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• WSU Researchers Trace Sources of Bee Colony Collapse Disorder

  

  PULLMAN, Wash. — Recent research by scientists at Washington State University suggests two potential contributors to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), a mysterious malady that has slowly wiped out large numbers of bee hives throughout the United States in recent years, may be trace pesticides often found in old honeycombs and a new microscopic pathogen that has been quietly spreading throughout the Pacific Northwest and other regions of the country. Read more

• $6M in NSF grants a coup for graduate training

  

  WSU’s recent receipt of two grants has “lifted our graduate and research programs … to a new level,’’ according to Candis Claiborn, dean of the College of Engineering and Architecture. Read more

• Luring natural predators to protect orchards

  

  Researchers and orchardists know quite a bit about the major pests in tree fruit systems, but what about the natural enemies of those pests? Scientists at WSU’s Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center in Wenatchee are working to learn more about these beneficial bugs in an effort to better leverage them in pest control. Read more

• WSU Researchers Aim to Measure Greenhouse Gas From Space

  PULLMAN, Wash. – George Mount, professor in the Washington State University Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering’s Laboratory for Atmospheric Research, has been heavily involved in developing the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Orbiting Carbon Observatory satellite, set to launch from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base early tomorrow morning. Read more

• Buying a Real Christmas Tree, Not Bad for the Environment, WSU Researcher Says

  

  PULLMAN, Wash. - It’s that time of year again, the stores are flooded with holiday decorations, the street corners are lined with Christmas trees for sale and many people are torn with the decision to decorate a real or fake tree this year. For those do-it-yourself individuals, “Cut your own Christmas Tree Month” is upon us and many families participate in the age-old tradition of chopping down their own tree. Read more

• WSU Professor to Lead Recovery Efforts Against Invader

  PULLMAN, Wash.-A fungus that could damage U.S. wheat and barley crops is on its way from Africa, and a Washington State University professor will chair a national committee to prepare the recovery plan. Read more

• WSU Scientist Receives Grant for Rice Research

  PULLMAN, Wash.—Washington State University Regents Professor Gerald Edwards of the School of Biological Sciences has received $335,000 over three years for ambitious research designed to re-engineer photosynthesis in rice. The goal of the international project is rice that will produce 50 percent more grain while using less water and less fertilizer. Read more

• In Fight Against Pathogens, Calcium Helps Plants Make Their Own Aspirin

  PULLMAN, Wash. — Calcium builds strong bones, good teeth—and healthy plants, according to a new study from Washington State University. Experiments show that calcium, when bound to a protein called calmodulin, prompts plants to make salicylic acid (SA) when threatened by infection or other danger. SA is a close chemical relative of aspirin. In plants, SA acts as a signal molecule that kicks off a series of reactions that help defend against external threats. Read more

• Alternatives to Evacuation Can Save Homes, Lives

  

  PULLMAN, Wash.—When uncontrolled fires are close to inhabited areas, people are asked to evacuate their homes. Lack of knowledge concerning what to do during a fire leaves some people with no alternative. The United States does not have a lot of experience regarding alternatives to evacuation, but a Washington State University researcher and his doctoral student are studying several Western U.S. communities that have begun to explore opportunities for alternatives to evacuation during wildland fires. Read more

• Monitoring the Winter Air in Boise’s Treasure Valley

  PULLMAN, Wash. – With a grant from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (IDEQ), a group of Washington State University researchers has begun monitoring air quality and atmospheric chemistry in Boise’s Treasure Valley to better understand and mitigate wintertime inversions. The researchers in the WSU’s Laboratory for Atmospheric Research, including Tim VanReken, assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, will be sampling through January. Read more

• Major Grant Secured for Radioactive Isotope Study

  

  PULLMAN, Wash. – Chemist Nathalie Wall of Washington State University and a colleague at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been awarded more than $600,000 from the Department of Energy for a study of how a radioactive isotope moves in soil and water. Read more

Related News

• WSU Archeology Professor Awarded Grant to Research Ecosystems

  PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State University Regents Professor of Archeology Timothy Kohler will receive a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Forest Service to better understand the interactions between humans and their environment by studying coupled natural and human systems.

• $1M grant received for cleanup research

  PULLMAN -- Markus Flury, WSU professor of soil physics, and Jim Harsh, WSU professor of soil chemistry, and colleagues from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, and the Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls, have received a three-year $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to continue research on the fate of radioactive waste that has leaked from underground tanks into the soil.

• Agriculture Practices to Reduce the Impact of Global Climate Change

  PULLMAN, Wash.- While agriculture contributes to the buildup of greenhouse gases, it also has the potential to help the planet by implementing practices that reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted, and even trap some of those being produced.

• Economic Boom and Olympic Games Pose Threat of Biological Invasion of China

  PULLMAN, Wash.--As the citizens of Beijing prepare to welcome an invasion by athletes and spectators coming to this summer’s Olympic Games, a quieter and much less welcome invasion is already under way.

• Research Improves Detection of Harmful Pathogens

  PULLMAN, Wash. -- A group of Washington State University researchers have developed a method that greatly improves and speeds up the detection of harmful pathogens in the environment. In a paper published this month in the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, the researchers, including Prashanta Dutta, assistant professor in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, and colleagues from the University of Akron, present an improved and more effective Coulter device, used for the detection of the tiny microbes.

• WSU Researcher Finds Population, Consumption Drive Global Climate Change and Environmental Degradation

  PULLMAN, Wash. – A new study by a Washington State University researcher and his colleagues pinpoints the causes of a recent finding by a working group of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change that global climate warming is due to human activities.

• Study Shows Common Particles in Groundwater Help Plutonium Spread from Waste Sites

  PULLMAN, Wash. – Efforts to design nuclear waste facilities should take into account the tendency of plutonium to attach itself to tiny particles called colloids that are suspended in the groundwater, according to a new study by an international research team that included Washington State University chemist Sue Clark and scientists from Moscow (Russia) State University, the University of Michigan and Cameca in France.

• WSU Study Shows Environmental Toxins Can Cause Inherited Diseases

  A disease you are suffering today could be a result of your great-grandmother being exposed to an environmental toxin during pregnancy – and you may already have passed it along to your children. That’s the conclusion reached by researchers at Washington State University, who have found that exposure to an environmental toxin during embryonic development can cause an animal, and almost all of its descendents, to develop adult-onset illnesses such as cancer and kidney disease.