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Vancouver professor receives $1.1 million in grants to study how the brain understands what it hears

October 17, 2013

Christine Portfors, associate professor of biology and neuroscience and head of the Hearing and Communication Laboratory at Washington State University Vancouver, has received two federal grants totaling more than $1.1 million over three years. The grants will be used to study how neurons in the brains of mice detect, discriminate and categorize the different types of sounds mice use to communicate.

“Mice are social animals, and they use a variety of vocalizations to communicate with each other,” Portfors said. “These vocalizations are similar to the speech sounds used by humans to communicate, so what we learn about the mouse brain will help us understand how humans process speech.”

WSU astrobiologist contributes to Smithsonian blog

October 4, 2013

Dirk Schulze-Makuch, a professor in the School of the Environment, explores the mysteries of methane on Mars in his latest post on the Smithsonian Air & Space blog, The Daily Planet.

Read this and other posts by Schulze-Makuch, including “Life Raining Down from Space?” and “The Fermi Paradox Revisited.”

Washington State lawmakers not subject to tickets?

September 19, 2013

Carolyn Long

The Washington State Patrol says lawmakers should be shielded from arrest or civil process during the session, except for serious offenses.

But Carolyn Long, associate professor of politics, philosophy, and public affairs, disagrees. “I think it’s a terrible idea in this time when the public has a lot of mistrust in politicians and believe they get favored treatment,” she said. “So we ought to re-evaluate the application of the law and make sure it’s consistent.”

Research furthers food security, sovereignty

September 3, 2013

Amber Heckelman. Photo by Laura Evancich, WSU Vancouver.

Amber Heckelman, a doctoral student of environmental science at Washington State University Vancouver, has won the 2013-2014 Bullitt Foundation Environmental Fellowship worth $100,000 for research that centers on alleviating the suffering of Philippine peasants by restoring food security and sovereignty.

Awarded annually since 2007, the prize goes to an outstanding, environmentally knowledgeable graduate student from an underrepresented community who has demonstrated an exceptional capacity for leadership as well as scholarship. This is the third year in a row the honor has gone to a WSU student.

Officials learn new rules for chat on social media

August 29, 2013

Political timesaver

Michael Rabby, an instructor in digital technology and culture at WSU Vancouver and a specialist in social media, says social media is a timesaver for politicians. “At the local level, it’s an easier means of communicating than going door to door… And it’s certainly less invasive.”

But the rise in politicized social media also creates what’s known as a silo effect. People take partisan sides from which they don’t deviate and follow only politicians with whom they agree, Rabby says.

Social media pitfalls