2022-2023 Husky Highlights
Husky Highlights is a seminar series meeting several times a quarter to feature UW Bothell faculty and staff who are making advances in research, scholarship and creative practice. These events are often provided virtually and open to the public. Recordings may be available, depending on speaker preference.
Bobcats? In My Neighborhood? What community science can tell us about the surprising wildlife of Northshore, its significance to people, and how we can conserve it.
Discussion by Dr. David Stokes, May 25, 2023
When we think about wildlife and wildlife habitat, we usually think of faraway places—vast pristine lands such as national parks and wilderness areas. We don’t often think about the urban areas where most of us live. However, the nearby nature in our cities has great potential to support wildlife, although that potential is not widely recognized. In this talk, I will present results from four years of wildlife research involving UW Bothell students and community scientists in the Northshore area—Kirkland, Kenmore, and Bothell. Our study documents the existence of a surprisingly diverse array of wildlife species in our parks and neighborhoods, including bobcats, flying squirrels, otters, and chipmunks. In addition to summarizing what we have learned, I will discuss the importance our local wildlife and how we can better share the habitat we occupy with our local wildlife to ensure that it persists into the future. Learn more about the Northshore Wildlife Science Network.
Fulbright Scholars Husky Highlight Edition
Viewing America from Japan
Discussion by Dr. David Goldstein, Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences 2021 Fulbright US Scholar and Dr. Makoto Kurosaki, Chair of the Department of English at Kanda University of International Studies, April 27, 2023
Teaching American ethnic studies—history and literature—at three universities in Japan provided a unique and fascinating opportunity to see that material from the other side of the Pacific Ocean. I brought my expertise in Asian American literature, especially Japanese American literature, to my students in Japan, and they, in turn, pointed out aspects of the history and stories that reflect elements of Japanese culture with which I was unfamiliar. By sharing their views of America, the students helped me understand my own country with a bit more nuance, and I hope our work together deepened and complicated their understanding of race, ethnicity, and power in the United States.
Culturally-Responsive STEM Teaching Focused on MENA-US Learning Spaces – Promoting International Collaboration and Globalized Perspectives.
Discussion by Dr. Salwa Al-Noori, Biological Sciences – 2022 Fulbright US Scholar award to Jordan, April 27, 2023
As a Fulbright Scholar in Jordan, I had the privilege of conducting a semester-long teaching-focused grant at the Hashemite University where I engaged in teaching, pedagogy, faculty development activities, and other contexts that allowed me to engage in educational and cultural exchange. This included instruction of two STEM courses (undergraduate and graduate level) in the Department of Biology and Biotechnology at the Hashemite University College of Science. Leveraging my experience developing and teaching similar courses at the University of Washington provided an excellent framework to explore similarities and differences across these learning spaces and the associated pedagogical adaptations involved in instruction and communication of content knowledge and skills as approaches to optimizing learning. This includes, but is not limited to, approaches relating to use of language and culturally-relevant contexts. Through my interaction with students, as well as from engaging in interdisciplinary collaboration with faculty and staff, through developing a Learning Community model and leading various workshops, I was able to gain an understanding of the format and structure of tertiary-level education in Jordan. This experience has expanded my understanding of the role of culturally-responsive and culturally-relevant pedagogy that integrates cultural values and norms to support inclusive learning environments. Furthermore, the opportunity to engage in exchange of perspectives on culturally-responsive teaching and develop new tools that are important for optimizing learning spaces. informs not only my teaching of students from MENA backgrounds, but students of all cultures.
Teaching Black Mirror in Iceland
Discussion by Dr. Wanda Gregory, School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences , 2022 Fulbright-National Science Foundation Arctic Research Award and a 2022 Fulbright Specialist Award, April 27, 2023
Dr. Gregory will share her 5-month experience in Iceland after receiving the prestigious scholarship. Along her journey, she taught Black Mirror, a University of Washington Bothell course, and furthered her research on Virtual Realty to help aid patients with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), a life-threatening chronic disease that weakens the nervous system. To learn more about Dr. Gregory’s journey on Fulbright, her research, and Black Mirror, please check out her article.
Little Redfish Lost and Found: The Rediscovery of Bothell’s own Native Salmon
Discussion by Dr. Jeffrey Jensen, January 17, 2023
Native kokanee salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) were once abundant in the Lake Washington/Sammamish Basin in Washington state. Based on historical accounts of local indigenous groups and early European settlers, kokanee salmon were by far the most abundant local salmon and were important culturally and as a food source. Three runs of kokanee were present – an “early run” in Lake Sammamish that was declared extinct in 2002; a “middle run” in Lake Washington and Sammamish River tributaries (including North Creek) that was thought to have been eliminated decades ago; and a “late run” that struggles along in Lake Sammamish. This research, supported by a UW Bothell Scholarship, Research, and Creative Practice (SRCP) Seed Grant, resulted in the surprising rediscovery of the kokanee “middle-run” and represents a rare good-news story of a salmon population surviving unrecognized after over a century of environmental degradation. Genetic analysis, and comparison with other O. nerka populations throughout the Pacific Northwest, indicates that a kokanee population spawning primarily in North Creek and the Sammamish River is genetically distinct and native to the Lake Washington basin. These kokanee currently have a very limited spawning area and their biology is poorly known – further research is required to protect this unique, local, and historically important population.
The Environmental Education and Research Center (EERC) at Saint Edward State Park: Navigating the Partially Uncharted Waters of an Interinstitutional Initiative
Discussion by Dr. Santiago Lopez, January 17th, 2023
The University of Washington Bothell has launched a new program called the Environmental Education and Research Center (EERC) in close collaboration with WA State Parks. With the aim of increasing public understanding, scientific knowledge, environmental justice, and a sense of connectedness to the natural world, the EERC aims at hosting a variety of widely interdisciplinary and equity-centered environmental education and research initiatives. The EERC was expected to be launched by the end of June 2021. However, due to pandemic-related chain supply problems that caused major delays in the physical space’s development, the EERC building’s renovation only concluded in March 2022. Since this is a joint project between two governmental institutions, a written agreement outlining the obligations of each party was necessary to formally start operations at the EERC. The agreement was finally signed by both parties in Nov 2022. In this presentation, I will share information about the status of the EERC and provide a historical account of its development and its operational structure. I will also provide information about how we envision UWB faculty could join the EERC and engage in teaching, research, and service. At the end of the presentation, participants will have the opportunity to share their thoughts about what they consider critical to meaningfully engage with the EERC and its programming through a short survey.
Dr. Lopez is an Associate Professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at UW Bothell and serves as the Faculty Director of the Environmental Education and Research Center
Fulbright Scholars edition, Dr. Jed Murr in Slovenia
January 26, 2023, Dr. Jed Murr, Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences – 2021 Fulbright US Scholar award to Slovenia to teach Ethnic American Literature at the University of Ljubljana, and lead a seminar at the World of Art School for Curatorial Practices and Critical Writing,
Fulbright Scholars edition, Dr. Alka Kurian in Morocco
January 26, 2023, Dr. Alka Kurian, Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences – 2021 Fulbright US Scholar award to Morocco to interview feminist activists and guest lecture at the University of Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah in Fez.
Delivery of Mobile Computing Resources for Pervasive AI Services on Edge
February 7, 2023, Dr. Yang Peng
Gizmo 2.0 – a cross-disciplinary robot for enhancing recovery after stroke-induced hemispatial neglect
February 7, 2023, Dr. W. Jong Yoon
Video lessons to support equity education for university instructional assistants in STEM
March 8, 2023, Dr. Rachel E Scherr
An Existential Toolkit for Climate Justice Educators
March 8, 2023, Dr. Jennifer Atkinson
The stakeholder-corporation: a theoretical analysis
Tuesday, April 18, 2023, Dr. Camelia Bejan
Reducing the performance costs of interruptions: an intervention study
Tuesday, April 18, 2023, Dr. Sophie Leroy
Fulbright Scholars edition
Viewing America from Japan
April 27, 2023, Dr. David Goldstein, Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences – 2021 Fulbright US Scholar, and Dr. Makoto Kurosaki, Chair of the Department of English at Kanda University of International Studies
Teaching American ethnic studies—history and literature—at three universities in Japan provided a unique and fascinating opportunity to see that material from the other side of the Pacific Ocean. I brought my expertise in Asian American literature, especially Japanese American literature, to my students in Japan, and they, in turn, pointed out aspects of the history and stories that reflect elements of Japanese culture with which I was unfamiliar. By sharing their views of America, the students helped me understand my own country with a bit more nuance, and I hope our work together deepened and complicated their understanding of race, ethnicity, and power in the United States.
Culturally-Responsive STEM Teaching Focused on MENA-US Learning Spaces – Promoting International Collaboration and Globalized Perspectives.
April 27, 2023, Dr. Salwa Al-Noori, Biological Sciences – 2022 Fulbright US Scholar award to Jordan to will engage in an interdisciplinary project, Culturally-Responsive STEM Teaching Focused on MENA-US Learning Spaces – Promoting International Collaboration and Globalized Perspectives
The Value of Crowdfunding to Microfinance
December 6, 2022, Dr. Xiahua Wei
This study investigates the effect of crowdfunding on the performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs). Microfinance is a potential remedy to alleviate global poverty and promote financial inclusion for underserved social groups. Such efforts are led by MFIs. Traditionally, MFIs are often funded by government subsidies, which could undermine MFIs’ incentive to improve financial performance. In recent years, MFIs resorted to lending-based crowdfunding as a new source of funding. Meanwhile, it remains unclear how crowdfunding, as an innovative financing mechanism operating on digital platforms, would improve the financial performance of MFIs without compromising their social mission of alleviating poverty. To address this issue, we compile and analyze a panel dataset from a leading crowdfunding platform for microfinance. We find that MFIs’ partnership with crowdfunding improves their operational scale and financial performance without sacrificing social outreach. Moreover, improved financial performance is mediated by operational efficiency, and non-government organizations benefit more from crowdfunding partnerships in financial performance than other types of MFIs. In addition, we perform text analysis on crowdfunding narratives, employ weak supervision to assess the pragmatic and moral legitimacy of crowdfunding projects, and show how they affect MFIs’ operational focus.
Fast, Accurate, and Fully Automated Macromolecular Complex Structure Prediction and Determination from 3D Cryo-EM
December 6, 2022, Dr. Dong Si
Information about the macromolecular structure and related molecular mechanisms can assist in the understanding of its function in a living cell and the drug development processes. To obtain such structural information, we present DeepTracer, a fully automatic deep learning-based platform for fast de novo macromolecular complex structure determination from high-resolution cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) density maps. It is a fully automated pipeline and users can perform cryo-EM data processing, target identification, and structure predictions through the intuitive graphical web server. The web service is globally accessible at https://deeptracer.uw.edu.
The Power of Prose: A Case Study of a High Impact Writing Classroom
November 29, 2022, Dr. Julie Shayne
In spring 2022 I taught what felt like a fantasy class – “The Power of Feminist Writing.” With funding from the Office of Connected Learning I was able to bring in authors from Seattle and beyond to work with my students on the whys and hows of feminist writing. The class was for advanced undergraduates, and high impact for all of us involved; myself and the guests included. This talk is about the origin of the class; the portfolio based assignment; the freedom I gave the students; and the high impact results from all of this.
Polynomials that preserve nonnegative matrices of a fixed order
November 29, 2022, Dr. Pietro Paparella
In further pursuit of a solution to the celebrated nonnegative inverse eigenvalue problem, in 1978, R. Loewy and D. London posed the problem of characterizing all polynomials that preserve all nonnegative matrices of a fixed order. It is clear that the set of all polynomials that preserve all n-by-n nonnegative matrices contains polynomials with nonnegative coefficients, however, it is known that this set contains polynomials with negative entries. In this talk, novel results are presented concerning the coefficients of the polynomials belonging to this set. The two-by-two case and implications for further research are discussed. This is joint-work with former UWB undergraduate student Benjamin J. Clark (currently in the PhD program in mathematics at Washington State University).
References:
B. J. Clark and P. Paparella. Polynomials that preserve nonnegative matrices of order two. Mathematics Exchange, to appear.
B. J. Clark and P. Paparella. Polynomials that preserve nonnegative matrices. Linear Algebra Appl., 637:110–118, 2022.
What do we learn from the ocean soundscape?
November 1, 2022, Dr. Shima Abadi
Ocean soundscape reveals important information about marine life, natural phenomena, and the human footprint in the ocean. Understanding the ocean soundscape in continental margins is a challenging task due to the steep continental slope, range-dependent ocean bottom properties from shallow water to deep ocean, and frequent seismic activities in the subduction zone. In this presentation, I use seven years of underwater acoustic recordings off the coast of Washington and Oregon to characterize the ocean soundscape in the Northeast Pacific continental margin and identify its seasonal, spectral, and spatial patterns.
A Crowdsensing Platform for Ubiquitous Taste Recognition
November 1, 2022, Dr. Afra Mashhadi
The capabilities offered by present-day instruments for chemical sensing (i.e, e-tongues) are limited due to their stationary and bulky design. This imposes limitations such that the liquid cannot be tested outside of the lab condition and in the real setting/environment. These instruments are capable of measuring sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami flavors in an objective manner but are not yet capable of assessing the hedonic aspect of taste without additional data derived from human trials. Furthermore, the current data acquisition techniques, by design, create a disparity between the sampled data and human labels that are assigned to describe the taste signature of the liquid. Closing this gap is crucial, as most commercial applications of taste profiling rely on both subjective and objective data. In this talk, we will present the design and preliminary analysis of building a crowdsensing platform for supporting collection of liquid profiles. Our system is designed for enabling collection of hedonic labels from users and a machine learning algorithm to cluster liquids with similar taste profiles together.