by John Thompson | WWU

Andrew Bunn, assistant professor at Western Washington University's Huxley College of the Environment, will for the second consecutive summer take a pair of WWU undergraduates on a summer research project to the Siberian arctic to study the effects of climate change on these ecologically vital and sensitive areas.

Bunn and the undergraduates, Kayla Henson of Spokane and Max Janicek of Golden, Colo., left for Siberia July 2.

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Raney

The geography community was saddened to hear that Frank Raney, retired professor of geography, passed away on April 13, 2009, at the age of 88.

Raney joined the department as an associate professor in 1966 and after serving the university for over 20 years retired in 1986.

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At least three times in the last 7,500 years (the blink of an eye in geologic time) the Boulder Creek Fault in Whatcom County has produced earthquakes that were probably stronger than California's Northridge 'quake in 1994 - and Western Washington University Professor of Geology Liz Schermer wants to know more.

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Geology associate professors Scott Linneman and Doug Clark have received a $194,469 grant from the National Science Foundation to investigate the value of incorporating chronotopographic analysis using terrestrial laser scanning into geology curricula.

TLS is a revolutionary form of land surveying that allows researchers to create more accurate 3-D models of landforms.

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Physics and astronomy assistant professor Kenneth Rines has received a $154,601 grant from the California Institute of Technology to study the history of star formation in our universe.

Rines' team will include WWU undergraduate Physics majors and astronomers from around the country. The project will examine how stars in other galaxies were created; the largest nearby galaxies contain about 100 billion stars, Rines said, and his team will research how those stars were formed.

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Faculty members working at Western Washington University's Shannon Point Marine Center have been awarded a three-year $450,000 research grant from the Biological Systems program of the National Science Foundation to study the relationship between a sea anemone that is very abundant in local waters and two kinds of algae that live within its tissues.

Because the presence of the algae is controlled by environmental conditions, the relative abundance of each algal type may provide a barometer for assessing the effects of climate change on ocean systems.

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Western Washington University’s recent guest lectures at Bellingham’s City Hall chambers, “Song of the Volcano” by Associate Professor of Geology Jackie Caplan-Auerbach and “Finding History in Your Own Back Yard” by Professor of History Chris Friday, have been scheduled for rebroadcast by BTV 10.

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David Engebretson, a professor of geology at Western Washington University, appeared on radio station KUOW recently to talk about the music associated with ocean tides, volcanic eruptions and the cycles of the moon and planets.

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Every day, about a dozen volcanoes are erupting somewhere in the world, and others are exhibiting signs of unrest.  Many of those volcanoes are near population centers, and scientists are trying hard to identify and decode signs of impending volcanic activity.

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The office of the vice provost for research at Western Washington University has released the list of recipients for teaching grants for the summer of 2008. They are:

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The office of the vice provost for research at Western Washington University has released the list of recipients for research grants for the summer of 2008. They are:

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Western Washington University geology professor Dave Engebretson appeared on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" recently as part of the SoundClips series. Engebretson, who has been legally blind all his life, pays close attention to sound. His audio submission to the series, according to NPR, is analogous to the history of Earth's magnetic field reversals.

Hear the clip at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16846050.

Industrial Design assistant professor Jason Morris spent three weeks in Uganda last summer testing a prototype of a bicycle he had developed for use as a sort of taxicab in that country. Morris stayed in Uganda for three weeks, helping lead clinics on bike repair, filming a bicycle-safety video and meeting with faculty at Kampala’s Kyambogo University who hope to start the country’s first program in Industrial Design. For more information, read this story. Below is a video chronicling Morris' project.

WWU's George "Pinky" Nelson was interviewed on The Joe Teehan Show recently regarding his past as an astronaut. Nelson, the director of the WWU Science, Math and Technology Education (SMATE) program, will speak about the 50th anniversary of Sputnik as part of the 2007-08 Turning Points Faculty Lecture Series on campus. Nelson was a NASA shuttle astronaut, formerly was director of Project 2061, a long-term project to reform science education, and is chair-elect for the Education section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Nelson's lecture will be at 5:15 p.m. Nov. 14 in Communications Facility Room 115.

(Joe Teehan's interview with Pinky Nelson is presented here in three parts. Double-click the play button to start. To switch among the three parts of the interview, simply hit the forward and back buttons on the right. Requires Abode Flash Player.)

Here's the link.

Here's the link.

Double-click "play" button to view; needs Windows Media Player.

Download the file.

Click here for the New York Times profile of Antarctic guide and WWU geology alumnus John Schutt.