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State principal of the year William Jackson on justice-centered education
Alum Ryan Hackler’s company turns plastic into petrochemical alternatives. His startup is getting funding from the Department of Energy.
Alum Caitlyn Blair turns her girlhood love of orcas into a career protecting the Salish Sea
Does looking into the eyes of an animal make us more likely to act to save its endangered habitat?
The Institute for Watershed Studies provides long-term water quality data for Lake Whatcom.
Alia Khan collects ice from the world's highest places
Julann Spromberg learned to love nature on her family farm, and learned to be a scientist at Western
Virtual reality can help revitalize Indigenous languages, says Fairhaven Dean Caskey Russell
Marine Sciences graduate Amirah Casey’s impressive list of accomplishments includes embracing her late mother's story as part of her own.
Can computer science save the whales? Alum Gracie Ermi is trying—and she wants more young women to follow her into unexpected STEM careers.
The New York Times, Publisher's Weekly and Kirkus Reviews love 'Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City.'
Jim Sterk returns to Western to lead Viking Athletics
How do you bring an overdose-stopping drug to the masses? Make it sleek, stylish and small enough to carry on a keychain.
Alum Paul Merriman shares a lifetime of financial knowledge with WWU students and the community
Marketing grad Ethan Huynh combined two passions and launched a career
WWU grad student Annie Jolliff stalks bumble bees.
'We have a great future ahead.'
19 life-changing days in Ecuador with WWU’s Honors College
Before world fame, the indie rock band played the Fairhaven Auditorium
Highlights from the 2023 readership survey
What happens when an earthquake hits a building already damaged by saltwater?
One is devoted to the study of earthquakes, and the other focused on bridging Indigenous and “Western” scientific knowledge.
How far could a guy get in 1960 with two feet, one thumb and 18 bucks?
As many as 50 students are expected to receive funding this year
This gorgeous peak in southern Alaska could be one of the nation’s most dangerous volcanoes. WWU geologists are looking for clues before disaster strikes.
WWU students and faculty are showing how plastic beach trash can be put to good use somewhere else.
If you want to catch a crook, sometimes you have to think like one—just ask Western’s cybersecurity students.
Hear from a few faculty at Western who are forging ahead in academic fields previously (or still) dominated by men
Decades before Title IX, women at WWU were laying the groundwork for equality in women’s athletics
How classically trained musicians from WWU are building a vibrant, inclusive show venue in downtown Bellingham.

Class Notes

Sarah Yates - 2020

Class Note

The Unknowns, a five-person band that includes Kim Bowman, '09, B.A., music, Sarah Yates, B.Mus., music - history and literature, and Allison Bowman, is taking their vintage jazz, blues and pop sounds, on tour this summer to Montreal and Europe, including a stop the Aarhus Jazz Festival in Denmark. 

Verdie Watson - STF

Obituary

Verdie Watson, 105, a retired administrator in Western's Music Department, on May 28, 2023. 

Colleen J. McElroy - FAC

Obituary

Colleen J. McElroy, 88, a nationally known poet who served as an assistant professor of speech pathology and audiology at Western from 1966 to 1973, on Dec. 12, 2023. After teaching at Western and completing her doctorate, Dr. MmElroy became an English professor at the University of Washington (and the university's first Black woman full-time faculty member), and she mentored many young writers and poets.