Research

a hippopotamus under the water surrounded by a school of fish

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

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'

Immersive Future of Language

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

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.

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

Jane Wong's 'furious, joyful memoir'

The New York Times, Publisher's Weekly and Kirkus Reviews love 'Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City.'

Sweetening the Pot

a honeypot with a keyhole on the front, surrounded by stylized computer circuits and honeycomb shapes, representing the honeypot systems built by cybersecurity students to protect data

If you want to catch a crook, sometimes you have to think like one—just ask Western’s cybersecurity students.

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.

Teeth Tell the Story

Tesla Monson stands in a library with shelves filled with bone fragments, examining a long jawbone.

WWU’s Tesla Monson may have found the key to one of evolution’s great mysteries right under our noses.

Digging for Answers

whispy clouds skirt the top of Mount Augustine on a blue sky day

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.

A closer look at earthquake resilience at sea level

What happens when an earthquake hits a building already damaged by saltwater?

Ask the Clams

A woman sits on the deck of a ship, holding out an open clam.

500-year-old quahog clams can tell us a few things about our changing oceans.

Harnessing the power of scientific societies to build inclusion in the sciences

WWU scientist, mentor Marco Hatch awarded Pew Fellowship

Marco Hatch stands on the rocky tidepools on the shoreline

Hatch's work combines mainstream science and ancestral knowledge

WWU faculty join two new NSF-funded research centers

Emily Roland and Colin Amos, with Bellingham Bay and the San Juans in the background

One is devoted to the study of earthquakes, and the other focused on bridging Indigenous and “Western” scientific knowledge.

Window to a Solar Future

Two people, one on a ladder, work on the windows in front of the Western Gallery

An alum who helped develop a new solar window technology in a lab at Western returns to install the finished product at the Western Gallery

Bee Welcome

students in bee keeping attire are surrounded by swirling honebees

It's official: Bees have a happy home at Western

First Crush, Second Draft

A man sits smiling for the camera on a concrete staircase

Alum Will Taylor’s book about first love is one of a growing number of LGBTQ+ stories for kids

Reforesting the West

a hand sweeps over the tops of green tree seedlings

Climate change, drought and horrifying wildfires have destroyed millions of forested acres and threaten millions more. Kea Woodruff nurtures the seedlings to replace the trees of the West.

Look Up

Isamu Noguchi exploded the boundaries of contemporary art and lived an amazing 20th-century life. One of his best works is at the center of Western’s campus.