By Maegan Murray, ���سԹ�

RICHLAND, Wash. – Washington State University Tri-Cities celebrated the opening of its first fully state-funded academic building in over 30 years as part of a ribbon cutting celebration on Sept. 22.

The grand opening of Collaboration Hall featured remarks from university leaders, light refreshments and open tours of the building.

Hands-on, career-relevant learning

The building, which officially opened on the first day of fall classes this year, features a range of state-of-the-art science teaching laboratories, three large interactive classrooms, study and collaborative areas, an open atrium ideal for presentations and events, as well as an outdoor amphitheater that seats 100.

���سԹ� Chancellor Sandra Haynes said the building was designed and constructed with student success in mind.

“Being a STEM-focused campus, this building, complete with labs specific to the full array of science disciplines, will enhance students’ education, resulting in graduates even more prepared to meet the demands of the workforce,” she said. “At ���سԹ�, we partner with a range of companies and organizations that contribute to groundbreaking research, technology development and overall community growth. As signified in its name, this building will help further academic and industry collaboration and truly help prepare our students for future careers rooted in regional needs.”

The teaching laboratories featured in the building include:

• A physics laboratory
• Two biology laboratories
• A chemistry laboratory
• An anatomy and physiology laboratory
• An environmental science laboratory
• An innovation and design laboratory

Funded by state and local support

The construction of Collaboration Hall was made possible by $3 million in design funding and $27 million in construction funding from the Washington state Legislature.

In addition to state allocations, financial contributions have been made by university leadership by naming study, collaborative and learning spaces:

• WSU President Kirk Schulz and First Lady Noel Schulz | Noel and Kirk Schulz Academic Support Lounge
• ���سԹ� Chancellor Sandra Haynes | Sandra Haynes Collaboration Space in Honor of First-Generation Students
• WSU Regent Lura Powell and Art King | Lura Powell and Art King Lounge – Supporting First-Generation and Underserved Students and STEM

The following individuals and organizations also committed to naming seating on the grand staircase located in the atrium of Collaboration Hall. The naming of each step pays tribute to ���سԹ� students and the regional community:

• Washington River Protection Solutions | “Investing today for the challenges of tomorrow”
• Central Plateau Cleanup Company | “Building our future workforce step by step”
• Patrick and Tia Jensen | “In honor of first-generation students”
• Phil and Diane Ohl | Ohl Family Foundation | “We always find our way back home, Go Cougs!”

Haynes said the ���سԹ� campus community is incredibly grateful for the generous state, private and organizational support.

“It’s a stunning and functional space that, as a result of our state and community contributions, is one of the most valuable assets for our campus in fulfilling our educational mission,” she said.

Serving community needs

Collaboration Hall lives up to ���سԹ�’ historical roots. The Tri-Cities campus dates back to the 1940s when it began as the General Electric School of Nuclear Engineering to provide educational advancement to engineers and others working at the Hanford Nuclear Site amid the Manhattan Project. Collaboration Hall was constructed to provide an educational space that would prepare regional students for current and future regional, state and national needs.

Kirk and Noel Schulz, both engineers, said the building is a prime example of a facility that capitalizes on WSU’s land-grant mission of providing exceptional learning, research and community service.

“For a campus that thrives in providing excellent STEM education, Collaboration Hall at ���سԹ� is a fantastic place for students to learn, grow and excel, all in partnership with our regional industry,” Kirk Schulz said. “We want to thank the Washington state Legislature and the many individuals and organizations that made this facility a reality. It is a space where students will learn foundational and practical skills that will be applied to serve regional, state and national needs.”

For more information on Collaboration Hall, visit tricities.wsu.edu/collaborationhall.

Those interested in providing a gift or naming a space in the building should contact Jaime Heppler, ���سԹ� senior director of development, at 509-372-7207 or jaime.heppler@wsu.edu.

President and First Lady Schulz, Chancellor Haynes hope their investments will inspire others to support new building on Tri-Cities campus

By Maegan Murray, ���سԹ�

RICHLAND, Wash. – Washington State University President Kirk Schulz and First Lady Noel Schulz, and ���سԹ� Chancellor Sandra Haynes, are the first to donate for naming rights for the new state-of-the-art academic building currently being constructed at ���سԹ�. The building is on-schedule to open this fall.

Kirk and Noel Schulz committed $50,000 in funding to name the “Noel and Kirk Schulz Academic Support Lounge.” Haynes, a first-generation college graduate, donated $25,000 to name the “Sandra Haynes Collaboration Space in Honor of First-Generation Students.”

The state-funded academic building features eight science teaching laboratories, two large active learning classrooms, a large open-concept atrium ideal for presentations and events and a variety of study and collaborative areas. As a late addition to the exterior, the building will also house an outdoor amphitheater.

The WSU leaders hope their contributions will inspire others to follow in their footsteps and give to support the new building, which stands to prepare students for future careers in the sciences, health and medicine, engineering and other technical fields that are critical to the growing Tri-Cities region.

“Donating to this building is an investment in our students’ futures, and by doing so, contributing to the future of our region,” Haynes said. “I hope others will join us in contributing to this building.”

Noel and Kirk Schulz Academic Support Lounge

The Noel and Kirk Schulz Academic Support Lounge will provide greater access to academic and student support services and a dedicated beyond-the-classroom space for faculty and students to meet and collaborate.

“My wife, Dr. Schulz, is spending two weeks a month in the Tri-Cities working with ���سԹ�, working with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory on the Advanced Grid Institute and helping the engineering program and the Tri-Cities grow and thrive,” Kirk Schulz said. “As the new building was coming up, we were talking to people about making investments and naming opportunities and Noel came home and said, ‘Hey, I think we should participate in this. Given what is taking place in the Tri-Cities, this would be a really opportune time.“

Kirk Schulz said the Tri-Cities is a hub for STEM education, with reputable expertise in energy, agriculture and environmental sciences. Earlier this year, ���سԹ� announced it would be launching a new institute centered on energy and the environment. The campus is also a part of three focusing on nuclear science and technology, advanced grid and bioproducts.

“We want to help take the building to the next level through our support of the faculty and student support lounge,” Noel Schulz said. “It’s really about all of us chipping in to make WSU, as a whole, better.”

Sandra Haynes Collaboration Space in Honor of First-Generation Students

Chancellor Sandra Haynes understands the significance of being the first in her family to go to college, like so many ���سԹ� students. More than 40% of ���سԹ� students are the first in their family to attend college.

Haynes said her investment and dedication of the collaboration space celebrates first-generation students and serves as a reminder that, on the other side of adversity, is success.

“It is so important to make sure that those students feel very supported throughout their college careers,” Haynes said. “They are taking a leap of faith and they are doing something that no one in their family has done, before. I’m contributing to this building because I want our students to be able to learn in a state-of-the-art facility with state-of-the-art equipment. It feels great to be giving back to the campus that has given so much.”

Haynes said the new building will be significant in growing the campus’ STEM-focused programs and curriculum, which stand to benefit regional industry.

“The industries in this region are highly STEM-focused,” she said. “This building will benefit regional industry by providing well-prepared graduates in these fields and welcoming regional companies and organizations in for shared experiences ranging from presentations, to partnerships for projects and more.”

Naming opportunities and other support

Mike Connell, acting vice president and CEO of the , said when WSU leaders choose to make personal investments in the future of the university, they are truly leading by example.

“The most recent investments by the Schulzes and Chancellor Haynes will open doors for students at ���سԹ� while inspiring others to join their lead in adding to WSU’s already world-class student experience,” he said.

For more information on the new ���سԹ� academic building and naming opportunities, contact Jaime Heppler at Jaime.heppler@wsu.edu or by phone at 817-243-6019.

For more information about the new ���سԹ� academic building and to access a virtual tour. visit tricities.wsu.edu/academic-building.

 

Media contacts:

Jaime Heppler, ���سԹ� senior director of development, 817-243-6019 (cell), Jaime.heppler@wsu.edu

Maegan Murray, ���سԹ� director of marketing and communication, 619-403-3617 (cell), maegan_murray@wsu.edu

Course creates complex machines that were shared through digital film projects

By Maegan Murray, ���سԹ�

RICHLAND, Wash. – For an Art, Science and Technology course at Washington State University Tri-Cities, the transition to virtual learning proved not only to be a natural transition. It played to the course’s sweet spot.

As the title of the course suggests, students bring together what some may consider two sides of a coin – art, and science and technology. But for Peter Christenson, an associate professor of fine arts, the blending of the two fields is natural.

Through the course, Christenson has students create devices that are not only visually appealing, but bridge the gap between physical art and what can be presented digitally online. The sharing of these projects online, he said, provides a perfect fit for virtual learning.

“The transition to virtual has been beneficial in some ways, especially in more digitally-focused classes,” he said. “It is essentially a natural extension to everyone’s practice. Our students are brilliant and very adaptable. They are the creative class of the campus. I have been impressed with their work ethic and diligence … With the social context we are going through, I have been impressed with the work that students are putting out.”

Rube Goldberg machines

Many people have probably witnessed Rube Goldberg machines on YouTube, Facebook or Instagram Stories – they just didn’t know what they were called. A ball or other device drops down an increasingly complex matrix of movements, devices and contraptions, all for one goal – to perform a simple task.

The machines, named after the American cartoonist Rube Goldberg, who coined the contraptions through his cartoons, serve as a demonstration of what can occur when art is blended with physics and engineering, Christenson said. It proved to be the perfect project at-home amid the pandemic, he said.

While many are stuck at home, students took objects that are commonly found in their house to devise a complex layout. The students filmed the moving device as it traversed its matrix. The video was then shared virtually as a class, as well as with peers and friends. It compelled students to think critically, all while creating art and entertainment that helps maintain connections among students, virtually, Christenson said.

“The Rube Goldberg project is a fun opportunity to arrive at engineering and scientific production via art and creative play,” he said. “It explores the historical relationship between art, science and technology and how these have generally been intertwined.”

The best of both worlds

For the Rube Goldberg project, the class studied up on the complex devices, each choosing a particular style that was most suited for their idea or task. After creating the devices by hand, the students recorded the machines in action, with the intent of sharing them digitally with one another as a class. They used their creativity to create both a physical art piece, as well as a video work of art through filmmaking.

Kyle Kopta, a senior digital technology and culture major, came up with the idea for what he calls “The Photo Machine” for his project, where the machine automates the process of taking a photo of oneself. The user turns a handle, which activates a gear mechanism, drops a marble into a tube and triggers the shutter on a camera.

“In doing this, I want the operator to ask themselves, ‘Are the actual mechanisms that resulted in the physical taking of the photo the photo machine? Or could I, myself, more accurately be described as the actual photo-taking machine in this process?’ “

Kopta built the contraption in his apartment, where he also filmed and uploaded the video showcasing how his machine worked. The project also allowed him to explore partnership opportunities with students from other disciplines.

“In working on this project, I was really excited with the high-level of collaboration we were able to maintain in a virtual class format,” he said. “As a class, we would take time to bounce ideas off each other and look at other artists who created similar machines. For my project, I was able to recruit the help of a friend in the engineering program for a few tips and materials. That interdisciplinary approach was key for me.”

Kopta also relished the opportunity to engage with his classmates in virtual critique sessions, where the students have the opportunity to provide feedback, assess the different projects and what makes them most effective.

“These critique days are always my favorite days of class, and this remains true in our virtual learning environment now,” he said. “Everyone takes a radically different approach to these projects, and I’m always surprised by what my classmates are able to put together.”

 

Media contacts:

Peter Christenson, ���سԹ� associate professor of fine arts, peter.christenson@wsu.edu

Maegan Murray, ���سԹ� assistant director of marketing and communication, 619-403-3617, maegan_murray@wsu.edu

RICHLAND, Wash. – Washington State University Tri-Cities will break ground on its new $30 million academic building at 5 p.m. on Thursday, March 12, on the vacant lot across from the Consolidated Information Center (CIC) on campus.

While the event is not open to the public, members of the media are invited to attend.

The 40,000-square-foot building will house a suite of teaching laboratories, classrooms, collaborative meeting spaces for students and faculty, study spaces, as well as a grand staircase that will feature open seating for lectures and presentations. The building is being funded by the Washington state Legislature.

“This facility will present many transformational learning and collaborative experiences for all ���سԹ� students,” said ���سԹ� Chancellor Sandra Haynes. “While the focus of the building is the sciences, nearly all ���سԹ� will take courses in the building, and all are welcome to use the variety of study nooks, collaborative spaces and more that came highly requested by our study body.”

Haynes said the building design is the result of feedback they received as part of a variety of open forum sessions with students, faculty and staff about what they wanted to see in the space, as well as how the facilities could best be utilize for learning.

The new academic building is expected to open in fall 2021.

The teaching laboratories in the new facility will include:

• A physics laboratory
• Two biology laboratories
• A chemistry laboratory
• An Anatomy/physiology laboratory
• A geology laboratory
• A multidisciplinary laboratory
• An engineering classroom

Collaborative spaces include:

• An active learning room
• A team-based classroom
• Office spaces
• Three small-sized solution rooms
• Two medium-sized solution rooms

As part of a groundbreaking ceremony, individuals will hear remarks from ���سԹ� Chancellor Sandra Haynes; WSU Regent Lura Powell; engineering student Adriana McKinney; ZGF principal architect Taka Soga; Chip Tull, vice president of Hoffman Construction Company; as well as Zachary Harper, vice president for the Associated Students of ���سԹ�.

Light refreshments will be served.

Individuals interested in partnering for betterments, laboratory equipment and technology and more for the building, should contact Jaime Heppler, ���سԹ� executive director of advancement and community engagement, at 509-372-7207 or jaime.heppler@wsu.edu.

For more information about the ���سԹ� academic building, visit tricities.wsu.edu/academic-building.

 

Media contacts:

Jaime Heppler, ���سԹ� executive director of advancement and community engagement, 509-372-7207, jaime.heppler@wsu.edu

Maegan Murray, ���سԹ� public relations specialist, 619-403-3617 (cell), maegan_murray@wsu.edu

By Maegan Murray, ���سԹ�

RICHLAND, Wash. – Washington State University Tri-Cities will welcome James Conca, senior scientist for UFA Ventures, Inc., who will discuss the current state and future of the nuclear waste disposal program in the United States as part of a joint engineering and science lecture series on Feb. 28 on campus.

Conca, whose background is in geochemistry and energy, will delve into the underlying issues of the current programming as it pertains to nuclear waste disposal, including cost and policy, and specifically of how it applies to Washington state.

The presentation will take place from noon – 1 p.m. in Floyd 224 at ���سԹ�. It is free and open to the public.

In addition to serving as a senior scientist, Conca is also a trustee of the Herbert M. Parker Foundation, an adjunct professor at WSU in the School of Environment, an affiliate scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory and a science contributor to Forbes Magazine.

View Conca’s contributing pieces in by visiting .

 

Media contacts:

Maegan Murray, ���سԹ� public relations/communication coordinator, 509-372-7333, maegan_murray@wsu.edu

By Tina Hilding, Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture

RICHLAND, Wash. – Washington State University researchers have developed an environmentally-friendly, plant-based material that for the first time works better than Styrofoam for insulation.

The foam is mostly made from nanocrystals of cellulose, the most abundant plant material on earth. The researchers also developed an environmentally friendly and simple manufacturing process to make the foam, using water as a solvent instead of other harmful solvents.

The work, led by Amir Ameli, assistant professor in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, and Xiao Zhang, associate professor in the Gene and Linda School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering, is published in the journal .

Researchers have been working to develop an environmentally friendly replacement for polystyrene foam, or Styrofoam. The popular material, made from petroleum, is used in everything from coffee cups to materials for building and construction, transportation, and packaging industries. But, it is made from toxic ingredients, depends on petroleum, doesn’t degrade naturally, and creates pollution when it burns.

While other researchers have created other cellulose-based foams, the plant-based versions haven’t performed as well as Styrofoam. They are not as strong, don’t insulate as well, and degraded at higher temperatures and in humidity. To make cellulose nanocrystals, researchers use acid hydrolysis, in which acid is used to cleave chemical bonds.

In their work, the WSU team created a material that is made of about 75 percent cellulose nanocrystals from wood pulp.  They added polyvinyl alcohol, another polymer that bonds with the nanocellulose crystals and makes the resultant foams more elastic. The material that they created contains a uniform cellular structure that means it is a good insulator. For the first time, the researchers report, the plant-based material surpassed the insulation capabilities of Styrofoam. It is also very lightweight and can support up to 200 times its weight without changing shape.  It degrades well, and burning it doesn’t produce polluting ash.

“We have used an easy method to make high-performance, composite foams based on nanocrystalline cellulose with an excellent combination of thermal insulation capability and mechanical properties,” Ameli said. “Our results demonstrate the potential of renewable materials, such as nanocellulose, for high-performance thermal insulation materials that can contribute to energy savings, less usage of petroleum-based materials, and reduction of adverse environmental impacts.”

“This is a fundamental demonstration of the potential of nanocrystalline cellulose as an important industrial material,” Zhang said. “This promising material has many desirable properties, and to be able to transfer these properties to a bulk scale for the first time through this engineered approach is very exciting.”

The researchers are now developing formulations for stronger and more durable materials for practical applications.  They are interested in incorporating low-cost feedstocks to make a commercially viable product and considering how to move from laboratory to a real-world manufacturing scale.

The work was supported by the US Department of Agriculture and WSU’s Office of Commercialization.

By WSU Insider

SPOKANE, Wash. – The Washington State University Board of Regents approved the design and construction of a 40,000-square-foot academic building for undergraduate studies in biology, chemistry and education in science, technology and math, or STEM, fields.

The $30.4 million facility is being funded by the state legislature. The budget bill financing the project is awaiting Governor Jay Inslee’s signature.

The building will sit west of the Consolidated Information Center and house a dozen labs for physics, biology, chemistry and anatomy/physiology. It will have two 96-seat classrooms and a central gathering area with stadium seating for large group presentations and community gatherings. Preliminary site work will begin in October and construction will be completed in spring 2021.

The Regents also approved the schematic design for the planned WSU Pullman baseball clubhouse at the current Bailey‑Brayton Field. The board approved the $10 million building’s design and construction at its January meeting, with the improvements to be paid for with private donations.  The project will include a locker room, pitching lab, academic area, team meeting rooms, and areas for Cougar equipment and training. Construction will commence in August and conclude a year later, assuming a sufficient amount of pledged donations are collected.

Other items the Regents approved included the refunding of Trust and Building Fee Revenue Bonds originally issued in 2009 and the creation of a new Center for Arts and Humanities.

Refinancing 2009 Bonds will save millions

The Board of Regents approved a resolution to authorize the issuance and sale of bonds to refinance the 2009 Trust and Building Fee Revenue Bonds, with a maximum per amount not to exceed $83,850,000.

In the current market, the refunding transaction is estimated to result in $7.3 million or 9.3% net present value savings over the remaining term of the bonds. Trust Land and Building Fee revenues are restricted for capital purposes only. Thus, the estimated annual savings of approximately $670,000 would accrue back to the trust and building fee revenue accounts.

The University originally issued the Trust and Building Fee Revenue Bonds in December 2009 to finance multiple projects including: construction of a Veterinary Medical Research Building on the Pullman campus, a portion of the costs of construction of Applied Technology Classrooms on the Vancouver campus, and a portion of the costs of construction of the Global Animal Health – Phase 1 research building on the Pullman campus.

New center reinforces WSU’s commitment to the arts and humanities

The new Center for Arts and Humanities will serve as an organizing point for creative and scholarly activity and public engagement in the arts and humanities, with the further potential to support innovative teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

The Center’s primary goals will be to expand WSU’s capacity for foundational research in the arts and humanities, nurture interdisciplinary connection and collaboration, increase the public visibility and outreach of WSU arts and humanities faculty, and to catalyze WSU’s engagement with emergent fields of humanistic and artistic knowledge.

Working in concert with academic departments, which will remain centers of more specialized, field­-specific inquiry, the Center will advance a broader agenda, one that crosses traditional scholarly boundaries, encourages innovation, and advocates for the vital contribution of the arts and humanities to the public good.

Media Contact:

• Phil Weiler, vice president for marketing and communications, 509‑335‑1221, phil.weiler@wsu.edu

By Maegan Murray, ���سԹ�

RICHLAND, Wash. – A curiosity for the world and the yearning to know how it works.

It is what brought Allan Felsot to the world of science and it is what inspired in him an interest and passion for teaching and academia at the college level. He brings this passion to his students, which is what has led to Felsot earning a regional teaching award.

Felsot, the academic director for the math and science sector of the College of Arts and Sciences at Washington State University Tri-Cities and professor of entomology, was recently announced as the recipient of the pacific branch of the ’s award for excellence in teaching.

The award honors educators at the university or community college level who have excelled through innovations in developing new courses, programs and teaching methods in the field of entomology and the sciences. The regional award covers the region of 11 western states, seven U.S. territories, five Canadian provinces and four states in Mexico. After winning the regional award, Felsot is now up for the national award, of which will be announced at the society’s annual meeting in St. Louis this November.

Skeptical inquiry teaching philosophy

In his classes, Felsot approaches every lecture with an approach he regards as skeptical inquiry. He said the approach comes from the Greek noun “skepsis,” which means consideration, inquiry and examination.

“It is about asking questions, questioning authority, but seeking answers or the truth,” he said. “To doubt, but then to find out what the truth is. I want students to be skeptical in that sense. Part of being skeptical is developing a sense of curiosity. My idea is that if they develop a sense of curiosity, they will develop something they are passionate about, which will lead to other areas of interest.”

In his courses, he brings recent news articles and headlines into the discussion, providing relevance to what the students are learning about.

“The principles they are learning about do relate to something in the real world,” he said. “What they are doing does matter in society. I hope it also brings about a sense of civic responsibility.”

Mentorship and a passion for learning

Over his 26 years at WSU, Felsot has mentored more than 50 master’s and doctoral students. He has also been instrumental in developing new courses at ���سԹ�, as well as several for the WSU Global campus. His research throughout his career at WSU has focused on environmental toxicology and risk assessment of pesticides. Prior to coming to WSU, he worked as a project leader for pesticide chemistry and toxicology research at the University of Illinois.

At WSU, he teaches courses across WSU’s College of Arts and Sciences and College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences, ranging from general entomology, to integrated pest management, to pesticide toxicology, to insect and plant physiology. Teaching a range of diverse courses, he said, encourages his own love for learning. His own love for the learning process inspires his students, as well as fellow faculty members.

“If you were to ask me to name an instructor that has had one of the greatest impacts in my entire academic a career, I would answer Dr. Allan S. Felsot,” said alumna Yessica Carnley. “The dedication and commitment that he has to his students and to the proliferation of knowledge is one that is rarely encountered. One of the greatest lessons I learned in his courses was to question everything and to answer your own questions through proper research and testing, if possible.”

Kate McAteer, ���سԹ� interim vice chancellor of academic affairs, said having a dynamic and engaging instructor like Allan in the lab gives students the opportunity to explore and understand concepts and develop a love of science.

“As students have often remarked, ‘How could you not think science is fascinating when Dr. Felsot teaches it?’” she said.

Academic contributions outside the classroom

Outside of his teaching, Felsot provides dozens of lectures for workshops and programs each year. He also develops insect biology youth workshops for middle school students through WSU’s GEAR UP programs, which helps prepare students for college, and ���سԹ�’ STEM summer camps, in addition to formerly through the Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement program (MESA).

“Professor Felsot is a well-recognized member of the Tri-Cities community,” McAteer said. “His talk on insects and bugs is undoubtedly the highlight of the campus tour for many middle school children every year and for those students that attend the STEM summer camps.”

Felsot will accept his regional award from the Entomology Society of America during an awards luncheon in San Diego, California, on April 2.

By Maegan Murray, ���سԹ�

RICHLAND, Wash. – Students will highlight semester course projects, research and art as part of the fall Undergraduate Research Symposium and Art Exhibition on Dec. 11 and 13 at Washington State University Tri-Cities.

Members of the public are invited to attend as students present on their projects, which include the areas of history, political science, psychology, wine science, biology, fine art, English, mechanical engineering and environmental science.

Students will present posters of their research and course projects both days from noon – 1 p.m. in CIC 120. The art exhibition will be held from noon – 1 p.m. on Dec. 13, in the CIC Art Gallery.

“The Undergraduate Research Symposium and Art Exhibition provides our students with an excellent opportunity to practice communicating their research and course projects, which is an essential skill for when they go out into the professional environment,” said Allison Matthews, ���سԹ� clinical assistant professor of psychology. “We have a variety of great projects that will be on display.”

Some of the projects include:

• Research on plant-mycorrhizal fungal interactions
• Research on public health education programs for people who are at-risk for developing Type 2 diabetes
• An analysis of data from the Tri City Union Gospel Mission regarding client demographics, factors that influence homelessness and other related variables
• Investigating heat transfer on a surface subject to nanoparticle coating
• Nutrient limitation of algal and microbial biofilms in the Yakima Watershed
• The effect of pesticides on algal and microbial biofilms
• Cluster architecture and fruit composition as influenced by rachis tipping in wine grapes
• Title IX in regard to procedures on campus
• The Plastic Garden – a fine arts and engineering collaboration to construct a moving mechanical garden made of plastic and mechanical components

Media contacts:

Allison Matthews, ���سԹ� assistant professor of psychology, 509-372-7146, almatthews@wsu.edu

Maegan Murray, ���سԹ� public relations specialist, 509-372-7333, maegan_murray@wsu.edu

By Maegan Murray, ���سԹ�

RICHLAND, Wash. – Family is core to who Geoff Schramm is as a friend, a person, but especially as a father and husband.

It’s the reason why he decided to go back to school at Washington State University Tri-Cities in his late 30s – a decision that led to many people asking him, “Why?”

“I had a lot of people questioning why I would put this on my family,” he said. “It was a significant investment and time commitment not only for myself, but especially for my wife and my kids. But this is and was for them. In the long-term, I knew that this would put me on the right track so that I could make them proud and provide them with a life they deserved.”

Finding his path

After graduating high school at 18, Schramm had started to attend college in Walla Walla, but as the story goes, he met a girl.

Both dropped out of school so that they could start and raise a family. Eventually, he worked his way into a job at an assisted living facility, which developed into successful career. But the stress of his industry started to take a toll on his physical and mental health.

“I was doing really well at my job, so I would get recruited to help these struggling facilities,” he said. “My job took me from facility to facility. Often times, through these positions, I would have to get up in the middle of the night to help solve problems. The hours were really draining on me, and my wife and family started to notice.”

Post recession, he realized that he was going to need a college degree to help secure a stable life for himself and his family. Upon examining schools to attend, ���سԹ� made sense.

For one, the average age of student was slightly older than that of other universities. And for another, they had an environmental science program that Schramm knew would take him places in life.

In January 2011, with his wife’s hand in his, he walked up the steps to the ���سԹ� campus to start his first day of school.

“Attending ���سԹ� is probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made,” he said. “The connections I’ve made here, the mentors I’ve had, the external family that I’ve now gained as part of the WSU Cougar community, is priceless. I couldn’t be more grateful for the amazing opportunities I’ve had and people I’ve met through my experience at ���سԹ�.”

Developing as an individual and future scientist

Through his science courses, Schramm learned the fundamentals of science experimentation, procedures and more. He also developed a mentor relationship with Dick Pratt, the head of the environmental science program at the time.

“He really helped define a path for myself and what I wanted to achieve through my degree,” he said.

While attending classes full-time, Schramm earned a job with the ���سԹ� Career Development office as a career coach, which was followed by a position as a student mentor. He also got involved with several student clubs, and served as a member of TRIO, which provides support services for students who are first-generation, disabled or economically disadvantaged.

As a result of connections he made through school, he completed several internships. His first was with U.S. Fish and Wildlife, which was followed with an internship with Mission Support Alliance doing biological monitoring. He also completed a six-month internship with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

And prior to the end of his senior year, he decided to pursue a master’s program in environmental science because he knew it would be required for advancement in his career field. But while he said earning his undergraduate degree was for his family, his master’s degree was for him.

“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, bar none” he said. “But it was so worth it.”

When he walked across the stage at graduation to get hooded as a master’s graduate, which brought tears to his eyes, he knew he had made it.

“It’s amazing to look back on this long road and the thought that I’ve accomplished this all for myself and my family is so incredible,” he said. “Now, my kids are talking about how they want to go to college. I couldn’t be more proud.”

Living the dream

Now, Schramm works as an environmental quality engineer at Washington River Protection Solutions at the Hanford Site, developing procedures and monitoring data for the site.

And as an interesting turn of events, his wife, Trisha, is now pursing her bachelor’s degree at ���سԹ�.

“This university continues to change our lives,” he said. “This school has challenged and validated me the whole way. I am so grateful to ���سԹ� for what they have given to me and my family.”

For more information on the ���سԹ� environmental science program, visit .