Research

Study shows generational toxicology of popular weed killer

In the first study of its kind, WSU researchers found a variety of diseases and other health problems in the second- and third-generation offspring of rats exposed to glyphosate, the world’s most popular weed killer. The researchers saw descendants of exposed rats developing prostate, kidney and ovarian diseases, obesity and birth abnormalities. Michael Skinner, professor […]

Undergraduates’ data analysis, proposals could help reduce impaired driving

When Savanna Obernberger, a junior studying criminal justice, learned that drunk and drug-impaired drivers in the state kill nearly 200 people a year, she wanted to help solve the problem but didn’t know where to start. A few months later, Obernberger and four classmates presented to the state Traffic Safety Commission a set of four […]

The puzzle of pediatric pain

Early in her academic career, Jessica Fales realized that hardly anyone had studied what she most wanted to learn about—the relationship between chronic pain and social development in children and adolescents. There was little research and a wide-open field. “The main thread that ties my research together is trying to understand why rates of chronic […]

Virginia Woolf scholar receives Legacy of Excellence award

As the recipient of the 2019 Emeritus Society Legacy of Excellence award, Virginia Woolf scholar and professor emerita Diane Gillespie was honored for her sustained contributions to academia, continued service to the university and community, and personal accomplishments in retirement. Her Legacy of Excellence lecture, titled “What’s Left to Say about Virginia Woolf?,” was part […]

“Indians to Indians” researcher earns Fulbright award

History doctoral student and future professor Ryan W. Booth has received a Fulbright U.S. Student award to spend nine months in India exploring socio‑cultural characteristics attributed to indigenous soldiers during the British Raj up to a century ago. His work adds an international element to his dissertation, and may well lead to a new global […]

Doctoral students pack years of research into three minutes

From creating voice-responsive materials, to enabling regrowth of lost fingers and limbs, to reducing stress on caregivers of autistic children, to unearthing cultural history in Puget Sound, a wide range of high-impact research topics were expeditiously explained in the recent CAS Three Minute Thesis contest. Eleven Pullman-based doctoral students competed for valuable fellowship prizes by […]

Grad student discovers oldest tattoo tool in western North America

With a handle of skunkbush and a cactus‑spine business end, the tool was made around 2,000 years ago by the Ancestral Pueblo people of the Basketmaker II period in what is now southeastern Utah. Andrew Gillreath‑Brown, an anthropology PhD candidate, chanced upon the pen‑sized instrument while taking an inventory of archaeological materials that had been sitting in storage […]

Powerful new microscope adds versatility to research

The WSU Franceschi Microscopy and Imaging Center has acquired a microscope so powerful and versatile that Michael Knoblauch, the center director, compares it to a pig capable of making wool, milk and eggs. Or, to quote his native German, an eierlegende Wollmilchsau. Technically, it’s an Apreo VolumeScope, and it brings a suite of imaging techniques, including the […]

Public support for environmental spending hinges on White House

Leveraging the power of data analytics, WSU sociologist Erik Johnson teased apart the opinions of more than 20,000 people over more than four decades and found support for environmental spending consistently plummeted during the administrations of Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, Democrats all. Johnson made his discovery using a statistical analysis that looked at poll respondents […]