Environmental Science
WWU students enrolled in the Salish Sea Biodiversity, Culture, and Conservation course started class Tuesday, Aug. 9, with high spirits and a much heavier pack than most imagined as they set off on a week-long hike through the North Cascades.
The hiking trip is just one portion of the…
For those who know how to read them, the signs have long been there. Like the towering mound of 20 million oyster shells all but obscured by the lush greenery of central Florida’s Gulf Coast. Or the arcing lines of wave-weathered stone walls strung along British Columbia’s shores like a necklace…
Many people think that the ocean’s greatest mysteries are in the depths, but one Western student is searching for them in the shallows of the Salish Sea.
Lucy Greeley, a fourth-year Marine and Coastal Science major, is studying the bioluminescent plankton in the waters in and around…
Indigenous communities had harvested oysters for thousands of years before they were colonized by Europeans, who then oversaw the rapid collapse of these sustainable fisheries, according to …
According to a new study, Indigenous communities in North America and Australia sustainably managed oyster fisheries for more than 5,000 years before Europeans and commercial fisheries arrived.
The knowledge of these…
We’ve all seen snow turn from white to gray and black, maybe a ruddy brown color when it has been sitting next to a busy road or sidewalk. We’ve seen snow take different shapes and appearances depending on temperatures and ice crystal shapes.
But have you ever seen pink snow? Sometimes…
Desert Research Institute is seeking volunteers to look for snow algae as part of the Living Snow Project. The project, a partnership with Western Washington University, aims…
Western’s faculty and students are engaged in exciting research and scholarship across a variety of fields. Each week, Western Today will share short summaries of the latest developments in scholarly work at the University. Interested in reading in-depth stories about science and research at…
Soot pollution is accelerating climate-driven melting in Antarctica, a new study suggests, raising questions about how to protect the delicate continent from the increasing number of humans who want to visit.
Researchers estimate that soot, or black carbon, pollution in the most popular…
here are few places on Earth that humans haven't mucked up with the waste and pollution that comes from our …