Recent recognition for the 91探花 includes a Rising Star Award, honors for distinguished ornithological work and a Gold Medal Award for Impact in Psychology.

Karen Thomas-Brown receives Rising Star Award

, 91探花associate dean of diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI) for the College of Engineering, was given the in March by the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education.

NADOHE鈥檚 Inclusive Excellence Awards recognize and honor achievements and contributions to guide higher education toward inclusivity and institutional transformation through research, leadership or service.

鈥淭his award is a significant acknowledgment that the body of work we pursue in the Office of Inclusive Excellence is on point as it informs the policies and practices of the college as a whole and is relevant to research,鈥� Thomas-Brown said.

The Rising Star honoree is a NADOHE member who has been a chief or senior diversity officer for at least three years but no more than 10 years. A nomination statement details the person鈥檚 contributions to advance the understanding of DEI in higher education.

Thomas-Brown leads the College of Engineering鈥檚 efforts to be an accessible, welcoming and inclusive community. The award recognizes her contributions to advancing DEI initiatives, including developing best practices and guidelines and working to implement programs that increase participation of underserved groups.

Thomas-Brown holds a doctorate in geography from the University of West Indies and certificates in DEI, change management and leadership from Cornell University.

Professor of biology honored for 鈥榙istinguished ornithological work鈥�

, 91探花professor of biology, received the British Ornithological Union’s聽 during the Pacific Seabird Group鈥檚 annual conference banquet in February. BOU Council awards honor an individual鈥檚 distinguished ornithological work.

鈥淭o have the British honor me is high聽praise,鈥� Boersma said. 鈥淚 just hope we can reduce the impact of聽people on the natural world.鈥�

Boersma was selected for excellence in scientific research, practical conservation, scientific monitoring and dissemination of science for public awareness. The committee particularly noted her devotion to documenting varying aspects of penguins鈥� lives and her contribution to understanding the conservation of all species.

Boersma directs the Center for Ecosystem Sentinels and is a member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature SSC Penguin Specialist Group. As a scientific fellow for the Wildlife Conservation Society, she also leads research on Magellanic Penguins.

Affiliate professor receives Gold Medal Award

, 91探花affiliate professor of psychology and gender, women & sexuality studies, received a from The American Psychological Foundation (APF). The award recognizes work that is impactful, innovative and transformational.

Freyd is known as a pioneer in the fields of trauma psychology and institutional courage. An activist in the realm of sexual violence, Freyd is also a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Oregon and the founder and president of the Center for Institutional Courage. Her work has influenced approaches, policy frameworks, legal considerations and social attitudes.

鈥淚 am grateful for this award,鈥� Freyd said in an APF release. 鈥淚 am also hopeful that this acknowledgement will help in our efforts to investigate and prevent betrayal trauma and institutional betrayal while discovering how to nurture institutional courage.鈥�

91探花study named finalist for Cozzarelli Prize

A study from the 91探花was named a finalist for the 2023 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , which “acknowledges papers that reflect聽scientific excellence and originality.”

The paper, published in聽Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was written by lead author聽, assistant professor at Utah State and former 91探花postdoctoral researcher in the Abrahms Lab; senior author聽, assistant professor of biology;聽, professor of biology;聽and聽, research scientists/engineer of biology, using聽long-term data collected by the Center for Ecosystem Sentinels.

The paper focuses on how climate change will reshape ecosystems worldwide through short-term, extreme events and long-term changes. Ecologists call the short-term events 鈥減ulses鈥� and the long-term changes 鈥減resses.鈥� The study shows how different presses and pulses impacted Magellanic penguins 鈥� a migratory marine predator 鈥� over nearly four decades at their historically largest breeding site in Punta Tombo, Argentina.

鈥淔or conservation to be most effective, we need to know where, when and how to apply our limited resources,鈥� Abrahms told 91探花News last year. 鈥淚nformation generated by this study tells us which climate effects we need to worry about and which ones we don鈥檛 鈥� and therefore can help us focus on measures that we know will have a positive impact.鈥�

Su-In Lee receives Ho-Am Prize in Engineering

, 91探花professor in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, was selected as the 2024 Samsung Ho-Am Prize Laureate in Engineering聽for her pioneering contributions to the field of explainable artificial intelligence.

Established in 1990, the honors people of Korean heritage who have contributed to academics, the arts and social development, or who have furthered the welfare of humanity in their respective field.

Lee is the first woman to receive the engineering prize.

Lee pioneered the innovative SHAP framework, revolutionizing the ability to interpret the results of machine learning models, along with subsequent algorithms. Her extensive contributions span foundational AI, computational molecular biology and clinical medicine.

Through her advancements in explainable AI technology, Lee has played a pivotal role in the development of clinical AI systems capable of predicting and elucidating various diagnoses and outcomes.聽Furthermore, her work has led to significant AI-driven discoveries aimed at enhancing our understanding of the origins and treatment of complex disease, such as cancer and Alzheimer’s.

“This is truly an extraordinary honor for me, and I’m profoundly grateful for the recognition,鈥� Lee said. 鈥淎mong countless deserving researchers, I feel deeply humbled to have been selected. Receiving an award of this magnitude entails not just privilege but also a significant responsibility. One of the most fulfilling aspects of my role as a faculty member and scientist is being able to serve as an inspiration for young individuals. As AI continues to revolutionize both science and society, my hope is that this achievement will inspire others to tackle crucial challenges aimed at enhancing science and health for all.鈥�

Yet life for these birds when they winter offshore is largely a mystery to the scientists who study Magellanic penguins 鈥� and who advocate for their conservation amid declining population numbers.

“The winter period is something of a black box for us in terms of understanding Magellanic penguins,” said , a 91探花 research scientist. “We know the least amount about this part of their year.”

But research by Rebstock and , a 91探花professor of biology and founder of the , is starting to pry open that black box and discover how Magellanic penguins from one nesting site, Punta Tombo in Argentina, fare during the winter months. In a published Aug. 9 in the journal , they report that the R铆o de la Plata 鈥� which drains South America’s second-largest river system after the Amazon 鈥� strongly influences oceanographic conditions in the Magellanic penguins’ winter feeding waters. Those oceanographic features, they report, show up in the body conditions of Magellanic penguin females, but not males, when the penguins return to their nesting grounds in spring.

“Researchers only get to study the penguins up close 鈥� monitor their biology, their health, their population numbers 鈥� for the one time in the year that they come to nesting sites like Punta Tombo to breed,” said Rebstock. “Until now, we have not really known how conditions out in the ocean, where they spend the entire winter, affect them.”

Magellanic penguins are believed to swim hundreds of miles in winter to feed on fish such as anchovy and sardines. For penguins originating at Punta Tombo, this could mean swimming more than 1,000 miles north along the coast up to southern Brazil. They generally stay along the continental shelf in waters usually no more than about 650 feet deep.

To understand the oceanographic dynamics in this region, Rebstock turned her attention to space. She analyzed 30 years of weekly sea-surface temperature data, which National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellites collected for those South American coastal waters from 1982 to 2012. Data show that geographic features of coastal South America are responsible for key variations in ocean conditions.

For example, her analysis revealed that the R铆o de la Plata, which enters the ocean between Argentina and Uruguay, is the primary driver of oceanographic conditions in the penguins’ winter feeding waters. The river discharges silt, microbes and nutrients into the ocean as a plume, which disperses in different directions based on prevailing winds. Strong winds from the southwest, for example, can spread the plume north along hundreds of miles of Brazilian coastline. If winds are weaker, the plume stays near the mouth of the R铆o de la Plata.

Rebstock then analyzed whether variations in these oceanographic features 鈥� such as a strong, dispersed plume or a weak, localized plume 鈥� were associated with the body condition of penguins at the time of their arrival at Punta Tombo. Boersma and her team have collected information on the health and state of individual penguins when they arrive Punta Tombo for more than three decades. According to their data, the body conditions of male Magellanic penguins weren’t correlated with the extent of the plume. But Rebstock found that female penguins arrived back at Punta Tombo earlier, and in healthier body condition, if the R铆o de la Plata plume was weaker in winter. This may indicate that the plume affects how hard Magellanic penguins must work to find food.

“We believe that the R铆o de la Plata plume carries a great deal of nutrients into the coastal waters, making them very productive feeding grounds for the penguins,” said Rebstock. “But winds will affect where the plume is distributed and how far penguins will have to go to reach it.”

A weaker plume may keep the penguins’ prey closer together and closer to breeding colonies, increasing an individual penguin’s odds of catching fish. Magellanic penguins also are mainly visual hunters. A stronger plume that clings to the coast may obstruct visibility for the birds by making waters more turbid, said Rebstock.

The size and disposition of the plume may affect females more than males because male Magellanic penguins tend to be larger, which allows them to dive deeper. This may give males a slight edge in catching food, especially in difficult conditions, said Rebstock.

“What we would like to do next is test some of these hypotheses by tracking male and female Magellanic penguins during the winter months, to see if they are feeding in the same locations and see how successful they are at obtaining food in different conditions,” said Rebstock.

For researchers like Rebstock, that may be the next black box to open. But it will also pose a logistical challenge. Researchers have tried to track Magellanic penguins during winter using satellite tags, but the penguins are very effective at taking them off.

The research was funded by the Wildlife Conservation Society; the ExxonMobil Foundation; the Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation; the Disney Conservation Fund; the National Geographic Society; the Chase Foundation; the Cunningham Foundation; the CGMK Foundation; the Offield Family Foundation; the Peach Foundation; the Thorne Foundation; the Tortuga Foundation; the W.K. Kellogg Foundation; 91探花Wadsworth Endowed Chair in Conservation Science; and Friends of the Penguins.

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For more information, contact Rebstock at gar@uw.edu.