News & Blog

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Blog Post, Gifts, Outreach, Research

What’s Wet Doesn’t Burn: Reflections on Wildfire Planning in River and Forest Management

When asked to picture a wildfire, most people imagine a forest—trees burning, smoke billowing, and flames casting shadows. Images of wildfire are becoming more familiar as large fires make headlines across the US. But the effects of fire extend beyond forests. Streams and rivers flowing through burned areas are also impacted by wildfire and can carry those impacts to downstream communities and ecosystems. 

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Outreach, PGraSC

A new PCC initiative: The Peer Interdisciplinary Climate Lab (PICL) for the 2026-27 academic year

P-GraSC is launching a new initiative for the 2026-27 academic year, centered on building interdisciplinary connections among PCC graduate students and post-doctoral scholars engaged in climate solutions work. The group will follow a cohort model, with participants meeting once per quarter to share brief presentations of their research, engage in feedback and discussion sessions, and build interdisciplinary connections. Beginning in autumn quarter 2026, the PCC Graduate Steering Committee (P-GraSC) is organizing a new initiative: the Peer Interdisciplinary Climate Lab (aka PICL). 

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Blog Post, Gifts, Outreach

Salinity, Diesel, and Bears, Oh My! -- Fostering Collaborations in a Remote Subarctic Community

Through the Climate Solutions Fund, I was able fly to Churchill, Manitoba for outreach with the local school and field sampling. It was during the sea-ice algae spring bloom, a time of high productivity crucial to local ecosystems. Churchill is a small subarctic community on Hudson Bay with polar bears, belugas, and the northern lights that can only be accessed by airplane or train. 

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Announcements

Apply to be a PCC Graduate Student Representative (GSR)

It’s time to select a new Graduate Student Representative (GSR) to the PCC Board! This is an annual process. The GSRs serve as liaisons between PCC’s graduate students and faculty, postdocs, research scientists, undergraduate cohort, and staff. The role, and duty of the GSRs is to solicit graduate student input on numerous topics over the course of the academic year and to convey this to the PCC Director(s) and Board during various meetings and conversations. 

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Blog Post, GCeCS Capstone, Outreach

Communicating the climate benefits through economics: A case study of presenting biochar to the farming community

by Hemalatha (Hema) Velappan Historically, climate communications mostly relied on strategies postulated by the knowledge-deficit model, which assumes that sharing the scientific and technical aspects of the problem will prompt people to be concerned about the issue and modify their behavior. While this approach enhanced knowledge about the issue, it proved ineffective in motivating people to take action. Whereas messages that were focused on audiences’ immediate concerns and socio-political contexts had a much greater impact on nudging their behavior towards more climate-friendly solutions [1]. 

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Blog Post, Events

What a Warm (Winter) Welcome – A Recap of the 2026 Winter Welcome

By Elena Rheingans (New PCC Undergraduate Assistant) I reach the fisheries building after a gloomy walk through puddles that splash against my boots.  Once I enter though, I am in event mode and ready to welcome the PCC community to our event.   The 12th annual winter welcome was held on March 11th from 5-7 pm in the Fisheries Sciences building.  It was my first event with the PCC as the incoming undergraduate assistant.  

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Announcements, postdoc

Applications are open for the Program on Climate Change (PCC) Postdoctoral Scholar Program

The PCC seeks applications for a Postdoctoral Scholar to develop and conduct novel climate science research that would benefit from the expertise, cross-disciplinary interactions, and collaborative environment of the PCC community. We anticipate offering one Postdoctoral Scholar appointment in 2026. Applicant research proposals should demonstrate relevance to the areas of climate system science and/or climate solutions, broadly defined. Application Due Date: April 15, 2026 

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Blog Post, Education, Gifts, People, Research

An Undergraduate Computer Science Major Engages in Interdisciplinary Research on Southern Ocean Phytoplankton Modeling

The Southern Ocean is a large part of the global carbon cycle and phytoplankton play a key role by converting CO2 to organic carbon, which can be transported to the deep ocean. Previous works examined phytoplankton presence and CO2 flux but didn’t take community species composition into account. The purpose of this research, funded by a PCC Research Acceleration award to P.I.’s Alison Gray and Hannah Joy-Warren, was to determine the relationship between phytoplankton community composition and carbon fluxes. 

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Blog Post, Fellowships, Gifts, Summer Institute

Paleoclimate Constraints on Future Climate: A Graduate Student Reflection on the 2025 PCC Summer Institute

Has paleoclimate genuinely changed our understanding of modern day climate? With an animated pre-Summer Institute paper discussion this past August, my PhD journey at UW began. Starting graduate school with an immersion in current thinking on paleoclimate via three days spent at Friday Harbor Laboratories attending the Summer Institute felt fitting. After all, I came to UW motivated to understand the future trajectory of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) – the largest source of uncertainty in future sea level rise projections. 

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Climate Minor, People, Research

My Research Journey: Building a Bridge Between Science and People through Interdisciplinary Solutions

Beginning college was a chaotic time for me. It was my first time being independent, I had moved far from home and was spending time trying to make new friends. The whole time, I had one question lingering at the back of my mind: What do I want to do with my career? I was completely lost at answering this question when I started at UW, with only a vague idea of wanting to do science but no clear direction of what for. 

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