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Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology

Swanson Honored with WWU Alumni Distinguished Service Award

CSDE Affiliate David Swanson (UC Riverside) has been recognized with the Alumni Distinguished Service Award by The Foundation for Western Washington University (WWU) & Alumni. These awardees were chosen from a community-wide nomination process and selected by the board.  The Foundation for WWU & Alumni highlighted Swanson’s contributions as an internationally recognized demographer, prolific researcher, and higher education advocate. You can read more about Swanson’s accomplishments here.  The Foundation also invites you to join the Alumni Awards ceremony on May 15.

Bratman Quoted by Smithsonian Magazine on Smells Disappearing Due to Climate Change

Smithsonian Magazine quoted CSDE Affiliate Greg Bratman (Environmental and Forest Sciences) in a feature on how climate change, pollution, and extinction are altering the planet’s olfactory landscapes. Bratman noted that the invisible olfactory environments in which humans are embedded are often overlooked. The Smithsonian feature tapped into the theme of a 2025 Harvard Radcliffe Institute Working Group, co-organized by Bratman, Lucia Jacobs, and Asifa Majid. During this working group, thirteen experts from a variety of disciplines gathered to consider climate change’s impact on olfaction, from the environmental ramifications to how these may affect our mental and physical well-being. Bratman’s contribution to the Smithsonian article was also highlighted in UW Today.

UW Data Science & AI Accelerator Accepting Summer 2026 Proposals (04/26/26)

The Data Science and AI Accelerator pairs eScience Institute data scientists with researchers from any field of study to work on focused, collaborative projects. Collaborations may center on analysis of an existing dataset to answer a specific research question, an implementation of software for processing or analyzing data, data visualization tools, or tools for data interpretation. This program is centered around building capacity — helping researchers to learn the skills and tools they need to do their projects rather than providing people to write code for them. Projects for Summer 2026 must be received by April 26 at 11:59 PM PT.

If you are seeking professional software engineering support beyond the scope of the accelerator program, please consider UW SSEC as a partner on funded research projects in any field.

Unlike our previous Incubator program, the Accelerator program runs year-round, and proposals are accepted on a rolling basis for collaborations of variable duration (from 1 week to 6 months) and intensity (from sprints to slow burns).

Accelerator Projects may be submitted at any time. Projects for Summer 2026 must be received by April 26th at 11:59 p.m. PT.

*New* 2026 Peter L. Lee Endowed Lecture in East Asian Culture and Civilization on “China and India: Conflict and Cooperation in the (De)Globalization Era” (04/21/26)

The 2026 Peter L. Lee Endowed Lecture in East Asian Culture and Civilization will take place on Tuesday, April 21, 2026, 4:00pm-6:00pm (PDT) in the Casey Commons (Casey Building 5th Floor, 90112th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122) at Seattle University. This year’s lecture, entitled “China and India: Conflict and Cooperation in the (De)Globalization Era,” will be delivered by Distinguished James McGill Professor T.V. Paul, an elected Royal Society of Canada Fellow, from the Department of Political Science, McGill University, Canada. The reception will start at 4:00pm, and the lecture will be between 4:30pm and 6:00pm. The event is free and open to the public. Reserve your space via https://events.seattleu.edu/event/china-and-india-conflict-and-cooperation-in-the-deglobalization-era. 
The relations between Asian giants China and India have been characterized by a mixture of conflict and cooperation. Since the 1962 territorial dispute, there have been intermittent flare-ups with no clear end in sight. However, India and China seem to agree on many issues such as trade, global financial reforms, and climate change. This talk explores the multifaceted causes of the peculiar contours of this “managed rivalry.” A broad range of topics such as territory dispute, status, resources, conceptions of regional and world order, strategic culture, balance of power, and deterrence strategies will be analyzed. The mitigating role of asymmetrical economic interdependence adopted by the two states as well as their common membership in institutions such as BRICS, SCO and G20 have helped periodic crises from escalating into wars. The China-India relationship is likely to shape 21st century international politics and the Indo-Pacific regional order profoundly.
Professor Paul is an expert on International Politics. He served as the President of the International Studies Association (ISA) for 2016-17. He is the Founding Director of the Global Research Network on Peaceful Change (GRENPEC) and a Distinguished Scholar at the Asia-Pacific Foundation, Canada. Professor Paul is the author or editor of 24 books, co-editor of 6 special journal issues, and author of over 90 scholarly articles/book chapters in the fields of International Relations, Peace & Peaceful Change, International Security, and South Asia. His most recent book is The Unfinished Quest: India’s Search for Major Power Status from Nehru to Modi (Oxford University Press, 2024). Professor Paul currently serves as the editor of the Georgetown University Press book series: South Asia in World Affairs. The several awards he has received include: the 2024 International Studies Association -Canada Distinguished Scholar Award; the inaugural 2025 Kim Dae-jung Award by the International Political Science Association; and the 2025 International Security Studies Section Distinguished Scholar Award.