Fall 2020
Tahoma and its People: A Natural History of Mount Rainier National Park
Review of Tahoma and its People: A Natural History of Mount Rainier National Park, published by WSU Press » More ...
Geography
Summer 2015
Maps: Mashups from the WSU GIS Laboratory—a sampling of studies and classroom exercises
Maps from WSU's GIS lab show the potential to match data with geographical representations.
» More ...Summer 2015
Mashing up new landscapes
WSU's Geographic Information System coordinator Rick Rupp helps students and researchers mash up maps and data to find insights.
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Spring 2015
Posts for Spring 2015
Mapmaker mystery
Of all the names that were mentioned in the [previous issue] article (those that I studied under in geology), I know Dr. Campbell would have had your answer. I was a graduate student in geology in the early ’70s and I knew Dr. Rosenberg (my advisor), Dr. Webster, and Dr. Campbell. These people were phenomenal teachers and mentors. But when important questions come up, like historical geology questions, Dr. Campbell was your man. He would have known. I remember his research, his retirement, and his death later. Another person who would have known was Al Butler in physics (also my advisor) … » More …
Winter 2014
The mystery map
See the details of a hand-drawn map found in WSU's Owen Science Library.
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Fall 2014
Talking trash
One of the green, rolling hills in the Palouse isn’t quite like the others.
Aside from a PVC pipe sticking out of its ridge, it looks—and smells—no different than any other mound. But instead of having a loamy center riddled with earthworms, it’s made of garbage. Tens of thousands of tons of it, though no one really knows how much.
The trash was collected throughout Whitman County over about 30 years until 1993, when the county sealed the landfill, built a transfer station next to it, and began shipping garbage elsewhere. Since then, four to six 18-wheelers leave the transfer station just north of Pullman … » More …
Summer 2013
Video: On the edge of turmoil
Peter Chilson, a Washington State University professor of English, estimates he has spent six years of his life in Mali and the Sahel region of Africa. He discusses his journey there at the time of last spring’s coup.
» More ...Summer 2013
Waiting for the Rain
In the impenetrable Dogon highlands of Mali, the storm of war is coming.
An excerpt from We Never Knew Exactly Where: Dispatches from the Lost Country of Mali
Washington State University English Professor Peter Chilson happened to be in Mali in March 2012 when a military coup ended the country’s two decades as a model democracy. Within days, the Malian army in the troublesome northern part of the country collapsed. As a result, Tuareg and Islamist fighters claimed 60 percent of the country, creating a safe haven for al Qaeda and other Islamist forces and threatening West African stability and European security.
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Winter 2012
The 1710 Senex map of North America
There were still plenty of blank spots on maps when cartographer and engraver John Senex (circa 1678-1740) created this 1710 map of North America. It is one of 33 early eighteenth-century maps from a Senex atlas in Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, acquired by the WSU Libraries in the mid-1950s. The atlas lacks a title page, but it is almost certainly Senex’s Universal Geographer, published circa 1725. It includes the bookplate of Sir Archibald Grant of Monymoske, Baronet (1696-1778), and was formerly part of his library.
Courtesy WSU Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Winter 2012
Posts for Winter 2012
William Julius Wilson
We were thrilled to read the article “Race, Class, and William Julius Wilson’s World of Opportunity” in the Fall 2012 issue of Washington State Magazine. Many may not realize that Dr. Wilson got his start at Washington State University and to hear him describe his choice to attend WSU as “the greatest decision he ever made” is an inspiration.
Unfortunately, the article did not mention that the university has named a national award after Dr. Wilson. The William Julius Wilson Award for the Advancement for Social Justice is bestowed upon those who follow in Dr. Wilson’s footsteps by making innovative contributions … » More …