News & Blog
Graubard Fellowship supports high resolution mapping of Sea Surface Temperature anomalies
by Naomi Wharton The ocean can store approximately 1000 times more heat than the atmosphere. As a result, where and when energy is released from the ocean to the atmosphere can have significant consequences for weather and climate patterns. Sea surface temperature (SST) is a key indicator of air-sea processes that transfer energy between the ocean and atmosphere across many spatial and temporal scales.
Read moreRoles of Uncultured Microbes in the Nitrogen Cycle of Oxygen Deficient Zones
by Jordan Winter, UW Oceanography Graduate Student Oxygen deficient zones (ODZs) are areas of the ocean with sluggish circulation that result in anoxic water columns hundreds of meters thick. These regions harbor many unique microbes and are expanding in depth and extent due to climate change. A common energy strategy for ODZ microbes is denitrification, which is the multi-step process of reducing nitrate to nitrogen gas.
Read moreAccelerating Progress in Climate Science: Research and Graduate Student Funding leverage the framework built by the Program on Climate Change
The Program on Climate Change maintains a unique framework of intense cross-disciplinary collaboration that advances research and education in climate science, building knowledge, actions and solutions to address the climate crisis. New gift funds established by generous donors are providing new professors, post-doctoral scholars, and students the opportunity to leverage the PCC framework to pursue their ideas, making new connections among the UW climate community.
Read moreA Shifting Snowpack Links Climate Change with Wildlife Habitat Selection in the Northeast Cascades
by Ben Sullender, UW School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, PCC Graubard Graduate Fellow Climate change is rapidly reshaping what winter looks like in the Pacific Northwest. In maritime climates like western Washington, much of the seasonal snowpack accumulates in temperatures near freezing, so even a slight increase in temperature could switch winter precipitation from snow to rain. Colder, higher elevations, on the other hand, might maintain or even gain more snow as we get more precipitation in the winter.
Read moreForecasting the spatial extent of marine heatwaves
by Jacob Cohen, UW Oceanography, Recipient of a PCC Graubard Graduate Fellowship The ocean has absorbed 90% of recent warming associated with anthropogenic climate change; as a result, extreme ocean heat events, known as marine heatwaves (MHWs), are becoming more frequent and more intense. These extreme events can have detrimental impacts on marine ecosystems as well as coastal industries. Accurate MHW forecasts will allow local decision makers and industries to respond to and plan for these events.
Read moreCan ecological forestry improve public health outcomes? The Graubard Fellowship supports a case study in the Central Sierra
by Claire Schollaert As wildfires become more frequent and severe due to climate change and postcolonial fire management practices, there is growing consensus among the forest management community that prescribed burning should be used on the landscape to reduce excess fuels and mitigate extreme wildfire risk. Despite the benefits of prescribed burning to forest restoration goals, these managed fires still produce smoke, which may impact the health of surrounding communities.
Read morePCC Stewardship of Climate Research Gift at UW
From the Interim Director, LuAnne Thompson The Program on Climate Change is the steward of three gifts that are making a difference for University of Washington graduate students and Assistant Professors studying climate and climate change from a variety of perspectives. Six graduate students will receive support from these awards; these students are enrolled in programs across campus including the School of Oceanography, the Department of Atmospheric Sciences, the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, and the Biology Department.
Read moreApply now! PCC announces 3 NEW funding opportunities for advancing climate science.
The PCC announces 3 new funding opportunities for climate science advancement, available to a wide range of the PCC community: The Climate Science Research Acceleration Fund, PCC Climate Solutions Projects, and The Graubard Fellowship in the Program on Climate Change. These funding opportunities are meant to advance and accelerate progress toward addressing climate change by funding students, researchers, and faculty in their research and work with external communities.
Read morePCC/JISAO Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellowship Announcement
The PCC in partnership with JISAO announce a new interdisciplinary graduate fellowship opportunity to begin in fall 2020. This fellowship will support one or more students with a clear passion for working across academic boundaries on projects grounded in climate science broadly considered. The applicants will submit a written proposal for research that would not be possible without this funding, and that builds collaboration across disciplines.
Read moreConnecting ice-core data with climate models: An interdisciplinary project to examine glacial-interglacial changes in Antarctica
Which of the following is a more effective tool for learning about past changes in Earth’s climate: measurements from paleoclimate records or outputs from climate model simulations? Depending on who you ask, you will probably get a different answer to this question. Through my research on climate in Antarctica, I’ve been convinced that both tools are equally important. In fact, both tools are necessary in order to maximize understanding of the Earth’s climate system.
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