Faculty

Psychology course partners with clinic for real-world learning

An elementary statistics in psychology course at WSU Tri-Cities partnered with Grace Clinic, a free health clinic in the Tri-Cities, to assess the mental health of its diabetic patients. The clinic now plans to use the data to maintain and improve its methods in meeting patient resources and health needs. Throughout the fall semester course, […]

Fine arts students create 3-D virtual reality

Neon rainbow pathways, smoldering ember-lit caves, eerie forests and bridges that lead to mystical lands, are just some of what individuals experience in virtual reality environments created by students as part of a fine arts sculpture course at WSU Tri-Cities this semester. Jonah Firestone, assistant professor of education and director of the Simulation and Integrated […]

Digital archiving project receives prestigious Mellon grant

Washington State University researchers have received a $555,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support development and evaluation of a unique online platform for gathering, curating and sharing Native American library and archive collections nationwide. This three-year grant follows a $69,500 grant by the Foundation to WSU in 2015 for the project-planning phase. […]

Researchers see gene influencing performance of sleep-deprived people

Washington State University researchers have discovered a genetic variation that predicts how well people perform certain mental tasks when they are sleep deprived. Their research shows that individuals with a particular variation of the DRD2 gene are resilient to the effects of sleep deprivation when completing tasks that require cognitive flexibility, the ability to make […]

Opera Workshop students develop singing, acting, stage skills

The WSU Opera Workshop presents opera and musical theatre productions, giving singers and actors several opportunities to perform exciting repertoire while developing singing, acting, and stage-movement skills. This fall, students filled Bryan Hall Theatre with song, performing two one-act comic operas, each with an abiding moral to the story. Directed by Julie Anne Wieck, associate […]

A mother’s microbial gift

Old assumptions about human breast milk are giving way to new thinking about microbes in milk and their role in children’s health and our immune systems. It happened again, most recently at a conference in Prague. After she gave her talk, a scientist came up to Shelley McGuire, a pioneer exploring the microbial communities found […]

Faculty invigorate classrooms, save students money

English instructor Kate Watts cringes when she imagines students shelling out upwards of $80 for a textbook. She had the same reservations many faculty members have about free, open-sourced, online material. But she did her research, asked experts, consulted with colleagues, and found solutions to save her students money. The online textbook Watts uses in […]

Chemists develop novel dye for bio-imaging

Washington State University scientists have created an injectable dye that illuminates molecules with near-infrared light, making it easier to see what is going on deep inside the body. The new dye will help medical researchers track the progression of a wide array of diseases, such as cancer.

Researcher encounters rare, elusive beaked whales off coast of Ireland

A researcher at WSU Vancouver encountered rare and elusive beaked whales while on a research vessel west of Ireland last month. Enrico Pirotta, a post doc in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, was on the last days of a six-day cruise when the crew had several sightings. The first sightings were too far away […]

Discovery for modifying diamonds could change computing

PULLMAN, Wash. – A group of WSU researchers has discovered a way to modify diamonds that opens up important applications in the field of quantum computing and in radiation detection. Kelvin Lynn, professor of physics and of mechanical and materials engineering, and his team were using very thin strips of diamond inside a particle accelerator […]