News | June 26, 2024
A Biochar Solution for Urban Runoff
Written by Julia Davis for the University of Washington In cities around the globe, stormwater runoff remains largely untreated, collecting everything from heavy metals to pesticides before flowing into our waterways. This environmental challenge requires innovative solutions, and biochar may just be the key. CEE Assistant Professor Jessica Ray and graduate student Amy Quintanilla are…
Scholar
Amoshaun Toft
Visit scholar websiteNews | May 28, 2020
Annual innovation report details Seattle’s growing tech and science ecosystem
The latest Seattle Tech Ecosystem Report shows that the region’s innovation ecosystem continues to grow, though the short and long-term effects of COVID-19 crisis are still to be determined. The fifth annual report from the University of Washington-Bothell School of Business and iInnovate Network provides an overview of the tech, health, and life sciences activity in and around Seattle. It cites…
Scholar
Betheny Gross
Visit scholar websiteScholar
Christian Anderson
Visit scholar websiteScholar
Cinnamon Hillyard
Visit scholar websiteCourse | B HLTH 220
Community Nutrition
Investigates the role of nutrition in promoting, maintain, and improving health in the community. Students study the role of various indicators of a healthy community; social determinants of health, legislation, food access, and community design. Students outreach with local nutrition and wellness partners.News | November 26, 2024
Creating multi-sector teams to build cities where everyone thrives.
Research-to-Action Teams 2024-25 In April of 2024 two teams were selected for participation in the second cohort of the Research to Action Collaboratory. For 18 months Urban@UW will work with these teams to provide seed funds, dedicated time to building team cohesion and collaboration skills, and opportunities for peer support, shared resources, and learning. These…
Scholar
Dan Jaffe
Visit scholar websiteScholar
David Stokes
Visit scholar websiteNews | July 13, 2017
Does commercial zoning increase neighborhood crime?
In the run-up to the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump told The New York Times that America’s urban centers are some of the “most dangerous,” crime-filled places in the world. Even though experts were quick to point out that violent crime has actually declined in all but a handful of America’s largest cities and urban…
News | May 20, 2020
EarthLab announces Innovation Grant recipients for 2020
Research projects funded for 2020 by EarthLab’s Innovation Grants Program will study how vegetation might reduce pollution, help an Alaskan village achieve safety and resilience amid climate change, organize a California river’s restoration with tribal involvement, compare practices in self-managed indigenous immigrant communities and more. EarthLab is a University of Washington-wide institute connecting scholars with community…
News | August 20, 2020
Educational inequities didn’t begin with COVID-19, but they’re far from over
As schools across the country are starting to resume instruction, which schools – and which students – remain online, while others push for in-person learning? The divide between parents and families who have the time, money, and resources to support a remote learning environment for their children and those who don’t is largely split along…
Course | BIS 395
Environmental Change in Washington State
Examines issues in science, society, technology, and policy that impact the future of natural ecosystems and their relationship to human communities in Washington State. Issues include climate change, urban sprawl, environmental policies, management of natural resources, and loss of agricultural lands.Course | BCULTS/BPOLST 593
Expedition Seattle
Expedition Seattle proceeds from the basic premise that we can learn a lot by simply picking a delimited urban space and researching it intensely from a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives. The goal is to mount a quarter long intellectual exploration of such an urban space—an “expedition”, explicitly framed as an exploration of urban cultural spaces and processes that we are already a part of rather than an exploration of others that are distant from us.Course | BISAES 367
Exploring American Culture: Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration
Examines how contested discourses of racial, ethnic, and national difference have shaped ideas about citizenship and "American" identities. Focuses on the relationship between these discourses and social, economic, and political practices and policies. Stresses diverse interpretive approaches within American Studies.Course | BIS 342
Geographic Information Systems
Examines the concepts and methods of geographic information systems (GIS) and related elements of spatial analysis and representation. Through projects and lab exercises, student gain basic proficiency in the use of GIS and an interdisciplinary understanding of the applications of GIS.Scholar
Grace Lasker
Visit scholar websiteNews | December 2, 2021
How Does Climate Change Affect Human Health?
Over the past century, the Earth’s average temperature has risen by 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Although it seems like a negligible amount, this global warming is out of the ordinary in the planet’s recent history, causing dramatic shifts in climate patterns and weather. Beyond that, scientists predict it will get even worse in the years to come. Every human being…
News | July 29, 2024
How Tiny Homes Could Help Solve America’s Homelessness Crisis
Reported by Giulia Carbonaro for Newsweek Shelter villages of tiny homes have popped up across the U.S. in recent years, as the small structures have started to be seen by many advocates as a promising solution to solve homelessness. Perhaps unsurprisingly at a time when mortgage rates are still hovering around the 7-percent mark and…
News | May 31, 2019
Investing in Bothell’s future
Over the past decade, Bothell has seen a boom in population and economic growth — and the related impacts. The city’s downtown revitalization is one of the brightest spots of that boom. However, the state has been largely absent in its support for infrastructure spending to support the growth in our community. The state passed…
Scholar
Jin-Kyu Jung
Visit scholar websiteNews | November 26, 2024
Join Urban@UW in creating innovative solutions for city dwellers, today and into the future.
Support Urban@UW Urban@UW extends the understanding of cities—from people, buildings, infrastructure, and energy to economics, policy, culture, art, and nature—beyond individual topics to dynamically interdependent systems, so that we can holistically design and steward vibrant and welcoming cities in which future generations will thrive. Urban@UW works with scholars, policymakers, and community stakeholders to develop cross-disciplinary…
Scholar
Julie Angeley
Visit scholar websiteScholar
Kevin Laverty
Visit scholar websiteNews | March 13, 2024
Looking inward for pollution In his latest research, Dr. Dan Jaffe looks to the kitchen as a source for indoor pollution in the home.
Excerpted from the University of Washington- Bothell website. For more than 30 years, Dr. Dan Jaffe has spent his career researching outdoor air pollution and its many sources — from wildfires to fossil fuels. In recent years, however, his curiosity has shifted inward as he looks to answer the question: “How clean is our indoor…
Course | BIS 352
Mapping Communities
MAPPING COMMUNITIES Uses mapping and other methods to examine the concept of “community.” Explores the intersections of life in urban areas including perception and interaction with built environments, political and economic relationships, and social and cultural ties. Students conduct community-based mapping projects to examine the role of “space” in producing community. We will work with community partners in Seattle Metropolitan Areas.Scholar
Martha Groom
Visit scholar websiteScholar
Melanie Malone
Visit scholar websiteNews | May 14, 2020
Pandemic gardens satisfy a hunger for more than just good tomatoes
Jennifer Atkinson is a senior lecturer in environmental studies in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences at the University of Washington Bothell, and the author of Gardenland: Nature, Fantasy and Everyday Practice. She says she’d get a flurry of responses to her blog posts about pandemic gardening, but she really got interested when she started…
News | August 24, 2020
Population Health Initiative announces award of 14 COVID-19 population health equity research grants
The University of Washington Population Health Initiative announced the award of approximately $265,000 in COVID-19 population health equity research grants to 14 different teams of UW faculty researchers and community leaders. Funding was partially matched by additional school, college, departmental, and external funds, bringing the total value of these awards to roughly $378,000. These population health equity…
Course | B HLTH 405
Race, Power, and Food
Examines the politics of nutrition in the age of globalization. Revisits, re-envisions, and re-articulates dominant understandings of history and culture as they relate to food. Explores food culture as a form of artistic expression, and uses documentary films and interactive theatre to build communication strategies rooted in students' identities. Presents powerful tools for building alliances across racial, gender, class, and cultural lines.Scholar
Ron Krabill
Visit scholar websiteNews | August 5, 2021
Scientist tests soil for hidden contaminants in community gardens
This year saw many people rediscovering an interest in gardening, digging in the dirt and maybe even harvesting vegetables from a garden plot. But around the Puget Sound, not all garden soils are created equal. Soil, particularly in urban areas, can hold contaminants that are unhealthy for people who handle it or eat things grown…
News | June 24, 2019
Seattle upgrades A/C at some community centers ahead of predicted wildfires
It wasn’t a picture postcard August last year in Seattle. Seattle icons, the Space Needle, ferries crossing the water, the Great Wheel spinning colorfully on the waterfront were barely visible because of smoke from Canadian wildfires. The Emerald City saw 24 days of moderately unhealthy levels of particulates in the air during the summer because…
News | July 13, 2018
Self-driving bikes: Seattle’s next transit revolution?
What does your future commute look like? Will you be taking a self-driving car, a solo-wheel, the hyperloop? What about … a self-driving bike? In this episode of ReInventors, Crosscut looks at how Professor Tyler Folsom and his students at University of Washington Bothell are spearheading a grassroots effort to test and develop lighter, more affordable, personal…
Course | BIS 448
Social Policy
Addresses the need for and purposes of US social policy by linking policy interventions and advocacy to social welfare. Examines causes and policy solutions to social welfare issues such as poverty, income, public assistance, food and housing, mental health and substance abuse, child welfare, and social security.News | November 16, 2021
Spark Grants foster research on community-centered environmental infrastructure, supporting collaborations amidst pandemic
Over the past year, two teams of researchers from the University of Washington tackled a host of urban challenges in our region with the support of Urban@UW’s Research Spark Grants. In August 2020 grants of up to $20,000 were awarded to amplify collaborative research-to-practice with a focus on today’s urban issues. Two UW teams of…
News | July 3, 2019
The health effects of wildfire smoke may last a lifetime
When smoke from California’s deadliest wildfire blew into downtown Sacramento last November, daylight blurred into dusk and the city’s air became among the world’s most polluted. The Camp Fire has long since been extinguished, but the health effects from the tiny particulate matter in the smoke, which penetrates into the lungs and ultimately into the bloodstream, could linger for years….
News | October 29, 2024
This Atlanta neighborhood hired a case manager to address rising homelessness − and it’s improving health and safety for everyone
Reported by Ishita Chordia, Ph.D. Candidate in Information Science, University of Washington Homelessness has surged across the United States in recent years, rising 19% from 2016 though 2023. The main cause is a severe shortage of affordable housing. Rising homelessness has renewed debates about use of public space and how encampments affect public safety. The…
Course | BIS 406
Urban Planning and Geography
Examines historical and modern conceptualizations of "'urban"', covering topics such as urban systems, urban forms, urban ecologies, urban planning, and urbanism. Investigates the integration of built forms; human interactions; and the environmental, social, political, and economic aspects of urban places.News | February 18, 2023
Urban Scholar Highlight: Melanie Malone
This is the second in a series of interviews from Urban@UW highlighting the research of urban scholars at the University of Washington. Urban@UW spoke to Melanie Malone, Assistant Professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington Bothell. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. What do…
News | March 1, 2022
Urban@UW anti-displacement workshop generates connections, ideas, and opportunities for further partnership.
On January 25th and 26th, Urban@UW hosted a virtual workshop that brought together researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and community partners to elevate key perspectives and facilitate cross-boundary discussions and action around the capacity for people to stay in place and stay in the community in the face of displacement. The workshop built on discussions initiated by…
News | October 20, 2017
Urban@UW compiles Faculty Highlights Report for research, teaching and engagement on homelessness
As part of its recently launched Homelessess Research Initiative, Urban@UW has collaborated with faculty and staff across all three UW campuses to compile a broad-ranging selection of powerful and robust projects addressing homelessness from a research lens. Check out the Faculty Highlights Report to learn more about these efforts and the people behind them.
News | November 26, 2024
Urban@UW is working toward a future where cities are hubs of innovation, inclusivity, & sustainability.
Research-to-Action Teams 2023-2024 In April of 2023 the teams selected for the inaugural cohort of the Research to Action Collaboratory (RAC) were announced. These groups combine the research capabilities of University of Washington scholars with frontline leaders embedded in their communities and government officials who can codify change. The Research-to-Action Collaboratory provides the teams with…
News | August 18, 2020
Urban@UW Research Spark Grants awardees announced
Urban@UW is excited to announce the awardees for our Research Spark Grants program. The two proposals selected address urgent urban challenges in our region, with a strong focus on community engagement and vulnerable populations. Co-creating an Adaptive Community-Science Network: Supporting Tribal and Grassroots Action through the Puget Creek Watershed Assessment Urban communities in the…
News | November 26, 2024
Urban@UW unites research, community insight, and policy to drive innovation for resilient and equitable cities.
Inclusive Data-Driven Innovation for the Future of Cities Urban@UW extends the understanding of cities—from people, buildings, infrastructure, and energy to economics, policy, culture, art, and nature—beyond individual topics to dynamically interdependent systems, so that we can holistically design and steward vibrant and welcoming cities in which future generations will thrive. In partnership with the College…
News |
Urban@UW’s Research to Action Collaboratory provides funding, facilitation, & tools to empower cross-disciplinary teams to solve urban problems
About the RAC The Research to Action Collaboratory serves as a catalyst for research teams, building their transformational collaborative capacity to address today’s most pressing urban challenges. The RAC combines financial support, thought partnership, and skill-building to increase the capacity of scholars, community stakeholders, and the UW for impactful, collaborative research. Today’s most pressing problems—from…
News | March 23, 2023
UW Receives $1.2M Climate Change Research Grant from EPA
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced nearly $4 million in grant funding for universities—including University of Washington—to research impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities. UW will receive $1,267,559 for a community-based project researching ways to preserve water, soil and sediment along the Duwamish River, famously polluted by decades of industrial contamination. Flanking…
News | September 16, 2019
Where there’s wildfire, there’s smoke. Protecting ‘clean-air refugees.’
Summer in Seattle offers a luminous respite from the rest of the year. The clouds depart and carry away the rains as the sky shades cobalt blue and the sun casts golden light from Puget Sound to Mount Rainier. The city feels liberated. Or so residents recall of an earlier time. In the past decade,…
Scholar