Author: lgaylord

Louisa believes in expanding horizons and learning - anything that broadens our minds beyond the here and now, allowing us to learn from the past and innovate for the future. She is particularly interested new and inventive methods of sustainability: city planning and green buildings, creating new objects from old trash, and ways that nature can provide examples for new materials and construction. She is also curious about new scientific breakthroughs, technology and discoveries, and how they will shape the future of consumerism and marketing. While science is important to advancing society, Louisa believes that music, education, art and culture are equally necessary, especially on a local community level.
Exploring our World, Interview

Data Science Student Profiles: Stefan de Villiers


The University of Washington hosted the Data Science Minor Showcase several weeks ago, an event for undergraduates to explore the curriculum offered as part of the Data Science Minor program that was launched in Fall 2020. The showcase featured UW faculty outlining the new courses they have developed for the Minor, personal experiences from students who are currently enrolled in the minor, as well as smaller breakout sessions for participants to learn more about possible pathways towards data science from their areas of interest. One of the students who shared their experience with the Data Science Minor program was Stefan de Villiers, a UW senior who is majoring in Economics in addition to minoring in both Data Science and Mathematics.

Continue reading “Data Science Student Profiles: Stefan de Villiers”
lgaylordLeave a comment
Books and Literature, Flavors

2021 Reading List

Food, memories and emotions are closely linked in our brains. A taste of something can transport you to another time and place, or maybe you avoid certain foods based on past experiences or connections. In addition to cooking, I also enjoy reading about cooking because everyone approaches it in different ways: through passion, survival, nostalgia, or luck. My friend taught a culinary writing course at Portland State University recently, and many of the food memoirs I read in 2021 are included in the course reading.

food memoirs

Continue reading “2021 Reading List”

lgaylord1 Comment
Exploring our World, Interview

Data Science Student Profiles: Bonnie Du

The University of Washington’s Data Science Minor brings data science to a wide range of undergraduates within and beyond the STEM fields. 186 students are currently enrolled in the new minor, representing 54 areas of study at the university. UW undergrads interested in gaining literacy in data science methods and understanding their implications for society should look into adding a Data Science Minor to their studies. Ben Marwick, Senior Data Science Fellow and Director of the Data Science minor, described how the program will balance data skills and studies: “The goal is to combine the technical skills that relate to the new developments of generating and analyzing large amounts of data, then give students the context and the critical thinking skills to do something meaningful with that.”

Continue reading “Data Science Student Profiles: Bonnie Du”
lgaylordLeave a comment
Exploring our World, Interview, Tech and Media

Using Cloud Computing to Aid Seattle’s Covid Response

Over the past year, the University of Washington and UW Medicine have been at the heart of the city of Seattle’s Covid-19 response: researchers studying social distancing and how the virus spreads on our communities, volunteers collecting and distributing supplies, clinical vaccine trials, and a partnership with the city to process over 2 million test samples at no cost to residents – all of which have helped Seattle maintain one of the lowest Covid-19 rates of major US cities. And with so many departments and teams working together, often involving clinical patient data, an adaptable and secure info-sharing system is absolutely necessary.

Continue reading “Using Cloud Computing to Aid Seattle’s Covid Response”
lgaylordLeave a comment
Exploring our World, Interview, Tech and Media

Help the Fibr Algorithm Learn to Read MRI Scans

At the University of Washington, eScience Data Science Fellow and Research Assistant Professor of Psychology Ariel Rokem and UW Data Science Postdoctoral Fellow Adam Richie-Halford have created a way for the general public to help an algorithm learn to read MRI scans. Fibr utilizes the vast dataset of the Healthy Brain Network to better understand how mental health disorders are first diagnosed in childhood and adolescence. But in order for the algorithm to differentiate between scans that show long-range fiber connections in the brain and those that don’t, it must first learn what to look for. Regardless of scientific training, anyone who wants to participate can view a short tutorial and start guiding Fibr towards new innovations in neuroscience and beyond.

Continue reading “Help the Fibr Algorithm Learn to Read MRI Scans”
lgaylordLeave a comment
Interview, Tech and Media

Using Data Science to Track Marine Heatwaves

The University of Washington’s School of Oceanography Professor LuAnne Thompson and recent PhD graduate Hillary Scannell are leading a team that uses data science to track and predict marine heatwaves (MHW). These extreme hot-water events have had dramatic ecological impacts and have led to widespread toxic algal blooms, habitat degradation, and loss in commercially valuable fisheries.

Continue reading “Using Data Science to Track Marine Heatwaves”

lgaylordLeave a comment
Books and Literature, Movies

2020 Reading List

Whatever grand plans I originally had about the books I was going to read in 2020 went entirely out the window about halfway through March, along with many other plans. I still tried to focus on authors who were Black, indigenous, immigrant, queer or part of other marginalized groups, but when the libraries unexpectedly closed, my reading options was suddenly limited to whatever I bought from my local bookstore or was already in the house. These 42 books span 81 years, from 1939 to 2020. Several of the books link to comparisons of the original texts and film adaptations.

Continue reading “2020 Reading List”
lgaylordLeave a comment
Books and Literature, Movies, Reviews

Comparisons: The Color Purple

The Color Purple is a 1982 novel by American author Alice Walker. The book was adapted into a 1985 movie directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey. The book has also been made into a Broadway musical that was nominated for 11 Tony Awards in 2006, as well as a radio serial adaptation for BBC Radio 4. It was recently announced that a film adaptation of the musical is in development that will be produced by Spielberg, Winfrey, Quincy Jones and Scott Sanders.

Continue reading “Comparisons: The Color Purple”
lgaylordLeave a comment
Books and Literature, Immigration, Movies, Reviews

Comparisons: The Joy Luck Club

The Joy Luck Club, the debut novel of American author Amy Tan, was published in 1989. It has been adapted into a stage play that premiered at New York’s Pan Asian Repertory Theater, as well as the 1994 drama film “The Joy Luck Club” directed by Wayne Wang. The film’s screenplay was written by Amy Tan and Academy Award-winning screenwriter Ronald Bass.

Continue reading “Comparisons: The Joy Luck Club”
lgaylordLeave a comment
Books and Literature, Movies, Reviews

Comparisons: Native Son

“Native Son,” written by American author Richard Wright, was published in 1940. Wright’s published works of revolutionary poetry, novels and short stories have elevated him alongside other African American icons of literature such as James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison and Langston Hughes. “Native Son” has been adapted for the screen several times, most recently the 2019 version for HBO that is a directorial debut from Rashid Johnson.

Continue reading “Comparisons: Native Son”

lgaylord