Most Recent

Decoding the sounds of the rainforest

panoramic view of a rainforest near Singapore
Neal Digre, ‘16, is using the machine learning and linguistics skills he learned at WWU in the $10 million XPRIZE Rainforest competition.

An internship for a greener future

panoramic photo of the San Juans
New environmental communications endowment equips students to tell stories for the Earth.

All Things Energy

A student sits in the middle of a scientific laboratory, surrounded by equipment
Western’s Institute for Energy Studies prepares students to tackle the world’s toughest climate and energy problems.

‘Everything is about energy’: The many lives of Olivier Singbo

Olivier Singbo smiles in front of the SMATE building
Olivier Singbo is using what he’s learned about energy to ensure his family’s access to electricity.

Lessons in Hope

Kate Darby, in focus, sits at a seminar table among four students and speaks to a person out of the frame.
When Kate Darby teaches about environmental problems, she includes how people are working together to address them

Higher ed's role in climate change solutions

Darrin Magee
Interdisciplinary programs are essential to preparing students for a new energy future

How we know the energy transition is here

detail of six wind turbines standing in formation
It won’t be easy or simple, but clean energy is accelerating

Introducing Window guest editor Amy Harder

Amy Harder stands next to a railing on the Seattle waterfront, looking off to the right.
An ’07 journalism alum, Harder covers clean tech and green energy

A place at the table

a bottle of beer and a shot of whiskey sit next to an empty chair at a crowded bar with a sign that says Reserved for Sue Kidd Thank You for Everything.
Pierce County’s passionate restaurant reviewer Sue Kidd remembered

The Roehl Way

Tom Roehl smiles while wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with his smiling face and the words 'be comfortable being uncomfortable.'
Tom Roehl has spent 25 years encouraging students to stretch beyond boundaries

Artistic Gifts

Mark di Suvero and Virginia Wright stand smiling and talking to each other in front of the sculpture For Handel. in 1974. Wright, wearing a stylish 70s-era fur trench coat and floppy rain hat, is holding a wrench.
A brainy timber heiress with a passion for sculpture, Virginia Wright brought some of the nation’s best contemporary artists to Western’s Sculpture Collection

Joining the ‘Major Leagues of voice’

Richard Hodges sits at a grand piano, singing along with an unseen choir and pointing upward to indicate a high note.
Music's Richard L. Hodges will take the stage in Seattle Opera's 'X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X'

Leading with 'radical love'

William Jackson, wearing a light-colored suit jacked and looking relaxed, smiles while surrounded by students after his talk
State principal of the year William Jackson on justice-centered education

Where the Whales Are

Caitlyn Blair, seen from behind, looks out at Bellingham Bay
Alum Caitlyn Blair turns her girlhood love of orcas into a career protecting the Salish Sea

Aperture of Empathy

a hippopotamus under the water surrounded by a school of fish
Does looking into the eyes of an animal make us more likely to act to save its endangered habitat?

Enlisting drones to study the world’s most remote glaciers

A student crouches down to adjust a piece of equipment on a drone parked on a snow bank on top of a mountain. Two other people are nearby with equipment and watch him work.
Alia Khan collects ice from the world's highest places

Plastic Trash Upcycler

Ryan Hackler, wearing a blue lab coat and protective goggles, holds up and examines a test tube half-full of clear liquid.
Alum Ryan Hackler’s company turns plastic into petrochemical alternatives. His startup is getting funding from the Department of Energy.

River Views

artistic rendering of the meandering curves of the Duwamish River across five panels
John Feodorov’s new work for the Seattle Convention Center is a story of the Duwamish River

In Her Father’s Memory

a man smiles, wearing a cowboy hat, white T, jeans and boots, sitting on a rock next to a stream.
Julann Spromberg learned to love nature on her family farm, and learned to be a scientist at Western

Eye on the Water

Two students on a boat in the middle of Lake Whatcom, one holds a tube preparing to take a water sample.
The Institute for Watershed Studies provides long-term water quality data for Lake Whatcom.

Immersive Future of Language

Caskey Russell
Virtual reality can help revitalize Indigenous languages, says Fairhaven Dean Caskey Russell

'She Was Beautiful, Loyal and Tough'

Amirah Casey, in her cheer uniform, sits next to a gigantic trophy
Marine Sciences graduate Amirah Casey’s impressive list of accomplishments includes embracing her late mother's story as part of her own.

A Viking Comes Full Circle

Jim Sterk, wearing a suit and tie, stands smiling in front of the entrance at Carver
Jim Sterk returns to Western to lead Viking Athletics

Jane Wong's 'furious, joyful memoir'

Jane Wong holds a bouquet of flowers.
The New York Times, Publisher's Weekly and Kirkus Reviews love 'Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City.'

Keys, Phone, Lifesaver

a small, white plastic case for naloxone, designed with curves and small enough to fit in a pocket or hang on a keychain
How do you bring an overdose-stopping drug to the masses? Make it sleek, stylish and small enough to carry on a keychain.

A brighter financial future

Paul Merriman smiles
Alum Paul Merriman shares a lifetime of financial knowledge with WWU students and the community

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