A map generated by the Stormwater Heatmap shows the levels of copper pollution in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood. While largely benign for humans, copper can be toxic to aquatic plants and animals. The COVID-19 pandemic has made us familiar with the idea of a deadly threat that spreads invisibly. Polluted stormwater has a similar…
Category Archives: Impact Series
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The Pacific Northwest was hit by a series of rainstorms in November 2021, leading to widespread flooding in rural and urban areas that included the city of Bellingham, Wash. (Photo via the city of Bellingham, used with permission) It started with a November 2015 announcement by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates along with Amazon’s Jeff Bezos,…
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Marc Dones, CEO of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCHRA), and Neal Myrick, global head for the Tableau Foundation, discuss the region’s homelessness crisis. (Screenshot from WTIA event) It’s been a year since Marc Dones was hired to lead King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCHRA), a newly created government agency that is bringing together…
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Jens Molbak, founder of Coinstar and NewImpact. (NewImpact Photo) Jens Molbak‘s decision to build Coinstar — a startup that would become a billion-dollar international coin recycling business — was driven by his Danish family’s values and his own impatience. Molbak’s parents had lived in Nazi-occupied Denmark before immigrating to the U.S. As a family, they…
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A scuba diver among a bed of kelp in Edmonds, Wash. (Gray McKenna Photo) Kelp is cool. Some varieties of the ribbony seaweed can grow up to two feet a day. They form “marine skyscrapers” that stretch up to 45 feet from the seafloor to the surface, creating habitat for crabs, fish and sea otters….
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Dr. Tam’ra-Kay Francis, a post doctoral research associate in the University of Washington’s Department of Chemistry. (Photo courtesy of Francis) Dr. Tam’ra-Kay Francis was feeling a little nervous. The confession was a surprise given all she has accomplished. Francis, who goes by TK, has a masters degree in chemistry for research on nanowires and a…
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Iceland’s President Guðni Jóhannesson speaks at the Nordic Innovation Summit in Seattle on May 19, 2022. (Livestream screenshot) Don’t forget about the less common languages when building digital devices and software. That was the message to local tech giants Microsoft and Amazon from the president of Iceland on his visit to Seattle this week. “No…
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The Washington-state high school scientists who traveled to Atlanta last week to compete in the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). The state sent 23 students in person and virtually to the event, and they brought home 23 awards and honors. (WSSEF Photo) The bleak and all-too-common spectacle of roadkill was upsetting to Vedant…
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A team of Seattle University seniors who tackled a problem for Kenworth Truck Co., from left: Matthew Miramon, Jackson Christian, James Finnestad, faculty advisor Dr. Yen-Lin Han, Kayla Smith, Paula Fijolek and Daniel Lee. (GeekWire Photo / Lisa Stiffler) Technology moves so fast, it can be difficult to teach computer science and engineering students the…
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The Our Future Duwamish VR experience created by The Seattle Public Library and the University of Washington explains how gases like carbon dioxide traps solar radiation in the Earth’s atmosphere, and connects that with melting glaciers that are causing sea level rise. (UW/SPL Image) The Seattle Public Library and the University of Washington have created…