says , UW assistant professor of biology, is to have students experience a more nuanced side of biology. There is not always one right answer, and issues of power and relationships often come into play.

Theobald aims to connect the biology concepts the students learn in class to real-world issues, something she hopes will help both retain students in the biology major at the UW and help non-majors in the class with their future careers.

Just how common is it for biology curricula to include real-world examples? One way to answer this question is to look at educational resources for biology instructors.

In published in Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Science Education Research, Theobald and her team examined almost 3,000 science guidelines and assessment questions from 16 sources 鈥� including MCAT practice questions and questions from the Washington Comprehensive Assessment of Science and AP biology tests 鈥� for any connections to society. Of the approximately 200 elements 鈥� about 7% 鈥� that had real-world implications, many discussed ethics and public health issues.

UW News spoke with Theobald; lead author , UW postdoctoral fellow in biology; and co-author , UW doctoral student in biology, to find out more about these results and what they mean for biology education today.

Why do you think so few learning objectives and assessment questions were connected to real-world examples?

Carly Busch: One reason is probably that there’s a perception that real-world connections are not a part of the primary purpose of the course, that they only belong as an addendum or an aside.

This perception makes sense in some ways, given how departments and institutions have conceptualized biology and what biology undergraduate students expect to get out of a biology degree. But the lack of these connections to society was also remarkable, because I think they play a really important role in developing undergraduate students holistically and broadly as they continue on in their science careers. Real-world examples can support students’ interest in science and help them develop their scientific identity.

Madison Meuler: I think there is also a belief of, “Oh well, this is an intro biology class. If this person is going to be a scientist, they’ll get training in the societal stuff later.” But I think there’s value in having this type of information even in intro courses.

Students in these courses may or may not go on to major in biology, and may or may not pursue a career in STEM. But even if this is their only science course in college, what could they take away from it that can help them be an informed citizen in the world?

Science plays a huge role in politics and in a lot of decisions that affect people’s day-to-day lives. It’s a missed opportunity if you’re not making those connections in the classroom. We want students, regardless of their future careers, to at least walk away being equipped with some skills to critically analyze the role that science is playing in society.

You found that roughly half of the questions that did mention society only vaguely referenced real-world scenarios. Can you give examples of implicit versus explicit mentions?

CB: So the most vague mention was from the American Association of Immunologists’ recommendations for an undergraduate immunology course. This is one of the advanced subtopics that they list: the implications of Emil Von Behring’s . We coded it as a vague mention because some of those implications could be related to society, not only focused on scientific experiments.

An example of explicit incorporation is from the bioinformatics core competencies. It asks students to explain the implications, good and bad, of being able to walk into a doctor’s office and have your genome sequenced and analyzed, or of being able to obtain genetic information from direct-to-consumer testing services. There we have a very clear example of students being asked to think about how the science concept fits in with society.

Do you think that connecting science to society can help retain students in science?

CB: We haven’t tested this yet, but based on prior research, there is reason to believe that incorporating these connections is going to help students be more engaged in what they’re learning in class. Engagement is closely tied to students’ performance outcomes, which often make or break their decision to persist in a major.

There is also a theory that helping students apply what they’re learning in the classroom to things happening in their lives and in their communities .

This is something I am excited to study in the future 鈥� to understand how making these connections expands students’ perceptions of what science is and who does science. The types of research questions that most scientists ask are on topics they personally are interested in. Maybe they study wildflowers in Washington because they love hiking, and they’ve always been struck by how beautiful the flowers are. That’s the beauty of being an academic researcher: You get to explore all of the different things that you’re curious about.

MM: Connecting content to real-world experiences could also increase retention by helping students feel a sense of belonging in the classroom. You’re far less likely to persist in a class if you feel like you don’t belong in that physical space, right? The course content definitely plays a role in that.

I think that making these connections between content and societal issues could help students start thinking things like, “Oh, this is a thing I care about, how could I design a study that could provide evidence to help inform a policy decision?”

Elli Theobald: Students have said to me, “I don’t want to be a scientist because I want to help people.” And that’s a problem. If we’re teaching science in a way that makes it feel like it isn’t helping people, then we’re doing something wrong. It’s just such a huge disservice to biology because we’ll lose so many amazing and capable students who could push our field forward.

This study looked at biology education resources. Do you know if biology instructors are already incorporating more real-world connections in their courses? 听

CB: If instructors aren’t getting support but they’re still making these connections in the classroom, it’s because they are putting that onus on themselves and choosing to add it. I applaud all instructors who are making these connections, and I fully expect that more connections are being made than and in these resources. We are currently collecting actual course materials from intro bio courses to see where instructors are making these connections.

But I also think that it would be such a valuable resource for instructors to have more support in making those connections. Here’s where I think really bolstering the amount of resources for instructors could provide more scaffolding for instructors to be able to provide a variety of connections, or to even recognize opportunities to make these connections in the course objectives. One of my hopes for this work is that it helps to provide motivation for those sorts of materials.

ET: Instructors are amazing. They’re working so hard to connect the content in some way to students’ lives, or to find the best, coolest examples. They need to have support from their institutions to be able to do more of this in their classrooms.

This research was funded by The National Science Foundation.

For more information, contact Theobald atellij@uw.edu Busch at cbusch3@uw.edu and Meuler at mmeuler@uw.edu.

Plants may not appear aggressive, but they can still defend themselves while under attack. When caterpillars chomp the leaves of bean plants, these plants release gases that lure predatory wasps. The wasps prey on the caterpillars, saving the plants from further destruction. In a paper , a UW-led team demonstrated that this defense strategy is run by a protein called INR, or inceptin receptor. The researchers grew bean plants with naturally occurring mutations in the INR gene alongside plants with functional INR in an experimental field in Oaxaca, Mexico. The knock-out plants didn’t emit gases and attracted far fewer wasps. This result helps explain a previous study by this team that first identified the biochemical pathway behind this defense mechanism. These results also showcase how the tiny actions of a single protein can affect the behavior of wasps and caterpillars, and in turn, protect the health of the plant. This could benefit nearby plants as well, the researchers said. Beans are often grown alongside “,” such as corn, with the idea that each plant provides a benefit for the others. Beans help make the soil richer for their companions, and, through the actions of INR, could also protect their neighbors from pests.

For more information, contact senior author , UW associate professor of biology, at astein10@uw.edu.听听

The other UW co-authors are , , , and . A full list of co-authors and funding is included .

Decades of satellite data show Himalayan rivers migrating rapidly in response to climate change

The movement of rivers is often described in terms of flowing water, but the path a river takes can also change. Some migration is normal, but in the Himalayas, rivers seem to be scrambling faster than scientists anticipated. In a study , researchers show that rivers in the Tibetan Plateau moved twice as much from 2000 to 2020 as they did from 1980 to 2000. As glaciers melt and frozen ground thaws in response to rising temperatures, rivers are inundated with silty meltwater from surrounding glaciers. The water picks the path of least resistance through softening ground. The 鈥渕ovement鈥� includes small lateral shifts, big swings that cut off entire sections of river and occasionally, . The international team attributes their observations to climate change, which is driving temperatures up faster here than many other places. More than 2 billion people rely on these rivers for fresh water and researchers are concerned about communities downstream, as well as the potential for similar patterns that may play out elsewhere.

For more information, contact co-author , UW professor of Earth and space sciences at bigdirt@uw.edu.听听

A full list of co-authors and funding is .

Researchers shrink eye-catching structure down to the nano scale听

made using a network of freestanding bars suspended by a web of thin, tense cables. The organization of the bars and cables allows the network of tension and compression forces to lock everything into place, creating a lightweight yet stiff structure. Tensegrities of different sizes are common in nature 鈥� examples include and the that help living cells maintain their shape 鈥� as well as in diverse manmade structures like , and . Now, a team of engineers at the UW have found a way to create tensegrities as small as five micrometers across 鈥� roughly a tenth of the width of a human hair. in the aptly-named journal Small, researchers used a specialized and a resin compound to print bar-and-cable structures about 30 micrometers across. They then heated the materials to 900 degrees celsius, causing the structures to shrink by over 80%. As they shrank, the thinner cables constricted more than the bars, resulting in nanostructures with specific, locked-in levels of stress that were up to 250% stiffer than the starting structures. The team is now working on ways to build larger materials composed of tiny tensegrities, which could eventually usher in a new class of stiff, light and impact-resistant materials.

For more information, contact lead author , a UW doctoral student of mechanical engineering.

Other UW co-authors are , , Zainab S. Patel, , and . Funding information is included .听

Scientists find a key water source for atmospheric rivers

In December 2025, brought a seemingly endless onslaught of precipitation to Washington that caused and washed away roads and homes. In published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, UW researchers help explain where all that water came from. They describe a link between the , a weather pattern that brings moisture east across the Pacific, and atmospheric rivers. Hypotheses about this connection have emerged from previous studies, but researchers couldn鈥檛 physically draw it until now. By tracking precipitation and wind patterns from 2000 to 2024, the UW researchers show that heavy rainfall and flooding are more likely when MJO is active, which happens several times a year. By identifying the MJO as a key moisture source for powerful atmospheric rivers, the researchers hope to improve forecast accuracy and give people more lead time to prepare for incoming storms.

For more information, contact co-author , UW professor of atmospheric and climate science at shuyic@uw.edu.

Other UW co-authors are and . Funding information is .

Burrowing shrimp are small marine excavators native to Washington. They make their homes deep in the sediment by digging, turning the ground to Swiss cheese. This presents a problem for shellfish farmers, whose clams and oysters are often smothered under layers of displaced sediment.

Burrowing shrimp have been a nuisance for at least a century. In 1929, : “Oyster growers have tried various means of defense against these persistent burrowers. But there seems to be as yet no really adequate and at the same time practical method of coping with the marine ‘crayfish.'”

Shellfish farmers used to use pesticides to kill the shrimp, but the chemicals also posed risks to other organisms, such as salmon and crabs, and could be transported in water outside the shellfish growing area. The Department of Ecology in 2018. Since then, family-owned shellfish farms have been losing large portions of their growing grounds to burrowing shrimp.

Research led by the UW, and funded by the state, has yielded a non-chemical, proof-of-principle method for killing shrimp in targeted areas. The method, borrowing from the construction industry, uses a custom-built platform to apply vibration and pressure to a 50-square-foot region of sediment. This compacts the sediment and effectively traps shrimp in their burrows. Starved of oxygen, the shrimp die after a few days.

The researchers tested this method at four sites around Willapa Bay, Washington. It worked just as well as pesticides, reducing the number of live shrimp by between 72% and 98%.

“The challenge of managing burrowing shrimp on private tidelands has many dimensions. There still need to be enough shrimp to serve as food for gray whales and sturgeon, and the whole shrimp population is connected by a long larval phase in the ocean,” said senior author , UW professor of biology. “Once back in the estuary though, these shrimp can live for up to 10 years. Even a moderately sized shrimp, about four inches long, can bring a handful of sediment to the surface every day, dropping that on top of everything. We’re trying to find the balance 鈥� how to keep them out of shellfish beds, but let them grow elsewhere.”

The team May 12 in the Journal of Shellfish Research.

“Burrowing shrimp have decimated our farm,” said Ken Wiegardt, a fifth-generation oyster farmer and head of Jolly Roger Oysters in Willapa Bay. “We鈥檝e lost 75% of our nursery ground and, as a result, the farm’s carrying capacity has fallen from 265,000 bushels of market-ready oysters to 75,000 bushels. Last month I had to lay off three oyster shuckers, each of whom had been with me for many years, because I just don鈥檛 have the oysters to process. The health of the Willapa Estuary as well as my business and all of my employees depend on finding an effective tool.”

Over the years farmers and researchers have toyed with the idea of trying to “mechanically鈥� control shrimp populations.

“The idea was, ‘Let鈥檚 crush them underground, or crush them when they come to the surface,'” Ruesink said. “There are old photographs that show people using vehicles, such as repurposed tanks and snow crawlers, to try to target the shrimp.”

This idea resurfaced at a recent conference. Over lunch, Ruesink and shellfish growers decided . After careful analysis, the method proved ineffective.

Ruesink’s co-author, Alan Trimble, who was previously a research scientist at UW and is now volunteering on this project, had an idea for why the “crushing” experiment had failed.

“He told me, ‘You’re thinking like a dirt farmer and you need to start thinking like a concrete engineer instead,'” Ruesink said. “That’s when he mentioned these concrete vibrators in construction. When you pour concrete, if you don’t get all the bubbles out of it, it won’t be as strong. This is a consolidation technique for a wet slurry of particulates, which is exactly what a mud flat is.”

Ruesink and Trimble ran three experiments to test whether a concrete vibrator, a hand-held metal tube with a motor powered by a generator, could kill the shrimp. For each experiment the team compared sediment cores from treated plots to cores from untreated plots. The researchers took core samples on multiple days after treatment and counted live versus dead shrimp.

In an earlier experiment, the team tried using the vibrator while standing in the water. This method was successful in killing shrimp, but also not practical for scaling up. Jennifer Ruesink/天美影视传媒

The best option was a custom-built floating platform with six vibrators mounted through a hollow part in the middle. Ruesink and Trimble added weights near each vibrator head to provide pressure in addition to vibration, a winning combination that compressed the sediment and killed the shrimp. The specific cause of death was asphyxiation, not the vibration.

While this proof-of-principle experiment seems promising, there’s more work to do before shellfish farmers can implement it. Right now it’s a time-consuming and labor-intensive process because everything is manually operated. Also, more studies need to be done to determine the long-term impacts to the ecosystem, from the shrimp in neighboring non-shellfish farm mudflats to other creatures living in the area.

“What we’ve done so far is introduce a novel control mechanism. No one had thought that you could trap the shrimp underground,” Ruesink said. “But this research wouldn’t have happened without the investment from the state and the private landowners and growers. I have such a deep appreciation for the opportunity to work with folks on something that is clearly affecting their lives.”

The researchers performed field trials on the private tidelands of Pacific Shellfish, Bay Center Farms and John Heckes. This research was funded by the Washington State Department of Agriculture.

For more information, contact Ruesink at ruesink@uw.edu. For more information about Jolly Roger Oysters, contact Wiegardt at oysterman73@hotmail.com.

Sunbirds may look similar to hummingbirds 鈥� small, iridescent birds with thin bills 鈥� but it turns out the two are only distantly related. Sunbirds live primarily in Africa, Asia and Australia, and have a unique way to slurp up nectar. Unlike hummingbirds, which use minute movements in their bills to sip nectar, sunbirds use their tongues as a straw. published in Current Biology, a team led by researchers at the 天美影视传媒 showed that these long-billed birds can change the pressure at the base of their tongues to create suction that moves nectar through their tongues and into their mouths, a novel mechanism never before seen in vertebrates. The researchers used multiple techniques 鈥� including high-speed video of sunbirds drinking red-dyed nectar from transparent artificial flowers 鈥� to demonstrate this phenomenon across multiple sunbird species as well as build a mathematical model that describes how it works. Sunbirds pollinate the flowers they drink from, and researchers are interested in understanding how different sunbird species’ plant preferences affect the plant-pollinator networks across continents.

For more information, contact lead author , who completed this research as a UW doctoral student in biology, at david_cuban@brown.edu.听听

The other UW co-author is . A full list of co-authors and funding is included . Related stories in and .听

Seattle Fault gets 5,000 more years of sleep听

Just over 1,100 years ago an on the Seattle fault rocked 鈥� and reshaped 鈥� the Puget Sound region. It lifted the sea floor and sent a powerful tsunami through the sound. Researchers have estimated that this fault, which runs east to west beneath the middle of the city, will produce a large earthquake every 5,000 years or so. However, , recently published in Geology, pushes that estimate back to 11,000 years. The researchers extended this window by scouring submerged shorelines for evidence of significant elevation changes. The geological record at these sites dates back 11,000 years, but they only found evidence of one major earthquake. This information could be useful to those making seismic hazard maps, which help people understand the risks associated with different regions. Although other regional faults and the imposing pose more imminent risks to residents, the main Seattle fault doesn鈥檛 appear to be ready for rupture anytime soon.

For more information, contact lead author , UW research scientist of Earth and space sciences, at edav@uw.edu.

The other UW co-author is . A full list of co-authors and funding is included in the paper. Related story in .

The PNW has many rivers, but no system for gauging landslide dam risk

Scientists have a new tool for estimating lesser known hazards in the Pacific Northwest: and outburst floods. Landslides along rivers can block the flow of water downstream, creating a lake just above the slide area. Most landslide dams fail within 10 days, releasing trapped water in an outburst flood, which can be devastating. Last fall, 20 people died after in Taiwan. published in Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, UW researchers debut a mathematical approach to mapping landslide dam hazards based on valley width and projected slide size. When they applied the tool to a mountain range in Oregon, they found that roughly one-third of rivers in the study area were susceptible to landslide dams, with risk increasing in mountainous areas. If a landslide dam does form, alleviating pressure by for water to escape can help prevent flooding. Identifying high risk areas can help guide emergency response efforts following storms, earthquakes and other events that increase landslide risk.

For more information, contact lead author , UW doctoral student of Earth and space sciences, at pmmorgan@uw.edu.

The other UW co-author is . A full list of co-authors and funding is .

Rubin observatory expected to spot many 鈥榠mminent impactor鈥� asteroids

Small asteroids 鈥� those 1 to 20 meters in diameter 鈥斕� hit the Earth 35-40 times per year, though they鈥檙e very rarely spotted by telescopes before impact. That could soon change: published in The Astrophysical Journal, UW astronomers calculate that the Simonyi Survey Telescope at the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory could discover one to two Earth-impacting asteroids annually , roughly doubling the number currently logged. The researchers expect Rubin to discover these asteroids an average of 1.5 days before impact, which is more warning time than ever before. Advance notice is extremely valuable in the case of larger asteroids that could be a threat to people or infrastructure. Because the Rubin Observatory is located in the Southern Hemisphere, it will likely discover many Earth impactors that existing asteroid surveys 鈥� concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere 鈥� miss.

For more information, contact lead author Ian Chow, a UW graduate student of astronomy, at chowian@uw.edu.

Other UW co-authors are Mario Juri膰, Joachim Moeyens, Aren N. Heinze and Jacob A. Kurlander. A full list of co-authors is included .

Many marine microbes share a genetic toolbox for fixing supper at sea

Researchers have now identified a set of genes that allow some bacteria to process a compound, called homarine, that is abundant in the ocean and appears to play a key role in nutrient cycling. Phytoplankton produce loads of homarine, but scientists weren鈥檛 sure what became of it until now. In a recent study published in Nature Microbiology, researchers found a set of genes present in common and far-flung bacteria that convert homarine into glutamic acid, an essential building block for life. This suggests that homarine may be a vital and overlooked resource and highlights the importance of bacteria in stabilizing marine ecosystems. Previous studies also found that homarine serves as and helps small crabs . The UW team will continue studying homarine to better understand how it fits into the broader ecological landscape.

For more information, contact senior author , a UW professor of oceanography, at aingalls@uw.edu.听

The other UW co-authors are , , , , , and 听 A full list of co-authors and funding is