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Exploring disease emergence and wildlife conservation

March 17, 2023 adriana

Avian influenza and Ebola virus are only two of the many zoonotic diseases with potentially dire consequences for animals and humans alike.

Sarah Olson, an international expert in wildlife conservation and public health, will talk about her work to improve the health of wildlife and reduce threats of zoonotic disease, such as influenza and Ebola, during the 2023 Robert Jonas Lecture in Biological Sciences at Washington State University Pullman.

Olson will present a free, public address, “Integrating Health into Global Conservation,” at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 21, in the CUB Junior Ballroom and online.

Olson directs health research for the Wildlife Conservation Society’s (WCS) Health Program, which focuses on understanding and mitigating wildlife health and zoonotic disease threats, often associated with human activity, and developing sustainable and effective wildlife health surveillance systems.

“Dr. Olson’s work at the intersection of infectious disease emergence and conservation is exciting and timely. WSU audiences, especially our students, will benefit from hearing her unique perspective on our place and interactions with the natural world,” said Jesse Brunner, associate professor of biology and advisor for the WSU Zoology Club.

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WSU Insider

‘How American politics went crazy,’ WSU professor’s findings and solutions

March 16, 2023 adriana

“We’ve had budget deficit issues, we’ve had attacks by international terrorists, we’ve had domestic terror, pandemic, school shootings. You could go on and on and on,” Washington State University Professor of Political Science, Steven Stehr, said.

Over the past decade, we’ve seen a major divide among Americans as it relates to politics. Views leaning far down both aisles, public outrage with the government, and hostile social media platforms.

Communities are being divided and it’s not only at the national level, we’re seeing it right here at home, even on the most generic topics.

“Over the last decade or so, I’ve been kind of shocked by what’s going on in our politics, and as someone who studies American politics, I felt a deep need to try and piece together,” Stehr said.

A big challenge, but one he was up for. Through Stehr’s research, he discovered there were several factors that put America in the shoes it’s in today.

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KHQ

Digital Technology and Culture Program elevated to department status

March 15, 2023 adriana

Amid rising global demand for workers skilled in contemporary technologies who are also culturally literate, Washington State University is making changes to enhance the popular Digital Technology and Culture program.

One of WSU’s fastest-growing degree programs with more than 400 students across four campuses — Pullman, Vancouver, Tri‑Cities and Global — DTC was recently elevated to department status, providing several new advantages for its increasing number of students and faculty.

“The change to department status includes an updated statewide curriculum that will help streamline the degree for students,” said Kim Christen, DTC professor and WSU Pullman associate vice chancellor for research advancement and partnerships. Options within the new curriculum emphasize clear career trajectories and skill sets as students move through the degree to graduation, Christen said.

The unified department will provide students more opportunities for internships and professional development through the extended campus networks and shared community and industry partnerships and collaborations. The program’s nearly 20 faculty members also will encounter more opportunities to share and engage with new pedagogical tools and initiatives across campuses and to collaborate on research and production.

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WSU Insider

Small differences in mom’s behavior may show up in child’s epigenome

March 3, 2023 adriana

Adding evidence to the importance of early development, a new study links neutral maternal behavior toward infants with an epigenetic change in children related to stress response.

Epigenetics are molecular processes independent of DNA that influence gene behavior. In this study, researchers found that neutral or awkward behavior of mothers with their babies at 12 months correlated with an epigenetic change called methylation, or the addition of methane and carbon molecules, on a gene called NR3C1 when the children were 7 years old. This gene has been associated with regulating the body’s response to stress.

“There is evidence of a relationship between the quality of maternal-infant interaction and methylation of this gene though these are small effects in response to a relatively small variation in interaction,” said Elizabeth Holdsworth, a Washington State University biological anthropologist and lead author of the study published in the American Journal of Human Biology.

Other studies have connected extreme stress in early life, like neglect and abuse, to more dramatic methylation on this particular gene in adults. However, Holdsworth emphasized that the small difference indicated by this study may be an indication of normal human variation and it’s hard to determine if there are any long-term effects.

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Foley speaker: Policies have made migration more dangerous

March 3, 2023 adriana

During talk at WSU, UCLA professor says U.S. stance on illegal immigration has led to more deaths

Jason De León, a professor of anthropology at UCLA, started his talk Thursday at the Foley Institute Speaker series with a clip from the 2006 movie “Children of Men.”

In the scene, the character Theo, played by Clive Owen, sits on a train as a voice reminds the passengers that housing, feeding or hiring what the movie calls illegal immigrants is a crime, while migrants who cannot get on the train are rioting.

“I show this because I believe this is both our current reality and a look into our future,” De León said during the talk at Washington State University.

De León then showed a clip from a few years ago of a caravan of people in Tijuana, Mexico, who were being pushed away from the United State border by both Mexico and border agents. Migration is not unique to the United States, but is a global issue, De León said.

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Moscow-Pullman Daily News