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Spring 2024

Magazine

An orange sunflower bloom with two bees on it
Winter 2023

Top 10 stories for 2023

2023 was a busy year. Master Gardeners turned 50. The Pac-12 imploded. The editors of Washington State Magazine published a book. As the year comes to a close, here’s a look back at Washington State Magazine’s top 10 stories of 2023, in order of most-viewed according to Google Analytics.

From the president (Winter 2023) President Kirk Schultz discussed the impact of all schools save for WSU and Oregon State University pulling out of the Pac-12 in his letter to readers.
AI for wildlife conservation (Spring 2023) AI wrote this story about the implications of AI for wildlife conservation with a little … » More …

Winter 2022

In praise of simple things

In a world that’s beset with huge changes, it is sometimes hard to appreciate small things.

Consider the mouse-ear cress, Arabidopsis thaliana, which grows by roads and sidewalks. Not much to see, the little weed has a very small genome and in 2000 was the first plant to be completely sequenced. Its very simplicity has made Arabidopsis a powerful research tool for plant scientists at Washington State University and around the world.

WSU scientists have used it to identify a gene that allows the elimination of trans fats from many cooking oils and fats, find ways to help plants adapt to climate change, and investigate many other … » More …