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Grant Continues Support of Indigenous Culture Preservation

Kim Christen Withey
Kim Christen Withey

A recent federal grant of $698,605 will help WSU continue to provide training to local tribal archives, libraries, and museums in preserving their cultural assets through digital archiving technology.

The grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services will also support a new tribal digital archives curriculum coordinator in the WSU Libraries.

The libraries and College of Arts and Sciences are creating a three-year project, the “Tribal Stewardship Cohort Program: Digital Heritage Management, Archiving, and Mukurtu CMS Training.”

The new program will address a key need to provide hands-on, long-term training for tribal archives, libraries and museums that emphasizes both the technical and cultural issues surrounding digitization and preservation of cultural heritage materials, said Kim Christen Withey, WSU associate professor of English and director of digital projects for the WSU Plateau Center, Native American Programs.

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WSU Vancouver political scientist nabs grant to study climate risk governance

Mark Stephan
Mark Stephan

Mark Stephan, associate professor of political science at WSU Vancouver, is part of a collaborative research team receiving a National Science Foundation grant for a three-year study of state and local climate risk governance.

WSU Vancouver’s share of the grant, $99,646, will pay for data collection and field work in six states as well as the hiring of a research assistant for the three years. The research team presented initial analysis results at the American Political Science Association annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

The team analyzed the greenhouse gas emissions from more than 7,000 facilities in nine sectors. Preliminary results suggest that greater reductions in emissions are occurring in states with active governance related to climate change.

More details about the grant

Vancouver professor receives $1.1 million in grants to study how the brain understands what it hears

Christine Portfors
Christine Portfors

Christine Portfors, associate professor of biology and neuroscience and head of the Hearing and Communication Laboratory at Washington State University Vancouver, has received two federal grants totaling more than $1.1 million over three years. The grants will be used to study how neurons in the brains of mice detect, discriminate and categorize the different types of sounds mice use to communicate.

“Mice are social animals, and they use a variety of vocalizations to communicate with each other,” Portfors said. “These vocalizations are similar to the speech sounds used by humans to communicate, so what we learn about the mouse brain will help us understand how humans process speech.”

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