Researchers feed, breed, protect bees to survive winter
Winter is a tough time for the world’s most important pollinator. In addition to frigid temperatures, honey bee colonies must battle disease and parasites, including the devastating Varroa mite. Researchers in the Department of Entomology are trying to help bees fight off these threats and survive until spring.
Salazar to testify to Congress about foster care, education
Youth in the foster care system receive little support once they turn 18, especially when it comes to pursuing postsecondary education.
Research about this shortcoming will be presented by Amy Salazar, WSU Vancouver assistant professor in the Department of Human Development, at discussions hosted by the Congressional and Senate Caucuses on Foster Youth on Dec. 7 in Washington D.C. Her research is focused on youth and young adults who have spent time in foster care.
Peer recognition for award-winning Tidal Leadership
CAHNRS’ Tidal Leadership has won the 2016 Online Learning Consortium’s Outstanding Online Program award, which recognizes an outstanding online program offered by a member institution.
The award was presented to members of the WSU Tidal Leadership team at the OLC’s 2016 annual meeting on November 17, in Orlando, Fla. OLC is the leading global professional organization dedicated to providing access to high quality e-education and incorporating online learning in mainstream education. Read more here.
Stark to provide full time leadership of Washington Stormwater Center
Now, as full-time director of the Stormwater Center, Stark’s leadership is needed to guide a five-year, $3.5 million WSU Grand Challenge project developing green stormwater infrastructure to save energy and provide clean water for people and fish.
“Stormwater research is one of the grand challenges we need to address in the coming decade,” Stark said. “It is an honor and a privilege to focus solely on this work. It allows me to put all my effort into helping our researchers solve water management challenges and protect our water quality.”
Students to share Rosalia community proposals at Dec. 7 open house
WSU students of interior design in the School of Design and Construction will present proposals for a commercial community kitchen and revitalized community hall for Rosalia, Wash., at an open house, 2-5 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 7, at Rosalia Community Hall, 106 W. 7th St.
Students and Rosalia community members and local government worked together to develop concepts that build on local culture and resourcefulness. Students will also have proposals for a rural health and wellness center. This project was supported by the Town of Rosalia and SDC’s Rural Communities Design Initiative.
At the open house, community members and visitors are welcome to talk with the students and review their design concepts. To learn more, contact Kathleen Ryan, clinical assistant professor of interior design.
BSE’s Sankaran presents at inaugural expo
Sindhuja Sankaran, assistant professor in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering, presented at the inaugural SciTech Northwest expo, Nov. 9 in Seattle. SciTech was the region’s first science and technology expo, highlighting the latest innovations and collaborations in cyber/data analytics, clean energy, and biotechnology from three lead Washington research institutions.
Sankaran presented on data analytics and sensing in agriculture for informed decision-making. Learn more here.
Photo by Ed Hunt
4-H youth serve dinner on historic covered bridge
Wahkiakum County Extension and 4-H youth served up a harvest dinner inside the historic Grays River Covered Bridge.
In the ninth annual Grays River Covered Bridge Dinner, held Oct. 1, 4-H students served donated salmon and locally grown vegetables inside the one-lane, 1905-built structure—the only covered bridge still in use in the state. The dinner supports college scholarships and travel and camp experiences for 4-H members.
Martinez, Olivera present on ‘Strengthening Families’
AnaMaria Diaz Martinez, Extension Youth and Family, Assistant Professor-Human Development Regional Specialist and affiliate faculty in Human Development, was an invited keynote speaker with Yadira Olivera, WSU Prevention Science Graduate Student-Pullman, as co-presenter at the 2016 Washington State Prevention Summit.
The summit, sponsored by the Washington Department of Health, was held November 7-8 in Yakima. Diaz Martinez and Olivera presented “Strengthening Families Program for Parents and Youth 10-14: Impact of Evidence-Based Programming Focused on Prevention and Building Family Strengths.”
Pan, Sullivan, Madsen represent at Rhizosphere conference
Tarah Sullivan, assistant professor and soil microbiologist in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, and WSU soil science doctoral candidate Isaac Madsen, joined moderator Bill Pan, international experts and 150 attendees at an American Society of Agronomy symposium on “The Rhizosphere,” Nov. 6-9 in Phoenix, Ariz.
The symposium was moderated and co-organized by Pan, WSU professor in Crop and Soil Sciences, along with sponsoring Soil Science Society divisions of soil nutrient, microbiology, and testing/analysis. Read more here.
Hardesty puppy graduates into study to help PTSD patients
Ingrid, a Canine Companions for Independence puppy raised on campus by Linda Hardesty, associate professor in the School of the Environment, and Dan Hardesty, agricultural land coordinator with WSU Land Legacy, recently “graduated” into the first controlled, replicated study of the potential benefits of trained service dogs for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is funding this multi-year, nationwide study to address a lack of clinical evidence that prevents veterans receiving benefits for treatment. Along with the standard 40 service dog commands, Ingrid learned a number of military commands.
During her advanced training, Ingrid was also a subject in a recent canine fMRI study at UCSF. This required special training in order to remain motionless in the MRI while mentally responding to commands. This research has provided new understanding of language processing.
The PTSD study is significant news for veterans and those who support them, but it is also enormous testimony to the support the WSU community has provided Canine Companions for Independence (CCI) and the Hardestys in allowing these dogs to be trained on campus. In all, the Hardestys have raised 14 dogs at WSU since 2000. Currently, two students and another faculty member are also raising CCI puppies on campus.
Grad students lead panel on ag science research careers
A group of eleven CAHNRS graduate students and two faculty members visited the Monsanto Chesterfield Research Center near St. Louis, Nov. 14-16. Students from several CAHNRS disciplines were given an opportunity to visit with a broad range of scientists, tour facilities, and learn more about industry careers for breeders, crop and soil scientists, and agricultural engineers. They were given guidance on how to prepare, network, apply and interview for doctorate-level industry positions.
Students and faculty who participated in the visit shared what they learned from this experience with other interested WSU graduate students in a panel discussion Dec. 5.
Students chat with visiting Animal Sciences lecturer
Above, George C. Fahey, Jr., professor of Animal and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Illinois, meets with WSU Animal Sciences students and talks about careers in November, at the Johnson Hall Reading Room, following the annual Halver Lecture in Comparative Nutrition.
Pictured with Fahey are pre-vet students Jacey Anderson, standing, Liv Brockhaus and Rylie McCausland.
Awards and Grants
Soil physicist Markus Flury named AAAS Fellow
Markus Flury, professor in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences at WSU Puyallup, is one of four WSU faculty members named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Flury was honored in November for distinguished contributions to the field of soil physics and hydrology of the vadose zone—the region between the soil surface and the groundwater table.
He was singled out for his experimental work on preferential flow—when water flows more quickly through a small volume of soil—and colloidal processes in soils. Colloids are small particles that can be suspended in water in soils for long periods, and can contribute to contaminant transport.
“The fellowship shows that my work is important and relevant, and encourages me to continue to do unique and good research,” he said. Flury has worked at WSU for the past 19 years.
AMDT, MME team wins design award for recycled fibers
An interdisciplinary team led by primary investigator Hang Liu, assistant professor in the Department of Apparel, Merchandising, Design and Textiles, received the 2016/2017 US Environmental Protection Agency P3 Engineering Design Competition Award for project “Recycling Post-consumer Cotton Waste for Value-added Regenerated Fibers.”
The team includes co-investigators Ting Chi, AMDT associate professor, and Jinwen Zhang, professor in Mechanical and Materials Engineering, and three students—two AMDT undergraduates and one MME graduate student.
This Phase I award supports initial research on a new cotton waste recycling method. The team will showcase their results at the April 2017 National Sustainable Design Expo in Washington D.C., to compete for the Phase II award.
Lenk wins Wilsonart award for interior design portfolio
Congratulations to WSU interior design student Rattanak Lenk, winner of the 2016 Wilsonart Academic Award for the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) Portfolio competition in the Senior category.
For the portfolio, Lenk designed a global office for collaboration and flexibility; a STEM education space for the Palouse; a pop-up museum in Lacrosse, Wash.; a New England seaside family home; a flexible, portable honeycomb wine rack (left); and more.
Lenk’s faculty sponsor was Kathleen Ryan, interior design faculty member. Learn more here.
$1.2 million in grants for stormwater, entomology research
Faculty and researchers in the Department of Entomology earned more than $1 million in grants last month to support projects in stormwater, crop protection, insecticide resistance and more. Recipients included:
• John Stark and Tanyalee Erwin at the Washington Stormwater Center received $764,805 from the Washington Department of Ecology and the Environmental Protection Administration to form an Interagency Stormwater Strategic Initiative Team. Stark and Erwin also received $77,500 from the Bullitt Foundation for “Intersections for Action: connecting stormwater management to urban growth and salmon recovery in Puget Sound through education & online resources.”
• Entomologist Dave Crowder and Adams County Extension Director Aaron Esser received $324,983 from the USDA/NIFA/Crop Protection and Pest Management for “Improving integrated pest management of wireworms in cereal crops.”
• Betsy Beers at the WSU Tree Fruit Research & Extension Center earned two grants from the Oregon Sweet Cherry Commission totaling $23,720 to develop management strategies for Little Cherry Disease and research insecticide resistance of Spotted wing drosophila in sweet cherries. She also received $8,000 from Bayer and $11,000 from Syngenta to support insect controls in tree fruit.
Snohomish Master Gardeners
tie in garden design contest
Judges commented that the group’s Demonstration Garden at Jennings Park in Marysville, Wash., “did a wonderful job of planting various AAS Winners in specific areas, each serving a purpose for different types of pollinators. For example, salvia for the bees and Echinacea for butterflies accompanied by educational signage and educational explanations by Master Gardeners.”
AAS Winners are flowers and vegetable varieties that have shown superior garden performance in trial grounds across North America.
In addition, the 2017 International Master Gardener Conference has awarded the Snohomish Master Gardener program third place in two of the seven categories in their Search for Excellence Competition. In the innovative category, “The Mentor Approach: Building Community” placed third, and in the research category, “McCollum County Park Pollinator Garden” tied for third. Winners will be honored at the next Conference, July 2017 in Portland, Ore.
Biological Chemoistry’s Kirchhoff
to explore architecture of plant membranes
Helmut Kirchhoff, associate professor at the WSU Institute of Biological Chemistry, received a $400,000 grant through the Department of Energy’s Basic Energy Sciences program.
His project is called “Understanding Architectural Dynamics in Plant Photosynthetic Membranes.”
Certification workshop grant for Maguire
WSU Extension’s Becky Maguire was awarded $6,502 from the Norm Ehmann Urban Pest Management Endowment for an “Associate Certified Entomologist (ACE) Workshop: A Pilot Project.”
Maguire is a coordinator with the WSU Urban IPM and Pesticide Education Program and is housed at WSU Puyallup. She manages training for pest management professionals and structural pest inspectors.
