CAS Story Hub

Wildfire changes songbird plumage

Fire can put a tropical songbird’s sex life on ice. Following habitat-destroying wildfires in Australia, a team of researchers led by WSU biology doctoral student Jordan Boersma found that many male red-backed fairywrens failed to molt into their red-and-black ornamental plumage, making them less attractive to potential mates. They also had lowered circulating testosterone, which […]

Q&A with alumnus Brandon Brackett

Brandon Brackett (’05 BA, ’09 MA history) is the director of Housing and Residence Life at WSU Pullman. The unit’s goal is to provide a residential student experience  that is safe, supportive, and memorable, including dining options that meet a wide range of dietary needs.

Finding his voice

During recess, most third graders go outside to play. Some, however, play the marimba with their fellow students. Brandt Fisher was one of those recess marimba players. “When I joined the marimba band in third grade, we learned music by ear,” Brandt said. “This taught me how to truly listen to music and the musicians […]

Novel study of high-potency cannabis shows memory effects

Even before the pandemic made Zoom ubiquitous, WSU researchers were using the video conferencing app to research a type of cannabis that is understudied: the kind people actually use. “Because of federal restrictions to researchers, it was just not possible to study the acute effects of these high-potency products,” said Carrie Cuttler, WSU psychologist and

Radio program connects NW past to present

A Spokane resident whose invention transformed the shipping industry;  a woman who passed as a man and worked as a bartender, bronco buster, and longshoreman; plus preachers, prisoners, ranchers, immigrants, cowgirls, and soldiers are among the myriad people whose stories illuminate the history of the Northwest in Past as Prologue, a new radio program created […]

Q&A with alumnus Edward Felt

A biology and organizational communication double major, Edward Felt (’09) is the north American sales manager for VMRD, Inc., a Pullman-based company that develops and manufactures veterinary diagnostic test kits and reagents for distribution in more than 77 countries, as well as performing specialized testing for the global serum, veterinary, and pharmaceutical industries.

New technology to uncover wrongs from the past

Colin Grier, a WSU professor of anthropology, is the principal investigator for a National Science Foundation-funded effort to shed light on the capabilities of ground penetrating radar (GPR) to find and identify archaeological features, including graves, that are many decades or even centuries old. He hopes that ultimately his work will help bring closure to […]

New “soft X-ray” method for smart nanocarrier medicine

Before the huge potential of tiny nanocarriers for highly targeted drug delivery and environmental clean-up can be realized, scientists first need to be able to see them. ““We have developed a new technique to look at nanocarrier internal structure, chemistry, and environmental behavior without any labeling at all—a new capability that up to now has […]