Summer 2010
WSM Summer 2010
Summer 2010
WSU Big Ideas, Discoveries, Creations, Conceptions, People (a suggestive list)
The Uniqueness of Pacific Northwest Flora and Fauna
C.V. Piper
Largely self-taught as a naturalist, Piper believed he needed to classify the flora and fauna of the PNW so other scientists could better understand the uniqueness of area. Published Flora of the Palouse Region (1901), Flora of the State of Washington (1906), Insect Pests of the Garden, Farm, and Orchard (1895), and many other books, including works on hay, soybeans, and other crops.
Allopolyploid formation as a mode of speciation
Marion Ownbey
Ownbey’s work on Tragopogon (goat’s beard, salsify, or oyster plant) on the Palouse was a first, seminal … » More …
Summer 2010
Reply to letter from Herman Goetjen
Letter:
I really enjoyed the article on Bob Mierendorf’s work in the North Cascades National Park.
However, a couple of the photos raise some questions for me if you can pass them on to Bob for me. On page 29, the top two photos show a large culturally modified stone, in the left photo Bob has his hand on it, in the right hand photo it is next to his arm.
What I would like to know is: How did that stone become so modified? And what do you think its purpose was? There are no hints in the article or the caption for … » More …
Summer 2010
Dan Nelson’s Mount Rainier Hike
(from Day Hiking Mount Rainier, published by The Mountaineers Books).
Shadow Lake Sunrise Camp Loop. This July-October hike was selected because it is fairly level, kid-friendly, and features a lake and lots of wildlife. This hike is usually open July through September.
Rating/Difficulty: 2
Loop: 3.5 miles
Elevation Gain/High Point: 200 feet/6,400 feet
Season: July-October
Dan writes: This is the perfect outing for families, or for anyone wanting an easy day in the glorious wildflower fields of the Sunrise area. Indeed, … » More …
Summer 2010
Video: Press conference with WSU athletic director Bill Moos
Bill Moos was announced as the new Washington State University athletic director on Feb. 24, 2010. Watch some of the highlights of the press conference, and then read a profile of Moos in the summer 2010 issue of Washington State Magazine, “Back from the ranch,” by Jim Moore ’78.
Video by Matthew Haugen, WSU News Service
Summer 2010
Derren Patterson ’07—Dangerous beauty
Derren Patterson went out to see the world and landed in Bolivia leading bicycle tours down the world’s most dangerous road.
Patterson is one for adventure. After graduating from WSU with a history degree, he decided to travel, paying for it first by teaching English in Asia. He spent a year at a middle school in Korea and then found a one-year job in China at a university.
Patterson often rode his road bike and a motorcycle when he was back in the States, but in China his bicycle was his main mode of transportation. During a break, he rode from Northern Vietnam to Saigon. … » More …
Summer 2010
Annie Thiessen ’99—The pacemaker
“I wasn’t always fast,” says Annie Thiessen, a Tacoma veterinarian who in the past 10 years has won well over 30 marathons. “I just don’t know what happened.” But she does know when it happened. It was 2005 and she was competing in a low-key marathon at Birch Bay State Park. The $5 entry fee didn’t cover aid stations or mile markers, so while she was running, she really had no idea of her pace. She only knew there was someone in front of her. “I kept thinking, I can catch that guy.”
She breezed through the finish line at three hours and 14 minutes. … » More …
Summer 2010
Dan Nelson ’89—25,000 miles of trails
Dan Nelson knows his way around Washington’s woods. As the author of a dozen books on hikes, snowshoe trips, and trails throughout the Cascades, Eastern Washington, and the Olympic Peninsula, he’s logged thousands of miles for research.
“I added it up last year for a biography,” says Nelson, as he searches his pantry for a treat for his new Labrador Sophie. “It was something over 25,000 miles of trails since I started my first book.”
In 1989, as a reporter for Pierce County Herald, and fresh out of Washington State University, Nelson covered general assignment stories, environmental issues, and county government. He enjoyed the demands … » More …
Summer 2010
World of Mateo
Anaheim Vacationland by Matthew Leiker, 2007, acrylic on board
The work of Matthew Leiker
WSU Museum of Art, May 18–July 2
The World of Mateo is filled with images of an American subculture known by no particular name but seemingly related to road culture, California style, album jacket graphics of the 50s and our affinity for Hawaiian island iconography. Mateo celebrates a time of Tiki lounges, drive-in theater refreshment cartoons, and a plethora of music that bubbles vibrantly with the hypnotic tones of the ukulele, inspiring his imagination to create … » More …
Summer 2010
The best berries
These are not your ordinary grocery store strawberries.
They are nothing like those California berries, bred for size, long truck rides, and shelf-life, locked in plastic clamshells under the florescent lights of the produce section.
The berries of Washington are juicy, fragile, flavor-packed fruit. Because Northwest berries are mostly grown for processing, their texture and flavor are paramount, says Patrick Moore, WSU’s strawberry breeder.
And what grows best here are typically berries bred for this environment. Hood, an Oregon variety, is one of the most widely-grown in the region. It has large, dark red fruit and a clean, sweet taste. And like the rich, … » More …