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silhouette of soldiers raising flag on Iwo Jima
Winter 2020

Profiles of valor

The Fallen Cougars Project aims to honor the legacy of former students who served in the Second World War and made the ultimate sacrifice.

Some 200 servicemen with ties to Washington State College—now WSU—died in World War II. Learn about a little more about their lives, deaths, and service to America here.

 

Charles Noble Kirkham

Charles Noble Kirkham (x’45 Mech. Eng.) Charles Noble Kirkham (x’45 Mech. Eng.) was a pilot aboard the U.S.S. Shangri-La at the beginning of June 1945 when the aircraft carrier was preparing for the invasion of the Japanese island of Kyushu. During that series of airstrikes, Shangri-La’s airmen faced their strongest resistance to date—and suffered their heaviest casualties.

… » More …

silhouette of soldiers raising flag on Iwo Jima
Winter 2020

Fallen Cougars: Meet the student researchers

Three graduate student researchers were hired over summer 2020 to record the lives, feats, and deaths of fallen Cougars from the Pacific Theater in World War II.

And, a recent graduate has volunteered to help with research through the end of the year.

Here are their own stories.

 

Samantha “Sam” Edgerton 
Her interest in World War II started in childhood. Three of Samantha “Sam” Edgerton’s grandparents had connections to conflict, and she wanted to know more.

Her maternal grandfather served in the North Africa and Sicily campaigns with the United States Army. Her paternal grandfather, a first-generation Mexican-American, worked as a barber for the United States Navy, joining in 1944. And her maternal grandmother worked at Camp Atterbury … » More …

Carrots and other produce
Winter 2020

WSU, small farms, and the pandemic

“This pandemic has exposed every weakness in our food system,” says Nicole Witham, statewide coordinator of the Washington State University Food Systems Program. “It has exposed every supply chain issue”—especially early on.

“Food wasn’t showing up at food banks,” says Witham (’10 Int. Des). “Grocery stores were experiencing shortages. All of a sudden, our team was doing food-system response work,” including involvement with a statewide task force.

When lockdown orders first went into effect, Witham says, Washington state’s small farmers “lost all of their restaurant accounts and many of their wholesale accounts right off the bat. Many had to switch to online farmers market platforms or online sales.”

While traditional … » More …

Fruit arranged in a face
Winter 2020

More faces of small farms

Meet more of Washington state’s small farmers here — from the godmother of the modern small farms movement to the owner and operator of a 100-percent grass-fed dairy and more.

Introducing: Lora Lea Misterly (Quillisascut Farm), Jill Smith (Pure Éire Dairy), Martin and Charlotte Frederickson (One Straw Ranch), and Jason and Margaret Parsley (Omache Farm)

Read about small farmers and WSU support.

 

Lora Lea Misterly

Lora Lea Misterly

Quillisascut Farm, Rice

Lora Lea Misterly was a 4-H kid. Growing up on a small farm near Leavenworth, she raised dairy calves and livestock … » More …

Pedro Castro point of view on a motorcycle riding on a highway
Winter 2020

Exploring Baja California

A longtime motorcycle enthusiast, Pedro Castro (’92, MS Arch.), owner of Magellan Architects in Redmond—who calls himself Magellan’s “Chief Explorer Officer”— enjoys planning long rides.

He recently rode from Tijuana through Baja California with his sons, Lucas and Peter, a videographer who documented the adventure in a YouTube series.

Watch the first six episodes here, and read about Castro’s support of women and underrepresented architects.

Baja Bound Day 1: Adios Amigos

Baja Bound Day 2: Ensenadaway

Baja Bound Day 3: Mike’s Sky Rancho

Baja Bound Day 4: Nada

Baja Bound Day 5: Coco’s Corner

Baja Bound Day 6: Otro Lado

illustration of quantum spin
Winter 2020

It’s a matter of spin

The quantum realm is incredibly fascinating but can be difficult to visualize. Washington State University physicists share a few tangible insights.

 

Michael Forbes, associate professor of physics and spokesman for the WSU Quantum Initiative says quantum’s advantage over classical Newtonian physics comes down to the phenomena called entanglement and superposition.

“This is a weird thing in quantum mechanics,” he says. “You can have a pair of quantum particles that spin in such a way that one points up and the other points down. Entanglement is the idea that they always have to point in opposite directions—if you measure one to be up, you … » More …

Lens held in a hand
Winter 2020

A lens for thinking

The value of a robust undergraduate research experience goes far beyond doing science.

“As public educators, it’s our job to instill critical thinking in our students because, fundamentally, that’s how democracy works,” says Stephanie Porter. Porter is a microbiologist at Washington State University Vancouver investigating symbiosis.

“I see science in a similar way. Our job is not just to train more scientists but to help all students understand the scientific process of taking information, developing a hypothesis, and then seeing how well it’s supported and, finally, interpreting what you find.”

 

For Porter, that means that undergraduates working in her … » More …