In the News

Sloan-award winner Jacqueline Padilla-Gamiño studies ocean change AND writes about science and culture for children. Here, she and Jeremy Axworthy, a graduate student, run an experiment to see if a coral ingests microplastics.

Jacqueline of All Trades Scientist engages children in her work

THE SLOAN FOUNDATION recently awarded four UW faculty, including

Jacqueline Padilla-Gamiño, early career Alfred P. Sloan Fellowships. Padilla

Gamiño, who came to the UW in 2016, studies algae and marine inverte

brates. She considers issues like global environmental change, ocean acidification and microplastics in the ocean, and already has a national reputation for working across cultures and reaching beyond her scientific community.

One example of this is her bilingual children’s book, “Kupe and the Corals,”

which tells the story of a boy in French Polynesia who discovers the beauty

and diversity of coral reefs and the ecological community they support.

The idea for the illustrated book

came from Padilla-Gamiño's own ex

periences as a child in Mexico watch

ing scientists do field research and as

MATT HAGEN

an adult scientist encountering children curious about her own fieldwork studying corals. “Kupe” was published in 2014 as part of the National Science

Foundation’s Long-Term Ecological Research Schoolyard Series.

Candidates for the Sloan awards are nominated by their peers and selected based on their research, creativity and potential to become leaders in their fields. Each fellow receives $75,000 to apply toward their work. The UW’s three other fellows are Kyle Armour (Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences), and Yin Tat Lee and Hannaneh Hajishirzi (both Computer Science and Engineering).

Border Patrol Concerns

AFTER HEARING OF UNEASE from students and faculty, officials at UW Tacoma asked U.S. Customs and Border Protection not to attend a career fair on campus in February. The federal agency had signed up to attend the recruitment event as a potential employer.

“In this particular instance, the upcoming presence of U.S. CBP on campus had created significant concern among a number of our students and faculty, who stated very clearly that they would feel unsafe and dissuaded from participating in the career fair,” Chancellor Mark Pagano said in a statement. “Considering the positive and educational purpose of the career fair, we determined the best course of action was to ask CBP not to participate, and they agreed.”

Other universities around the countryhave faced protests about the border patrol attending campus recruitment events. Last spring, San Jose City College asked the border patrol not to attend its job fair, stating the presence of immigration officials could cause some members of its community “undue distress and concern.”

LGBTQ Health Disparities

LGBTQ individuals in Washington state have higher rates of disability and poorer mental health than their heterosexual counterparts, according to a UW study released in October. The results of the Washington State Equity and Diversity Project show specific health disparities in LGBTQ adults. They have higher rates of chronic conditions such as arthritis and asthma, and generally have poorer physical health than heterosexual adults. On a more positive note, the study also revealed strong social support within LGBTQ communities.

The study is the first of its kind to examine LGBTQ people of all ages throughout the state. The goals are twofold: to identify health disparities among Washington’s LGBTQ population, including among specific racial/ethnic communities; and to come up with potential interventions to address these disparities.