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CAS in the Media Arts and Sciences Media Headlines

WSU Global Campus ranked among nation’s best online degrees

Five Washington State University online programs ranked among the best in the nation for 2022 by U.S. News & World Report.

WSU Global Campus ranked 19th nationally for its undergraduate degrees in the Best Online Bachelor’s Programs category, including its undergraduate business and psychology programs which ranked 8th and 13th, respectively.

To calculate rankings for online bachelor’s programs, U.S. News and World Report evaluated data collected from 384 schools in four categories: engagement, services and technologies, faculty credentials and training, and expert opinion. They also ranked 165 undergraduate business programs and 55 undergraduate psychology programs.

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WSU Insider

UI study: COVID-19 antibodies passed to infants through breastmilk

Limited data is available about the risks and benefits associated with breastfeeding following a positive COVID-19 diagnosis, however, scientists recently published a study which supports recommendations for lactating mothers to continue breastfeeding during and after illness.

Courtney Meehan.
Meehan

Washington State University anthropology professor Courtney Meehan made significant contributions to the research showing that breastmilk from women infected with COVID-19 provides natural protection to their infants against the virus.

Previous research from the scientists, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, found the milk of breastfeeding women with the illness to contain no traces of the virus. The new study indicates long-lasting antibodies in relatively high amounts that neutralize or basically inactivate the virus.

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The Lewiston Tribune

Operation Sierra Storm addresses extreme weather

On Tuesday Jan. 11, the public was invited to Hard Rock Hotel and Casino to hear about how extreme weather is being linked to human caused climate change and its local impact.

Deepti Singh.
Singh

The day started with a presentation by Deepti Singh, Assistant Professor, School of the Environment, Washington State University Vancouver about extreme weather.

Singh said the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change defines extreme weather as a variable above or below a threshold value near the upper or lower ends of the range of observed values. Singh added that an IPCC report recently stated that in 2021, there were 20 extreme weather events that caused at least $1 billion in damage.

“The world is not doomed,” Singh said, adding that reduction in global carbon emissions can prevent temperatures from rising further.

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Sierra Sun

Undergraduate researchers tackle important questions in sciences, humanities

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions, relieving chronic pain, understanding protest behavior and conserving wildlife are among the goals of eight faculty-mentored undergraduate research projects funded this spring by the College of Arts and Sciences.

Students from across the college—in mathematics, chemistry, foreign languages and political, psychological, environmental and biological sciences—are working with faculty researchers to solve questions as diverse as what are a book’s chances of becoming a best seller and which food sources threatened butterflies prefer.

Courtney Meehan.
Meehan

“The College of Arts and Sciences enthusiastically supports our students’ intellectual curiosity and the wide range of exciting and impactful research they conduct,” said Courtney Meehan, CAS associate dean for research and graduate studies. “Providing funds for these projects, and many more, advances the college’s ongoing commitment to support undergraduate students’ participation in an array of innovative research, scholarship and creative activities.”

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WSU Insider

High protein diet may harm polar bears

Charles Robbins.
Robbins

A high protein diet appears linked to kidney disease and shortened lifespans for captive polar bears, a relationship similarly suspected in humans, according to a review led by Washington State University wildlife biologist Charlie Robbins.

“Zoos made some assumptions in the past about the nutritional requirements of polar bears because their diet is almost exclusively animals,” said Robbins, professor and founder of WSU’s Bear Center. “But, unlike cats, they do not need and cannot tolerate high protein.”

“Although we knew that polar bears selected for the blubber of their prey, this was the first time we were able to quantify how much fat they were actually consuming,” Robbins said. “When it comes to feeding polar bears, the general mindset has been that they are carnivores. No one has really been paying attention to the amount of protein they might need, much less limitations on how much they might tolerate.”

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Billings Gazette