Honors and achievements

Marianne Tarun, doctoral student (right), and Matthew McCluskey, professor and chair, physics and astronomy, co-authored a paper in the November issue of the journal Physical Review Letters.

Their breakthrough research demonstrated a 400-fold increase in the electrical conductivity of a crystal simply by exposing it to light, potentially leading to dramatically improved performance of devices such as computer chips.

Len Burns, professor, psychology, received a fellowship from the Spanish government to visit Majorca in June 2014 to teach a course on structural equation modeling and advance his collaborative research with a colleague at the University of the Balearic Islands.

Patrick Carter, associate professor, biological sciences, and a colleague at University of Queensland, Australia, are co-faculty collaborators with Vanessa Serratore, whose undergraduate Honors thesis was published this fall inAustralian Journal of Entomology. Dr. Serratore (Honors BS, Zoology ’08; DVM ’11) started working on the paper, “Thermoregulation in molting and feeding Danaus plexippus caterpillars,” while she was an undergraduate studying abroad, and completed it while working on her doctoral degree at WSU.

Ryan Hare, associate professor, music, won the Principal Bassoon position with the Yakima (WA) Symphony and received an ASCAP Plus Award for composition.

After his article “Gem State Adventures” graced the cover of Hemispheres (United Airlines’ magazine) in October, Buddy Levy, clinical associate professor, English, published a feature article “NO BARRIERS: What’s Within You Is Stronger Than What’s in Your Way” in the November issue. The story discusses blind adventurer Erik Weihenmayer and the organization he created to help people with adversities overcome them through teamwork, adaptive medical technologies, and collaborative networks of people.

Levy also contributed writing and research to Brad Meltzer’s book History Decoded: The 10 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time, which debuted on Nov. 1 at #13 on the New York Times Bestseller List for hardcover nonfiction. Among Levy’s contributions is a field note section of the chapter on Area 51 and UFOs.

Keri McCarthy, associate professor, music, was selected to serve on the national Fulbright Review panel for Thailand.

Danh Pham, assistant professor, music, has been tapped to guest conduct the Honor Band at the Western International Band Clinic, one of the top band conferences in the United States.

Shannon Scott, instructor, music, presented the premieres of two works at the College Music Society National Conference.

Michael Skinner, professor, biological sciences, was honored bySmithsonian magazine with a 2013 American Ingenuity Award in the area of Natural Sciences. The magazine awards are given across a range of research and artistic fields and are “designed to recognize the most innovative individuals working in America today.”

Island Queens and Mission Wives: How Gender and Empire Remade Hawai‘i’s Pacific World, by Jennifer Thigpen, assistant professor, history, is set to be published by the University of North Carolina Press as part of its Gender and American Culture Series.

Daniel Thornton, clinical associate professor, School of the Environment, coauthored the cover article of the prestigious Proceedings of the Royal Society B | Biological Sciences (Dec. 2013): “Evidence for large-scale effects of competition: niche displacement in Canada lynx and bobcat.”

Dave Turnbull, associate professor, music, performed as a solo cornetist with the Fountain City Brass Band, recent winners of the U.S. Open Brass Band Competition.

Greg Yasinitsky, professor and director, music, has been named for induction to the Washington Music Educators Association Hall of Fame, to guest conduct the North Dakota All State Jazz Band, and to appear as a guest artist at the College of San Mateo, CA, and at the South Medford (OR) Jazz Celebration.