David Montgomery is a geomorphologist who looks at the processes shaping Earth’s surface and how they affect ecological systems — and human societies. He has studied everything from the ways that landslides and glaciers influence the height of mountain ranges to the way that soils have shaped human civilizations, both now and in the past. He has worked in mountain ranges throughout the world, from the Cascades in the Pacific Northwest to the Andes in South America and Tibet, and the Himalaya ...
In this episode of FieldSound, we take you to UW Friday Harbor Laboratories in the San Juan Islands, where marine researchers Joey Ullman and Olivia Graham prepare for a dive on a cold January morning. They scout sites for deploying juvenile sunflower stars, aiming to compare the survivability of lab-grown versus wild-caught specimens. Fiona Curliss, another researcher, discusses the intricate process of raising these sea stars, from fertilization to adulthood, and the importance of their wor...
GEODUC — which stands for Geoscience Education, Oceanographic Discovery and Undergraduate Collaboration — is a place-based, National Science Foundation-funded program spearheaded by faculty and staff in the College of the Environment. Created to broaden the depth and breadth of perspectives that inform scientific inquiry in marine science fields, GEODUC actively recruits UW transfer students from all disciplines.GEODUC begins with a 10-day residency at Friday Harbor Labs each September, w...
In this episode of FieldSound, Professor Claire Willing shares her research on the vital plant-fungal interactions hidden below the soil surface, particularly mycorrhizal fungi. Willing discusses their ancient symbiotic relationship with plants and significance in nutrient uptake, soil structure, and plant health.Willing is an ecologist specializing in microbial ecology, plant ecology, and plant physiological ecology. Willing is the John C. Garcia Professor in the School of Environmental and ...
In this episode, Associate Professor of Earth and Space Sciences Alison Duvall shares about tectonic geomorphology, her work with the Cascadia CoPes Hub to increase knowledge about natural hazards and empower communities to build resilience in the face of environmental change, and her path to becoming a scientist. Duvall is a geologist who studies how mountains are built and how the landscape responds to these processes. More specifically, she looks at how plate tectonics, erosion, and ...
Earthquakes can strike at any moment. On the final Season 1 episode of FieldSound, UW seismologists Harold Tobin and Audrey Dunham discuss the impending threat of “The Big One” - a large-scale earthquake that will strike along the Cascadia Subduction Zone. Tobin and Dunham also share recent advances in earthquake and tsunami preparedness for communities inland and along the coast in the Pacific Northwest.Harold Tobin is a professor in the UW Department of Earth and Space Sciences and holds th...
Mount Rainier Institute provides regional schools with in-depth programs focusing on forest science and STEM education, using the Charles Lathrop Pack Experimental Forest - located at the foot of Mt. Rainier, as an outdoor classroom. Pack Forest, part of the UW School of Environment and Forest Sciences, sits on 4,300 acres of working forestland. The forest provides the resources to discover, teach and demonstrate the concepts of sustainable forestry.On this episode, FieldSound visits the Moun...
Randie Bundy is a researcher with the University of Washington School of Oceanography. Her complex work looks into the cycling of trace metals in marine environments, how bioactive metals such as iron, copper, and cobalt are acquired by marine phytoplankton and bacteria, and how the organic forms of these metals affect their uptake and cycling in the ocean. Bundy recently co-led a team aboard the R/V Thomas G. Thompson for the recent Gradient 5 Survey with all female principal investigat...
Anne Polyakov is a PhD student in the Quantitative Ecology and Resource Management Program at the University of Washington. Anne's PhD research covers a variety of animals and ecosystems, including fungal communities along salmon streams. Recently, she spent a summer with the UW Alaska Salmon Program studying ecosystems along three streams, collecting data to track the uptake of salmon nutrients beyond the water’s edge, and how fungi might play a role in this intricate process.She is pas...
Aaron Wirsing is an ecologist with the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences studying predator-prey interactions. On this episode of FieldSound, Wirsing discusses his research in both terrestrial and aquatic systems, the ways that top predators, such as grey wolves and tiger sharks, shape their ecosystems and how humans affect predator-prey interactions through processes such as urbanization and climate change.The Predator Ecology Lab seeks to help better understand how predators influe...
Laura Prugh is a wildlife community ecologist with the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences. Research in her lab use a combination of intensive fieldwork, modeling, meta-analyses, and interdisciplinary approaches to study the response of wildlife communities to global change. Recently, Prugh was lead author on a study published in the journal Science. Researchers at the University of Washington, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Spokane Tribe of Indians found that ...
Chelsea Wood is an Associate Professor in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. She is a leader in the ecology of parasites and pathogens in freshwater and marine ecosystems, the ecological drivers of parasite transmission, and human impacts on parasites in a changing world. Wood discusses the fascinating world of parasites, their “Rube Goldberg-esque” life-cycles, and her recent study - the world’s largest and longest dataset of wildlife parasite abundance - that suggests parasites may...
John Marzluff is a professor of wildlife science in the UW School of Environmental and Forest Sciences and renowned researcher studying the relationships between birds and humans. On this episode of FieldSound, Marzluff discusses the intelligent, enigmatic and culturally-significant crow, the shared knowledge of crow communities, and the ways local habitat fragmentation and increased urbanization affect corvids (and corvids affect humans).In 2022, Marzluff was named American Association ...
Shima Abadi is Director of the Ocean Data Lab and an associate professor at the UW School of Oceanography. She also holds a joint appointment as an associate professor in the Mechanical Engineering Program at UW Bothell's School of Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM). Abadi’s intricate research primarily focuses on ocean acoustical signal processing, noise propagation in the ocean, machine learning in analyzing ocean ambient noise, and developing algorithms for analyzing large ...
FieldSound, the official UW College of the Environment podcast, launches May 4, 2023!Through immersive, narrative storytelling, FieldSound explores the world of environmental science together with researchers at the University of Washington College of the Environment.Interviews and anecdotes connect listeners to the College’s global impact as guests share stories of their exciting, groundbreaking and influential discoveries. FieldSound entertains and educates listeners while kindling personal...
From the University of Washington College of the environment, this is FieldSound.Join us as we explore the College’s impact around the globe with our researchers as they share stories of their exciting, groundbreaking and influential discoveries. FieldSound will both entertain and educate listeners about the field of environmental science while kindling personal connection to the world around them.Join us in the field for season 2 of FieldSound, the official podcast from the University o...