FieldSound - The official UW College of the Environment podcast

The UW College of the Environment connected with the global Earth and space science community and showcased the incredible work of our researchers, students and staff at the American Geophysical Union’s Annual Meeting 2024 (AGU24) in Washington, D.C., December 9-13, 2024. The annual gathering of more than 25,000 scientists from over 100 countries is the largest in the world, and gives researchers...

The UW College of the Environment connected with the global Earth and space science community and showcased the incredible work of our researchers, students and staff at the American Geophysical Union’s Annual Meeting 2024 (AGU24) in Washington, D.C., December 9-13, 2024. The annual gathering of more than 25,000 scientists from over 100 countries is the largest in the world, and gives researchers...

The UW College of the Environment connected with the global Earth and space science community and showcased the incredible work of our researchers, students and staff at the American Geophysical Union’s Annual Meeting 2024 (AGU24) in Washington, D.C., December 9-13, 2024. The annual gathering of more than 25,000 scientists from over 100 countries is the largest in the world, and gives researchers...

The UW College of the Environment connected with the global Earth and space science community and showcased the incredible work of our researchers, students and staff at the American Geophysical Union’s Annual Meeting 2024 (AGU24) in Washington, D.C., December 9-13, 2024. The annual gathering of more than 25,000 scientists from over 100 countries is the largest in the world, and gives researchers...

Aisha Rashid is a recent University of Washington graduate with dual degrees in marine biology and oceanography . During her time at UW, Rashid received a Husky 100 nod in 2024, served as captain of the equestrian team, and helped lead the College of the Environment’s student advisory council as co-chair. In this episode of FieldSound , Rashid shares audio from her experience aboard the research v...

In this episode of FieldSound, we meet two students who found their own paths at the University of Washington, blending their interests in science communication and public safety with research, classes and discovery — all the while laying the groundwork for their future careers. From an early age, Samantha Lynn-Martinez , a recent graduate of the UW with a dual degree in biology and marine biology...

In this episode of FieldSound, we meet two researchers who work in vastly different systems, but whose paths cross in the interdisciplinary field of astrobiology. Jodi Young is an assistant professor and biological oceanographer at the University of Washington who studies tiny, yet mighty, marine microalgae that play a crucial role in our planet's ecosystems. She’s fascinated by how these alg...

In this episode of FieldSound, we meet Eli Wheat , an assistant teaching professor in the University of Washington’s Program on the Environment , an environmental studies program housed within the College of the Environment. Wheat is passionate about sustainable farming, and our relationship as humans with the land and food we consume. Wheat, who is also a core faculty member in the UW School of P...

In this episode of FieldSound, we hear from Michael Buck , an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation and a graduate of the UW School of Marine and Environmental Affairs .  Buck’s path in science has been guided by the traditions, stories, practices and knowledge of his community. His research is not just academic; it’s a living practice, deeply rooted in the conc...

For the final episode of FieldSound Season 2, we’re revisiting an episode from season one with Laura Prugh , wildlife ecologist and associate professor at the UW School of Environmental and Forest Sciences . Prugh is also part of the Washington Predator-Prey Project , which studies the potential ecological impact of recolonizing wolves in Washington state. Wolf numbers in Washington have been stea...

In this episode of FieldSound, we hear from Ryan Kelly , professor in the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs . Trained as both an ecologist and a lawyer, Kelly brings a unique perspective to his research at the boundaries of marine science and real-world environmental law and policy. He works closely with federal agencies and currently serves on a national task force that aims to move scie...

In this episode of FieldSound, KOMO 4 Chief Meteorologist Shannon O'Donnell and University of Washington students speak about the formation of the UW Dawgcast , born out of ATM S 493: Media & Meteorology in the UW Department of Atmospheric Sciences . ATM S 493, which launched in 2020, is the first broadcast meteorology class offered on the West Coast . With it, the UW joins Pennsylvania S...

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...

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 pro...

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 f...

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...

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 re...

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 th...

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 N...

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, teac...

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...

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 nutri...

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...

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 Wash...

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 - th...