For the past two years, Puget Sound Institute Lead Social Scientist Kelly Biedenweg has been working with the Puget Sound Partnership to identify and recommend what are termed “human wellbeing indicators.” These indicators will be adopted by the agency as part of its Human Quality of Life Vital Sign. Biedenweg, along with Kari Stiles of […]
February 13, 2015
UW scientist studies how pharmaceuticals impact the environment
Dr. Ed Kolodziej is one of the Puget Sound Institute’s newest collaborators. Kolodziej began his appointment at the University of Washington Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering last fall with a joint appointment at Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at UW Tacoma. His research looks at some of the ways that organic compounds like steroids and […]
February 11, 2015
The watershed: winter bat recordings
Bats are thought of as warm weather creatures, but recent studies have shown that they can be active throughout the winter. Here in the Puget Sound region, bat echolocations have been recorded in temperatures in the low teens, and are commonly heard during more mild conditions.
February 10, 2015
Printable flyers for Salish Sea Currents stories
The Salish Sea Currents magazine series has been very popular with our readers. As part of this project, we offer a printer-friendly, 2-page flyer of each story.
January 11, 2015
Identifying priority science for Puget Sound recovery
In December 2014, the Puget Sound Leadership Council adopted the 2014-2016 Biennial Science Work Plan, a document identifying decision-critical science for Puget Sound recovery. PSI Research Scientist Nick Georgiadis was lead author on the report in collaboration with the Puget Sound Partnership and its Science Panel. In the report, Georgiadis addresses the challenge of managing large scale ecosystems in the face […]
January 7, 2015
New data could yield clues to herring declines
It was a treasure trove, waiting to be uncovered. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) had been surveying Puget Sound herring habitat for more than 40 years, but until recently, much of that data remained in the original logbooks, un-digitized and unused. Recent efforts by Puget Sound Institute Lead Ecologist Tessa Francis in collaboration […]
January 5, 2015
Scientists examine the ‘time of emergence’ for climate change in Puget Sound
Climate change, like politics, is local. “At least that is how you have to look at the impacts,” says Encyclopedia of Puget Sound topic editor Amy Snover. Snover is the Director of the Climate Impacts Group at the University of Washington and has been conducting research on the expected ‘time of emergence’ for climate change in […]
December 10, 2014
Paper says spawning herring show little preference for vegetation
Pacific herring are known to lay their eggs on a wide variety of submerged vegetation, from algae to seagrass. A new study in the Marine Ecology Progress Series reports that Puget Sound herring show little preference when it comes to these types of spawning vegetation. The paper, co-authored by Puget Sound Institute Lead Ecologist Tessa Francis, analyzes […]