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Connecting graduate education, underserved populations aim of NEH grant

A new National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant catalyzes a year of discussion and planning at Washington State University aimed at creating a national model for connecting graduate education in the humanities to rural and underserved populations.

Todd ButlerFunded by the NEH’s NextGen Ph.D. program, the grant will bring together more than 20 faculty, staff, graduate students, and recent graduate alumni from across WSU to consider how graduate education in the humanities can better support the university’s land-grant mission of improving access, inclusivity, and democratic engagement, said Todd Butler, chair of the English department and principal investigator for the grant.

The interdisciplinary initiative, titled Reimagining the 21st-Century Land Grant Ph.D., is supported by traditional stakeholders in graduate education along with new partners who will help extend the university’s reach and commitment to the humanities.

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WSU Insider

As Scientists Speak Out About Science, Women and Young Scholars Lead the Way

Loud noises are emanating from the laboratory these days, but they’re declamations, not explosions. This month scientists and other advocates for science assembled in cities around the country for the second annual March for Science. The organizers called on people to march for “a future where science is fully embraced in public life and policy.”

Allison Coffin
Allison Coffin

Such outreach is multiplying outside the classroom. too. In March, Science Talk, a new science-communication organization co-founded by Allison Coffin, associate professor of integrative physiology and neuroscience at Washington State University Vancouver, held its second annual conference in Portland, Ore.

She had taught science-communication workshops, and “wanted to create a forum for science communicators to come together, share ideas, and network,” Coffin said.

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Chronicle of Higher Education

One puff is enough! A single drag of cannabis can alleviate depression, 2 can ease anxiety and 10 can slash stress (but long-term use could WORSEN symptoms)

Taking just one drag of a cannabis joint can ease symptoms of depression, a study suggests. Scientists also discovered that inhaling two puffs of weed can alleviate anxiety, while 10 can help to combat stress.

Carrie Cuttler
Carrie Cuttler

However, the Washington State University researchers warned long-term use of cannabis could worsen symptoms of depression. Led by Dr. Carrie Cuttler, they found symptoms of depression were halved as a result of the medical cannabis use.

Symptoms of anxiety and stress were reduced by 58 per cent, according to the study in the Journal of Affective Disorders.

The researchers wrote: “Acute cannabis intoxication temporarily alleviates perceived states of depression, anxiety, and stress.”

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The Daily Mail
Other sources:

Observer – click to view
Forbes – click to view
IB Times– click to view
Hemp Gazette – click to view
Inquisitr – click to view
Brinkwire – click to view
Metro – click to view
Medical Daily
Benzinga

 

Coho salmon die, chum salmon survive in stormwater runoff

WSU scientists have discovered that different species of salmon have varying reactions to polluted stormwater runoff.

In a recent paper published in the journal Environmental Pollution, scientists say that coho salmon became sick and nearly died, within just a few hours of exposure to polluted stormwater, but chum salmon showed no signs of ill-effects after prolonged exposure to the same water.

Jennifer McIntyre

“It really surprised us,” said Jen McIntyre, an assistant professor in WSU’s School of the Environment. “Not that the coho were affected so quickly, but how resistant the chum were. We saw no impact at all in the chum’s post-exposure bloodwork.”

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WSU Insider
Yuba Net

New individual of world’s rarest turtle found in Hanoi

Caren Goldberg
Caren Goldberg

The fourth known living Swinhoe’s Softshell Turtle (Rafetus swinhoei), the world’s most endangered turtle species, has been found at Xuan Khanh Lake on the outskirts of Hanoi, thanks to efforts of the Asian Turtle Programme (ATP) of Indo-Myanmar Conservation (IMC), a UK based conservation charity, and help from Washington State University environmental scientist Caren Goldberg.

The animals are secretive, surfacing and basking rarely, preferring to spend time in the depths of the lakes. This makes positive identification of the animals that are reported extremely difficult and time consuming.

To help with this the ATP/IMC has teamed up with Goldberg and the US Turtle Survival Alliance to explore the use of environmental DNA (eDNA) to find the species. eDNA is a relatively new technique for which Dr. Goldberg was an early pioneer, the technique relies on detecting the tiniest amounts of DNA in samples of water collected in the area of interest to confirm that the species is present. The technique has often been used for fish and amphibians but the methods have only recently been applied to endangered turtles.

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Nhan Dan

ECNS

VN Express