News | Department of Earth and Space Sciences

Nov 13, 2024 | In the News

ESS in the Northwest Geological Society

The Northwest Geological Society meets most months for dinner talks. The November meeting included congratulations the Society founder, Eric Cheney upon his 80th birthday, and a talk by Brian Atwater that excerpted correspondence recently found by Thomas Ott in archives held by the Quaternary Research Center.

NASA funds effort to study effects of the space environment on living organisms

NASA recently awarded $2.5M to establish a regional scientific consortium, BioS-ENDURES, based at the University of Washington that will use an interdisciplinary approach to explore how the space environment affects living things. ESS Associate Professor Drew Gorman-Lewis is part of the interdisciplinary team.

The Daily UW highlights ESS 130th Anniversary

ESS Professor Emerita Jody Bourgeois and Assistant Professor Akshay Mehra are quoted.

Read at the Daily UW

Oct 25, 2024 | In the News

Rocky planets: A new target in the search for extraterrestrial life

Assistant Professor Joshua Krissansen-Totton is quoted.

Rocky planets orbiting small stars could have stable atmospheres needed to support life

A UW-led study recently published in Nature Communications finds that certain rocky planets orbiting a small star 40 light years away may have stable atmospheres needed to support life. Lead author and ESS assistant professor Joshua Krissansen-Totton is quoted.

What do this year's earthquakes mean for the Pacific Northwest?

Researchers at the United States Geological Survey and Pacific Northwest Seismic Network are looking into recent spikes in seismic activity across the Pacific Northwest. While USGS and PNSN seismologists are not alarmed, they do stress the importance of being ready. ESS Professor and PNSN Director Harold Tobin is quoted.

Life could exist on Mars in shallow meltwater pools below icy surface, study suggests

A new study from researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, UW, and other universities suggests microbes could find a potential home beneath layers of ice known to exist on Mars' surface. Lead author Aditya Khuller will join the UW Applied Physics Laboratory as a senior research scientist in November. ESS professor emeritus and co-author Steve Warren is quoted.

PNW seismic monitoring expanding to volcanoes and underwater

Scientists say the more stations there are, the better the preparedness and early warning for earthquakes. PNSN research engineer Doug Gibbons is featured.

FieldSound Season 3, Episode 3: Astrobiology with Jodi Young and Fabian Klenner

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. ESS postdoctoral researcher Fabian Klenner is interviewed.

Is an uptick of rumblings under Mount Adams cause for seismic concern?

Mount Adams, a stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc, is the second-highest mountain in Washington state. The last time it erupted was more than 1,000 years ago, but it's been making some noise lately. To find out more about these rumblings, KUOW spoke to UW ESS professor and PNSN director Harold Tobin.