EarthLab News
A Conversation with Phil Levin: EarthLab’s New Interim Executive Director
Phil Levin has spent his career asking a deceptively simple question: How can science actually help the places and people who need it most? Since joining the University of Washington as a Professor of Practice in 2016, he’s worked to bridge what often feels like a large gap between research and real-world conservation challenges.
In late June, we announced that Levin will serve as EarthLab’s interim executive director prior to a comprehensive national search being conducted for a permanent successor.
Crossing the Cascades: The Importance of Inclusive Environmental Communication
By Ella Gebers
Storytelling for Social Change Intern, Summer 2025
Growing up in Wenatchee meant growing up hiking in the foothills, swimming in the Columbia River, and skiing in the mountains. My love for the outdoors blossomed into a love for the environment and a deep appreciation for the childhood it gave me.
During my first year at the University of Washington, I discovered I could use my creativity to design for people with inclusivity in mind through the Human Centered Design and Engineering major.
Tech Moves: Smartsheet adds to C-suite; Gradial and Zeno Power name senior leadership
Featured in Geekwire, "Phil Levin is stepping in as interim director of the University of Washington’s EarthLab, an institute that spans multiple colleges and departments. Levin is a conservation scientist, professor in the UW’s College of the Environment, and lead scientist for The Nature Conservancy of Washington."
Read moreEarthLab's Phil Levin To Deliver Opening Plenary at Ecological Society of America
Phil Levin, interim executive director of EarthLab, will deliver the opening plenary presentation at the 2025 Ecological Society of America (ESA) meeting on Sunday, Aug. 10. Held this year in Baltimore, MD, the annual meeting brings together thousands of scientists to share knowledge and raise awareness about critical ecological issues.
The title of Phil’s plenary, Embracing Radical Amazement: Harnessing Wonder and Awe for Transformative Environmental Policy, pulls from his time serving at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where he directed the first-ever U.S.
Why Now: Reflections on Joining EarthLab
EarthLab's new Interim Executive Director, Phil Levin, reflects on the moments that led him to this role and the possibilities available to us in this moment of change.
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Ben Packard reflects on his leadership at EarthLab
Ben Packard, inaugural Harriet Bullitt Endowed Executive Director of EarthLab, reflects on his eight years of leadership at the University of Washington before passing the baton to new Interim Executive Director Phil Levin.
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Ben Packard Stepping Down as Inaugural EarthLab Executive Director
After eight years of leadership, Ben Packard will step down from his role as EarthLab's inaugural Harriet Bullitt Endowed Executive Director, effective August 1, 2025. Phil Levin, a professor of practice at the UW College of the Environment and the director of the United by Nature initiative, will serve as the interim executive director until a comprehensive national search is conducted for a permanent successor.
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Announcing the PNW Climate Ambassadors: Building capacity for public climate conversations
How do scientists develop confidence and experience having conversations with the general public around climate science, global and local impact, and solutions when their areas of expertise are in a disciplinary science such as oceanography or urban planning? In Fall 2024, the Program on Climate Change (PCC), and the Washington State Climate Office (WASCO), set out to create a training program that would help develop the capacity for graduate students to do just that, and to serve as a community resource on climate science and solutions.
Read moreWildfire communication gaps persist for Spanish speakers in Washington. These groups are working to close them.
As wildfire seasons grow longer and more intense across Washington state, advocates are working to ensure that non-English speakers, many of them migrant or seasonal workers, are not left behind during climate emergencies.. Featuring Maria Blancas and the Community and Climate Impact Hub, a project funded by the EarthLab Innovation Grant Program
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Microsoft's AI for Good Lab awards UW-TealWaters team for new wetland mapping technology
Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab awarded TealWaters one of 20 grants who will receive a combined $5 million in assistance over the next two years for "game-changing organizations and projects helping solve today's challenges and paving the way for a better future."
TealWaters, an EarthLab partner, is a multidisciplinary collaboration, co-led by UW scientists Monika Moskal and Meghan Halabisky, to transform Washington state's water management capacity by providing tools that inform and guide wetlands planning, protection, and restoration. TealWaters plans to support AI model testing beyond the scope of its existing tools to increase communities' resilience to climate change and environmental stressors.
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