This summer at the WSU Bear Research, Education, and Conservation Center, energy use is the order of the day. From cardiac monitors to special collars to foraging experiments, WSU researchers are trying to figure how bears gather energy and then spend it. “Bears in the wild have a very short time window to make their […]
Giving students a real-world assignment makes their classwork feel more worthwhile and can let their passions come through in a way a stock assignment may not. This past academic year, two WSU School of Design…
The WSU Bear Research, Education, and Conservation Center has been on the WSU Pullman campus for over 30 years, changing the way humans understand these amazing animals. Established in 1986, the center consists of six indoor dens with outdoor runs and a 2.2-acre exercise yard for the grizzlies. All of the original bears at the […]
New experiences are even richer when the people in charge know what you’re going through. Volunteers at the WSU Bear Research, Education, and Conservation Center have that person. “I was so excited to be a volunteer when I was in school at WSU,” said Brandon Evans Hutzenbiler, the Bear Center manager. “So getting new volunteers […]
When it comes to interesting lines on a resume, stud manager for Wayne Newton tends to stand out. “It was an interesting job,” said Nina Woodford, director of WSU’s Office of the Campus Veterinarian (OCV). “I wanted to try horse breeding, so I lived near Las Vegas and worked on Wayne Newton’s horse ranch. I’m […]
Grizzlies show no clinical signs of disease following short-term consumption of saturated fats, but scientists question long-term health By Natalie Sopinka, Communications Coordinator, Canadian Science Publishing Campgrounds and cottages are getaways for humans. They are also locations where grizzly bears acquire appetites for human foods high in saturated fats—foods associated with many diseases. A new […]
“The bear’s sense of smell is the stuff of legend,” said Heiko Jansen, associate professor of integrative physiology and neuroscience at WSU. “Stories abound about them smelling things from miles away.” But legend and science are very different things, so Jansen and colleagues are working to quantify just how sensitive a bear’s sense of smell […]
The bears at the WSU Bear Research,Education, and Conservation Center spent September gaining weight at a tremendous rate, up to 10 pounds or more each week, preparing for another winter and hibernation. Starting in late October, they’ll slow down their food intake to get ready for hibernation. “Once they reach their hibernation weight, we’ll slowly […]
This summer, the WSU bears sported some new accessories: energy-monitoring collars. But a few weeks ago, those collars came off for the winter. “We put them on early in the summer,” said WSU doctoral student Tony Carnahan. “But as they’ve been gaining weight to get ready for hibernation, we didn’t want the collars to get […]
At the WSU Bear Research, Education, and Conservation Center, we have an enrichment program aimed at keeping our bears physically healthy and mentally stimulated. Every month, we’ll showcase the new or different activities and physical challenges our bears can tackle. This item was new for the bears this month, a ball that spins around a…