CAS in the Media | Washington State University

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Fish carcass tossing helps track food chain nutrients

July 12, 2012

Black bear — Grizzly bears and black bears feed on naturally spawning salmon and distribute nutrients into the forest. Photo by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

By Bob Hoffmann, College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences

A slender, dark-haired woman in her forties shoulders a backpack loaded with dead fish as she hikes a long, rocky trail to a mountain stream in southern Idaho. Arriving on the bank, she drops the pack and starts winging fish carcasses into the water.

This is science. And this is Laura Felicetti, a research scientist in the lab of Charles Robbins, professor in the School of the Environment and School of Biological Sciences at Washington State University. Felicetti is a member of a team that’s trying to quantify the success of nutrient replacement in an area where dams have stopped salmon and steelhead from migrating.

Nutrient-poor soil

Soils in Idaho’s Boise-Payette-Weiser sub-basin are nutrient poor, according to Katy Kavanagh, a University of Idaho forest ecology professor and a collaborator on the project. One reason is that natural processes in this ecosystem poorly incorporate atmospheric nitrogen into the soil in a form that is usable to plants. Also, the region’s dry summers and cold winters are not favorable to decomposition, so dead trees are slow to decay and make their nutrients available to other plants. Continue story →

Apostle retires, Yeomans named Puyallup superintendent

July 12, 2012

After 37 years in public education, Washington State University alumnus Tony Apostle retired as superintendent of the Puyallup School District. Apostle joined the district in 1990 and was appointed superintendent in 2004. During his time at WSU, Apostle earned his master’s degree in educational administration in 1979 and his D.Ed. in elementary and secondary education in 1989.

More on Apostle’s retirement from the Puyallup School District.

The new Puyallup superintendent is another WSU alumnus: Timothy Yeomans. At WSU Yeomans earned his bachelor’s in education, health and physical education in 1986 and his master’s in history, ancient and modern Europe. Yeomans served as the superintendent of Meridian School District in Bellingham before moving to the Puyallup School District.

Read the full article on Yeomans in the Tacoma News Tribune.

[Revised 2/22/2013]

Linda Maule to serve as dean at Indiana State

July 12, 2012

Indiana State University has appointed Washington State University alumna Linda Maule to serve as the dean of the recently founded University College. She has been a faculty member at ISU since 1996 and has served in multiple leadership positions.

Maule earned her Ph.D. in public law and public administration from WSU in 1997. She is a faculty member in the ISU department of political science and women’s studies and has served as the coordinator for the foundational studies program, the co-director and interim director of women’s studies, director of legal studies, and interim chairperson of the sociology department.

“As coordinator of general education and foundational studies programs for the past five years, she is well qualified to lead the development and launch of the University College,” said Jack Maynard, ISU provost and vice president for academic affairs. “She has the passion, enthusiasm, and commitment to be a great dean.”

Read the full story on Maule in Washington State Magazine.