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RESEARCH BRIEFING FOR SPOKANE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Washington State University officials and research scientists will brief members of the Spokane Chamber of Commerce Friday on several major research programs underway that are expected to have important industrial applications. Presentations will be made by WSU President Samuel Smith; Y.M. Gupta, Institute for Shock Physics; Michael Skinner, Center for Reproductive Biology; and Michael Wolcott and Donald Bender, Wood Materials and Engineering Laboratory. Each area has received major outside financial support. The program is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Academic I Building on Spokane’s Riverpoint campus.
Contact: Wes Leid, Interim Vice Provost for Research
Phone: 509/335-2640
HOW WILL OZONE DEPLETION AFFECT TREES?
Depletion of atmospheric ozone is resulting in increased ultraviolet-B radiation reaching the Earth’s surface. Not only does this pose an increased risk of skin cancer in humans, it is believed to affect plants also. Most of the research with plants, however, has focused on crops and other annuals. But what effect will UV-B radiation have on long-lived trees? In particular, how will it affect the allocation of carbon throughout the tree, and how will this affect its growth and relation to its environment? Tree physiologist John Bassman is tackling these questions with Gerald Edwards (botany) and Ronald Robberecht (range resources, University of Idaho). Bassman has several species of trees growing under increased UV-B radiation at WSU’s Steffen Center.
Contact: John Bassman, Natural Resource Sciences Department
Phone: 509/335-5296

WSU ANTHROPOLOGISTS ON “KENNEWICK MAN” SITE STUDY
Anthropology professor Gary Huckleberry will be part of a collaborative team evaluating the site where the skeleton now known as “Kennewick Man” was found last year. The team is scheduled for six days of work beginning Dec. 12. Huckleberry says he is inviting WSU graduates students and other anthropology faculty to participate in the project. Archaeologists from the Army Corps of Engineers and the Umatilla Tribe are part of the team. Objectives of the work include determining the age of the flood deposits in which the skeleton was found, how the remains got there and why the bones were so well preserved. Next week’s work will not include excavation, but Huckleberry hopes that might eventually follow. The discovery has become the center of a controversy. A group of scientists want to study the remains closely, while Native Americans leaders seek reburial without further examination.
Contact: Gary Huckleberry, Anthropology Department
Phone: 509/335-4807

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