Home is where the research takes you. While pursuing an undergraduate degree in psychology, Safiya Hafiz’s interests veered toward criminology, criminal justice, and sociology. She wanted to help people on a larger scale and explore how social problems affected large groups, like those in the justice system. “I learned about social problems in sociology courses,” […]
Melanie-Angela Neuilly, associate professor of criminology, is among 14 researchers who recently received a Distinguished Scholar Award for 2024 from the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation. The Distinguished Scholar Awards are granted to individuals in the natural and social sciences whose work will result in creating understanding around the causes, manifestations, and control of violence and aggression. […]
The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) 3 Minute Thesis qualifier competition took place on March 6, in which 10 PhD students challenged themselves to present a distilled thesis within three minutes and with only one slide as a visual aid. Under the pressure of time and conveying their research to a general audience and […]
In recognition of his research to advance understanding of the Earth’s crust, geology Professor Jeffrey Vervoort has been elected as a 2024 Geochemistry Fellow by the Geochemical Society and European Association of Geochemistry. “This award is particularly gratifying because the Geochemical Society and European Association of Geochemistry make up my closest scientific community, and therefore this award represents recognition from my scientific […]
Washington State University sociologist Anna Zamora-Kapoor is studying how artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) could help improve cancer survival outcomes among the Pacific Northwest’s rural Hispanic population. As one of 25 fellows in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) AIM-AHEAD leadership program, and in partnership with Three Rivers Hospital in Brewster, Washington, Zamora-Kapoor is using […]
Students tend to like friendly teachers, but they like those who believe they can improve even more, new research indicates. Students in a study still responded positively to instructors described as being cold but who also had a growth mindset, meaning they felt students’ ability in a subject could improve by working hard and trying […]
More time stranded on land means greater risk of starvation for polar bears, a new study indicates. During three summer weeks, 20 polar bears closely observed by scientists tried different strategies to maintain energy reserves, including resting, scavenging and foraging. Yet nearly all of them lost weight rapidly: on average around 1 kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, per day. […]
As a child growing up in rural China in the 1970s, Xiuyu Wang remembers competing with his friends to get as many fireworks as possible to usher in the Lunar New Year. It is a celebration of the arrival of spring and the most important holiday in China. “We’d save up ahead of time to […]
Whisky, contraception, cannabis: many of the Washington State University studies that garnered the most attention from news media in 2023 seemed to involve human pleasures—and their consequences. That focus may say something about the global mood in the first post-pandemic year, but it also speaks to the real-world impact of WSU’s research enterprise. Three initiatives […]
A snippet of hair can reveal a pregnant person’s stress level and may one day help warn of unexpected birth problems, a study indicates. Washington State University researchers measured the stress hormone cortisol in hair samples of 53 women in their third trimester. Of that group, 13 women who had elevated cortisol levels later experienced […]