TECHNICAL TRIUMPH: The UW’s new science magazine, Northwest Science & Technology, won a first-place award from the Puget Sound Chapter of Society for Technical Communication for the article “Water World: Tracking the Region’s Aquatic Resources in a Virtual Puget Sound,” which was about the University’s PRISM program. Writer Mathew Carr, graduate student in Atmospheric Sciences, and Editor Deborah Illman, assistant professor of technical communication, won in the category of Publications: Trade/News Article. Their entry was automatically forwarded to the international Society of Technical Communications competition.

WTO WINNER: KUOW has won first place in the National Headliner Awards for its coverage of the World Trade Organization protest. The station edited hours of coverage down to a 15-minute tape for its entry in the contest, sponsored by the Press Club of Atlantic City. And that same tape won a first place for spot news in the local Associated Press Broadcast Awards.

INFLUENTIAL THEORY: Physics Professor David Thouless recently was awarded the 2000 Lars Onsager Prize by the American Physical Society. Thouless was honored along with J. Michael Kosterlitz of Brown University for introducing the theory of topological phase transitions when both were at the University of Birmingham in the 1970s. Their theory since has been cited in some 3,800 scientific papers and has led to applications in numerous systems. In addition, Thouless was cited for fundamental contributions to the understanding of electron localization and the behavior of spin glasses.

KUDOS: Knut Aagaard, principal oceanographer at the Applied Physics Laboratory, has been elected a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, recognizing scientists who have attained acknowledged eminence in one or more branches of geophysics. Aagaard was honored for fundamental contributions to the physical understanding of the marine Arctic, and for service to the polar marine research community. . . . Forestry Professors Jim Agee, Bob Edmonds and Bob Gara recently published a textbook, Forest Health and Protection. (McGraw Hill series in forestry) . . . Don Hanley, extension forester based at the UW, and Edmonds’ videotape entitled The Rotten Truth: Control of Common Forest Root Rots of the Pacific Northwest, was given the Outstanding Forestry Communication Award: Best Forestry Video by the National Woodland Owners Association and the USDA Extension Service . . . Bob Bratager, human resources manager at the Applied Physics Laboratory, received a Combined Fund Drive Leadership Award in recognition of his service on the governor’s committee for the past four years. ¶