In the News: Salmon or Hydropower?
Researcher's work presents stark choice, garners national attention.
- UW research indicates that climate change could force Pacific Northwest residents into a stark choice in the next 50 years: salmon or hydropower
Climate change isn’t a new concept for most members of the public. So when Dennis Lettenmaier and a group of colleagues tallied results from the most extensive examination of the issue to date in the western United States, they looked for ways to bring the issue to people in an easy-to-grasp way. For the Pacific Northwest, that took the form of an unpleasant choice changes in the mountain snowpack would likely force upon residents: salmon or hydropower.
The study received wide national exposure. Lettenmaier, professor of civil and environmental engineering, did interviews with local TV news affiliates, and stories appeared on approximately 50 sister stations around the country. Print coverage included USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, The Miami Herald, Newsday, The Washington Post and an article on the Associate Press’s national wire.
To read the news release, click here.
Computer scientist offers air travelers price-busting ‘fare-ware’
Oren Etzioni realized that his latest data-mining project was a likely attention-getter when he mentioned it in passing at a party, hours after he finished writing up initial results. The associate professor in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering told friends about the algorithm he and his colleagues had designed that could predict with nearly 90 percent accuracy if the price of an airline ticket would go down, then advise the user whether to buy or wait for a better bargain.
Before he knew it, a fellow partygoer who worked for travel giant Expedia had set up an appointment to further chat about the project, dubbed Hamlet (“to buy or not to buy…”). Since then, the story has appeared in local and national outlets, including MSNBC, Wired News, Business Week, Tech TV and National Public Radio.
Etzioni says Hamlet is about a year away from public availability. In the meantime, interview requests keep coming in, as do messages from eager bargain hunters wanting to use the program. “It seems to really strike a chord with people,” he said. “I guess it’s something most everyone can relate to.”