Articles by Lisa Stiffler

Lisa Stiffler covers nonprofits, companies and researchers who are applying technology to environmental, energy, health, transit, education and other societal challenges.

Lisa is from the Northwest and a University of Washington alumna twice over, with a background in cell biology that was jettisoned for the excitement and nearly instant gratification of journalism.

Her first real media gig was at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer where for 10 years she primarily covered environmental issues. More recently Lisa worked as a freelancer for the Seattle Times covering the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Other recent endeavors include writing and editing for Seattle’s Child parenting magazine, research for Sightline Institute, and reporting for NPR, MSNBC, Smithsonian Magazine and local news websites.

Follow @lisa_stiffler and email [email protected].

What’s working in climate tech (and what’s not): 4 big ideas from a rooftop full of investors and founders

Latest from Lisa Stiffler

Seattle longevity startups unite: Viome acquires plasma exchange pioneer Circulate Health

Two Seattle-area health and longevity startups are joining forces through Viome Life Science’s acquisition of Circulate Health. The two parties would not share specifics but said the deal was valued between $15 million and $50 million. Read More

Tech Moves: Amazon VP leaves for Lime; MicroVision and Slalom name execs; Microsoft departures

Former Amazon VP Hannah McClellan Richards is now COO of Lime; MicroVision, Slalom and Gravyty add to their C-suites; Microsoft leaders depart for Crusoe and Gartner. Read More

Google to cut 52 employees in Washington state

Google is laying off 52 employees in Washington state, according to a state filing. The job cuts include software engineers, engineering and product managers, mechatronics engineers, UX designers and recruiters located in Kirkland, Redmond and Seattle offices as well as remote employees. Read More

Washington state’s next-gen ferry era kicks off with 3 new hybrid boats in $1.15B deal

Washington state’s aging ferry fleet is getting a climate-friendly makeover as construction begins on new hybrid-electric vessels. A Florida shipyard is under contract to deliver three 160-vehicle ferries at a total price tag of $1.15 billion. The first plug-in vessel should be completed in 2030.
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What’s working in climate tech (and what’s not): 4 big ideas from a rooftop full of investors and founders

Investors and founders at a Pacific Northwest Climate Week happy hour named the technologies drawing too much money and the ones showing real promise. Hear from them on new episode of GeekWire’s Positive Charge podcast. Read More

Tech Moves: Salesforce/Tableau exec departs; startups AIM and Gravitics add to C-suite

Teri Hatfield, Salesforce EVP and Tableau CRO, has taken a role at Iterable; Gates Foundation’s legal director has left for Arnold & Porter; and Seattle-area startups AIM and Gravitics have added to their C-suites. Read More

Moving faster than planned, AI drug developer Accipiter Bio quietly tops up seed round with $10.5M

Seattle biotech startup Accipiter Bio has raised an additional $10.5 million from existing investors to accelerate its work on AI-designed, multi-target protein therapeutics. Fueled by faster-than-expected progress, the company plans to use the new capital to expand its team and double its roster of clinical-stage drug candidates, with a growing focus on immunology. Read More

Salesforce hires ex-Microsoft exec to lead Agentforce engineering amid string of departures

After nearly three decades at Microsoft, cybersecurity executive Krishna Kumar Parthasarathy has announced he is joining Salesforce as executive vice… Read More

Tech Moves: Remitly names CISO; Joseph Williams leads cybersecurity ed at WWU; Yoodli gets product VP

Seattle’s Remitly names a new CISO amid continued leadership shuffling; Seattle tech and public service leader Joseph Williams is director of cybersecurity programs at Western Washington University; and Yoodli hires a VP of product. Read More

Dopl raises $6.3M to bring remote robotic ultrasounds to rural patients as it pursues FDA clearance

Dopl is pursuing FDA clearance for its platform, which pairs off-the-shelf ultrasound probes with commercially available robots. The system facilitates communication between a remotely based ultrasound technician (or sonographer) and the robot. Read More

Tech Moves: Agility Robotics gets CFO; Microsoft security departure; Zap’s legal officer; new KEXP CPTO

Agility Robotics names a CFO ahead of its plans to go public, moving its current CFO/COO into an operations-focused role. Microsoft loses another security leader while Zap Energy gets a chief legal officer. Read More

BioLife Solutions to be acquired by Repligen in $1.5B cell therapy deal

BioLife Solutions, a Bothell, Wash.-based company developing tools for cell and gene therapy, is being acquired for $1.5 billion by the life sciences corporation Repligen. Read More

The greenest goodbye: Human composting and the science of becoming soil

In 2020, Recompose was the first U.S. company to develop the technology needed for the commercial composting of human bodies, disrupting a funeral industry that had been largely unchanged for decades. Now 14 states have legalized the climate-friendly practice and more than a dozen others are considering it. Additional startups have launched to offer a greener goodbye and all are looking to scale. Read More

Next-gen battery startup Sila raises $300M to expand manufacturing plant in Washington state

Sila, a startup producing next-generation battery materials, on Tuesday announced $300 million from investors, which will help fund the expansion of its Moses Lake, Wash., manufacturing plant. The company is seeing increased demand from AI-driven applications such as drones, space technologies and wearable devices. Read More

Protesters confront Microsoft CSO over carbon goals and AI, disrupting climate event

A fireside chat with Microsoft Chief Sustainability Officer Melanie Nakagawa, moderated by GeekWire reporter Lisa Stiffler at a PNW Climate Week closing event, was derailed by protesters raising concerns about data center energy impacts. Read More

Icertis CEO is departing; contract management company names CFO and board member interim leaders

Anand Subbaraman is departing as CEO of Icertis less than a year after taking the role. CFO Rajat Bahri and board member Jim Moffatt will serve as interim co-CEOs while the Bellevue company searches for a permanent leader. Read More

Tech Moves: Former Amazon exec joins F5; Microsoft security CVP departs; Qualtrics adds leadership

F5 names former Amazon executive as its chief people officer; Rudra Mitra departs as a Microsoft CVP after more than 27 years; and Qualtrics adds leaders. Read More

M&Ms, solar panels and plain language: Inside the climate strategy of Slalom’s Meagan Breidert

Four years ago, Meagan Breidert shifted her career into climate work to tackle “big, challenging, complex problems” — landing a role as Slalom’s senior director of sustainability and impact. In this profile, Breidert shares her wish to get coffee and talk chocolate with the Mars CSO, her dream environmental innovation, and other insights. Read More

As General Fusion makes historic Nasdaq debut, report shows global funding surged to $4.5B

General Fusion’s stock is trading up after it became the first fusion energy company to go public on a major… Read More

Tech Moves: Remitly CMO departs; Temporal names EVP; Veeam and Qualtrics leadership changes

Rina Hahn leaves role as Remitly’s CMO; Temporal promotes Preeti Somal to EVP amid reorganization; and Veeam and Qualtrics make leadership changes. Read More

General Fusion set to become the first publicly traded fusion stock on a major exchange

British Columbia-based General Fusion on Friday completed its deal to become first publicly traded fusion stock on a major exchange.… Read More

Microsoft’s carbon emissions climb 25% as tech giants grapple with AI’s energy toll

Microsoft’s annual sustainability report shows a 25% emissions jump fueled by AI energy demands, testing its 2030 climate goal to become carbon negative. But its chief sustainability officer remains optimistic that long-term investments in carbon reductions and a “portfolio approach” can still rescue their ambitious targets. Read More

Tech Moves: Seattle tech exec named Dropbox CPO; Xbox VP among layoffs; C-suite changes at T-Mobile

Past exec at Amazon, Microsoft and Google is now Dropbox’s first CPO; T-Mobile appoints a new C-suite leader and promotes another; and Xbox VP Kevin LaChapelle is laid off in Microsoft’s big round of layoffs. Read More

10 new startups emerge from the University of Washington, with healthcare dominating the lineup

The University of Washington’s CoMotion program announced 10 startups that secured UW-licensed intellectual property over the past year. Eight are in healthcare, spanning diagnostic tools, medical devices and new therapeutics. The other two focus on K-12 education or climate change. Read More

Filing shows Amazon cut 57 tech jobs in Washington state in recent weeks

Amazon is cutting 57 jobs in Washington, including roles at the director and senior manager levels. The cuts include 16 software engineers as well as product managers and creative marketing employees working in Seattle and Bellevue offices. Nine remote employees were also let go. Read More

Inside the race to power AI data centers with fusion energy — and the surprise detours along the way

While some tech giants are looking to the stars for nearly limitless clean electricity, the actual path to commercial fusion energy involves an unexpected down-scaling, an expansion to traditional nuclear power, and a tight 2028 deadline. Go inside Seattle-area fusion startups Helion and Zap as they try to harness the reactions that power the sun. Read More

Tech Moves: Amazon Music names VP; Microsoft departures and a Copilot shakeup; Veeam adds exec

Amazon Music names VP of product and tech; Microsoft’s corporate VP of Security, Compliance, Identity, Management & Privacy steps down while its Copilot platform undergoes a shakeup; Veeam appoints a chief marketing and customer AI officer; and Read More

The cost of the AI boom: Amazon emissions jump 16% as company stands by net-zero pledge

Amazon’s 2025 sustainability report reveals a 16% carbon emissions spike driven by AI data center expansion, even as the company maintains its 2040 net-zero goals. Read More

‘Forever chemicals’ are everywhere — but these companies are out to destroy them

Can we actually annihilate the toxic “forever chemicals” polluting our water and soil? The debut episode of GeekWire’s Positive Charge podcast dives into the Herculean challenge of destroying PFAS — long-lived contaminants linked to serious health effects like cancer and immune suppression. Read More

Short-form science: University of Washington researchers launch PaperTok to combat AI slop

A University of Washington team is helping scientists tell their own stories with a free tool that converts dense, jargon-heavy publications into short, accessible videos. Read More

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