Academic Subjects

In search of microplastics in food

While shocking images of giant gyres of plastic trash in the world’s oceans cause widespread alarm, a more insidious threat to ecological and human health may be the nearly invisible microplastics in local waters, said environmental science professor Alex Fremier. Supported by a Fulbright Global Scholar Award, Fremier will spend four months in Belém, Brazil, […]

Senior’s antibiotic resistance review earns Library Research Award

Headlines warning of the dangers of antibiotic resistance appear in the news almost every day. The United Nations predicts that by 2050, 10 million people could die each year from diseases that have become resistant to drugs. Biology major Miles Roberts wanted to know how science is working to counter this trend. So, for his […]

$1.4M DoD grant supports new eDNA techniques

Freshly drawn from an Idaho pond, the half-liter of water running through Caren Goldberg’s funnel-shaped filter carries trace cells and tiny fragments bearing DNA—genetic code from native frogs and salamanders. Those few strands of code say a lot to Goldberg, a WSU scientist who studies environmental DNA, or eDNA—genetic material sampled from soil or water […]

A big future in big data

Haylie Murray, a 21-year-old native of Camano Island, Wash., was named as the 2019 Outstanding Senior for the WSU data analytics program. “There is a sense of accomplishment in being the part of the first graduating class in data analytics,” she said. Data analysts and scientists are critical to industries on the cutting edge of […]

Medical Big Data

Currently, there is a shortage of data wranglers and analysts. Just in time to meet the needs of what could be a revolution in healthcare, WSU is bringing up to speed one of the few data analytics programs in the country. Under the direction of entrepreneur-scientist Nella Ludlow, WSU’s new data analytics program is training […]

Scientists seek causes, better predictions for South Asia’s changing monsoon

Deepti Singh, assistant professor in the School of the Environment, is trying to understand how and why the South Asian summer monsoon is changing. Weather patterns in the region are becoming harder to predict, with rain falling in unusual amounts and locations, putting billions of lives and livelihoods at risk. Working with colleagues in the […]

Musical duo appear again in opera production

For Mom’s Weekend, graduating seniors Clare Sullivan and Bogdan Theo Mynka shared the stage one last time as Anne and Fenton in Otto Nicolai’s opera, “The Merry Wives of Windsor.” Both will receive bachelor’s of music degrees in vocal performance in May. During their time at WSU, they have played a variety of roles in […]

Practical solutions to real crime issues

After leading police on a slippery, high-speed chase through snowy Spokane neighborhoods, running red lights and stop signs, driving through a resident’s yard, and slamming his stolen Subaru into a Jeep, a chronic car thief finally was caught, several minutes — and thousands of dollars in property damage — later. Could anything have been done […]

English professor chronicles Arctic residency adventure

Sailing aboard the Antigua, a traditionally rigged tall ship specially outfitted for sailing in the high Arctic,   writer and Regents professor of English Debbie Lee chronicled her experience as a member of the Arctic Circle Artist Residency Program. One of thirty artists from every part of the world sailing the west coast of Svalbard […]