Washington State Magazine

A series of videos introducing WSU's James Entomology Collection and its work in research, collection, education and service.Introduction to the James Entomology CollectionTake a quick tour of the Collection with director Rich Zack.55 seconds James Entomology Collection :: Collecting and Preparing SpecimensWhere do all those insects come from? Rich Zack talks about collecting insects in the jungles of Guatemala and shows how he prepares specimens for display in the collection.2 minutes, 23 sec...
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"[The collections] answer to a lot of people," says Rich Zack. "They answer a lot of questions, and at times they can generate funds, but it's not a steady stream of funds. Often you're answering small questions from hundreds of people." Any one of those hundreds might get along OK if the collections shut down, "but because we serve so many, it would be a major loss," says Zack. Anthropologist Karen Lupo, whose students make frequent use of the Conner Museum's bone collection, says she w...
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A series of videos introducing WSU's Conner Museum and its work in research, education, and public service. The Charles R. Conner Museum features the largest public collection of birds and mammals in the Pacific Northwest, and the scientific collection used by researchers houses over 65,000 specimens....
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An introduction to Washington State College from 1952, narrated by Edward R. Murrow.This film shows campus and student activities in 1952, from engineering students to football games to housing. Edward R. Murrow narrates the tour around WSC, which emphasizes research, practical training and extension mission as a land grant college.Courtesy: WSU Libraries - Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections Excerpt: 5 minutes, ...
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"We get a lot of things that people might not think we'd get a lot of," says Kelly Cassidy. She opens a drawer to reveal one cedar waxwing and five Bohemian waxwings that were brought in by a Pullman resident on a single day. They'd flown into her window after being spooked by something. Students and faculty regularly bring in songbirds that have dashed their brains out on the glassed-in walkway between Abelson Hall and the Science Library. "It's a terrible bird killer because it's clear ...
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Several WSU scientists are gearing up to use stable isotope analysis to ask new questions of the Conner's specimens. Physiologists Ray Lee and Hubert Schwabl joined Dick Johnson and visiting scientist Elizabeth Yohannes of Germany's Max Planck Institute to do stable isotope analysis on hairs from small mammals collected on the Palouse over the past hundred years. Their study lays the groundwork for explorations of habitat and dietary changes in mammals, similar to tho...
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Meet the WSU Researcher: Michael NeffPart 2: A new biofuel crop for Washington farmers?Washington State University botanist Michael Neff discusses how to transform camelina as a possible biofuel crop in Washington.Neff's lab works on camelina, an oilseed used for lamps from the Iron Age that can grow on marginal farmland and not compete with food crops.Neff shows how his work uses transgenic seeds to make camelina a better fuel crop, complete with rose-colored glasses and green LEDs to see which...
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Meet the WSU Researcher: Michael NeffPart 1: What Plants See...Changes How They GrowWashington State University botanist Michael Neff studies the way plants sense light and plants around them, and change their growth patterns accordingly. Plants use photoreceptors sensitive to far-red light to determine their proximity to other plants. These photoreceptors are different from infrared receptors used for photosynthesis."What I've been interested in forever is how plants use light as a source of in...
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 In 2004, researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York produced a line of mice with an intriguing mutation. The mice make a defective form of a protein called SMC1beta that binds to chromosomes during the crossing-over stage. Pat Hunt and Terry Hassold, on the lookout for anything that might be involved in damage to chromosomes in the eggs of older women, recognized a hot prospect. SMC1beta is part of a complex, or cluster, of four proteins called cohesins. The complex hold...
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Many questions remain concerning the contents of the longhouses  excavated at Ozette. One of the most intriguing is the nature of its art, which was pervasive. More than 400 artifacts stored at the Makah Cultural Center might be considered art. Although a few pieces, such as the well-known carved whale saddle, are (presumably) ritualistic, most are everyday objects, combs, bowls, clubs, embellished with designs. Jeff Mauger (PhD '78), an archaeologist at Peninsula Community Coll...
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