Two CAHNRS students were recognized at Washington State University’s third annual Distinguished Scholars Celebration, held Oct. 5.
Logan Weyand, a senior Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Science student in the School of the Environment, and a first year College of Veterinary Medicine student, was honored for winning WSU’s first Udall Foundation award in Environmental Science. His is also WSU’s first Udall honorable mention award.
Weyand performed undergraduate research with pygmy rabbits in the laboratory of Lisa Shipley, wildlife ecologist in the School of the Environment. He researched bighorn sheep pneumonia with College of Veterinary Medicine faculty Subramaniam Srikumaran and Tom Besser, and logged hundreds of hours of hands-on experience. Working in the Hells’ Canyon region touching Washington, Idaho, and Oregon and cut by the Snake River, he hiked through treacherously steep gorges and grassy hills to check lamb survival rates in four bighorn herds.
Also honored was Patrick Freeze, a 2015 Fulbright U.S. Scholar recipient who conducted research in Thailand into soil contaminants’ uptake in rice and its impacts on Thai communities as both a food source and as an export crop.
When his doctoral studies in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences are complete, Freeze plans to work across the country and world to improve soil quality. His research into using iron to mitigate the effects of heavy metals has direct impact in the Pacific Northwest, from cleaning up soil contaminants in Wenatchee to mitigating construction runoff on Seattle’s slopes.
Since 2011, the Distinguished Scholarships Program has informed and assisted WSU students who seek awards to further their academic pursuits. A wall in the Compton Union Building (CUB) – the WSU Distinguished Scholars Gallery – celebrates the many students who have received the top national, federally funded awards including the Udall, Rhodes, Fulbright, Goldwater, Boren, Gilman and Truman.
For more information on the Udall and other WSU winners of nationally competitive awards, visit http://DistinguishedScholarships.wsu.edu.