News | Department of Earth and Space Sciences

Jun 5, 2026 | In the News, Student Spotlight

ESS undergrad researcher studies some of Earth’s oldest ice

When the opportunity arose to work with 5 million-year-old ice from Antarctica, Hailey Smith jumped at the chance. Smith, a fourth-year ESS undergraduate student, had spent the past year working with ESS graduate student mentor Liam Kirkpatrick on a research project to decipher the origins of layering in ice core segments from Antarctica. These ice cores give us insights into atmospheric conditions millions of years ago.

This work builds on a method Kirkpatrick developed with advisors T.J. Fudge and Eric Steig that uses 3-D electrical conductivity mapping, along with isotope measurements, to reveal centimeter-scale changes in ice composition, giving Smith hands-on exposure to cutting-edge geoscience research.

Smith and Kirkpatrick were paired as a research team through their involvement with the UW College of the Environment's Identity, Belonging and Inquiry in Science (IBIS) mentoring program that connects undergraduate students interested in research with graduate student mentors in the geosciences.

Read more at the College of the Environment

Jun 5, 2026 | In the News

Near-catastrophic megatsunami in Alaska prompts reflection on human-caused climate change

UW research scientist Mira Berdahl, along with ESS Professors Eric Steig and Gerard Roe, helped develop a modeling approach showing that the glacier retreat that enabled the Alaska landslide was driven entirely by human-caused climate change rather than natural processes. Berdahl is interviewed.

Earthquake monitoring system not part of federal ocean observatory cuts

Scientists are now warning that scaling back the Ocean Observations Initiative could put Washington and Oregon at risk. However, the cable system managed by the UW Pacific Northwest Seismic Network used for earthquake and tsunami monitoring is not being removed. ESS Professor and PNSN Director Harold Tobin is interviewed.

With ShakeAlert installations complete, researchers explore offshore expansion

PNSN has been hard at work expanding the ShakeAlert seismic monitoring network since the Washington/Oregon launch in 2021.

Now, with all planned installations complete, researchers are celebrating a huge milestone while continuing to explore opportunities. This story describes how including offshore, ocean bottom sensors in the network could improve warning time for a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake.

Researchers assess probability of rare landslide hazard in PNW

A UW study, led by ESS graduate student Paul Morgan and co-author ESS Associate Professor Alison Duvall, published April 16 develops a workflow to map dam susceptibility at a regional scale, using stream width and landslide volume to project susceptibility within the Oregon Coast Range.

Hazards without disasters - ESS researchers look for hazards with Ocosta teachers and students in Grays Harbor

A Westport school rooftop refuge completed in 2016 serves as Cascadia’s first engineered refuge for tsunamis. Area residents funded the structure through a bond of the Ocosta School District. Most years, an Ocosta science teacher takes secondary-school students on canoe trips to view Grays Harbor evidence for the hazards for which the structure was designed. This year's outing, on May 22, mixed Ocosta students with university scientists and graduate students. Elizabeth Davis, Carolyn Garrison-Laney, Audrey Dunham, and Brian Atwater represented ESS.

UW study suggests that major Seattle fault earthquakes may be less frequent than previously thought

A new study conducted by UW researchers suggests that the Seattle fault zone may produce its largest earthquakes less frequently than scientists previously estimated. Published in the journal Geology, the study, led by ESS Research Scientist Elizabeth Davis and co-author ESS Associate Professor Juliet Crider, found evidence that only one major earthquake of roughly magnitude 7.5 has occurred on the Seattle fault zone in the past 11,000 years.

Near miss tsunami in Alaska during tourist season last year highlights increasing environmental instability

A team of researchers published a Science paper describing the massive landslide generated tsunami in Alaska last August. ESS Professor Gerard Roe and Research Scientist Mira Berdahl made vital contributions to the study, described in more detail in the UW News release. Their analysis attributed the 481-meter wave to glacial retreat from global warming and in this region, they found that 100% of the industrial era warming was human caused.

Seattle Fault gets 5,000 more years of sleep

Just over 1,100 years ago an earthquake on the Seattle fault rocked — and reshaped — the Puget Sound region. It lifted the sea floor and sent a powerful tsunami through the sound. Researchers have estimated that this fault, which runs east to west beneath the middle of the city, will produce a large earthquake every 5,000 years or so. However, a UW analysis, recently published in Geology, pushes that estimate back to 11,000 years. ESS Research Scientist Elizabeth Davis is lead author and ESS Associate Professor Juliet Crider is co-author.

Read more on UW News April Research Highlights

May 1, 2026 | In the News

Can arid planets keep their cool?

The geologic carbon cycle has been an important tool for balancing carbon dioxide and stabilizing the climate of Earth over billions of years. The authors of today’s bite, ESS graduate student Haskelle White-Gianella and Assistant Professor Joshua Krissansen-Totton, explore why dry planets may be missing this critical climate-stabilizing thermostat.