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Pioneering alumnus honored for contributions to science and society

Growing up in the arid landscape of Richland, Washington, hundreds of miles and a mountain range away from the nearest ocean, may seem an unlikely start for a man who would become a leading expert in marine geology and coastal conservation.

Orrin Pilkey.
Pilkey

But Orrin Pilkey was destined to be a pioneer. With his insatiable curiosity and an education in geology from then-Washington State College, he traveled to the edges of land and sea and launched a new field of science to improve life in both environments.

“Throughout his 65‑year career as a researcher, educator, mentor, and advocate, Dr. Orrin Pilkey has made numerous outstanding contributions to the field of marine geology and to coastal preservation,” said Todd Butler, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “In addition to his positive impact on his discipline, he embodies the outcome of what we strive to accomplish as a college and university: a curious, life-long learner who integrates knowledge from many domains to address complex, real-world problems and issues.”

This year, Pilkey (BS Geology ’57) received the WSU Alumni Association’s Alumni Achievement Award, the organization’s highest honor, in recognition of his distinguished research and education in coastal geology and his public service in policy development and education to preserve America’s coastal resources.

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WSU Insider

How Jim Crow policies shaped the Tri-Cities

This is Part 1 of a two-part series connecting historical segregation policies to how minority groups struggle to get political representation today.

Segregation, red-lining, and sundown town policies in the 1940s through the 1960s shaped the Tri-Cities: Pasco, Kennewick, and Richland, Washington, according to a recent book by two history professors at Washington State University Tri-Cities.

During the 1940s and 1950s, Jim Crow-era policies forced Black, Hispanic, and other racial minorities to live in East Pasco, preventing them from living anywhere else in the region, like in Kennewick, said Bob Bauman, a history professor at WSU Tri-Cities.

Robert Bauman.
Bauman

“In Kennewick, African Americans were excluded completely by racially restricted covenants,” Bauman said. “Real estate prohibited anyone who was nonwhite from owning a home in Kennewick, and police would remove anyone who was nonwhite who was in Kennewick after sundown. There was a sort of term for these sorts of communities in different parts of the United States called sundown towns.”

Robert Franklin.
Franklin

Bauman and Robert Franklin co-wrote the book “Echoes of Exclusion and Resistance: Voices from the Hanford Region.” Using oral histories, government documentation about segregation policies, and written witness accounts, the two WSU Tri-Cities professors studied segregation in the area.

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NWPB.org

CABRI Awards $40,000 in Fellowships to Ten Undergraduate Researchers

Cayman joins the Cayman Biomedical Research Institute (CABRI) in recognizing the ten undergraduate students who have been awarded fellowships by CABRI for the 2022-2023 academic year. The fellowship awards are given to talented undergraduates that are pursuing a research project of their own under the guidance of a faculty mentor.

Undergraduate fellowships are awarded by CABRI on a competitive basis each year to students who have been offered an unpaid research position. “These fellowships provide a valuable opportunity to undergraduates by allowing them to focus on gaining laboratory experience that builds their scientific talent,” said Kourtney Goode, Ph.D., Academic Relations Coordinator at Cayman.

CABRI funds expanded opportunities for emerging scientists and awards research grants to academic scientists that address basic science research objectives with the highest unmet needs.

Ryan McLaughlin.
McLaughlin

The 2022 recipients include two students working with Ryan McLaughlin, an assistant professor of integrative physiology and neuroscience affiliated with the WSU Department of Psychology:

Addison Thompson, whose project is titled “Using Rodent Models to Interrogate Effects of Cannabis Use During Pregnancy on the Postpartum Phenotype’; and McKenna Spencer, whose project is titled “Cannabis Use in Females: Influence of Ovarian Hormones on Cannabis Vapor Self-Administration in Female Rats.”

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Yahoo! News

Ask Dr. Universe: How do starfish eat?

Starfish might have the coolest—and strangest—way of gobbling up a snack.

Cori Kane.I learned all about it from my friend Cori Kane. She studied coral reefs when she was a Ph.D. student in biological sciences at Washington State University. Now she works for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She writes policies to help protect the ocean and the animals that live there.

“Sea stars are probably one of the weirdest creatures. I don’t know any other organism that basically barfs out its stomach to eat,” Kane said.

Yes, you heard that right. She said sea stars barf out their stomachs.

“They have stomachs sort of similar to ours,” she said. “But instead of ingesting food through the mouth and going to the stomach, they basically spit out their stomach through their mouth. Then the stomach wraps around the food and digests the food outside of its body. Once all the food is digested, it pulls in the stomach and swallows it back into its body again.”

Wow. That’s a lot to digest.

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Dr. Universe

Ancient dart throwing provides introduction to experimental archeology

The first complex weapon system developed by humans is helping Washington State University students learn about both ancient technological innovation and modern-day experimental archeology.

Originating in Europe over 30,000 years ago, the “atlatl” consists of a short stick or board with a cup at one end that enables the wielder to throw a dart further and with more force than a spear. The weapon pre-dates the bow and is still used around the world today to hunt large game.

Shannon Tushingham.
Tushingham

On a cloudy afternoon earlier this semester on the Thompson Flats at WSU Pullman, students in Shannon Tushingham’s archeological methods and interpretation class had the unique opportunity to hunt wooly mammoths with the ancient weapon system. The key difference between the students’ mammoth hunt and that of their ancient ancestors was that the mammoths at WSU were made of cardboard.

“I find that my students just love anything hands on, and this is a real fun one,” Tushingham said. “Whenever you get to throw projectiles in class, it is a big hit.”

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WSU Insider