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WSU students awarded Gilman Scholarships to study abroad

Eight CAS students are among 13 WSU undergraduates who recently received the Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship toward study abroad programs of their choice. Cougs will use the funding to study in Austria, Italy, Japan, Portugal and Spain this summer and fall.

“The Gilman scholarship is a federally funded initiative and is the top study abroad award in higher education,” said Senior Advisor Tiffany Prizzi. “Besides looking great on a resume, this award is an open door to international opportunities and consideration for post-graduate awards, such as the Fulbright and Rhodes scholarships.

“The Gilman award also grants 12 months of federal job eligibility, meaning recipients can be considered for vacant federal government jobs with as little as an application, sidestepping what’s typically a lengthy process for consideration.”

CAS students receiving the award, their major, and their intended study abroad destination are Zoe Alamillo, Psychology (Sociology minor), Italy; Jesus Avina, Sociology (Human Development minor), Spain and Portugal; Makayla Daniels, International Business (Japanese minor), Japan; Emily Dickson, Pre-Pharmacy (Psychology minor), Spain; Milo Edwards, Women’s, Gender, Sexuality Studies (Queer Studies minor), Italy; Citlaly Gomez-Ledezma, Criminal Justice, Italy; Claudia Jacobo, Japanese (Business Administration and Digital Technology and Culture, minors), Japan; and Johan Luna, Biology and Pre-Dentistry.

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WSU Insider

 

When the heat is unbearable but there’s nowhere to go

Late last June, farmers in Walla Walla, Washington, noticed something odd happening to their onions. Walla Walla, an oasis in the middle of the state’s high desert, is bursting with vineyards, wheat fields and acres of the city’s eponymous sweet onions. As temperatures climbed above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, then above 110 degrees, the oversized onions began to burn, pale blisters forming underneath their papery skins. When the temperature reached 116, the onions started cooking, their flesh dissolving into mush.

Four miles away is the Washington State Penitentiary. It’s one of the country’s oldest prisons, established in the 1880s, before Washington achieved statehood. In June 2021, over 2,000 people were incarcerated in its large concrete buildings. In the Hole — the name incarcerated people use for the solitary confinement unit — the air conditioning had stopped working. Dozens of people spent 23 hours a day locked in small concrete and metal cells, even as temperatures continued to soar.

Washington isn’t known for extreme heat, but far above the fields and prison, two air pressure systems had collided, creating a massive heat dome: a cap of warm air that sealed in the heat and blocked the flow of cool marine breezes from the Pacific. The resulting weeklong heat wave brought some of the hottest temperatures that the state has ever experienced.

Deepti Singh.
Singh

In a particularly alarming trend, climate change is causing average nighttime temperatures to warm even faster than average daytime temperatures, said Deepti Singh, a climate scientist at Washington State University who studies extreme weather events. This is especially dangerous because it limits the body’s ability to cool down, significantly increasing the risk of heat-related illnesses.

Researchers predict that if global temperatures continue to rise, similar events could happen as often as every five to 10 years before the end of this century in the Pacific Northwest. According to Singh, the Washington State University climate scientist, future heat waves could be even longer, hotter and more widespread.

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High Country News
Mother Jones
Crosscut

Two Fulbrights, one family

Around 800 people in the United States received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award for 2022-23. Two of those are married Washington State University professors.

“We were expecting neither of us to get a Fulbright; we hoped one of us would get it,” said Carolyn Ross, professor in WSU’s School of Food Science. “We didn’t think there was a chance we would both receive one. But here we are and we’re excited.”

Travis Ridout.
Ridout

Ross and her husband, Travis Ridout, professor in WSU’s School of Politics, Philosophy, and Public Affairs, will spend the first six months of 2023 in Australia working on separate projects primarily funded by the U.S. Department of State program.

“There’s tremendous prestige applied to the Fulbright Program,” Ridout said. “We’ve had colleagues receive them and they talked about what a great experience it was. Part of the program is acting as cultural ambassadors for the U.S., which our family won’t take lightly.”

The couple have three children, ages 14, 11, and 9, who will re-locate with Ross and Ridout from Pullman to Melbourne.

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WSU Insider
Western Farm Press

Math undergrads from four states meet to solve real‑world problems

How human and animal diseases spread, how trees move in wind, and how confined fluids flow are among topics of research conducted by undergraduate mathematicians from across the Pacific Northwest who met recently at Washington State University to discuss their work.

Students and faculty from six universities in Oregon, Montana, Idaho, and Washington joined dozens of WSU peers at the 2022 Pacific Inland Mathematics Undergraduate Conference (PiMUC) to present their research in both applied and theoretical mathematics and to learn about using math skills to solve real-world problems.

“This year’s PiMUC conference saw a number of very impressive presentations in many diverse and interdisciplinary areas, ranging from pure mathematics to applications in public health and computer science,” said Sergey Lapin, a career-track professor of mathematics who co-organized the conference on the WSU Pullman campus.

“Despite being somewhat isolated geographically, colleges and universities in our Pacific inland region have brilliant undergraduate students doing interesting and important research,” said fellow organizer Will Hall, WSU assistant professor of math. “The conference enabled undergraduate students from across the region to network with one another as well as with faculty and WSU graduate students also currently engaged in research.”

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WSU Insider

Migratory birds can change their restless ways

Nomadic pine siskins are a type of finch often seen on backyard feeders. Studies of migrating pine siskins have shown they exhibit “nocturnal migratory restlessness.” This means the birds move around a lot at night instead of resting. Their bodies also adapt to support migration by gaining muscle and fat deposits to use as fuel during flight.

However, a new study from Washington State University has revealed that the natural migratory behaviors of pine siskins can change in the presence of settled birds.

Heather Watts.
Watts

“The presence of another bird that isn’t migratory seems to be a really potent cue to stop migration,” said study co-author Heather Watts. “We saw changes in their behavior and changes in their physiology associated with the energetics of migration.”

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Earth.com
Science Daily
WSU Insider