FieldSound - The official UW College of the Environment podcast

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 science into practice at a federal level.

A major focus of Kelly's research involves environmental DNA, or eDNA, which is genetic material shed by organisms that is released into the environment. It can be collected from a variety of environmental samples, such as soil or seawater, with the idea that as organisms interact in the environment, their DNA will accumulate in their surroundings. Kelly explains that now we can take a cup of seawater, for example, sequence the DNA out of it, and see what lives nearby — we can see hundreds of thousands of species, all at once.

Now, the challenge is to make sense of all this data. Kelly also is the director of the eDNA Collaborative, which aims to move the use of eDNA out of the lab and into practice in real-world environmental management and conservation.

Some ways it's already being used: In Puget Sound, using eDNA to look at the impacts of urbanization on the nearshore environment; measuring the effects of culvert restoration for salmon in Washington state; and surveying the edges of the invasion of European green crab in Washington.

The Collaborative has awarded 130 "microgrants" to people in 40 different countries in its goal to make this technology and knowledge more accessible.

Kelly also discusses his recent co-authored work, "Between the Tides," which offers readers a comprehensive guide to the beaches and tidepools of Washington, Oregon and California, enriching our understanding of coastal marine ecology.

https://environment.uw.edu/podcast

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 State University and Mississippi State University as schools that offer broadcast meteorology instruction. The course equips students to learn how to create forecasts, communicate the science of weather, and gain real-world broadcast experience using industry-standard equipment.

While the class takes place each winter quarter, students from all majors can participate in the UW Dawgcast club year-round.


Steve Pool Memorial Fund for Students in Atmospheric Sciences
Steve Pool was one the leading television weathercasters in Seattle for nearly 40 years, providing meteorological insights and weather education to millions of viewers across western Washington. A profoundly impactful UW alumnus, he was committed to the University of Washington and the Department of Atmospheric Sciences, establishing an internship program that provided dozens of UW students with experience in broadcast meteorology — with several going on to successful careers in TV weather (such as O’Donnell at KOMO 4).  

The Department of Atmospheric Sciences is honored to be undertaking an effort to create an endowed scholarship to support undergraduates in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences in honor of Steve Pool. Your support will provide financial assistance to promising atmospheric sciences students and foster training opportunities for the next generation of meteorologists and atmospheric scientists. Learn more about the campaign here.

https://environment.uw.edu/podcast

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 Central Asia.

In addition to his academic work, Montgomery has written a number of popular science books, three of which won the Washington State Book Award. He is an elected fellow of the American Geophysical Union and has received many awards throughout his career, including a MacArthur Fellowship and the Vega Medal.

In this episode, Montgomery discusses his career trajectory, which began with a fascination for maps as a child and led him to become a geomorphologist studying Earth's surface features. He describes his transition from biology to geology during college.

Montgomery also shares insights from his research on soil erosion and its impact on civilizations, as well as his collaboration with his wife, Anne Biklé, on books about soil health and regenerative farming. Listen to learn more about the importance of soil microbiology for crop health and human nutrition. You can also catch some music by his band, Big Dirt.

Related: UW Magazine published this recent feature on Montgomery.

https://environment.uw.edu/podcast

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 work in combating sea star wasting syndrome.

Learn about the interesting research that is being conducted at UW Friday Harbor Labs, which provides an ideal environment for studying marine biology. Faculty and researchers from the University of Washington and beyond gather at FHL to explore oceanography, chemistry, biology, ecology and other marine sciences. Students have the chance to engage deeply in research and coursework, linking classroom knowledge to the  ecosystems of the San Juan Archipelago.

Watch a video about FHL's sea star rearing efforts

The project recently was featured on NBC's 'Wild Kingdom' show

https://environment.uw.edu/podcast

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, where transfer students experience the geosciences through hands-on exploration, fieldwork and research. Back in Seattle, GEODUC students meet for weekly seminars throughout the academic year beginning in autumn quarter, where they build community, learn important academic skills, and prepare for successful careers. The seminars feature speakers from a variety of backgrounds who share how they found their way in the sciences, helping students to see that they, too, belong in the research community.

In this episode, students from the program and professors José Guzmán and Mikelle Nuwer share about the GEODUC experience.

Additionally, the GEODUC teaching team recently was awarded the UW’s Distinguished Teaching Award for Teams, one of the University’s highest teaching recognitions. The team includes:

Jane Dolliver (she/her), Program Manager, College of the Environment

José Guzmán (he/him), Associate Teaching Professor, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences and Marine Biology

Kerry Naish (she/her), Professor, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences and Marine Biology

Mikelle Nuwer (she/her), Associate Teaching Professor, School of Oceanography

LuAnne Thompson (she/her), Professor, School of Oceanography

https://environment.uw.edu/podcast

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 Forest Sciences. With a primary focus on plant-fungal interactions, particularly those between plant roots and mutualistic mycorrhizal fungi, Willing's lab investigates the intricate dynamics shaping ecosystem health.

https://www.washington.edu/research/new-faculty-spotlight-claire-willing/

https://environment.uw.edu/podcast

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 climate all work together to shape the Earth’s surface across both space and time. In addition to mountains, she investigates what happens when two blocks of Earth’s crust slide past each other (called strike-slip faulting), changing hill slopes, river channels, and other features of the landscape. Because they are often continuous for long distances, strike-slip faults are especially prone to large earthquakes, but measuring their activity is hard. Duvall hopes to develop new ways of both recognizing and analyzing fault activity directly from surface processes.

https://environment.uw.edu/podcast

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 of Washington College of the Environment.

https://environment.uw.edu/podcast

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 the Paros Endowed Chair in Seismology and Geohazards. He is also the Director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, and the designated Washington State Seismologist, studying tectonic plate boundaries, how faults work, and the conditions that lead to earthquakes.

Audrey Dunham is a UW Department of Earth and Space Sciences Postdoctoral Scholar working with the Cascadia Coastlines and Peoples Hazards Research Hub (CoPes Hub) focused on ground motion simulations of potential Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquakes and quantifying hazards for coastal communities in the Pacific Northwest.

The Pacific Northwest Seismic Network is supported by the Friends of Earthquakes fund.

https://environment.uw.edu/podcast

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 Mount Rainier institute for “Maple Syrup Day” to learn about experimental production of Big Leaf Maple Syrup alongside kids from a local elementary school.

Read about how UW is helping to build a maple syrup industry in Western Washington.

The Mount Rainier Institute is supported by the Mount Rainier Institute Fund and has received grant support from The Russell Family Foundation and Outdoor Schools Washington.

https://environment.uw.edu/podcast