WSU Insider

Four‑year college students drink more, use marijuana less than community college peers

May 18, 2022

Students at four‑year colleges and universities drink nearly twice as much alcohol as their peers in two‑year colleges, according to a survey of Seattle‑area college students.

Black and white photo of migrant worker cutting and harvesting asparagus.

WSU Schnitzer Museum showcases new exhibitions

May 17, 2022

Baby sleeping with a pacifier covered with soft blanket.

Smart pacifier developed to monitor infant health in hospitals

May 16, 2022

Good To Know

Nine faculty selected to receive seed grants

May 18, 2022

Professor joins National Academies Agriculture and Natural Resources Board

May 17, 2022

Librarian selected as Mellon Fellow

May 17, 2022

Krishnamoorthy named first recipient of Yang ‘Wendy’ Liu Award

May 16, 2022

Campus & Community

A student selects items from the Cougar Food Pantry on the Pullman campus (photo by Ben Schuh).

Grant helps WSU system meet students’ fundamental needs

May 10, 2022

The Washington Student Achievement Council grant is funding a variety of initiatives, including a new position that will work with WSU’s diverse student population to address food and housing insecurity.

WSU Pullman implements inclement weather plan for Saturday commencement ceremonies

May 5, 2022

The National Weather Service is calling for showers and possible thunderstorms throughout the day on Saturday with a 70% chance of precipitation.

More than 4,700 set to graduate from WSU campuses statewide

May 5, 2022

The university will confer diplomas for more than 4,700 spring graduates, with thousands participating in commencement ceremonies beginning this week.

Philanthropist who funds college dreams earns his own degree

May 4, 2022

After helping thousands of students afford college, Seattle investor and philanthropist Gary Rubens will fulfill a lifelong personal goal and graduate from WSU this spring.

University Affairs

Higheagle Strong named first systemwide tribal liaison to the president

May 11, 2022

After more than three years of serving as executive director for tribal relations primarily focused on the Pullman campus, Zoe Higheagle Strong is taking on broader, systemwide responsibilities.

DEI programs see upswing in donor support

May 11, 2022

Nearly $800,000 in corporate and private support has been pledged in recent months to support diversity, equity, and inclusion training and study abroad opportunities as well as student recruitment, mentoring, and retention efforts.

Regents approve tuition and fee rates, designate Yakima Consortium site

May 6, 2022

WSU System President Kirk Schulz also highlighted the hiring of a new dean for the College of Agriculture, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences and a record-setting $20 million donation during the Friday meeting.

WSU expanding mental health resources

May 5, 2022

Students systemwide will soon have access to a suite of mental health resources including after‑hours crisis counseling, self‑help tools, an online referral network, and peer support.

WSU-related Podcasts

From WSU:

Food safety, WSU stories, science answers for kids, and more—listen to podcasts from Washington State University.

About WSU:

A selection of programs about Washington State, produced by alumni and friends.

WSU Podcasts

Benefits & Training

Pre-retirement seminar – May 2022

May 19, 2022

Are you considering retiring? Join a pre-retirement seminar to assist you in your planning. Topics include: Retiree Medical, Dental, and Life Insurance Enrollment Processes; Medicare and Social Security; Voluntary Employee’s Benefit Association Medical Expense Plan (VEBA MEP); Annual Leave Payment; Voluntary Investment Programs; Retirement Income, and; Retirement Supplementation for WSURP participants. These seminars are open […]

Demand growing for WSU’s model community and equity training

May 12, 2022

The program is helping faculty and staff expand their understanding of equity-mindedness and build a toolkit for engaging more effectively with students, colleagues, and community partners.

Awards & Achievements

Akmal named 2022 outstanding department chair

May 13, 2022

The Office of the Provost award recognized Tariq Akmal, chair of the Teaching and Learning Department, for his leadership and administrative acumen.

Nine faculty selected to receive seed grants

May 18, 2022

The Office of Research program provides support for junior faculty to develop research, scholarly, or creative programs that lead to sustained professional development and extramural funding.

Professor joins National Academies Agriculture and Natural Resources Board

May 17, 2022

Emeritus Professor John McNamara was recognized for his 33 years of service as an animal sciences researcher and educator at WSU.

Librarian selected as Mellon Fellow

May 17, 2022

Talea Anderson, a scholarly communication librarian for WSU Libraries, has been named an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow for Diversity, Inclusion, and Cultural Heritage through the Rare Book School at the University of Virginia.

Science & Technology

Smart pacifier developed to monitor infant health in hospitals

May 16, 2022

A wireless, bioelectronic pacifier could eliminate the need for invasive, twice‑daily blood draws to monitor babies’ electrolytes in Newborn Intensive Care Units.

AI predicts infant age, gender based on temperament

May 10, 2022

It’s hard to tell the difference between a newborn boy and girl based solely on temperament. But once babies reach around a year old that begins to change.

Disposable masks could be used to make more durable concrete

April 27, 2022

With the pandemic’s masks now presenting an environmental problem, researchers have demonstrated the idea of using old masks in a cement mixture to create a stronger concrete product.

Lignin-based jet fuel packs more power for less pollution

April 27, 2022

A WSU-developed blend made from an organic polymer that makes plants tough and woody could help jets switch to fully sustainable fuel.

Food & Agriculture

The fungi that causes white mold rots a sunflower plant.

Discovery reveals how fungi bypasses plant defenses, kills plants

April 25, 2022

An insight into how the fungi that causes white mold rot avoids plant defenses could lead to a new tool to combat a pathogen that causes billions of dollars of crop loss worldwide.

Marcia Ostrom named WSU Food Systems program director

April 28, 2022

Ostrom took on directorship March 16. She is the founder of the Small Farms Program, which she led for 15 years, and a 21‑year WSU faculty member.

Scientists find forests’ breaking point for heat, drought

April 8, 2022

In a new study in Nature Communications, a WSU researcher helped investigate how hot is too hot, and how dry is too dry for Earth’s forests.

First endowed potato chair seeks to grow $7 billion state industry

April 1, 2022

Backed by a more than $3 million fund, Steve Culman will address priorities in irrigated agriculture, including the need to better understand and protect soil.

Health & Medicine

Food insecurity risk related to diabetes later in life

May 9, 2022

Young adults who were at risk of food insecurity had increased incidence of diabetes 10 years later, according to a WSU study.

Intense exercise while dieting may reduce cravings for fatty food

April 21, 2022

In a study that offers hope for human dieters, laboratory rats on a 30‑day diet who exercised intensely resisted cues for favored, high‑fat food pellets.

WSU pharmacy students training to fill rural health care gap

April 14, 2022

A $2.2 million gift to the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences will help support the inaugural class of pharmacists in a rural health care track.

Life-saving Narcan Nasal Spray available at Cougar Health Services pharmacy

April 13, 2022

The spray is designed to counteract the effects of an opioid overdose. The kits are free and available to everyone at the CHS pharmacy in Pullman.

Veterinary Medicine

Researcher helps protect swans in lower Coeur d’Alene river basin

May 16, 2022

Veterinarian Marcie Logsdon is part of an EPA‑led research team monitoring lead exposure of tundra swans by collecting their feces as well as sediment in the Lower Coeur d’Alene River Basin.

Experts recommend steps to avoid spread of avian influenza

May 13, 2022

Several cases of the H5N1 avian influenza virus in birds have been confirmed in Washington state, and animal disease experts at WSU are asking the public to take measures to avoid its spread.

WSU veterinarians give basset hound a new life

May 12, 2022

Bailey’s heart stopped beating for 18 minutes but, defying the odds, the emergency and critical care teams at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital didn’t give up.

Young microbiology major stars in the lab

April 29, 2022

The Students Targeted toward Advanced Research Studies program, or STARS, gives students like Natasha Puzon the opportunity to earn a doctorate along with their bachelor’s degree in as few as seven years.

Arts & Culture

In addition to its new titles, Basalt Books is reissuing Mike Vouri’s history, The Pig War: Standoff at Griffin Bay, chronicling the 1859 crisis on San Juan Island, brought on by a U.S settler killing a British boar.

WSU Press’s new imprint focuses on general audiences

May 2, 2022

Basalt Books aims to publish general interest titles for readers ranging from young children to adults—all with a connection to the Northwest.

WSU selects ‘Braiding Sweetgrass’ as next common read for students

April 28, 2022

The book features essays that convey scientific knowledge and indigenous lore as well as reflections on the relationship between humans and the land.

Schnitzer Museum announces naming gift from Patricia W. and Samuel H. Smith

April 26, 2022

The donation from the former university first couple funds the construction and equipment needed to create a special learning space within the home of WSU’s permanent art collection.

Splatt table makes a splash

April 19, 2022

WSU students designed an award-winning table with a radial arrangement of petals and pockets that creates a collaborative environment and facilitates group work on many scales.

Business & Economics

Team Bloom won the Business Plan Competition's $15,000 grand prize for their app matching first-gen students with local scholarship providers (photo by WSU Photo Services).

Student venture teams’ ideas ring in success at annual business plan competition

April 29, 2022

Solutions to improving life after COVID was a collective theme at WSU’s 2022 Business Plan Competition on Thursday, April 28.

Ukrainian students tune in to WSU class on international tourism

April 26, 2022

With their country at war, students from King Danylo University in western Ukraine face challenges unfathomable to most U.S. college students while working on a group project for an international tourism class at WSU.

Alumni commitment launches Student-Athlete Entrepreneurship Initiative

April 22, 2022

The initiative will provide programming for student-athletes in entrepreneurship and business education starting this summer. It is the result of a generous financial commitment from alumni Dan and Joanne Castles.

Cash transfer proposal has downsides for child poverty

April 12, 2022

A proposal to provide monthly payments to most U.S. parents, similar to those under the pandemic relief program, would likely worsen poverty for children of single mothers, a WSU study has found.

Politics & Society

Four‑year college students drink more, use marijuana less than community college peers

May 18, 2022

Students at four‑year colleges and universities drink nearly twice as much alcohol as their peers in two‑year colleges, according to a survey of Seattle‑area college students.

Service workers’ volatile shifts linked to high‑cost debt

April 28, 2022

Time, more than money, appears to influence whether service employees end up turning to so‑called predatory lenders, a WSU‑led study found.

Few Americans see race as key factor in environmental inequality

April 13, 2022

Only 33% of U.S. households believe that Black people are more likely to experience environmental pollution and that this well-documented inequality is unfair, according to a WSU study.

Chris Matthews to speak at Tom Foley documentary premiere

April 12, 2022

The best-selling author and former host of MSNBC’s “Hardball” narrated the documentary, “The Gentleman Speaker: Conversations with Tom Foley,” which explores the Spokane-born legislator’s political legacy.

Reports & Updates

Celebrating our progress over the last year

May 9, 2022

From resuming in‑person instruction and events to advancing OneWSU planning and installing our inaugural chancellor of the Pullman campus—a lot has changed for the university community.

Executive Budget Council – Listening and Feedback Sessions

April 7, 2022

While the last few years have been strained in the wake of COVID‑19 budget trimming, WSU is on a positive trajectory thanks to the support of our donors and state legislators.

WSU responds to bomb threats against historically Black universities

February 4, 2022

Washington State University is committed to continue working toward building a society where equity, respect, and justice are a reality for all.

WSU experiencing anticipated surge in COVID‑19 cases

January 18, 2022

We are asking each of you to do your part to help keep our communities healthy.