News | Department of Earth and Space Sciences

Nov 1, 2023

Powerful 3D modeling software donated to Earth and Space Science Department

The Earth and Space Sciences Department has recently been granted ten academic use licenses for the powerful software package MOVE Suite by PE Limited, valued at more than $2.7 million. MOVE is a 2D and 3D modeling and visualization environment, used primarily for subsurface stratigraphic and structural modeling of basins and tectonically active regions.

Graphic depicting the Cascade Offshore Subduction Zone Observatory showing existing and proposed geophysical sites, DAS cable, and earthquake sites.

Oct 26, 2023

UW Researchers land $10.6M to build subduction zone observatory

Scientists and engineers from the UW School of Oceanography, Department of Earth and Space Sciences and the Applied Physics Lab, along with partners at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, recently were awarded more than $10 million to build an underwater observatory in the Cascadia subduction zone.

Graduate students and postdocs on a field trip, standing at the base of a dead tree in the "Ghost Forest" in Copalis, WA.

Oct 23, 2023

Evidence of past large-scale earthquakes - field trip for incoming graduate students

In September, Dr. Brian Atwater, along with graduate students Paul Morgan, Hope Sisley, Andrew Shumway, and Trent Thomas, and postdocs Larry Lai and Jey Kim, led a fieldtrip for the group of incoming grads and postdocs to Copalis, near Ocean Shores, WA.

Person holding a phone with an earthquake emergency alert on the screen, telling person to Drop, Cover, and Hold on.

Oct 19, 2023

ShakeAlert offers latest earthquake science as region practices Great ShakeOut safety drill Oct. 19

As people and organizations across the globe practice earthquake drills Oct. 19 on International ShakeOut Day, closer to home in the Pacific Northwest, communities are bolstered by a state-of-the-art earthquake early warning system — and a research center that maintains the second-largest seismic network in the U.S.

Oct 13, 2023

ESS PhD Student Madeleine Lucas Honored as 2023 Homecoming Scholar

ESS PhD Student Madeleine Lucas is honored as a 2023 Homecoming Scholar. She is one of six extraordinary students across the UW campus whose stories exemplify Husky adaptability, tenacity, and resolve.

Cover of 2023 departmental magazine Between Spheres, depicting a large cliff face with blue skies in the background.

Sep 27, 2023

Between Spheres Magazine Release

We are pleased to release the inaugural issue of Between Spheres, the new Department magazine. The name reflects the interdisciplinary nature of the research and teaching we do in Earth and Space Sciences: foundational knowledge and discovery in areas that are often at the interfaces between the geosphere, biosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of Earth, other planets, and the space environment.

Sep 13, 2023

ESS Faculty honored with 4 major AGU Awards this year

Congratulations to ESS Professors David Catling, Eric Steig, Baptiste Journaux, and Brendan Crowell, who are honored with four major AGU awards this year.

Grad student Anna Ledeczi teaching a group of elementary school students about glacial geology standing on a beach.

Sep 12, 2023

Increasing Diversity in STEM Fields with K-12 Education and Outreach

Ethnic and racial diversity of those with doctorates in geoscience is the lowest among all STEM fields in the United States, and has seen no improvement over the past 40 years.

Sep 8, 2023

UW a lead partner on new NSF-funded earthquake research center

The University of Washington is a lead partner on a new multi-institution earthquake research center based at the University of Oregon that the National Science Foundation announced Sept. 8 will receive $15 million over five years to study the Cascadia subduction zone and bolster earthquake preparedness in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

Old Cold Ice

Ice cores from the polar regions provide the most direct information possible about the climate in the past, an important part of understanding how climate will change in the future. The University of Washington glaciology group has played a leading role in ice core research for decades, and that legacy continues with two major decade-length projects funded by the National Science Foundation.