Autumn Qtr Seminars for UW Undergrad & Grad Students
Welcome back to campus, Huskies! We’re excited to share a couple of seminar courses that connect to environmental justice and training the next generation of environmental leaders.
ENVIR 386 (1 CR)
Environmental Justice Seminar | Weds 4:30-5:30 | Wallace 012 or Zoom
Undergraduate seminar co-taught by Program on the Environment and EarthLab
Students can expect to hear from presenters who will speak on environmental justice from a variety of contexts, including public health, conservation, policy, industry, community organizing, and more. The first confirmed speaker is Isabel Carrera Zamanillo, Community Education Coordinator at Front and Centered, who will present on Sept. 25.
SEFS 550 A (2 CR)
Current Perspectives and Opportunities in Freshwater Science | Tues 3:30-4:50 | Thomson 234
A graduate seminar part of the Future Rivers National Research Traineeship program
This course is designed to introduce graduate students to the wide variety of research and employment opportunities that exist and that can build off a degree in water sciences. We have secured a range of guests from federal, state, and city agencies, non-profits, and some of the top consulting companies in the region. Speakers will come to class in person to share their work, which will include current and past projects, as well as share broadly about their understanding of their field.
Athena Bertolino awarded for outstanding community impact
The UW College of the Environment awarded Athena Bertolino, Future Rivers program manager and member of EarthLab core team, the 2024 award for outstanding community impact. The Awards Committee was impressed with the breadth and depth of Athena’s work and the impact that she has, which was highlighted in her nomination letters. Her nominators note that she is absolutely essential to the success and impact of Future Rivers; she is completely dedicated to making the UW and College of the Environment a world leader in transdisciplinary environmental science research and education; her extraordinary commitment to excellence; and her ongoing commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and justice through programs, trainings and continuous improvement opportunities.
Future Rivers 2023/2024 Cohort Applications are Open!
Applications are open for the fourth and final Future Rivers cohort for 2023/2024!
Future Rivers is a National Science Foundation Research Trainees
hip at the University of Washington training the next generation of freshwater sustainability scientists. The program is designed to help graduate students gain an interdisciplinary understanding of global freshwater issues using an environmental justice lens.
The program is open to current and incoming graduate students across the University of Washington tri-campus. Up to 18 months of funding is available on a competitive basis.
Visit the Futures Rivers website to learn more about application requirements. The application deadline is January 27, 2023.
Our Top 10 Stories of 2021
In 2021, EarthLab welcomed new partners, strengthened our commitment to equity and justice work, and continued our work to inspire and incentivize innovative, community-centered environmental and climate justice research. Explore our top stories below.
10. EarthLab statement condemning violence towards the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community
EarthLab staff stands with the University of Washington and Nature and Health against the racially-motivated violence and hate crimes towards the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.
9. For tribes, climate change fight is about saving culture
Meade Krosby, a senior scientist with the UW Climate Impacts Group, is working with the Tulalips to determine the impacts on tribally important plants. The Tulalips have been leaders in organizing meetings, conferences and workshops around climate change.
8. Innovative new prizes add to competition experience
EarthLab is proud to sponsor a prize at the Alaska Airlines Environmental Innovation Challenge, presented by Foster School’s Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship. The Community Impact Prize recognizes innovation in developing a product, solution, or demonstrated business model that mitigates or makes communities more resilient in the face of climate change while prioritizing equity and justice.
7. How to avoid cabin fever in WA’s pandemic winter
With each passing month, more and more Washingtonians are suffering under the physical, emotional and financial damages of enduring a lengthy pandemic. And as we find ourselves in the coldest, darkest days of the year during the worst-case surge yet, it can feel like a herculean task just to take a daily walk around the block. (Crosscut)
6. Project to create anti-racism education wins Mellon grant
Cleo Woelfle-Erskine, faculty advisor for EarthLab member organization Future Rivers and assistant professor in the School of Marine & Environmental Affairs, is part of a team of academics that was recently awarded $5 million from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to fund an interdisciplinary, multi-year project to advance anti-racist practices and pedagogy in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM).
5. EarthLab and Population Health co-fund pilot grant to improve communication around smoke exposure in rural and tribal communities
EarthLab and the Population Health Initiative have announced a new pilot research grant award to study how Tribal and non-Tribal communities in the Okanogan River Airshed Emphasis Area (ORAEA) receive and communicate information about smoke exposure.
4. Burning Embers: Synthesis of the Health Risks of Climate Change
Additional climate change is projected to increase for heat-related morbidity and mortality, ozone-related mortality, dengue and Lyme disease from undetectable to severe risks as the planet continues to warm, according to new research published by the Center for Health and the Global Environment (CHanGE) at the University of Washington.
3. CHanGE comes to EarthLab
New collaboration between UW Center for Health and the Global Environment (CHanGE) and EarthLab will accelerate climate research, action and resilience.
2. EarthLab equity and justice reads: Minor Feelings: An Asian American reckoning
EarthLab has selected Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong for our equity and justice book club this quarter. This book was selected from several works written by and about the Asian-American experience.
1. Announcing the 2021 EarthLab Innovation Grants RFP
The Innovation Grants Program will invest in teams of community partners and academic researchers and students at the University of Washington (UW) who are interested in developing solutions at the intersection of climate change and social justice.