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Plastic waste has some economic benefit for developing countries

For decades, wealthy nations have transported plastic trash, and the environmental problems that go with it, to poorer countries, but researchers have found a potential bright side to this seemingly unequal trade: plastic waste may provide an economic boon for the lower-income countries.

Jennifer Givens.
Givens
Yikang Bai.
Bai

In a study published in the Journal of World Systems Research, Washington State University sociology PhD alumni Yikang Bai and Jennifer Givens analyzed 11 years of data on the global plastics trade against economic measures for 85 countries. They found that the import of plastic waste was associated with growth in gross domestic product per capita in the lower-income countries.

“Our study offers a nuanced understanding of the global trade in plastic waste,” said Bai, lead author on the study. “Media coverage often has a narrative that developed countries shift environmental harms to less developed countries. There’s another layer of the story: plastic waste could be used as a resource first, even though ultimately it could still add to the environmental burdens of less-developed countries.”

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Scrap Monster

 

WSU foresters urge readiness for a dry, early wildfire season

An abnormally dry spring has heralded an early start to what could be a prolonged fire season in 2021.

Forestry educators at Washington State University urge forest owners and residents to prepare.

Mark Swanson.
Swanson

Since the era of effective fire suppression began around 1950, “we’ve seen a lot of trees grow into formerly open spaces,” said Mark Swanson, Forestry Program lead with WSU’s School of the Environment. “We have denser, more moisture-stressed stands that are going to burn at higher severity, where once they would have experienced low-severity, ground fires. These are the parts of our forest that would have burned frequently, keeping fuel low so that fire wouldn’t have jumped from crown to crown.”

For fire to start, timber, grasses, and other fuel must be dry. Green wood won’t burn, but given time, warm temperatures, and low relative humidity, all that’s needed is a spark, and wind to spread the blaze.

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Local Briefs: Pullman Police, WSU collaboration earns award

A collaboration between the Pullman Police Department and Washington State University has earned recognition as a “smart cities” project.

Smart Cities Connect has recognized the Research Fellowship Program as one of the top 50 “innovative and influential projects on an international scale,” according to a Pullman Police Department news release.

David Makin.
Makin

The Research Fellowship Program is a joint venture between Pullman and David Makin of the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at WSU. The collaboration allows the police to leverage research expertise while allowing a doctoral student to work on applied research projects.

The fellowship led to a number of benefits for Pullman police, including a cost-benefit analysis of a new municipal court, a needs assessment related to implementation of a traffic camera system, a grant proposal to the National Institute of Justice to examine the use and effectiveness of de-escalation within police-citizen interactions and a proposal to improve officer safety and wellness.

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Daily News

‘Soft X‑ray’ method opens up ways for smart nano-medicine

Currently researchers have to rely on attaching fluorescent dyes or heavy metals to label parts of organic nanocarrier structures for investigation, often changing them in the process. A new technique using chemically-sensitive “soft” X-rays offers a simpler, non-disruptive way of gaining insight into this nano-world. In a study published by Nature Communications, a research team demonstrates the capability of the X-ray method on a smart drug delivery nanoparticle and a polysoap nanostructure intended to capture crude oil spilled in the ocean.

Brian Collins
Collins

“We have developed a new technique to look at nanocarrier internal structure, chemistry and environmental behavior without any labeling at all – a new capability that up to now has not been possible,” said Brian Collins, a Washington State University physicist and corresponding author on the study. “Currently, you need fluorescent tags to see inside nanocarriers, but this can modify their structure and behavior, especially if they’re made out of carbon-based materials. With this new technique, we’ve been able to look inside these nanocarriers, analyze their chemical identities and concentrations – and do this all in their fully natural state, including their water environment.”

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Healthcare In Europe
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Smith Teaching and Learning grants benefit undergraduate education

Washington State University faculty members are engaged in six new projects to improve undergraduate education, thanks to funding from the Samuel H. and Patricia W. Smith Teaching and Learning Endowment. They include three in the College of Arts and Sciences:

Ruth Gregory.
Gregory

Ruth Gregory, scholarly assistant professor and director of undergraduate studies for the Digital Technology and Culture (DTC) Program, for the project “Digital Technology and Culture in the Community AmeriCorps Program: Closing the Equity Gap in Internship Experiences and Compensation.” The program will address internship inequity by creating an AmeriCorps unit at WSU focused on providing students from marginalized backgrounds paid internship opportunities.

Nikolaus Overtoom.
Overtoom

Nikolaus Overtoom, clinical assistant professor of history, for the project “Engaging an Equitable Antiquity.” The project will emphasize diversity, equity, and inclusiveness in the study of antiquity by redeveloping two courses—History 337 (Women in the Ancient World) for the Global Campus and History 395 (Topics in History: Ancient Warfare and Society).

Patty Wilde.
Wilde

Patty Wilde, assistant professor and director of composition at WSU Tri-Cities, for the project “Culturally Responsive Approaches to Writing Instruction: Using a Multi-disciplinary Community of Practice to Improve Equity and Student Outcomes” with Tri-Cities co-applicants Lori Nelson, scholarly assistant professor of biology; Tracey Hanshew, scholarly assistant professor of history; Robert Franklin, clinical associate professor of history; and Vanessa Cozza, scholarly associate professor of English; with facilitation by Janet Peters, scholarly associate professor of psychology. The project will use culturally responsive teaching knowledge to re-envision approaches to writing instruction, assignment design, and assessment in the context of their courses.

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