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CAS in the Media Arts and Sciences Media Headlines

Researcher affirms 86-year-old hypothesis

A Washington State University biologist has found what he calls “very strong support” for an 86-year-old hypothesis about how nutrients move through plants. His two-decade analysis of the phenomenon has resulted in a suite of techniques that can ultimately be used to fight plant diseases and make crops more efficient.

Michael Knoblauch, biological sciences
Michael Knoblauch

Some 90 percent of the food we consume at one time went through a plant’s phloem, the vascular system that carries sugars and other nutrients from leaves, where they are produced by photosynthesis, to roots and fruits. But scientists know so little about how this works, said Michael Knoblauch, professor in the WSU School of Biological Sciences, that they’re like cardiologists who haven’t learned about the heart. » More …

Student research supports LIGO, flight, bone development

Three undergraduate students were awarded $3,000 research grants from Washington River Protection Solutions as part of the Chancellor’s Summer Scholars Program at WSU Tri-Cities.

The students will conduct research collaboratively with faculty mentors, developing skills to prepare them for careers in science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) or a related field. Two of the three mentors are members of CAS faculty. » More …

From Mt. St. Helens’ volcanic ashes, Mother Nature rebuilds

John Bishop
John Bishop

Science correspondent MILES O’BRIEN: Thirty-six years after its spectacular, deadly eruption, Mount St. Helens still rumbles and bears scars from that earth-shattering day.

But hike down the slopes, away from that jagged crater just a little, and you will see Mother Nature hard at work. And there’s a good chance you will bump into a team of scientists led by John Bishop. He is an evolutionary biologist at Washington State University-Vancouver. » More …

Eight CAS seniors among WSU’s Top 10 for 2016

Eight of the Top Ten Senior Awards presented recently by the WSU Student Alumni Ambassadors and Alumni Association went to students in the College of Arts and Sciences. Two graduating seniors were named award winners in each of five categories for 2016.   » More …