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.
Application Now Open for Future Rivers Cohort 2022/23
Future Rivers is now accepting applications for their third cohort, to begin Autumn quarter 2022. Please spread the word and encourage any prospective or current PhD or Masters students from any discipline across campus to apply by January 28, 2022 to be considered for funding.
EarthLab Equity and Justice Reads: Mississippi Solo (Eddy Harris)
EarthLab has selected the next book for our Equity and Justice book club: Mississippi Solo by Eddy Harris. The publisher writes about the book,
“In this exciting reissue of his classic travelogue, readers will come to treasure the rich insightful prose that is as textured as the Mississippi River itself. They will be taken by the hand by an adventurer whose lifelong dream is to canoe the length of this mighty river, from Minnesota to New Orleans. The trip’s dangers were legion for a Black man traveling alone, paddling from ‘where there ain’t no black folks to where they still don’t like us much.’
Barge waives loom large, wild dogs roam the wooded shores, and, in the Arkansas dusk, two shotgun-toting bigots nearly bring the author’s dream to a bloody nightmare. Sustaining him through the hard weeks of paddling were the hundreds of people who reached out to share a small piece of his challenge. Mississippi Solo is a big, rollicking, brilliant book, a wonderful piece of American adventure, and an unforgettable story of a man testing his own limits.”
This selection aligns with the Future Rivers summer reading. Future Rivers will host Mr. Harris at the University of Washington on Thursday, October 14 for an in-person screening of his film, River to the Heart, followed by a moderated Q&A with the author and director. This event will be in person, free and open to the public.
Bookmark These New Websites for Future Rivers, Ocean Nexus Center & Washington Ocean Acidification Center
A website is often the first impression of an organization, especially in our increasingly digital (and virtual) world.
Along with the College of the Environment marketing and communications team, EarthLab works with our member organizations to develop websites that will convey their mission and brand. We’re thrilled to present three new websites for Future Rivers, Nippon Foundation Ocean Nexus Center & Washington Ocean Acidification Center (WOAC).
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).
The Humanities Education for Anti-Racism Literacy (HEAL) in the Sciences and Medicine was awarded to a collaborative team that will be based out of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The principle investigators are: Cheryl Bauer-Armstrong (Native Education); Christy Clark-Pujara (Higher Education); Elizabeth Hennessy (Coordinator and Higher Education); R. Justin Hougham (Environmental Education & Equity); Erika Marín-Spiotta (STEM Higher Education); Maxine McKinney de Royston (Learning While Black); Todd Michelson-Ambelang (Libraries); Monica White (Community Engagement); and Cleo Woelfle-Erskine (Native Education). The project team also includes community and Tribal partners in Madison, Wisconsin and elsewhere.
Woelfle-Erskine credits funding and support from the EarthLab Innovation Grants program for his project, Píkyav on the Mid-Klamath River: Peeshkêesh Yáv Umúsaheesh “The River Will Look Good,” as a factor in receiving this new funding.
“Thanks to you all for your early support of this project through the Innovation Grants Program,” said Woelfle-Erskine. “The funding and mentorship you have provided allowed us to make crucial progress this summer and has deepened the collaboration between my lab and Karuk Tribe collaborators, which has resulted in a funding proposal through the Mellon Just Futures Initiative.”
Congratulations to the UW Highly Cited Researchers
Today the University of Washington announced that more than 50 UW researchers were featured on the Highly Cited Researchers 2020 list, as reported by the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate. We’re proud to share that three researchers on the list have affiliations with EarthLab:
- Edward (Eddie) Allison, Ocean Nexus Center
- Julian Olden, Future Rivers
- Spencer Wood, Nature and Health
Congratulations to these researchers!
The full UW article is reprinted below in its entirety.
UW celebrates more than 50 researchers on Highly Cited Researchers 2020 List
The highly anticipated annual list identifies researchers who demonstrated significant influence in their chosen field or fields through the publication of multiple highly cited papers during the last decade. Their names are drawn from the publications that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and publication year in the Web of Science citation index.
The list includes:
- Edward Hugh Allison
- David Baker
- Michael J Bamshad
- Mike Brauer
- Guozhong Cao
- William A. Catterall
- David H. Cobden
- Aaron Cohen
- Louisa Degenhardt
- Patchen Dellinger
- Evan E. Eichler
- Jerry F. Franklin
- Valery Feigin
- Michael J. Gale
- Simon I. Hay
- Celestia S. Higano
- Alex K. Y. Jen
- Eric B. Larson
- Choli Lee
- Chang-Zi Li
- Alan Lopez
- Gary H. Lyman
- Michael J. McPhaden
- Sergey Menis
- Ali Mokdad
- Chris Murray
- Mohsen Naghavi
- Marian L. Neuhouser
- Graham Nichol
- Deborah A. Nickerson
- William S. Noble
- Julian D. Olden
- David M. Pigott
- Colin C. Pritchard
- Ganesh Raghu
- Philip J. Rasch
- Brian Saelens
- Kyle L. Seyler
- Jay Shendure
- David Smith
- John A. Stamatoyannopoulos
- Yang-Kook Sun
- Joel A. Thornton
- Cole Trapnell
- Piper Treuting
- Theo Vos
- Daniela M. Witten
- Harvey Whiteford
- Spencer A. Wood
- Xiaodong Xu
- Jesse R. Zaneveld
- Maigeng Zhou
- Junfa F. Zhu
The methodology that determines the “who’s who” of influential researchers draws on the data and analysis performed by bibliometric experts and data scientists at the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate. It also uses the tallies to identify the countries and research institutions where these scientific elite are based.
The full 2020 Highly Cited Researchers list and executive summary can be found online here.