WSU scientists identified the presence of a non-tobacco plant in ancient Maya drug containers for the first time. “While it has been established that tobacco was commonly used throughout the Americas before and after contact, evidence of other plants used for medicinal or religious purposes has remained largely unexplored,” said anthropology postdoc and research lead […]
Glacier mice could be something from a fairytale—mossy little puffballs filled with tiny fanciful creatures. “They are adorable—they really do look like little rodents,” says glacier biologist Scott Hotaling, a postdoctoral research associate in the School of Biological Sciences at WSU. Hotaling studies organisms that live in the world’s coldest locations such as the ice sheets […]
An endangered aquatic insect that lives in icy streams fed by glaciers might not mind if the water grows warmer due to climate change. A study co-authored by WSU post-doctoral researcher Scott Hotaling found that mountain stoneflies can tolerate warmer water temperatures, at least temporarily. While the study goes against the prevailing theory that rising […]
The ice worm is one of the largest organisms that spends its entire life in ice and Washington State University scientist Scott Hotaling is one of the only people on the planet studying it. He is the author of a new paper that shows ice worms in the interior of British Columbia have evolved into […]
Luana Lins, a postdoctoral researcher in the School of Biological Sciences, is fresh off a month-long visit studying polar organisms as part of the National Science Foundation’s Training Program in Antarctica for Early-Career Scientists. When she wasn’t counting bacteria or extracting the DNA of pteropods, Lins was visited by penguins, watched whales, and toured the […]