The 天美影视传媒 was awarded $2.5 million from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to fund 16 postdoctoral fellows in a number of fields across the College of Arts & Sciences, the College of Engineering and the College of the Environment.

The UW is one of 30 U.S. research universities to receive the funding. The grants support work in a range of natural science disciplines supported by the foundation, including disciplines of astronomy, biology, chemistry, Earth and planetary sciences, ecology materials science, physics and quantum information. Post doctoral fellows will receive between $90,000 and $200,000 for work lasting nine to 24 months.听

Gordon and Betty Moore established the Moore Foundation in 2000 to create positive outcomes for future generations. In pursuit of that vision, the Foundation advances scientific discovery and environmental conservation. It is one of the nation鈥檚 leading philanthropies with an endowment of approximately $12 billion and annual grantmaking exceeding $500 million.

In awarding the funds, officials with the Moore Foundation noted the 鈥渃ritical role postdoctoral fellows play in advancing scientific discovery and the importance of maintaining the talent pipeline for science.鈥�

The UW is well known for training future researchers and scientific leaders across disciplines. Many of the post-doctoral fellows in this cohort say they plan to pursue faculty positions, to inspire another generation of scientists.

鈥淭he work these postdoctoral researchers are doing will increase our understanding of the planet and the universe, helping to create a better future for all,鈥� said Cecilia Giachelli, associate vice provost for research and a professor of bioengineering. 鈥淲e are deeply grateful to the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation for their generous support.鈥�

UW News asked the cohort of Moore Foundation postdoctoral fellows to share their research goals. Here鈥檚 what they told us:

Arachaporn Anutaliya, Applied Physics Laboratory:

“I’m excited to receive this fellowship because it allows me to study large-scale equatorial waves that move heat through the ocean and shape global climate patterns. Understanding how these waves redistribute heat is essential for improving our understanding of climate variability and global warming. This fellowship supports my goal of building a career in ocean and climate science that connects fundamental research to broader climate understanding.”

Arpit Arora, Department of Astronomy:听

“I am thrilled to receive this fellowship, as it lets me collaborate with the UW experts leading the Rubin Observatory to study dark matter 鈥� the invisible substance making up 85% of all matter in the universe. I use computer simulations to model ‘stellar streams,’ which are long trails of stars being torn apart by our galaxy鈥檚 gravity. By comparing these simulations with new telescope data, I can use the motion of these stars to map out the hidden influence of dark matter and finally understand how it shapes our universe.”

George Brencher, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering:

“My research uses satellite data and machine learning to improve measurements of snow and ice that are needed for managing water resources and natural hazards. Rapid advances in Earth observation and machine learning are transforming the field, allowing us to push the limits of what we can observe on Earth from space. This fellowship will allow me to develop new approaches that translate these advances into meaningful, real-world impact.”

Leo Brody, Department of Chemical Engineering:听

“Receiving this fellowship gives me the flexibility to explore a new class of materials that could dramatically lower the cost of turning waste plastics and biomass into useful fuels and chemicals. I am especially excited about replacing rare, expensive catalysts with materials made from Earth-abundant elements like iron, aluminum and carbon. This support will help me prioritize making energy and chemical production cleaner, cheaper and more sustainable.”

Jamie Cochran, Department of Biology:

“I will study the physiology of the freshwater crustacean Hyalella azteca, which is used to understand the impact of aquatic stressors 鈥� such as metals or pesticides 鈥� on freshwater environments. Just like humans require a specific ratio of salt to water for survival, these shrimp-like crustaceans must regulate their internal balance of ions to water. My project involves trying to determine the mechanisms behind this balance, which could also help us understand other sensitive freshwater creatures. I am grateful to this fellowship for the opportunity to investigate this ecologically significant species.”

Debarati Das, Department of Chemistry:

“As a biochemist, I am keen on pursuing a career in industry or the government sector addressing questions at the interface of chemistry and biology. I find microorganisms particularly fascinating because they are able to live in diverse habitats, from the deep sea to the human body. With the support of the Moore Foundation, I will be able to develop new skills to study how microbes use unique chemistry to adapt to different environmental conditions. This work will help us to understand the critical roles of microorganisms in every ecosystem on our planet.”

Mateo Lopez Espejo, Department of Psychology:

“When we hear a sound, we turn our heads to focus our vision and hearing on the source. This is a process called active sensing. I am excited to investigate the mechanisms behind this process using the fruit fly as a model so that I can take advantage of its genetic tools and fully mapped brain connectivity. The support of this fellowship will be fundamental to help me establish this research plan during my postdoc, and to cement my future career.”

Cassandra Henderson, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering:听

“I am pleased to accept the Moore Foundation fellowship to support my essential research in preparing Washington communities for climate change. With this assistance, I will be able to continue work on the , which enables long term flood planning that addresses sea level rise.”

Sophia Jannetty, Department of Biology:听

“I use computer simulations to explore how the behavior of individual cells affects the health of our tissues and organs. I am honored to receive the Moore Foundation fellowship, which will allow me to apply this approach to better understand how aging cells and inflammation interact to influence disease. I hope my work can inform more thoughtful strategies for promoting healthy aging.”

Atsushi Matsuda, Department of Biology:

“Electron microscopy reveals extraordinary details inside living cells, but turning these images into accurate three-dimensional reconstructions remains a major challenge. My research aims to overcome this by combining physics-informed machine learning with computer vision to create tools that are broadly usable by biological researchers. I am excited to receive this fellowship because it gives me the freedom to pursue this highly interdisciplinary work at the intersection of biology, computational mechanics and artificial intelligence.”

Hikari Murayama, Department of Atmospheric and Climate Science:听

“Quantifying greenhouse gas emissions was a core pillar of my doctoral work, and this fellowship provides an opportunity to build off of that. We’ll be focusing on historical data: Tracking past methane emissions from oil and gas facilities can give us insight into how emission patterns fluctuate over time. I’m excited to continue developing as an interdisciplinary scholar while also forming my identity as a researcher as I pursue faculty positions.”

Dongmin Shi, Department of Materials Science & Engineering:听

“I am honored to receive support from the Moore Foundation fellowship, which will enable me to pursue innovative, foundational ideas with long-term impact in biomedical engineering. My research focuses on developing wearable biosensors that help monitor and better understand human health. In the future, I aim to become a faculty member who helps translate fundamental scientific discoveries into technologies that improve health care.”

Marta Ulaski, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences:

“Healthy rivers are the backbone of thriving salmon and trout populations but we don’t yet know if the places we protect are the ones most at risk from a warming climate. I鈥檓 looking forward to combining climate, policy and habitat information in a new way to better understand how river protections support salmon and trout. Ultimately I hope this work will help close the gap between research and conservation practice and provide evidence to guide future policy.”

Corinne Vietorisz, School of Environmental & Forest Sciences:听

“I am very excited to receive the Moore Fellowship, which will allow me to join the Willing Lab at the UW to study how fire-adapted microbes can aid in forest recovery following wildfire. I am continuously amazed by the enormous impacts microorganisms have on our world. My long-term goal is to study how soil microbes 鈥� including fungi and bacteria 鈥� can improve ecosystem restoration and land management outcomes.”

Samuel Wong, Department of Physics:听

“I am interested in proposing novel ways to test theories beyond the current understanding of fundamental physics, such as searching for new particles and forces. Specifically, my work involves finding ways to use precision measurement techniques to search for these tiny signals of new physics. The UW is a leading center for precision measurement, and the support from the Moore Foundation postdoctoral fellowship will allow me to do this work alongside , UW assistant professor of physics.”

Weiwang Zeng, Department of Chemistry:听

“I am excited to receive this fellowship because it gives me the freedom to take big scientific risks at a crucial stage in my career. I use ultrafast bursts of light in a special range of the electromagnetic spectrum to reveal and control new behaviors in atomically thin quantum materials. With this support, I can build toward an independent research program.”

The U.S. boasts more than 4 million miles of rivers, peppered with laws and regulations to protect access to drinking water and essential habitat for fish and wildlife. But in the first comprehensive review of river protection, research co-led by the 天美影视传媒 shows that the existing regulations account for less than 20% of total river length and vary widely by region.

Freshwater conservation strategies have historically emphasized protections against land use and development on public lands, including National Wildlife Refuges, Wilderness Areas and National Forests. However, protection measures that are specific to lakes, rivers and wetlands are much less common.

Most of the protection afforded to rivers comes from land-based measures, but the growing global consensus is that this isn鈥檛 enough. Freshwater ecosystems are losing biodiversity faster than anywhere else. To improve stewardship, researchers first need to map the existing protections and attempt to gauge their benefits.

鈥淲e examined the patchwork of different aquatic and terrestrial protection measures that seek to support river resilience to better understand where we are doing well and where there is room for improvement,鈥� said , a UW professor of aquatic and fishery sciences.

Olden co-led this study with and . They published the results Jan. 9 in an in Nature Sustainability, alongside a on the topic.

Rivers supply clean drinking water and power to millions of Americans. They provide habitat for fish, water for thirsty crops, and create transportation networks for people, goods and animals. But the nature of rivers makes them harder to protect. They cross borders, traverse ecological zones and snake between public and private lands.

Waterways are now represented in some major conservation initiatives, such as the 鈥� an effort to protect 30% of Earth鈥檚 land and ocean by 2030 鈥� but that wasn鈥檛 always the case.

鈥淭hreats to fresh waters often originate outside the bounds of protected land areas,鈥� Olden said. 鈥淪o unfortunately no matter how much attention you give an individual stretch of river, it is only as protected as its headwaters.鈥�

Because the mechanism of protection varies depending on the policy or management practice, the researchers developed a river protection index to compare river segments based on water quantity, quality, connectivity, habitat and biodiversity 鈥� key ecological attributes supporting freshwater resilience. They categorized segments by protection level to identify gaps and prioritize areas in need of protection.

鈥淲e layered local, state and federal protection mechanisms onto the river network to reveal where and how we seek to protect America鈥檚 rivers,鈥� Olden said.

The study reported that nearly two-thirds of rivers in the U.S. are unprotected. Just over 19% of total river length in the entire U.S., and 11% in the contiguous U.S., is protected at a level deemed adequate to safeguard the health of river ecosystems. . Protections favor high elevation and remote areas, as well as public lands. Low-elevation headwaters and large swaths of the Midwest and South are underprotected.

River-specific protection efforts remain scarce. The 鈥� a seminal freshwater protection measure passed in 1972 鈥斕� protects just 2.7% of total river length. Habitat bulwarks for endangered species protect 1.3% and approximately 2% receive protection from river-specific designations, such as .

Land-based regulations, by comparison, apply to a much larger chunk of the total. Federal Wilderness Area designations apply to 6.3% of total river length and river and floodplain protections encompass 14.2% of total river length.

The study also highlighted the potential value of investing in watershed management programs.

鈥淲orking to ensure that protected rivers also have protected upstream watersheds supports reliable access to clean water that doesn鈥檛 need treatment, which can be expensive, before it hits the faucets of American households,鈥� Olden said.

Beefing up protections doesn鈥檛 mean cutting off access to rivers, either.

鈥淲e can use regulatory action to support equitable access to the numerous benefits rivers provide human society,鈥� Olden said. 鈥淧rotected rivers support recreation, freshwater biodiversity and cultural value. It鈥檚 a win-win-win.鈥�

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

Additional co-authors include , and of Conservation Science Partners; and and of American Rivers.

This study was funded by American Rivers.

The historic Norwegian tall ship Statsraad Lehmkuhl set sail for San Francisco from the Port of Seattle on Monday, marking the end of and another stop on the to support a sustainable future at sea.

The ship, built in 1914, boasts three towering masts and hails from Bergen, Norway. During the inaugural One Ocean Week Seattle, organized by , it docked at Pier 66 to welcome attendees and members of the public aboard to explore and learn.

The drew hundreds of people to Seattle to discuss marine ecosystems, the seafood industry, shipping and renewable energy, and more. 天美影视传媒 scientists joined policymakers, educators and industry leaders to define and address priorities in stewardship and ocean science.

, a UW affiliate professor and research scientist at the Center for Ecosystem Sentinels, served as a panelist on the 鈥淐oast to Coast Collaboration in Research鈥� aboard Statsraad Lehmkuhl on Friday morning.

Moore contributed her expertise as a marine mammal ecologist to help launch the in the Pacific Arctic in 2010, leading to an international effort to establish a network of observatories in the Arctic to track ecosystem health amidst physical changes to the region.

The panel, part of a series hosted by , offered a chance to discuss shared goals as melting ice opens the Arctic up to more traffic.

鈥淚t was an important opportunity for international collaboration and public engagement regarding rapid ecosystem changes in Arctic, and local, waters,鈥� Moore said.

, a UW professor of mechanical engineering, helped lead a 鈥渂ehind the scenes鈥� lab tour hosted by the , which joins researchers at UW, Oregon State University and the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

During the tour, researchers showcased marine energy monitoring projects at the , including videos and sonar documenting interactions between marine life and tidal energy turbines, sensors to detect underwater collisions, and systems to monitor how much noise is produced by the devices that help harness energy from waves and currents.

鈥淭hese tools help us identify and minimize environmental effects associated with harnessing energy from waves, tides and rivers,鈥� Polagye said.

, a UW principal research scientist of aquatic and fishery sciences participated in a panel discussion, where he shared his work on habitat in , which borders downtown Seattle. Toft鈥檚 lab studies how shoreline development impacts habitat value for young salmon.

鈥淎lthough the shorelines of Elliott Bay have been heavily modified, restoration efforts have had positive results,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he panel gave us a chance to discuss the importance of maintaining a healthy shoreline along a major urban working waterfront.鈥�

Despite the density of human activity along the shores of Elliott Bay, these waters are home to key species, including kelp, orcas and salmon. Maintaining functionality without losing habitat is a challenge, requiring input from various stakeholders, and creativity.

, a coastal hazards specialist at , provided an update on observed and projected sea level rise during a Friday workshop bringing together coastal managers and tribes around the Puget Sound region.

鈥淭he opportunity to meet in person with that many people who all came for the workshop was invaluable,鈥� he said.

To connect with a UW expert in ocean or environmental science, contact Gillian Dohrn in UW News at gdohrn@uw.edu.

Long baleen whale mothers are more likely to have female calves than males, according to a new study led by the 天美影视传媒. The findings contradict a popular evolutionary theory postulating that strong mammals benefit more from birthing males.

In 1973, that fit female mammals can improve their odds for grandchildren by having males. Large strong mothers will raise large strong offspring that, if male, can outcompete other males for mates.听But, according to the theory, female fitness is less consequential. The studies backing this argument focused on land mammals, such as deer and elk, and often included just tens or hundreds of animals.

UW researchers tested the theory in marine mammals by comparing maternal length and fetal sex in more than 100,000 baleen whales. They found that the fetal sex ratio skews female for longer 鈥� and thus more fit 鈥� rorqual whales, the predominant baleen whale family that includes humpbacks and blue whales. The findings, on Sept. 24, suggest that female calves benefit more from heritable fitness than males do.

Carrying and caring for young is exhausting, and whales often breed far from food sources. They must rely on stored fat to sustain themselves and their young during and after pregnancy.

鈥淭he question we wanted to answer was: if you are in good condition, if you鈥檙e big and fat and you鈥檙e going to have a big fat calf that will survive and reproduce 鈥� do you want that calf to be a male or a female?鈥� said , a UW doctoral student of quantitative ecology and resource management.

To answer this question, the researchers turned to historical whaling data.

Back in the early 1900s, when people hunted whales, a group from Norway began collecting data on their catch. The practice was codified into a law that required all Norwegian hunters to record the whale鈥檚 length, sex and pregnancy status, as well as the sex and size of a fetus. In the 1930s, the Norwegian regulation became international law.

鈥淲hen they hunted whales, there were often biologists around who were knee-deep in the carcasses, measuring and collecting samples,鈥� Rand said. in 1986 to protect dwindling populations from further decimation. The IWC data, however, is a treasure trove for researchers.

鈥淲e have this enormous data set with hundreds of thousands of data points that doesn鈥檛 exist for almost any other wild population,鈥� said , a UW professor in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. In 2023, Branch and Rand helped create an interactive map depicting whale distribution from the data.

The data also gave Rand an opportunity to investigate fetal sex ratios in marine mammals. Experts argue that some animals just after conception. No one knows exactly how this works for mammals, but adapting sex ratios based on physical or environmental conditions is considered advantageous.

鈥淚 think for our mammal brains, it is a little bit confusing,鈥� Rand said, 鈥淏ut insects, and ants, have a lot of control over the sex of their offspring, so it鈥檚 not entirely surprising that mammals might have a little bit of control.鈥�

In this study, the researchers modeled maternal length against sex for fetuses measuring three feet and longer 鈥� the size at which sex becomes evident. They included seven whale species in the rorqual family, totalling more than 100,000 whales.

If the Trivers-Willard hypothesis were correct, researchers would have seen a slight increase in the number of male fetuses as maternal length increased. Instead, they observed a downward trend, indicating that fewer males were born to larger mothers. The results varied some by species: There was a 77% chance that longer female humpbacks have more female calves, and that probability increased to 99% for sei whales.

There are several possible explanations for why these findings flip the Trivers-Willard hypothesis, and the trends observed in land mammals. Some male whales compete for mates, but competition might not be as significant a pressure as female size because small female whales will likely struggle to reproduce and raise healthy young. Big whales, on the other hand, will have big female calves that will grow into long mothers with strong reproductive potential.

For baleen whale mothers, investing energy in female calves is the best way to ensure generations of grandchildren.

Research also suggests that some whale species are , which could spell trouble for future generations if females are unable to support offspring. The findings could have implications for conservation, but Rand said that this will require further research to confirm.

鈥淧reviously it was assumed that if you have male-male competition for mates, bigger mothers will have males,鈥� Rand said. 鈥淥ur paper shows that you can鈥檛 make that assumption because there鈥檚 also an advantage to being big as a female.鈥�

Other authors include , the Leader of the USGS Washington Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and a Professor in the UW School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences.

This research was funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Contact Rand at zrand@uw.edu for more information.

Joth Davis adjusted his waders and stepped into the cool waters of Thorndyke Bay, his Crocs disappearing under a layer of thick, forest-green seaweed. Behind him, jagged Olympic peaks poked above the hilltops. Before him stretched 30 acres of oysters, clams and geoducks 鈥� the shellfish farm he鈥檇 run for 35 years. 听

A hundred feet from shore, Davis stooped over and reached a hand toward the muck, where a native cockle clam sat on the surface. 鈥淭his right here,鈥� he said, scooping up the clam, 鈥渢his is the problem.鈥澨�

Under ideal conditions, cockles bury themselves in sand or mud, resting in shallow waters. But the conditions at are not always ideal. Every summer, Davis and shellfish farmers across the Washington coastline contend with an abundance of , a native seaweed that flourishes in tidelands. Commonly called 鈥渟ea lettuce,鈥� Ulva grows thick and heavy. Left unmitigated, it can smother life underneath.听

Some shellfish, like the cockle in Davis鈥檚 hand, can force themselves through the sludge and onto the surface, where they鈥檙e more likely to survive. Others 鈥� including the oysters and geoducks that are the heart of Baywater鈥檚 business 鈥� can only suffer on the seabed.听听

鈥淭oo much seaweed grows in proliferation, and just piles up on top of the (shellfish). We definitely have seen mortalities among geoducks because of the Ulva,鈥� said Davis, who is also a trained marine biologist and affiliate professor of aquatic and fisheries sciences at the UW. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 getting worse.鈥�听

For years, Baywater has removed excess Ulva by hand. Teams of workers hunch over to scoop fistfuls of seaweed into oversized buckets. It鈥檚 an expensive, time-consuming, laborious process that creates yet another conundrum 鈥� what to do with hundreds of pounds of unwanted seaweed.听听

Researchers at the 天美影视传媒 saw an opportunity. Ulva is rich in carbon and other nutrients, which can cause problems when left in the sea. But those same nutrients are vital for land-based agriculture. What if shellfish farmers like Davis could turn all that extra seaweed into an organic soil amendment for vegetable farms?听听

鈥淚t seemed like a real no-brainer,鈥� said Sarah Collier, a UW assistant professor of environmental and occupational health sciences and the project lead. 鈥淲hat has been a problem for shellfish farms could be a great opportunity for farms on land.鈥澨�

That insight led to , a multi-year collaboration between the UW, Baywater Shellfish, , Washington State University, and farm business incubator The project aimed to test the viability of Ulva as a soil amendment, and, if successful, develop a market for sea-based farmers to sell excess seaweed to their counterparts on land. Along the way, Collier鈥檚 team would study the supply chain鈥檚 agricultural, economic and climate impacts.听听

Project leaders hoped their findings would help to solve a problem faced not only in Washington, but also in coastal communities around the globe.听听

鈥淥ur farm is really a research platform,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e doing this because it helps the farm, but it鈥檚 really the science that we want.鈥澨�听

In December 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded the program nearly $5 million over five years. The project launched the following year, removing more than 17,000 pounds of seaweed from shellfish beds and applying it to crops on four local farms, who received financial support for their participation.听听

The project generated widespread excitement. Anecdotes from participating farms suggested an increased crop yield, and nearly 70 farms expressed interest in participating in the second year. The project team built a prototype raft-based system to accelerate seaweed removal. Early data suggested a significant economic benefit.听

Then the USDA pulled the plug. In April 2025, federal officials canceled a $3 billion initiative to fund climate-forward agricultural projects such as Blue Carbon, Green Fields.听听

鈥淲e had to immediately shut everything down,鈥� Collier said. Now the project is at a standstill: Farmers who had been eager to participate were unable to do so, and researchers haven鈥檛 been able to fully analyze the first year鈥檚 data. The raft-based harvester sits ready, but has no supply chain for the seaweed it collects.听

As the summer unfolds, project leaders have scrambled to maintain what they can, collecting essential data and storing seaweed samples for later analysis. Collier is searching for alternative funding and working with the USDA to potentially tweak the project to fit the Trump administration鈥檚 priorities.听听

For now, though, a solution to the seaweed problem remains just out of reach.听听

鈥淭he thing that’s really frustrating is that this is absolutely a win-win,鈥� Collier said. 鈥淚t makes sense. It solves a problem. It鈥檚 just something that makes sense from every perspective whether you’re thinking about the economics, the environmental impacts or听 building resilience and health in the system. It just makes sense from every possible angle.听

鈥淪o to have to stop doing this work is just so frustrating.鈥�听

Sunflower sea stars are the largest sea stars in the world: They have up to 24 arms and grow to the size of a bicycle tire.

Starting in 2013, these creatures and other sea star species along the west coast of North America died in epidemic proportions. The stars had harrowing symptoms: Their arms contorted before falling off completely. Over the past decade, sea star wasting disease has killed billions of sea stars in up to 20 species by effectively “melting” their tissues.

The disease has wiped out more than 90% of the once-common sunflower sea stars, most critically in the continental U.S., landing them on the International Union for Conservation of Nature鈥檚 . The loss of sunflower sea stars, which support kelp forests by feeding on kelp-eating sea urchins, has had widespread and lasting effects on coastal ecosystems.

Until now, no one knew what caused sea star wasting disease. But on Aug. 4, an international research effort including scientists from the 天美影视传媒 has finally revealed the cause: a strain of the bacterium Vibrio pectenicida. Vibrio is a genus of bacteria that has devastated coral and shellfish as well as humans (for example, Vibrio cholerae is the pathogen that causes cholera).

The researchers in Nature Ecology & Evolution.

“This is the discovery of the decade for me,” said co-author , a UW affiliate professor in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences and Friday Harbor Laboratories. “We have studied both the cause and the impacts of this disease for the entire epidemic. What’s crazy is that the answer was just sitting right there in front of us. This Vibrio is a sneaky critter because it doesn’t show up on histology like other bacteria do.”

“From initial studies, we thought the culprit was a virus,” Harvell continued. “So it was a surprise to find the pathogen in a more common group of bacteria.”

The long-awaited result showing V. pectenicida strain FHCF-3 as the causative agent comes after a four-year research process. Scientists explored many possible pathogens, including viruses. At first, the researchers looked in sunflower sea star tissues before they homed in on the high levels of V. pectenicida in sick sea star 鈥渂lood,鈥� or coelomic fluid.

“When we looked at the coelomic fluid between exposed and healthy sea stars, there was basically one thing different: Vibrio,” said senior author , a marine disease ecologist at the Hakai Institute and the University of British Columbia. “We all had chills. We thought, ‘That鈥檚 it. We have it. That鈥檚 what causes wasting.'”

Harvell attributes the team’s success to:

• Having the right facilities at the U.S. Geological Service with proper quarantine and high-quality water flow
• A talented research team that had pathology, virology and bacteriology experience
• Having access to a source of the right test animals, including sunflower sea stars raised in captivity by co-author , UW senior research scientist at Friday Harbor Laboratories.

“I observed and collected health data on nearly every single sea star twice a day for the majority of experiments for all four summers,” said co-author , a UW doctoral student in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. “I have loved sea stars and have been fascinated by diseases since childhood. To get to participate so actively in research that combines both of these interests has been a dream come true. I’m excited about getting to work on a project with such consequential findings for the conservation of these important sea stars: to find both the cause of sea star wasting disease, and to better understand their immune response.”

To confirm that V. pectenicida was the culprit, co-author , a research scientist at UBC, created pure cultures of V. pectenicida from the coelomic fluid of sick sea stars. The team then injected the cultured pathogen into healthy sea stars, which developed symptoms of sea star wasting disease 鈥� the final proof.

“When we lose billions of sea stars, that really shifts the ecological dynamics,” said lead author , an evolutionary ecologist at the Hakai Institute and UBC. “In the absence of sunflower stars, sea urchin populations increase, which means the loss of kelp forests, and that has broad implications for all the other marine species and humans that rely on them. So losing a sea star goes far beyond the loss of that single species.”

Now that scientists have identified the pathogen behind sea star wasting disease, they can look into the drivers of disease and potential hallmarks of resilience. Researchers are particularly interested in studying the link between sea star wasting disease and rising ocean temperatures. The effects of the disease seem to be stronger in warmer water, and other species of Vibrio are also known to proliferate in warm water, Gehman said.

Researchers and project partners hope the discovery will help guide management and and the ecosystems affected by their decline.

“It’s just heartbreaking to watch them die,” Harvell said. “Sunflower sea stars are enchanting creatures and they’re quite interactive. At feeding time, they will come toward you. If you throw clams to the stars, they can catch them. It’s so gratifying to finally have an answer.”

Additional co-authors on this paper are Katherine M. Davis and Jan F. Finke at UBC and the Hakai Institute; Paul K. Hershberger at the U.S. Geological Survey; Andrew McCracken at the University of Vermont; Colleen T. E. Kellogg, Rute B. G. Clemente-Carvalho and Carolyn Prentice at the Hakai Institute; and Kevin X. Zhong and Curtis A. Suttle at UBC. The research was supported by The Nature Conservancy of California, the Tula Foundation, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Grant, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and British Columbia Knowledge Development Fund Infrastructure award, the University of British Columbia, the U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Threats Research Program, Ecosystems Mission Area and the Quantitative and Evolutionary STEM Traineeship.

For more information, contact Harvell at cdh5@cornell.edu.

Adapted from a release from The Hakai Institute.

For Valentine’s Day, UW News asked 12 天美影视传媒 researchers to share their love stories: What made them decide to pursue their career paths? Scroll down or click on the links below to see their responses.

Lakeya Afolalu | Katya Cherukumilli | Stephen Groening | June Lukuyu | Jennifer Nemhauser | Zoe Pleasure | Kira Schabram | B谩ra 艩af谩艡ov谩 | Adam Summers | Timeka Tounsel | Kendall Valentine | Navid Zobeiry

, Assistant professor of language, literacy and culture, College of Education

What do you study at the UW?听

My research explores how immigration, race, language, literacy and identity intersect in the lives of Nigerian immigrant and transnational youth. Unlike in many West African countries, race is the most salient identifier in the United States, often overlooking the diverse ethnic, cultural and linguistic identities of youth of African origin. This often affects how immigrant youth make sense of their identities in this country. My research examines how Nigerian youth use multilingualism, literacy and digital literacies to construct and negotiate their identities across home, school and digital environments in the U.S.

What made you fall in love with your research area?

My mother is African American. My father is Nigerian. So, growing up, I often felt like I was split between both cultures. There were also so many societal and familial expectations about what it meant to be “Black,” “African American” and “Nigerian.”

Growing up, my family members and friends in Detroit called me by my African American name, “Lakeya.” But when my sisters and I spent summers and holidays in Queens, New York, with our Nigerian family, the moment I crossed over the threshold of the door I was called by my Nigerian name, “Iyore.”

Honestly, I’d say I set out very early in life to define my life’s path and to be intentional about how I wanted to make myself known to the world 鈥� my identity. It was not 鈥� and even as an adult Black woman in America, it still is not always 鈥� comfortable to defy identity expectations. But what other way is there to live? To be a shell of what others, or society, believe we should be? Is that living? It is not.

As a teenager, I had less confidence in being bold and being my true self. I loved reading novels. I鈥檇 go to the bookstore and buy books to read, but I hid this practice from my friends because of some unwritten rule that one can鈥檛 be Black, cool and smart. Adolescent peer pressure was a real issue. That’s also how I fell in love with writing. Often feeling misunderstood, I resorted to the pages of my journals where I could be myself and dream of my future self. I continue to keep a journal.

My Aunt Darcelle says I’ve been asking profound questions since I learned to speak. That hasn’t changed. So, it’s no surprise that I’ve committed to a career in research. My research is not just research, though. It’s the story and lives of so many young people who feel wedged between other people’s and society’s ideas of who they should be and what they should become. Sometimes, these expectations can come from those closest to us who have well-meaning intentions 鈥� parents, family members, close friends. I understand this feeling well.

There are many times when I’m writing a manuscript or analyzing data, and I draw on memories of my own schooling experiences to interpret interview transcripts from the Nigerian youth in my study. Or I remember similar instances from West African seventh-grade students in Harlem, which guided me to draw on theoretical frames that align best with the Nigerian youth experience.

My research is truly about shifting the narrative about what it means to be Black, Nigerian and African. Why? Well, because Blackness is so rich, diverse and multifaceted. So is Nigerianness and Africanness. As I engage in my research to illustrate the rich diversity of Nigerian youth’s languages, literacies and identities, I also aim to contribute to dismantling rigid identity structures, creating greater freedom for all young people who find themselves in environments that are structured by prescribed identities that conflict with how they desire to be known.

My research is a contribution to freedom 鈥� a freedom that transcends into adulthood. My feet may be in the academy, but my heart and hands always have been and always will be in the communities that mirror mine. It鈥檚 truly an honor to do this heart work.

I also want to touch on how I decided to pursue this career path. Growing up, I always wanted to play school and take on the role of the teacher. In fact, I cried whenever my sisters and cousins wouldn鈥檛 play school with me. For Christmas and my birthday, I would ask my mother to buy me dry-erase boards, markers and other office items so that I could set up my “classroom” in the house.

I fell in love with teaching because my early elementary teachers were some of the first people who made me feel seen. For instance, my first-grade teacher, Mrs. Schave, would let me choose and read books to the whole class on Fridays. My second-grade teacher, Mrs. Korn, at Fitzgerald Elementary on the west side of Detroit, would invite me to the writer鈥檚 table in the classroom whenever I finished my work early. At that table, I realized how powerful and freeing the art of writing is.

While I had these great school experiences, they were also starkly different from my cousins’ experiences. They lived and attended public schools in Auburn Hills, in the suburbs outside of Detroit. I often visited them on the weekends and noticed that they read the same books that I read at my elementary school, except that we had the abridged version in basal textbooks while they had the full chapter books. That struck something within me, and I realized very early in life that your ZIP code 鈥� where you lived 鈥� determined the quality of your education. It felt unfair. I didn鈥檛 have the words to describe it then, but I now know that it was an equity issue 鈥� not just educationally but also in terms of economic and social mobility.

So, I decided around the age of 7 that I wanted to become a teacher. I made an internal promise to myself, a commitment, that children who grow up in communities like mine 鈥� the beautiful west side of Detroit 鈥� would have access to a quality education no matter what. Since that commitment, I’ve taught elementary and middle school in Newark, New Jersey, Detroit, and Harlem.

Thinking back to the connection with my research on identity, I had many conversations with my Nigerian father, who wanted me to pursue a career in finance. In Nigerian culture, there’s often the idea that doctor, lawyer and engineer are the only three career choices, but I was less interested in the money and prestige. I was committed to a career in education.

Today, as an assistant professor and the founder of a that supports the identities and well-being of youth of color, I have small moments when I think back to little Lakeya and smile. I鈥檓 doing exactly what she set out to do and more. She would be proud.

What advice would you give to your younger self?听

It鈥檚 okay to be misunderstood. It鈥檚 okay not to fit in. In fact, not fitting in is what makes you beautifully unique. I know that none of your identity and educational experiences may make sense now, but they will later. Trust me, it will make sense 鈥� not just for you but for many youths who find themselves making sense of their identities. In fact, you鈥檒l dedicate your career to speaking, writing and doing community-based work about these topics. Finally, I know you鈥檙e looking for that example like yourself, with your dreams and who lives between multiple cultural worlds, but in time, you will become the example you鈥檙e looking for. Hold on. It鈥檚 going to be a beautiful roller coaster of a ride.

For more information, contact Afolalu at lafolalu@uw.edu.

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, Assistant professor, Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering

What do you study at the UW?

My research group, the Safe Water Equity and Longevity Lab, aims to bridge gaps between scientific discovery, technology design and safe water provision. We integrate methods from human-centered design and environmental engineering to investigate barriers that limit safe water access and to develop usable water quality monitoring and treatment technologies. Specifically, we use data science, experiments, hardware prototyping and community-engaged research methods to design collaborative tools that improve safe water management and mitigate exposure to chemical contaminants in water supplies.

What made you fall in love with your research area?

From a young age, I always felt a deep connection to our planet. I loved spending most of my time outdoors exploring the natural world. I was very curious and talkative as a child, wanting to solve riddles, play games and learn about how everything worked. My curiosity led me down a winding path of research adventures that allowed me to study geology and supercontinents, climate change and alpine plant ecology, fuel-efficient cookstoves, wastewater irrigation and, eventually, safe drinking water.

When I reflect on how I ended up choosing to research access to drinking water, I think about the different places I have lived: south India, Florida, California and Washington. Each region has a uniquely different way of life, cultural traditions and natural environments. A common thread in each of the places I have called home was proximity to the coastline and easy access to fresh springs, rivers and lakes. I have always found myself drawn by an invisible force to the nearest body of water.

I am grateful that my career allows me to address environmental health challenges while also considering the human experience, to reflect on and reconcile inequities and injustices, and to collaboratively solve complex puzzles with brilliant students, colleagues and community partners.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Don鈥檛 be scared to do what you love every day, follow your heart and never stop speaking your mind. You’ll eventually find your way and realize it was the journey that mattered in the end.

For more information, contact Cherukumilli at katyach@uw.edu.

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, Associate professor, Department of Cinema & Media Studies

What do you study at the UW?

I am a media historian who specializes in the sociocultural aspects of media technologies. This includes researching and writing about devices themselves, the implications of the introduction and widespread adoption of these devices and how people use them. For example, my first book was . I have also published research on cell phones, , 16 mm training films, and the use of television screens in the family minivan.

What made you fall in love with your research area? 听

I was 7 when I was stuck on a Pan Am 747 for five hours on the tarmac at London Heathrow and boy, was it exciting when they finally played the movie on the big screen at the front of the cabin!

After that, I lived in Poland under a military dictatorship, which profoundly shaped my media experience growing up. For example, we used to watch Hollywood films played on a 16 mm projector in our living room 鈥� both the films and projector were provided through the U.S. Armed Forces. The range of films could be odd. I remember watching “Sophie’s Choice,” “Heartbeeps,” “Terms of Endearment,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Going Ape!,” “Sleeper,” “Fire and Ice,” “The Towering Inferno,” “City on Fire,” “When Time Ran Out,” “Three Days of the Condor,” “Hannah and Her Sisters” and “Krull” 鈥� not exactly .

At the same time, we were watching Polish television (mostly the animated shows “Pszcz贸艂ka Maja” and “Bolek i Lolek”). Occasionally, a Hollywood film would be aired on TV, over-dubbed in Polish in such a way that the English language dialogue was still audible. I have distinct memories of watching “The Poseidon Adventure” and hearing the first few words of a line in English before the Polish translation came in on top of the dialogue. It wasn’t until a decade or so later that I learned this is not the standard technique for making alternate language versions of films.

We sometimes had access to U.S. television shows from other American diplomats who would return from home leave. They would bring videotape recordings, so I got to watch “Hogan’s Heroes,” “M*A*S*H” and “Gilligan’s Island” months after air date, complete with commercials (which I found both profoundly perplexing and compelling 鈥� As I type right now, I am singing the ). I even got to see “Roots” and “The Day After” on Betamax (we did not have what was then thought of as the inferior VHS format).

I would say that those media experiences 鈥� in-flight film, 16mm home exhibition, watching films on television in multiple languages 鈥� sparked my interest in our mediated mass culture. Until relatively recently, film studies was marked by a bias toward theatrical exhibition of feature films (with the occasional nod to experimental films shown in art galleries) and media studies was concerned with the effective transmission of messages to audiences. The forms of media encounter that are unforeseen and often unintended at the moment of production often get treated as accidental and inconsequential and yet, for many people that is the primary mode of encounter. Because of my experience, I know that all media forms, devices and their contents are contingent on a particular and fortuitous set of circumstances. So I find myself curious about those circumstances and their history.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

If I had known I would become an academic, I might have told my 8-year-old self to take better notes and told my undergraduate self to spend more time in faculty office hours asking about academia. Knowing what I know now, I would have told myself 10 years ago to stop worrying what others might think and just write the damned book.

For more information, contact Groening at groening@uw.edu.

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, Assistant professor, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering

What do you study at the UW?

My research centers on using transdisciplinary approaches to develop solutions for creating sustainable, inclusive and integrated energy solutions for underserved communities. My expertise supports policymakers and practitioners seeking equitable, community-centered energy transitions that combine technical and socioeconomic perspectives.

What made you fall in love with your research area?

I grew up in a small community outside Nairobi, Kenya. From an early age, I saw firsthand the challenges of unreliable power: frequent outages, power surges and a system that did not always meet the needs of the people it served. When the lights went out, my family, like many in the area, was often left scrambling to preserve our food or finish homework assignments in candlelight. It was not just an inconvenience 鈥� it was a reminder of how something as essential as electricity could hold communities back. I knew from then that I wanted to do something about it, but at the time, I did not quite know how.

When I was in high school, I applied to colleges in the U.S. and was accepted to Smith College on a full scholarship. There, I pursued engineering science, but what really sparked my love for the field was not just the technical challenges 鈥� it was how energy systems intertwined with society. At Smith, I was not just solving equations. I was also exploring how power affects everything from education to health care to human development. My engineering courses were paired with courses in psychology, economics and sociology, and that blend of disciplines opened my eyes to a new way of thinking: Energy wasn鈥檛 just a technical problem to solve, it was a societal one.

The more I learned, the more I realized that fixing energy systems in underserved communities couldn鈥檛 be as simple as just adding more power or building bigger grids. It had to be about understanding the people who needed that power. I wanted to create systems that responded to real needs, that didn鈥檛 just drop in solutions, but considered the community鈥檚 culture, environment and existing infrastructure. After graduating, I had a job developing software to estimate the cost of power systems, but I kept thinking about how we could rethink energy to make it more sustainable, more inclusive and more connected to the social fabric of the places it served.

That thinking led me to pursue a master鈥檚 in renewable energy systems at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom and then a doctorate at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where my research focused on finding ways to develop energy systems that were as much about community as they were about technology. I didn鈥檛 just want to create another power system that might fail because it didn鈥檛 align with how people lived or how societies worked. Instead, I wanted to design systems that were responsive to local contexts and to the needs of communities they intended to serve, systems that people could rely on for the long haul.

In 2023, I joined the 天美影视传媒 as an assistant professor, where I founded the IDEAS (Interdisciplinary Energy Analytics for Society) research group. Our work is all about creating energy systems that work for the people who use them. It鈥檚 a mix of developing sustainable technology, social understanding and deep collaboration with communities. We鈥檙e working on projects in Africa, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands and even here in the U.S., always with the goal of creating solutions that are both sustainable and tailored to the specific needs of each community.

What I love most about my research is that it鈥檚 not just about the science 鈥� it鈥檚 about the people. Every project is a chance to dive into a new community, understand its challenges and design solutions that truly fit. I鈥檓 passionate about making sure that when we think about energy, we鈥檙e thinking about people, not just power. And now, teaching and mentoring the next generation of engineers at UW gives me a chance to pass on that mindset 鈥� to inspire others to think beyond the technical and ask, “How does this system help the people who need it most?”

It鈥檚 been a winding journey, from a small town outside Nairobi to researching sustainable and inclusive energy solutions at a major university. But the core of it has always been the same: a desire to make a difference, to solve real-world problems with technology and to ensure that everyone, no matter where they are, has access to the energy they need to thrive.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

I鈥檇 tell my younger self not to worry so much about fitting into a mold or following a traditional path. Every experience, even the ones that seem unrelated or uncertain, contributes to your journey. Embrace the uncertainty, because it often leads to the most interesting places.

I鈥檇 also remind myself to be patient and kind with the process. Progress isn鈥檛 always linear. There were times when I felt overwhelmed or unsure of my next step. It鈥檚 okay to feel that way 鈥� it鈥檚 part of learning and growing. The setbacks, the challenges and even the moments of doubt are just as important as the successes. They shape you and teach you valuable lessons.

Finally, I鈥檇 tell myself to take more risks 鈥� to seek out the scary opportunities, the ones that seem daunting or unfamiliar. You never know where a seemingly small decision or unexpected twist in the road might take you. Sometimes, the things that seem out of reach are the ones worth pursuing most. So, trust yourself, stay curious and keep pushing forward, even when the path isn鈥檛 always clear. The journey will be worth it.

For more information, contact Lukuyu at jlukuyu@uw.edu.

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, Professor, Department of Biology

What do you study at the UW?

We use plant, yeast and human cells to understand and engineer the molecular interactions that allow organisms to process information during development and stress responses.

What made you fall in love with your research area?

When I was a little girl, I attended a Montessori school in Los Angeles. This was the 1970s, and the teachers embraced the philosophy of letting a child’s interest direct their learning. I had one teacher that I really bonded with, named Dr. Pillai. He introduced me to the process of science research, rewarding my seemingly insatiable curiosity with thoughtful responses and sharing just the right book or model or experiment to help me dig deeper into any topic that caught my interest. He made me feel like asking a million questions was a wonderful quality (something not everyone agreed with, then or now!).

The pure joy of learning about the natural world through experimentation struck a deep chord. While the road was quite twisty between those early years and my decision to pursue science as a career, I am sure that I would not be here today without that early encouragement.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Be nicer to your dad when he is helping you with your math homework!

For more information, contact Nemhauser at jn7@uw.edu.

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, Doctoral student, Department of Health Systems & Population Health, School of Public Health

What do you study at the UW?

My research focuses on understanding how people make decisions about their sexual and reproductive health care while navigating the multi-level influences that shape our current societal structure. In my research, I use mixed methods to analyze more traditional data sources, such as qualitative interviews and surveys, and newer data sources, such as TikTok videos, Reddit posts and electronic health record notes, to understand what type of information people seek out about sexual and reproductive health, their motivations behind decision-making and their care interactions with providers. I seek to examine how people with different lived experiences (for example: chronic disease, young people, veterans) may have different decision-making motivations and informational needs to make autonomous reproductive health decisions.

What made you fall in love with your research area?

I first became passionate about sexual and reproductive health while taking the class Sex, Gender and the Brain as a neuroscience undergraduate at Emory University. My final project focused on how anti-choice groups attempted to limit reproductive autonomy by promoting erroneous interpretations of neuroscience data to argue that oral contraceptives are dangerous. The class demonstrated to me how scientists could meld science with feminist theory and, more specifically, how the intentional distribution of misinformation online provides another tool to limit bodily autonomy.

Earlier in my educational career, teachers often framed my biology, chemistry and physics classes as apolitical or unbiased by societal structures. I now know that is not true. This class was one of the first classes where we were asked to name the specific orientation or lens of a research paper or study and describe who and what was left out.

I quickly dropped my neuroscience focus after this class and instead focused on policy-relevant, public 鈥揾ealth-informed research that aims to improve access to and the equity and quality of sexual and reproductive health care and information. While earning a master’s of public health, I started working at the Guttmacher Institute, a leading sexual and reproductive health policy and research organization based in New York City. There, I started working on research projects that directly studied ways to improve access to sexual and reproductive health services.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

I would advise my younger self to think critically about the lessons that are available in all academic classes, including English, dance, and history, and to think about how these lessons can be used to become a better public health researcher and writer.

For more information, contact Pleasure at zoep2@uw.edu.

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, Assistant professor of management, Foster School of Business

What do you study at the UW?

My two primary topics of inquiry are meaningful work and employee sustainability. My research examines how to support employees who want to make a positive difference through their work in ways big and small, ranging from employees who view work as a calling 鈥� not just a paycheck but as a source of personal, social or moral significance 鈥� to those engaging in everyday acts of helping, kindness and compassion. I study the challenges that impede these activities to determine how employees can conduct their work more sustainably.

What made you fall in love with your research area?

I fell into academia. In 2007, I was working for the largest animal shelter in North America and I enrolled in a part-time master’s program in business because I had aspirations of one day rising into a leadership position in animal welfare.

In 2008, the Great Recession hit and I lost my job, but I also learned that professors in my master’s program did research (who knew!). At the time, research on meaningful work was in its infancy and focused primarily on the positive aspects (for example: showing that employees doing meaningful work have greater engagement and satisfaction). I saw this among my co-workers in the animal shelter, but I also saw so much frustration, burnout and resignation. Every day, employees who wanted to save animals’ lives were in the corner crying because of their inability to do so.

I applied to 10 doctoral programs and got into one, where I was lucky that my supervisors encouraged me to join the burgeoning wave of research looking at meaningful work as a double-edged sword and what to do about it. The rest is history.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

This is less advice for my younger self and more gratitude to all the people who helped me along the way. Early in your career, you do not yet know how anything works: how research works, what journals are appropriate outlets, how to develop the ability to know where to dedicate our efforts: what research projects are not only novel but important. Until then, senior mentors are invaluable guides. What makes for a successful career is all the people who generously offer their time and guidance along the way. I did many, many things wrong in my early career, but one thing I did right was to seek out and show my appreciation for any and all help. I would not be here if it wasn’t for the thousands of hours invested in me by others in the field and I hope I am paying that forward in a small part.

For more information, contact Schabram at schabram@uw.edu.

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, Assistant professor, School of Urban Studies, UW Tacoma

What do you study at the UW?

听My research is primarily on housing segregation, but I have also become an expert on the overlap of and its relationship with the greening of cities in times of climate change and rising inequality.

What made you fall in love with this new research area?

听I happened to fall into this area in the middle of the night a couple months into my architecture doctoral program. It was early spring. I had moved to College Station, Texas, and was living in a relatively old timberstick house. It was about 1 a.m. when I jumped into my bed and then yelped out from a sharp pain in my lower back.

My first thought: a snake bite?! I leapt up, squeezed my back as if I could prevent any poison from getting in, turned on the light and scanned the bed for a snake. Nothing. Instead I saw a bug 鈥� a flat dark bug, not even an inch long. I scooped it up in a jar, let go of my “poisoned skin” and sighed in relief.

Then I thought, could this be a risky bug? I had just moved to the U.S. from Europe and I didn’t know the local fauna at all. To resolve this in a rational way, I settled on eliminating worst-case scenarios. I Googled: “most dangerous insects in Texas.” I checked the bug in the jar for unique characteristics and compared it to a ranking of鈥� JESUS! The third bug on the list was exactly the same bug that was staring at me from the jar: A Kissing bug鈥� a bite from which can lead to Chagas disease鈥� Deadly鈥� No cure鈥� Organs disintegrate in several decades.

My heart was pounding. My hand was back on the bite site. I was skimming the internet frantically. It was so late, and I had no one to call at that hour. I thought of calling people in Europe, but what would they know? I forced myself to read slowly and make a plan.

The message became clear: There is no cure for Chagas disease and the only symptom (sometimes) occurs the following morning: the swelling of one eyelid on the side closer to the bite site. Even if I went to the hospital, this seemed to be an under-studied disease and tests were limited. I resolved to just sleep it off and go to the doctor in the morning.

I woke up early. My face was symmetrical. Phew. I took the jar to the clinic right as they opened. Someone in the waiting room told me about getting bit by a brown recluse. “Oh well,” I thought, giving up on life a little.

The doctor took one look at the bug and said “Yes, that is a Kissing bug. There’s no cure. No test. Just move on, sorry!”

Perplexed, but also assured by the lack of urgency, I left the clinic. Over the next few days, my worries slowly faded as there apparently was nothing to do about this. I tossed the bug.

Two weeks later I saw an announcement on the university homepage from , then a doctoral student studying biomedical sciences. She was asking about any Kissing bug sightings and .

I immediately wrote to Rachel and reported what happened. She was super excited and asked me to bring her the bug. I said I threw it out, but had photos and I found a similar one 鈥� I had lots of bugs in my old house. We met over coffee. Rachel informed me that the bug was NOT a Kissing bug and that I should not worry. She could test me, but it was not necessary.

She explained the science of how the parasite behind Chagas disease, Trypanosoma cruzi, . It’s quite the process: After the bug bites you, it poops. The parasites are in infected bugs’ poop, which means that the poop has to get smudged into the bite site for you to get infected.

Then Rachel asked about my doctoral research and I told her I was studying housing in the colonias that line the border of Texas and Mexico. Her eyes lit up because she was looking to get samples from there. Thanks to the bug bite and my coffee with Rachel, a whole team formed and we started a pilot project that combined our research interests. This study became my master’s thesis, and six years later in the prestigious Habitat International journal.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Talk to doctoral students from many more disciplines!

For more information, contact 艩af谩艡ov谩 at bsafar@uw.edu.

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, Professor, Department of Biology and School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences

What do you study at the UW?

I am a natural historian who applies physics, math and engineering concepts to living systems to understand how they work. My research is driven by both the evolutionary implications of function and the possibility of bio-inspired design.

What made you fall in love with your research area?

From my earliest childhood I spent three seasons in downtown Manhattan and summer in the north woods of Ontario, Canada. The contrast between the most urban environment and a place without utilities or indoor plumbing was formative. Fishes, whether in tanks, on lines, or through my SCUBA mask, were my constant and most interesting companions. No detail was too obscure, and no species too drab to escape my attention.

I left fish behind when I got to college. Instead, it was a constant joy of mathematics and engineering, with a liberal arts sprinkling of art history, economics and German. After college I tried many things: I started a business, taught in the NYC public school system and attempted a career in photography. But I wasn’t willing to persist when things were hard or no fun. Then I went to Australia to become a SCUBA instructor. There I met my first biologist. I was smitten with the idea of making a living trying to understand animals.

On my return to New York, I immersed myself in biology, particularly the natural history of fishes, reptiles and amphibians. Spending hours in the field closely observing animals and their environment was one avenue of inspiration. The other was investigating animals’ shape, or morphology, with an electron microscope. The link between form and function was how my weeks passed 鈥� looking at microstructure, then wading in temporary ponds for larval salamanders. I fell completely in love with both areas and have made my career at that interface.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Treasure your mentors in the moment. They are gone too soon and you will never feel like you made it clear enough how much they affected you and your career.

For more information, contact Summers at fishguy@uw.edu.听

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, Associate professor, Department of Communication

What do you study at the UW?

I am a critical-cultural studies scholar who focuses on race, gender, and sexuality in the media. Specifically, I study how Black people negotiate mass media as marginalized subjects whose status as citizens is always precarious. I’m especially interested in the stories that circulate about Black women, both external narratives and the stories that Black women craft about themselves.

What made you fall in love with your research area?

I sometimes think of myself as an accidental academic. I pursued a degree in magazine journalism and international relations in college with the intention of becoming a magazine editor. But everything changed the summer I landed an internship at my dream magazine, . At the time, many publications were closing their doors or downsizing their staff in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. All of a sudden, pursuing a career in magazines began to feel like a much larger risk than I was comfortable with. Aside from the industry woes, I also realized that I had just as much fun studying magazines (and other media) for class projects as I did working for one.

At Essence, the assignments that my editor gave me reflected a particular image of Black womanhood and assumptions about Blackness, femininity and masculinity that were key to the magazine’s brand. When I returned to school for my last year of college, I took a Black feminist theory course where I wrote essays exploring the questions that had popped into my mind during my internship 鈥� questions that I couldn’t shake, questions that played in the background of my mind whenever I was walking through the magazine aisle at the grocery store, or watching television or a movie. This taste of how deeply satisfying a life of the mind could be was a turning point. By the end of the feminist theory course I had decided to apply to graduate school.

My first book, “,” was a full-circle moment. In the book I offer a cultural history of Essence magazine and position it as a predecessor to contemporary commercial representations of Black womanhood realized in the 2010s through hashtags like #BlackGirlMagic and advertising campaigns, such as Proctor and Gamble’s “.” It was an amazing feeling to follow my curiosity and return to the questions that first captivated my mind as an intern. During the writing process I realized that the seeds of these questions had started even earlier, when I was a little girl sitting in a Black beauty shop with dozens of issues of Ebony, Jet and Essence magazines. Long before I was old enough to fully comprehend the articles, the images in these magazines captivated me, beaconing me to explore further.

The thing that most fills my heart about the scholarly path that I’ve chosen is being able to document and amplify the brilliance and beauty of Black women. There’s so much that’s problematic in the stories that society tells about Black women, but the brightest moments in my teaching and research are connected to the dope narratives that Black women craft about themselves.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Lean into the questions that captivate you and the subject areas that awaken your passion and curiosity. This will point you in the direction of your most fulfilling research projects and your very best writing.

For more information, contact Tounsel at timeka@uw.edu.

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, Assistant professor, School of Oceanography

What do you study at the UW?

听I’m a coastal ecogeomorphologist, which means I study how ecology, geology and physics change the landscape on the coast. A lot of my work focuses on how biology (plants, microbes) alters how mud moves around coastal systems and changes what our coastlines look like. I am particularly interested in marshes and mudflats. I go into the field to measure what is really happening on the coast, and then develop numerical computer models to predict how these processes will change in the future.

What made you fall in love with your research area?

When I was 5 years old, my family went on vacation to Cape Cod National Seashore. We attended an educational program at the Salt Pond Visitor Center, and I knew I was in love. The stinky, muddy marsh felt like home to me immediately, and I still remember talking to the volunteer scientist about how marshes work. At that time, however, I had no idea that you could study marshes and mud as your job!

That formative memory never left me, even though, as I continued in school and focused on science, I intended to become a medical doctor. In my world, if you were good at math and science, the logical career path was to become a medical doctor.

I went to college at Boston University, where I planned to major in chemistry. But for every class project, I ended up focusing on oceans and coastlines. I had a wonderful TA who noticed this trend and mentioned to me in passing that my university had a marine science program and that maybe I should consider taking a class in that program to see if I liked it. I enrolled in a class called “Estuaries” and I’ve never looked back. The first week of the class, we took a field trip to collect data in a marsh and I was instantly transported back to my 5-year-old self, loving the marsh. I was the first student who jumped into the mud to collect data, and I didn’t want to leave. Within a few weeks I was working in that professor’s lab, and I really haven’t left the marsh since.

I also started developing so many questions about how things worked 鈥� and how everything tied together, from the mud to the birds 鈥� that I quickly realized that research and teaching in the field was what I needed to do with my life. My research has expanded a lot since then to encompass many different types of coasts, but my love for the rotten-egg-smelling, squelching mud drives a lot of what I choose to do. Being out in nature and seeing the processes happen in real time inspires me to understand coastal systems and help make a more resilient future for our planet and for people.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

I am incredibly lucky to have a job that I absolutely love, and I would encourage my younger self to pursue what makes me happy. Sometimes my work hardly feels like work because I am so engaged and excited by what I am discovering and the students I get to work with. While every day isn’t always amazing (I have bad work days too!), at the end of the work week I’m always thankful for what a great job I have. I hope that everyone is able to find something they are passionate about in their life.

I would also say: Believe in yourself and don’t compare yourself to others. Just keep doing what you love and what you think is important and helpful to others, and everything will work out okay.

For more information, contact Valentine at kvalent@uw.edu.

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, Associate professor, Department of Materials Science & Engineering

What do you study at the UW?

My research team integrates materials science, data science and advanced manufacturing with primary applications in aerospace. We focus on three main areas:

1. Smart material testing methods, using physics-informed machine learning to control the testing parameters.
2. Smart manufacturing that leverages automation, sensing and machine learning. The goal is to develop AI for autonomous and self-aware manufacturing systems.
3. Smart engineering approaches to accelerate aerospace design and certification. We use a combination of machine learning, automated testing and physics-based numerical simulations techniques.

What made you fall in love with your research area?

According to my parents, my first word was “hot.” Looking back, it seems like a fitting start to a life deeply intertwined with the principles of heat transfer. My fascination with heat and materials began early and found a natural outlet in my love for cooking. I enjoy experimenting with different cooking techniques, all of which benefit immensely from an understanding of heat transfer. This passion even led me to publish a cookbook a few years ago.

After earning my doctoral degree, I began working at a research center in Canada, where I collaborated with various companies to solve their manufacturing challenges. Over time, I worked with a wide range of materials 鈥� concrete, wood, polymers, metals and composites. As I delved deeper into manufacturing, I started noticing fascinating parallels between it and cooking. Both require precise control of variables like temperature and pressure to transform materials into something new.

For instance, making aerospace composite parts in an autoclave is essentially pressure-cooking a layered material. Similarly, tempering chocolate to achieve its perfect microstructure, texture and snap is strikingly similar to controlling the crystallinity of thermoplastics to optimize their performance. Recognizing these connections allowed me to combine my personal passion for cooking with my professional love for materials science and engineering.

This love for exploring the science behind materials was paired with my lifelong interest in mathematics, which naturally led me to integrate machine learning and AI into my research. These tools provided a way to unlock deeper insights and bring innovation into material design and manufacturing. For example, my very first project as a professor at the 天美影视传媒 was a collaboration with Boeing, where we developed AI for manufacturing aerospace composites. It was akin to creating a smart oven that can monitor the temperature of various parts and autonomously adjust the controls 鈥� a direct parallel to advanced cooking techniques.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

As you explore different options for your career, focus more on what you truly love to do. Don鈥檛 be afraid to combine your personal passions with your professional goals 鈥� start doing this earlier. The joy and fulfillment you鈥檒l find in aligning your personal interests with your career will open doors to creative opportunities and unique solutions you might not have imagined. Trust the process and follow what excites you most.

For more information, contact Zobeiry at navidz@uw.edu.

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Murres, a common seabird, look a little like flying penguins. These stout, tuxedo-styled birds dive and swim in the ocean to eat small fish and then fly back to islands or coastal cliffs where they nest in large colonies. But their hardy physiques disguise how vulnerable these birds are to changing ocean conditions.

A 天美影视传媒 citizen science program 鈥� which trains coastal residents to search local beaches and document dead birds 鈥� has contributed to a new study, led by federal scientists, documenting the devastating effect of warming waters on 听in Alaska.

In 2020, participants of the UW-led Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team, or , and other observers first identified the massive mortality event affecting common murres along the West Coast and Alaska. That study documented 62,000 carcasses in a single year, mostly in Alaska. In some places, beachings were more than 1,000 times normal rates. But the 2020 study did not estimate the total size of the die-off after the 2014-16 marine heat wave known as “the blob.”

In this , published Dec. 12 in Science, a team led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service analyzed years of colony-based surveys to estimate total mortality and later impacts. The analysis of 13 colonies surveyed between 2008 and 2022 finds that colony size in the Gulf of Alaska, east of the Alaska Peninsula, dropped by half after the marine heat wave. In colonies along the eastern Bering Sea, west of the peninsula, the decline was even steeper, at 75% loss.

The study led by , a wildlife biologist at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, estimates that 4 million Alaska common murres died in total, about half the total population. No recovery has yet been seen, the authors write.

鈥淭his study shows clear and surprisingly long-lasting impacts of a marine heat wave on a top marine predator species,鈥� said , a UW professor of aquatic and fishery sciences and of biology, who was a co-author on both the 2020 paper and the new study. 鈥淚mportantly, the effect of the heat wave wasn鈥檛 via thermal stress on the birds, but rather shifts in the food web leaving murres suddenly and fatally without enough food.鈥�

The 鈥渨arm blob鈥� was an unusually warm and long-lasting patch of surface water in the northeast Pacific Ocean from late 2014 through 2016, affecting weather and coastal marine ecosystems from California to Alaska. As ocean productivity decreased, it affected food supply for top predators including seabirds, marine mammals and commercially important fish. Based on the condition of the murre carcasses, authors of the 2020 study concluded that the most likely cause of the mass mortality event was starvation.

Before this marine heat wave, about a quarter of the world鈥檚 population, or about 8 million common murres, lived in Alaska. Authors estimate the population is now about half that size. While common murre populations have fluctuated before, the authors note the Alaska population has not recovered from this event like it did after previous, smaller die-offs.

While the 鈥渨arm blob鈥� appears to have been the most intense marine heat wave yet, persistent, warm conditions are becoming more common under climate change. A 2023 study led by the UW, including many of the same authors, showed that a 1 degree Celsius increase in sea surface temperature for more than six months results in multiple seabird mass mortality events.

“Whether the warming comes from a heat wave, El Ni帽o, Arctic sea ice loss or other forces, the message is clear: Warmer water means massive ecosystem change and widespread impacts on seabirds,” Parrish said. 鈥淭he frequency and intensity of marine bird mortality events is ticking up in lockstep with ocean warming.鈥�

“We may now be at a tipping point of ecosystem rearrangement where recovery back to pre-die-off abundance is not possible.”

Other co-authors are and at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service offices in Alaska; , a former federal scientist now with the World Puffin Congress in Port Townsend; and at Tern Again Consulting in Homer.

For more information, contact Parrish at jparrish@uw.edu and Renner at heather_renner@fws.gov. Note: Parrish is currently attending a meeting in Washington, D.C.听

has a favorite parasite.

鈥淚鈥檓 supposed to love them all equally, like my children,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut I do have a favorite.鈥�

That parasite is called Amphilina foliacea, and Wood wrote about it in her upcoming children鈥檚 book, 鈥�” The book introduces kids to the world of parasitism 鈥� including, of course, Wood鈥檚 personal favorite.

is an oval-shaped tapeworm that used to be a parasite of prehistoric marine reptiles. After the host reptiles went extinct at the , in one of the greatest mass extinctions in Earth’s history, Amphilina foliacea evolved to reach maturity in the body cavity of sturgeons.

鈥淚t鈥檚 this living fossil of a catastrophe that somehow, it survived,鈥� said Wood, a 天美影视传媒 associate professor of aquatic and fishery sciences. 鈥淎t the K-T boundary, 75% of all species on the planet went extinct. And somehow Amphilina found a way to persist 鈥� this weird, unusual, creative, beautiful way to make it through.鈥�

Amphilina foliacea is just one of the parasites covered in Wood鈥檚 book, which will be released Nov. 12 by Godwin Books.

Writing a children鈥檚 book never crossed Wood鈥檚 mind until Laura Godwin, publisher of Godwin Books, heard Wood give an interview on NPR and reached out. The topic of that interview? A parasite that induces suicidal impulses in crickets.

鈥淚 was like, 鈥榊ou really want me to tell that story to children?鈥欌�� Wood said. 鈥淎nd Laura said, 鈥榊es, absolutely. They would love it.鈥� I wasn鈥檛 convinced at first, but Godwin Books is a trusted source for excellent children鈥檚 literature. So, I gave it a shot, and it turned out to be so much fun.鈥�

Wood keeps remarks about various parasites prepared for reporters and students, and those well-rehearsed set pieces became chapters in the book. Each chapter covers one parasite or group of parasites: the beginning covers parasites you might find in nature, and the later part of the book discusses parasites of humans, households, pets and food.

One of the chapters introduces , a single-cell parasite passed from cats to rats and back again. It鈥檚 also the reason pregnant people shouldn鈥檛 clean litter boxes. The parasite鈥檚 goal is to return to the cats鈥� intestine to reproduce. Toxoplasma gondii has learned to 鈥減uppeteer rats,鈥� Wood said. While uninfected rats are afraid of cats, infected rats love the smell of cat urine and will run toward it.

People can also host Toxoplasma gondii, replacing the rat in the life cycle. People who are infected have much slower reflexes, Wood said. They鈥檙e about three times as likely to get into a car accident. They also undergo personality changes that differ depending on biological sex. While men tend to become more suspicious and less inclined to follow others, women become warmer-hearted and more gregarious.

鈥淲e humans envision ourselves as the masters of the universe,鈥� Wood said. 鈥淲e have the most sophisticated brain on the planet. That might be true, but we鈥檙e still susceptible to being manipulated by these tiny, simple, single-celled organisms. I just find that spectacular.鈥�

Still, Wood didn鈥檛 completely believe kids would be interested in parasites until she visited a camp with her team while conducting fieldwork in New Orleans this summer. She thought the kids would be bored, but they enthusiastically engaged with the material. One 11-year-old impressed Wood so much with his parasite knowledge that she pulled him aside after the presentation.

鈥淚t was a delight to see how pumped the kids were to learn these facts about parasites and how quickly they absorbed it,鈥� Wood said. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 hard to convince them that parasites are amazing, and it made me really excited about the book鈥檚 potential to provoke kids鈥� curiosity.鈥�

While in New Orleans, Wood successfully tested a new learning module that incorporates the book and other activities to help reinforce what young readers are learning about parasites. She plans to bring that module to classrooms in Seattle and Albuquerque, where she鈥檒l work in the field next summer. Wood hopes the learning module can serve as an accompaniment to the book or be used independently to help second- to fifth-grade teachers bring parasite biodiversity material into their classrooms.

Wood has plenty of experience teaching undergraduate students the basics about parasites, and the stories she wrote in her book are the same ones she uses in her undergraduate courses. Still, it took some work to pitch the information for an elementary age group.

One challenge arose during a chapter about red grouse and their intestinal parasites. Wood wanted to include graph that walks students through the basics of data visualization, a skill that鈥檚 particularly important for scientists. Through discussion with Godwin, Wood settled on an interactive chapter where readers are instructed to use their finger to interpret a graph.

Between the book and learning module, Wood鈥檚 hope is that someday, undergraduates won鈥檛 reach college with zero knowledge of parasites. While students enter ichthyology or ornithology classes with a foundation in fish or bird biology, Wood鈥檚 students are often blank slates. It鈥檚 fun, she said, to teach students about 鈥渢hings they have never in their wildest dreams imagined.鈥� But she also wants to see biology education at all levels reflect actual biodiversity.

鈥淚f we’re estimating really conservatively, parasites make up 40% of all animal species,鈥� Wood said. 鈥淗ow are you getting through high school not hearing about parasites? That鈥檚 just nuts to me. Part of the goal of the book is to help address that, and we want the learning module we鈥檙e creating to make it easy for elementary teachers to bring this content into their classrooms.鈥�

For more information, contact Wood at chelwood@uw.edu.

Polar bears in some parts of the high Arctic are developing ice buildup and related injuries to their feet, apparently due to changing sea ice conditions in a warming Arctic. While surveying the health of two polar bear populations, researchers found lacerations, hair loss, ice buildup and skin ulcerations primarily affecting the feet of adult bears as well as other parts of the body. Two bears had ice blocks up to 1 foot (30 centimeters) in diameter stuck to their foot pads, which caused deep, bleeding cuts and made it difficult for them to walk.

The led by the 天美影视传媒 was published Oct. 22 in the journal Ecology. It鈥檚 the first time that such injuries have been documented in polar bears.

The researchers suggest several mechanisms for how the shift from a climate that used to remain well below freezing to one with freeze鈥搕haw cycles could be causing ice buildup and injuries.

鈥淚n addition to the anticipated responses to climate change for polar bears, there are going to be other, unexpected responses,鈥� said lead author , a senior principal scientist at the UW Applied Physics Laboratory and a professor in the UW School of Aquatic and Fishery sciences. 鈥淎s strange as it sounds, with climate warming there are more frequent freeze-thaw cycles with more wet snow, and this leads to ice buildup on polar bears鈥� paws.鈥�

Between 2012 and 2022, Laidre and co-author , a wildlife veterinarian, studied two populations of polar bears living above 70 degrees north latitude and saw the injuries.

In the Kane Basin population, located between Canada and Greenland, 31 of 61 polar bears showed evidence of icing-related injuries, such as hairless patches, cuts or scarring.

In the second population in East Greenland, 15 of 124 polar bears had similar injuries. Two Greenland bears at separate locations in 2022 had massive ice balls stuck to their feet.

鈥淚’d never seen that before,鈥� Laidre said. 鈥淭he two most-affected bears couldn’t run 鈥� they couldn’t even walk very easily. When immobilizing them for research, we very carefully removed the ice balls. The chunks of ice weren’t just caught up in the hair. They were sealed to the skin, and when you palpated the feet it was apparent that the bears were in pain.鈥�

Researchers have studied these two polar bear populations since the 1990s but haven鈥檛 reported these types of injuries before. Consultations with lifetime Indigenous subsistence hunters and a survey of the scientific literature suggests this is a recent phenomenon.

Polar bears have small bumps on their foot pads that help provide traction on slippery surfaces. These bumps, which are larger than those on the pads of other bear species like brown and black bears, make it easier for wet snow to freeze to the paws and accumulate. This problem also affects sled dogs in the North.

The authors hypothesize three possible reasons for increasing ice buildup on polar bears鈥� paws 鈥� all related to climate warming. One is more rain-on-snow events, which creates moist, slushy snow that clumps onto paws and then freezes to form a solid once temperatures drop.

A second possibility is that more warm spells are causing the surface snow to melt and then refreeze into a hard crust. The heavy polar bears break through this ice crust, cutting their paws on its sharp edges.

The final possible reason is that both these populations live on 鈥溾�� connected to the land, near where freshwater glaciers meet the ocean. Warming in these environments leads to thinner sea ice, allowing seawater to seep up into the snow. This wet snow can clump onto bears鈥� feet and then refreeze to form ice. Also, unlike other areas, polar bears living at glaciers鈥� edges rarely swim long distances in spring, which would help thaw and dislodge accumulated ice chunks because the water is warmer than the air.

While the bears are clearly affected by the ice buildup, the researchers are cautious regarding broader conclusions about the health of the two populations.

鈥淲e鈥檝e seen these icing-related injuries on individual polar bears,鈥� Laidre said. 鈥淏ut I would hesitate to jump to conclusions about how this might affect them at a population level. We really don鈥檛 know.鈥�

, a research scientist at UW鈥檚 Applied Physics Laboratory, recently published a separate analyzing snow cover on Arctic sea ice over recent decades.

鈥淭he surface of Arctic sea ice is transforming with climate change,鈥� Webster said. 鈥淭he sea ice has less snow in late spring and summer, and the snow that does exist is experiencing earlier, episodic melt and more frequent rain. All these things can create challenging surface conditions for polar bears to travel on.鈥�

Asked what can be done to help the polar bears, Laidre had a simple response: 鈥淲e can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and try to limit climate warming.鈥�

The field observations of polar bears were funded by the governments of Canada, Denmark, Nunavut and Greenland. Laidre is also affiliated with the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources.

For more information, contact Laidre at klaidre@uw.edu.