The Vandal Theory Podcast Archive

Question: What role does creativity play in our lives?

Meet Jason Dykstra, a member of the band The Plagiarists and visiting faculty and director of University of Idaho’s Housing Clinic. The Boise law professor studies why creativity is important — in life, and in law. As shown by a creativity test designed for the Apollo space program, people begin life as creative geniuses, only to see their creative roots shrink over time. But, as Dykstra and other researchers find, people can relearn creativity and make space to flex those muscles throughout their day-to-day lives.

Email us at vandaltheory@uidaho.edu.

More U of I Research

U of I Boise Law Clinic Prevents Homelessness in Tight Housing Market

The Long Path to Law

U of I Alumnus Luis Cortes Romero Finds Success as a Lawyer, and It’s Personal

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“La Femme Nakita” by The Plagiarists.

Question: When you imagine a farmer, what picture do you have in your head?

Meet Colette DePhelps, an area extension educator specializing in community food systems for University of Idaho. As part of the Idaho Woman in Ag project, DePhelps is interviewing and surveying Idaho’s female farmers — who earn $1 for every $2.50 earned by male counterparts — and identifying the support they need.

Email us at vandaltheory@uidaho.edu.

More U of I Agricultural and Life Sciences Stories

Undergrad Research Project Focuses on Nitrous Oxide Emissions

Dairy Waste Research

Global Food Security

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“The Family Farm” by Heartland Nights via soundstripe.

Question: What changes people’s minds about politics?

Meet Florian Justwan, a professor of political science at University of Idaho, who studies political psychology. Drawing on years of research into how people process political information, Justwan shows we often rely on our identities and social networks to interpret new political data. People may not weigh new facts as heavily as expected and Justwan offers advice on how to check our information blind spots.

Email us at vandaltheory@uidaho.edu.

More U of I Research

Political Partisanship, Party Loyalty Shape Beliefs of 2016 Election Interference, U of I Study Shows

U of I Junior Wants to Show Idaho’s Latinx Population Anything Is Possible

Vandal Theory 4.2: Bert Baumgaertner — Vaccine Hesitancy

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Glasgow” by Falls

Question: Just how much is Idaho growing?

Meet Jaap Vos, a professor of planning and natural resources at University of Idaho, where he also serves as interim head of the Natural Resources and Society department. Vos used novel data on driver’s license registrations and turnovers to create a fuller picture of Idaho’s unprecedented rates of population change. More than one in every four Idahoans are new to the state, Vos’s analysis found. “We’re not in the middle of nowhere anymore,” he said.

Email us at vandaltheory@uidaho.edu.

More U of I Research

Idaho’s Demographics Changing at Unprecedented Rates, U of I Analysis Finds

CNR Students Use McCall Field Campus to Forge Futures and Friendships

Associate Degrees in Natural Resources Offered for First Time This Fall

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“The Optimist” by EILOH

Question: What kind of tools come to mind when you think about wildlife conservation?

Meet Lisette Waits, a distinguished professor in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences at University of Idaho. Whether she is tracking an endangered population of pygmy rabbits, watching wolves spread across the West, or trying to identify a tent-smashing bear, Waits uses genetics to conserve wildlife.

Email us at vandaltheory@uidaho.edu.

More U of I Fish and Wildlife Sciences

Conservation Scholars Build Network and Field Research Skills

Wildlife Biology Student Finds Career While Wrangling Rabbits

Professor Says Tuskless Elephants Arose from Poaching, Civil War

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Still Young” by Desert Dive via soundstripe.

Question: What makes up a glacier?

Meet Tim Bartholomaus, an associate professor in the Department of Earth and Spatial Sciences at University of Idaho. Glaciers are more than just an ice cube slowly sliding through the landscape. Bartholomaus is exploring why a glacier’s speed varies, how well glaciologists can predict glacier and icesheet melt, and the balls of moss — adorably called glacier mice — that live on glaciers.

Email us at vandaltheory@uidaho.edu.

More U of I Geology Research

Geology Student Travels to Iceland to Study Martian Climate

Geology Students Learn Hands-On from Hecla Mining Company Professionals

Vandal Explorer Series: Glacier Surge in Alaska

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“If I Die” by Moments via soundstripe.

Question: What makes someone believe in climate change?

Meet Dilshani Sarathchandra and Kristin Haltinner, sociology professors in the Department of Culture, Society and Justice at University of Idaho. They delve deep into people’s beliefs about climate change, recounting lessons learned over hundreds of interviews for their upcoming book “Inside the World of Climate Change Skeptics,” set to publish in spring 2023. The research team uncovers the nuanced identities of climate skeptics — many of whom worry about environmental degradation — to shape social understanding around one of the most pressing issues of our time.

Email us at vandaltheory@uidaho.edu.

More U of I Sociology Research

Using Data to Shape the Criminal Justice System

U of I Professors to Release Findings on Climate Change Skepticism

Recidivism of Terrorists — Vandal Theory 3.5

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Great Beyond” by Reveille via soundstripe.

Question: Would you consider wildland firefighters athletes, and if so, what type of athlete would they be most like?

Meet Heidi Holubetz, a master’s student in the Margaret Ritchie School of Family and Consumer Sciences at the University of Idaho. Wildland firefighters are considered tactical athletes who can burn 6,000 calories a day and require a solid nutrition plan. Holubetz and her fellow researchers are working to improve firefighter nutrition through education and collaborations with vendors who provide meals to firefighters.

Email us at vandaltheory@uidaho.edu.

More U of I Research and Activities Around Wildfire

Fueling the Firefighters: U of I Proposes Changes to USFS Wildland Firefighter Food Contract

New Science Tracks Microbes in Smoke: New Science Explores Microbes in Wildfire Smoke and the Ecological Impact of Dispersal

Rising to the Occasion: Students Lead Fire Mitigation at UIEF and Beyond

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Reveille” by Wild Soul via soundstripe.

“We took these sampling approaches from the lab and then we scaled it up to sampling in the field. And evolved from the ground-based sampling so that we could actually access higher-intensity fires. The types of fires that you wouldn’t want to stand your graduate student anywhere near. So, we developed a system that was lightweight enough that we could put it on a UAS, or a drone, an unmanned aircraft system. Now we sample using drones, and we fly the drones into the smoke columns and measure at different distances from the combustion zone to see how things change as the smoke ages and as we travel away from the combustion source. And at different heights above the combustion zone to see how high up these organisms go.”

Meet Leda Kobziar, an associate professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Society at the University of Idaho. In recent years, many people living in the western U.S. have coughed through numerous unpleasant summer days during wildfire season. Leda has discovered that, in addition to the particulate matter making us cough, wildfire smoke actually contains living microbes, something scientists have never known. For more, watch this video about Leda’s work.

Email us at vandaltheory@uidaho.edu.

More U of I Research

If you’ve found yourself enjoying “The Vandal Theory” podcasts, I think you’ll like listening to a new podcast from the University of Idaho’s Project ECHO program. Project ECHO is an educational resource empowering healthcare professionals in Idaho’s remote and underserved communities to treat complex chronic diseases with specialist-level expertise. I’ll let Project ECHO’s Sam Steffen introduce their new podcast “Something for the Pain,” which focuses on opioid and substance use disorder prevention, treatment and recovery in rural Idaho.

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“We Are One” by Scott Holmes Music via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“A lot of the early studies that were done on the bacteria that are found in the vagina, they did sort of a biased sampling. They tended to study women who were white and not women of color, for example. And so, we did a study funded by the National Institutes of Health in which we collected samples from 400 different women, and they were from four different ethnic groups; there were Black women, Hispanic women, Asian women and white women. And we wanted to see how much variation was there in the kinds of bacteria that you find within each one of those demographic groups but also between those groups. And what we found was that there were five different kinds of communities that we could identify. That right there debunked a long-held idea that most women had pretty much the same kinds of bacteria and that they didn’t change over time. And it didn’t matter what your ethnicity was. And it turns out that all those things aren’t true.”

Meet Larry Forney, a university distinguished professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Idaho. There are still many unanswered questions about female reproductive health, including understanding the community of microbes that live in the vagina. Through Larry’s work, scientists are even starting to question whether what they consider a “healthy vaginal microbiome” can be easily defined.

Email us at vandaltheory@uidaho.edu.

More U of I Research 

Senior Madison Thurston worked with the Moscow-based nonprofit TerraGraphics International Foundation on a geospatial analysis of a 2010 lead poisoning event in Nigeria. The study demonstrated that neighborhood size, variation in lead levels and the location of lead waste impact a child’s exposure, which can result in lead poisonings. Read more.

Beer brewing uses the hops flower while the remaining plant is often mulched into compost. But what if the hops waste could be used for something else? Agricultural and Life Sciences student Maggie Zee has already figured out how to process the hops’ leftovers into paper and is working on making it into a textile. Read more.

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Amber Glow” by Scott Holmes Music via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Texas has gone further than a lot of other states in deregulating their power system. So, if you look at Idaho Power or Avista, or a lot of the utilities in the Northwest, they own the generation, the transmission and the distribution lines that do the last little way to get to the customers. In Texas, the generators are mostly owned by third parties. Basically, they don’t have this obligation to make sure that power gets to the customers. So, the people who actually own the distribution lines and do the last part of getting the power to the end users, they have that obligation to serve, but because they don’t own the generation, they can’t guarantee that the supply is going to be available.”

Meet Brian Johnson, a university distinguished professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Idaho. In February, a snowstorm hit Texas, and its power grid failed, leaving people without heat and electricity. Brian has worked with the energy sector for his whole career and understands the ins-and-outs of the issues that took down the Texas power grid.

Email us at vandaltheory@uidaho.edu.

More U of I Research

Ashly Anderson, an animal science graduate student, is working with U of I faculty to look at how poor air quality due to wildfires impacts the health of dairy cattle and their milk production. It is the first step in providing livestock producers with recommendations and advice to keep their cattle healthy during wildfire season. Read more.

Junior Mandy Scheffler and her classmates partnered with a Washington, D.C.-based dance organization called Dance Exchange. The team highlighted the ways food sources are taken for granted by connecting dance movements to the beauty of the local fields where the food is grown. Read more.

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“B-3” by BoxCat Games via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“While on paper the number of licensed payday lenders dropped to zero, also on paper, the number of licensed pawnbrokers increased. The number of licensed small loan lenders increased. And surprisingly, the number of second mortgage lenders increased as well. So, this was maybe some cursory evidence that payday lenders were not extracting themselves from the market but maybe finding different avenues to actually continue operation either as a payday loan or in a similar industry like pawn broking.”

Meet Stefanie Ramirez, an assistant professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Idaho. Payday loan companies offer people quick cash with extremely high interest rates. Some states have enacted various regulations of these businesses in an attempt to protect the clients. Stefanie’s investigations look into how these types of businesses are coping with the new laws.

Email us at vandaltheory@uidaho.edu.

More U of I Research 

As a student in the Idaho WWAMI Medical Education Program, Meagan Boll uses a wheelchair, has limited motion in her arms and performs fine motor skills with a bionic glove. College of Engineering students developed an assistive CPR device for Meagan, with application across a spectrum of users with limited arm strength or other disabilities. Read more.

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Rolling” by BoxCat Games via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Bacteria are pretty interesting creatures, if you will. They will store inside their cell food that they consume in a polymer form, not unlike, in a way, how we store excess food as fat. If we recover the dead bacterial cells and refine this polymer, it’s a plastic. It’s a plastic very similar to polypropylene or polyethylene. In order for this process to work well, we need a lot of that particular food, a lot of organic carbon. And circling back to dairy manure, there is a lot of concentrated organic material present in dairy manure.”

Meet Erik Coats, a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Idaho. As you can imagine, industrial and municipal wastewater contains more than just water. And it turns out all that “extra stuff” might have untapped potential. Erik hopes to use his knowledge of chemistry and engineering to extract nutrients and even plastics from our wastewater, providing extra cash for industry and municipalities and cleaning our water at the same time.

Email us at ucm-itunes@uidaho.edu.

More U of I Research

Working on an Icelandic volcano, geologist Erika Rader and colleagues used analytical instrumentation similar to those available on Mars rovers to characterize what geological features are most likely linked to high microbial abundance and diversity. They suggested a sampling strategy for looking for hints of microbes on Mars. Read more.

WWAMI faculty were awarded a $99,000 National Institutes of Health grant to explore the underlying causes of insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes. The study will help improve understanding of the interaction between diet, the gut’s microbiome and the host. 

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Travel” by Cambo via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Immigrants are not only working in important sectors of the economy, but they’re also generating tax revenue. Immigrants paid about $221 million in state and local taxes in Idaho in 2018. So, I think the state owes something to this population that’s really doing so much for it. And my clinic is, of course, not even going to come close to meeting the need for immigrant legal services in the state of Idaho, because we have a small number of students and the students are learning. But the hope is that the students who graduate from my clinic are going to go out and be lawyers and some of them at least might be immigration lawyers in the state who are serving this really, really important population.”

Meet Geoffrey Heeren, an associate professor of law at the University of Idaho and director of the Immigration Litigation and Appellate Clinic. Going from books to the courtroom is a big step, and when U of I law students accept an immigration case as part of the law clinic, they become responsible for their client’s future. Each case offers unique challenges for the students and provides their clients opportunities for legal representation and advice.

Email us at ucm-itunes@uidaho.edu.

More U of I Research

As an economics and international studies student, Nicole Handlen created a database on manufacturers in Idaho, and the Idaho Manufacturing Alliance will build an app using the database to give the state’s manufacturers a way to connect. Read more.

College of Agricultural and Life Sciences emeritus distinguished professor Ron Hardy has co-authored a new study as a follow-up to one from 2000 that warned of the environmental impact of fish farms depleting wild fish stocks. The new study finds that fish farming has improved, with more farmed fish being fed plants, like soy. Read more.

A student team earned $10,000 for its first-place win during the 2020 Hacking for Homebuilding competition. The team worked with construction professionals to develop a steel frame that sits between the wall studs and floor joists of a structure and allows for easy utility access through a collapsible or detachable baseboard. Read more.

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Disguises” by Ketsa via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Moderates seem to be the most sensitive to changes in risk. So that’s to say, when risk is really low, the moderates behave similarly to conservatives in that not as many of them are willing to get vaccinated compared to democrats. But as you dial up the risk so that the risk is really, really high, then liberals and democrats are much more willing to get vaccinated than republicans and so are the moderates. So, the moderates sort of swing the most. They seem to be most sensitive to information about the risk of the disease.”

Meet Bert Baumgaertner, an associate professor in the Department of Politics and Philosophy at the University of Idaho. For months, the United States and the rest of the world have been tracking the development and now distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. But not everyone is planning on getting the vaccine. Before the pandemic, Bert was studying why some people get vaccines, why they don’t and what might change a person’s mind.

Email us at ucm-itunes@uidaho.edu. 

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Les Portes Du Futur” by Bill Vortex via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“You know…really the whole point of ECHO is to improve access for rural and underserved patients, and this is a way to do that. And, like I said earlier, it’s that ripple effect of it’s not just the patient whose case we review in the ECHO session, but it’s all the other patients who will receive better care as a result of what their provider learned in ECHO.”

Meet Lachelle Smith, the director for ECHO Idaho. When you live in a small town, it’s hard to get specialized medical treatment. Medical specialists are often too far away and too expensive. But, through ECHO Idaho, the state’s healthcare work force is learning to address their patient’s individual needs by reviewing real case studies within an online community. ECHO Idaho helps the state’s health care workers keep abreast of the latest medical research and public health trends — knowledge they pass to their patients.

Email us at ucm-itunes@uidaho.edu.

More U of I Research

NASA selected a College of Engineering team to build an experiment that will take place on the International Space Station. The team will research how microgravity impacts the efficacy of polymers known to resist bacteria on Earth. Read more. 

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Instrumental #2 Revisited” by Gillicuddy via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“It was so deeply appealing to people to be able to consider themselves a cowboy that they often didn’t care who was necessarily excluded on the other side. Even when they themselves had faced that exclusion previously, they were able to take that mythology, reshape it, yes, but still redeploy it as a way to say we belong but maybe other people don’t.”

Meet Rebecca Scofield, an assistant professor in the Department of History at the University of Idaho. You don’t get more Western, masculine and American than a cowboy, right? That’s even more true for a cowboy who can ride a bucking bronco or an enraged steer at a rodeo. Rebecca wanted to delve into the idea of the cowboy from the point of view of people who may not, at first glance, fit into the archetype.

Email us at ucm-itunes@uidaho.edu.

More U of I Research

Fish and Wildlife Sciences doctoral candidate Matthew Dunkle, along with researchers from the Yakama and Umatilla tribes, explored the spawning migrations of Pacific lampreys. The fish move nutrients from oceans to freshwater streams in non-random patterns.

Adam Jones, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, was awarded a $1 million National Science Foundation grant to study sexual selection and sexual conflict in pipefish and seahorses. He wants to understand the relationship between sexual selection and genetics. Read more.

U of I researchers conducted a survey of inland Pacific Northwest farmers. They found that there was no relationship between documented changes in temperature and precipitation and the perceptions farmers have of those changes or the farmers’ intentions to alter their operations. Read more.

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Ghost Byzantine” by Blue Dot Sessions via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“From my honeypot research I’ve found that any new computer that connects to the internet, having never run any sort of service before, you’re discovered within an hour. Usually [after] about 30 minutes people start to connect to you with that tool that we call a ping. If you’re a high value target like the honeypots I’ve put up for infrastructure, within a day or two we start getting connection attempts, real scans trying to log into the system. People trying to log in every few minutes with different passwords just to see what happens.”

Meet Michael Haney, an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Idaho. Computer hackers are always developing new tricks, and businesses hire professional cybersecurity experts to protect their important data. But there are not enough experts to go around. Idaho has now gone all in to educate the next wave of cybersecurity experts, and Michael is leading the charge.

Email us at ucm-itunes@uidaho.edu.

More U of I Research

Not to be stymied by COVID-19, the Vandal Marching Band packed away their woodwinds and brass instruments, which can spread aerosols, and embraced percussion. The entire band learned how to drum, an instrument that allows all members to participate while staying masked. Read more.

Glacier moss balls, which are nicknamed “glacier mice,” are globs of dirt and moss found on glaciers. Glaciologist Tim Bartholomaus and wildlife scientist Sophie Gilbert found the mice move roughly 2.5 centimeters a day in a herd-like fashion, but their movement doesn’t coincide with prevailing winds, downslope or sun angle. Read more. 

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Mission” by BoxCat Games via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“We do clearly have lakes where they haven’t had blooms and then recently, I’d say within the last 10 years, as part of the regular monitoring programs that occur, people have seen an increase or an occurrence of these blooms. Example in Idaho is Twin Lakes. Last year was the first time it had a toxic bloom in its history. So, people are naturally upset about that and very concerned in terms of what the future may hold.”

Meet Frank Wilhelm, a professor in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences at the University of Idaho and associate director of the Center for Research on Invasive Species. For Frank, research is about solving real-world problems. Frank has worked across the Northwest to preserve water quality for recreation, farming, drinking and general lake health. He’s specialized in studying algae that can cause lakes to become toxic for humans, animals and plants.

Email us at ucm-itunes@uidaho.edu.

More U of I Research 

Erika Rader and Renee Love in the Department of Geography and Geological Sciences moved their Summer 2020 field course online during the COVID-19 pandemic. They used online tools like Minecraft, a video game focused on exploration and construction, to teach students how to read a map, move about the landscape safely and interpret rock formations. Read more. 

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Ghost Byzantine” by Blue Dot Sessions via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Currently, we don’t know anything about violent incarcerated political communities. We don’t know anything about their recidivism rates. There are currently no studies or databases that — to the best of my knowledge — exists in the western world that will give us some direction as to what recidivism looks like among this unique community of offenders.”

Meet Omi Hodwitz, an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Idaho. In the United States, if a person becomes incarcerated, it is likely that, once released, they will commit more crimes and return to prison. But what about terrorists? Are they equally likely to be unable to break the cycle of incarceration? Using a database, Omi is tracking terrorists after they serve time.

Email us at ucm-itunes@uidaho.edu.

More U of I Research

In December, an eight-student team from the NASA Idaho Space Grant Consortium in the College of Engineering will be in Chile recording gravity waves produced by the complete solar eclipse. Gravity waves are atmospheric disturbances that can influence weather. The team practiced measuring waves all summer by launching weather balloons weekly. Read more. 

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Impact Moderato” by Kevin MacLeod via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“When I’m in a fatigue state, I might not be in that physical readiness to handle that misstep, right? And so, often times, we think that the injury comes with your foot hitting the ground and it’s the result of how your body responds to that foot that’s hitting the ground that my group anticipates is the reason, right? So, it’s not necessarily the level, the impact, it’s how my body responds to that impact. That’s more important. And in a fresh state I can respond with that physical readiness. In a fatigue state, whether it be anatomical or physiological or whether it’s mental, I can’t respond to that.”

Meet, Josh Bailey, an assistant professor in the Department of Movement Sciences at the University of Idaho. Josh can’t seem to get away from runners. A runner himself, Josh now even studies this group of athletes. Specifically, he wants to understand how endurance runners manipulate the pattern of their gait during a long training run. He wants to help runners limit their chance of chronic injuries, especially when they become fatigued.

Email us at ucm-itunes@uidaho.edu.

More U of I Research

Glaciologist Tim Bartholomaus and former U of I master’s student Tristan Amaral tested six methods to predict iceberg calving on 50 of Greenland’s glaciers that terminate in the sea. To reduce uncertainty in coastal flooding during the coming years, they identified the best way to include iceberg calving in simulations of future glacier and ice sheet loss. Read more.

As part of a team at the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, U of I alumnus Ensheng Dong helped develop an interactive world map that shows the status of COVID-19 around the world. The map tracks the number of confirmed cases, deaths and recovered individuals for all affected countries in real time. Read more. 

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Driven to Success” by Scott Holmes via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“I really think a lot of us don’t like to identify as say simply an artist or simply a scientist or whatever it is that maybe is the category that defines us best. I think we like to think about ourselves as more complicated people. And I think a lot of the environmental challenges we’re facing ask us to be more complicated people, right, and step outside of our disciples and try on different points of view.”

Meet Teresa Cavazos Cohn, a research assistant professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Society at the University of Idaho. For Teresa, it doesn’t get more important than helping people understand science, especially as we face challenges like a global pandemic and massive climate change-driven wildfires in the West. She likes pulling music, art and storytelling from the science communication toolshed to discuss issues like climate change and conservation.

Email us at ucm-itunes@uidaho.edu.

More U of I Research 

Architecture Professor Bruce Haglund has been recognized with the 2020 American Solar Energy Society Leadership in Solar Architecture and Design Award. Haglund received the award for his leadership in the field and his influence on generations of design professionals. Read more. 

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“The View from My Pod” written by Aaron Marsh, and performed and produced by The Europa Protoharmonic Symphony Orchestra via soundstripe.

“When you are a part of a group that has been marginalized or you have only a small representation in a broader space, a lot of times you are not free to express yourself in the way in which you would around people that identify the same way you do.”

Meet Sydney Freeman Jr. an associate professor in the Department of Leadership and Counseling at the University of Idaho. An expert in higher education, Sydney has spent much of his career studying leadership in the university setting. He has also investigated the issues facing Black students, faculty and staff on college campuses. He’s focused on how universities can support these individuals and other minorities as well as the obstacles Black faculty face while growing their careers.

Email us at ucm-itunes@uidaho.edu. 

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Mission Ready” by Ketsa via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Each milk sample that we looked at was full of a rich and diverse bacteri[um] And we now really believe that that milk — what we call microbiome or the microbes in milk, the bacteria in milk — are really setting up the baby’s intestinal track to have a healthy microbiome, which we now think is incredibly important for health. For long-term health and short-term health.”

Meet Shelley McGuire, a professor in the Margaret Ritchie School of Family and Consumer Sciences at the University of Idaho. Breast milk contains all the nutrients, fats, proteins and other components a baby needs to grow. But it turns out we know very little about breast milk. Shelley has been studying human — and even cow — breast milk her entire career and has studied everything from the microbes living in milk to whether the virus that causes COVID-19 can be transferred from mother to child.

Email us at ucm-itunes@uidaho.edu.

More U of I Research

Professor Lisette Waits and former doctoral student Robert Lonsinger found that an increase in exotic and intrusive plants across the high desert region of the Great Basin increased coyote populations and decreased rabbit populations. Over several decades, this population shift led to a tenfold decline of kit foxes, which is a species of concern.

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Centaurus Waltz” by Florian Decros via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

Meet Lil Alessa, professor and co-director of the Center for Resilient Communities at the University of Idaho. We all know fake news exists, and you’ve probably noticed fake news about COVID-19 zooming by on your social media feeds. Lil and a group of academics are spending part of their time searching out disinformation on COVID-19 as it pops up. They then figure out whether there could be important consequences to the spread of that information. Lil and I chatted about the significance of disinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Visit the COVID 19 Agricultural Economic Security map.

Email us at ucm-itunes@uidaho.edu.

More U of I Research

Our entrepreneurial team CatheterX has designed an innovative urinary catheter that should prevent infections, save lives and reduce hospital costs. Read more. 

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“The Stork” by Ketsa via freeusicarchive.org, not modified.

Meet Lorie Higgins, a professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology and an Extension specialist at the University of Idaho. Many COVID-19 hot zones are located in large cities, but small towns and rural areas aren’t immune to the virus. Lorie, who’s an expert on rural communities, thinks there are likely benefits and challenges to living outside of big cities during the current pandemic. She thinks everything from the age of local populations to internet connectivity could impact how the pandemic impacts places like the Gem State. Lorie and I chatted virtually about how places like rural Idaho are dealing with COVID-19.

Email us at ucm-itunes@uidaho.edu.

More U of I Research 

Ann Brown with Movement Sciences conducted a study on female collegiate dancers and their protein intake. The findings suggest protein supplementation for 12 weeks could be a simple way to improve the diets of female collegiate dancers without altering overall body weight. Read more.

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Multitudes” by Gillicuddy via freeusicarchive.org, not modified.

Meet Jamie Derrick, an associate professor in the Department of Psychology and Communications Studies at the University of Idaho. I think we can all agree that going through a pandemic is stressful. Whether it’s concern for the health of our loved ones, job and food security or balancing childcare and work, there is a lot to keep us up at night. Jamie knows about stress, what triggers it, how it manifests and how we can overcome it. She is also an expert in helping people deal with trauma and has a toolkit for handling stress. Jamie and I chatted about how it feels to go through a pandemic, and we practiced tools for de-stressing.

Email us at ucm-itunes@uidaho.edu.

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The Rural Studies Program and U of I Extension have developed infographics for every county in Idaho to help manage the unknown around the threat of COVID-19. Read more. 

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Gamma Muscae” by Florian Decros via freeusicarchive.org, not modified.

Meet Tanya Miura, an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Idaho. Unlike many of us, Tanya knew about coronaviruses before the current pandemic. She has studied this family of viruses throughout her entire career. Although no one is an expert on COVID-19 yet, Tanya has been following the outpouring of research on the virus, the spread of the pandemic and some of the misconceptions surrounding COVID-19. Tanya and I discuss the specifics of the virus itself.

Email us at ucm-itunes@uidaho.edu.

More U of I Research 

Leda Kobziar used flying drones and vacuumed air onto filters to capture microbes found in smoke. Her team found more diversity of bacteria and fungi in the smoky air than in non-smoky air. Read more. 

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Work Wonders” by Lobo Loco via freeusicarchive.org, not modified.

“I’m not sure everyone’s aware, but Idaho is known for potatoes… We grow over 322,000 acres of potatoes and produce over a third of the potatoes in the U.S.”

Meet Jenny Durrin, the director of the Seed Potato Germplasm Program at the University of Idaho. Whether we are talking about French fries from McDonald’s or the small purple potatoes you find at farmers markets, 90% of potatoes produced in Idaho can trace their lineage to Jenny’s lab. Picture the lab as a potato nursery. A really sterile potato nursery. In the lab, Jenny is the caretaker of more than 300 varieties of potatoes including new varieties of the tubers produced by researchers at U of I.

Email us at ucm-itunes@uidaho.edu.

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College of Engineering students earned top placement in the National Academy of Engineering Global Grand Challenges Summit student competition.

University of Idaho, Idaho Falls computer science graduate students took first place locally in the 2019 U.S. Department of Energy CyberForce Competition.

A University of Idaho-led team of researchers found that experimental fences — including fences made from beehives — reduced the number of times elephants left Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park to raid nearby crops by 80-95%.

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Coffee” by Cambo via freeusicarchive.org, not modified.

“You’ll hear it at large native gatherings and small native gatherings. Someone will say ‘all my relations.’ What they mean is not…grandma and grandpa. They do mean that, but, when they say ‘all my relations,’ they’re looking out across the entire existence of what we see. The trees. The rocks. The whole works. We have a connection to all that. We’re not separate from the natural system. We’re just part of it.”

Meet Jon Waterhouse, a research scientist at the University of Idaho and a National Geographic Explorer. Jon has spent much of his time at National Geographic traveling with indigenous peoples from around the world, including the Amazon and Alaska. His goal is to provide a way for indigenous people to gather, record and communicate their place-based science with the wider world. At U of I, Jon will be continuing that work through a project called LINK, which combines virtual technology, modern environmental science and indigenous science.

Email us at ucm-itunes@uidaho.edu.

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U of I will begin designing the nation’s largest research dairy, called the Idaho Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (CAFE). A $1 million gift from the J.R. Simplot Co. brought the university commitment for the project to $10 million.

Department of Biological Sciences’ Larry Forney found that measuring the levels of acids and proteins in vaginal fluid may be a non-invasive, cost-effective way to assess the risk for preterm birth due to a short cervix.

Assistant Professor Dakota Roberson has earned a 2019-20 White House Fellowship and will spend a year working for the U.S. Department of Defense. His expertise in power systems and renewable energy integration led him to the national leadership and public service program.

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Impact Andante” by Kevin MacLeod via freeusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Our analysis starts with a database, essentially a model of the entire economy. You’re painting a numeric picture of the economy and what the drivers are.”

Meet Steve Peterson, an associate clinical professor at the University of Idaho. Steve is an economist who lends his knowledge to regional businesses, non-profits and other organizations. He writes economic assessments for these groups, answering questions like, how much money does the Botanical Garden bring to Boise? Does the Moscow Farmers Market bring in enough money to justify putting in a public restroom? And how many jobs do the five Native American tribes of Idaho bring to the state?

Email us at ucm-itunes@uidaho.edu.

More U of I research

NASA will fund a research proposal to evaluate countermeasures that prevent or ease the signs and symptoms associated with brain and vision problems, which result from space travel.

The College of Art and Architecture in Boise launched its third Virtual Technology Laboratory. The lab will partner with the Autism Cross-Reality Institute to develop educational, diagnostic and therapeutic tools to aid individuals with autism.

The University of Idaho was ranked sixth among nearly 300 higher education institutions on the Sustainable Campus Index, a grade published by the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Sun Tan Lines” by Florian Decors via freeusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Our students would…rationalize their risky behavior by comparing themselves to their peers who they say also take similar actions and have remained safe.”

Meet Dilshani Sarathchandra, an assistant professor at the University of Idaho. Dilshani is a sociologist who studies risk assessment. She focuses not on the calculations behind risk assessment, but how our human emotions and feelings influence what we consider risky behavior. And it turns out we’re really terrible at deciding what is risky behavior and where to put our trust. Dilshani has spent her career studying this odd dichotomy between real and perceived risky behavior, including a number of studies on people’s trust in science and cybersecurity risk among college students.

Email us at ucm-itunes@uidaho.edu.

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U of I has identified and cloned a gene that can fend off a major fungal threat to wheat and barley. This genetic advance could lead to new wheat varieties with more dependable yields and reduce the need for pesticides.

David Ausband published a study on how wolves use the space around the sites where they rear their pups. The study suggests the closer the wolves are related to a litter of pups, the more time they will spend rearing the young.

The U of I wants to create a dynamic new meat science center and a $1 million gift took us one step closer. The new center will expand students’ educational opportunities in animal processing.

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org, not modified.

“Terminalism” by Phylum Sinter via freeusicarchive.org, not modified.

“The most recent economic data that I could find were for 2011, and both salmon and steelhead fisheries brought in around $90 million to the state…It’s not a trivial part of our economy.”

Meet Mike Quist, an associate professor at the University of Idaho. Mike spends his time at U of I fishing. OK, that’s a bit simplistic. He actually studies fish, including the best ways to manage our fisheries. Fisheries management can be complicated with the involvement of anglers, conservationists, landowners, tribes and all levels of government. For his part, Mike often evaluates and monitors fish populations. He’s recently focused on studying steelhead trout populations in the Pacific Northwest.

Email us at ucm-itunes@uidaho.edu.

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The University of Idaho Advanced Biofuels Lab is partnering with the U.S. Air Force on a project to commercialize a biofuel that doesn’t freeze at high altitudes and has the potential to be carbon-negative.

Postdoctoral Associate Jane Lucas published on Azteca alfari ant nests in trumpet trees. The study found that nursery chambers had fewer bacteria species than the rest of the nest.

U of I’s Richard Christensen was awarded a U.S. Department of Energy grant to support the installation of a NuScale reactor plant simulator. The simulator is a virtual nuclear power plant control room and will be housed at U of I Idaho Falls.

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org (License), not modified.

“Springish” by Gillicuddy via freeusicarchive.org (License), not modified.

“Someone reported that they were finding…single-use plastic bags in the Mariana Trench, which is one of the deepest places in the ocean, and it’s kind of remarkable just how far it’s traveled. And I’m a believer that this is a particular issue that we have social capital around, and we can actually see changes. That we can see behavioral changes.”

Meet Anastasia Telesetsky, a professor of law at the University of Idaho. Anastasia has focused much of her law career on international and environmental law including work on whaling, sustainable fisheries and climate change. Now, she is tackling a new oceanic plague, plastic pollution. Researchers estimate 8 million metric tons of plastic enter the ocean every year; that’s roughly the weight of 90 aircraft carriers. To help solve the problem, Anastasia proposes an international ban on most single-use plastics.

Read more at The Conversation.

Email us at ucm-itunes@uidaho.edu.

More U of I research

Katherine Himes and U of I’s James A. and Louise McClure Center for Public Policy Research have initiated the Idaho Climate-Economy Impacts Assessment, a two-year project to evaluate the economic impact of climate change on Idaho. Read more.

Doctoral student Andrew Maguire was awarded the Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology fellowship that will support Maguire’s Arctic research on trees.

Research at U of  I often takes place beyond Idaho’s borders. Check out our website to watch five students who, during summer 2019, investigated everything from antelope diets in Mozambique to the logistics of building a boarding school in Togo.

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org (License), not modified.

“Assignment” by BoxCat Games via freeusicarchive.org (License), not modified.

“These pictures of enslaved people…they’re primarily well-dressed studio portraits. They don’t show enslaved people visible dissenting from their position. And so what I talk about is how we see in the 1840s and 1850s slave holders taking up what is a neutral visual technology and warping it and turning it toward particular political ends. I call this dynamic in particular a quiet habit of domination.”

Meet Matt Fox-Amato, an assistant professor at the University of Idaho. In spring 2019, Matt published a book on the relationship between slavery and photography, a technological advancement that was developed and flourished in the two decades preceding the Civil War. His book draws on rare photographs from the middle of the 19^th century, along with archival letters to investigate how photography affected how slavery and freedom were recorded, imagined and contested. The book is titled “Exposing Slavery: Photography, Human Bondage, and the Birth of Modern Visual Politics in America.”

Email us at ucm-itunes@uidaho.edu.

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Assistant Professor Dakota Roberson was recognized as co-inventor on a patent that improves the ability to compensate against large electric power flow changes brought on by intermittent disturbances or even cyberattacks.

U of I researchers found people who are skeptical of health institutions and live farther away from a disease outbreak harbor less favorable vaccination views than those who are skeptical but live in closer proximity to an outbreak.

U of I’s Adrienne Marshall found that back-to-back low snow years may become six times more common across the Western United States over the latter half of this century. Read more about the study and read Marshall’s story in The Conversation.

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org (License), not modified.

Headway” by Kai Engel via freemusicarchive.org (License), not modified.

Photos

Used on U of I promos: Alexander Gardner, Richmond, Virginia. “Group of Negroes (‘Freedmen’) by canal,” April 1865, collodion negative. Civil War Glass Negatives and Related Prints Collection, Civil War Collection, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, LC-DIG-cwpb-00468.

Osborn and Durbec, “Planter’s summer residence, no. 10,” c. 1860, stereograph. Civil War Collection, Stereograph Cards Collection, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, LC-DIG-stereo-1s03920.

“Contraband Foreground,” c. 1861-1865, stereograph, albumen print, 8 x 18cm. Civil War Photograph Collection, Stereograph Cards Collection, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, LC-DIG-stereo-1s02759.

“We really started thinking about, what do we want to explore on Titan? We want to explore these interesting organic grains…Of course, organic stuff is…what life is made of. It’s made of carbon-based molecules. And so when we’re looking at Titan we’re looking at the most exciting carbon chemistry anywhere but Earth.”

Meet Jason Barnes, who was recently promoted to professor at the University of Idaho. Jason is a founding member of an international team of scientists that has spent years designing a robotic quadcopter that can land on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. This drone-like rotorcraft, which is affectionately named Dragonfly, is intended to fly from sampling site to sampling site, studying the moon’s atmosphere and surface. In the long run, Dragonfly should help scientists answer questions about how life started on Earth.

Learn more about Project Dragonfly.

Email us at ucm-itunes@uidaho.edu.

The Dragonfly project will be led by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and is funded by NASA in the amount of up to $850 million. The project is 100 percent federally funded.

More U of I Research

Doctoral student Maria Zubkova found that the amount of area burned across Africa declined by 18.5 percent between 2002 and 2016. This reduction was likely driven by an increase in plant-available moisture. Learn more.

A group of current and retired faculty from the College of Art and Architecture contributed to the peer-reviewed online encyclopedia, Archipedia, which features the country's most architecturally significant structures.

U of I’s Tara Hudiburg was given the 2019 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. The award is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government. Learn more.

Music

“Young Republicans” by Steve Combs via freemusicarchive.org (License), not modified.

“Out of the Skies, Under the Earth” by Chris Zabriskie via freeusicarchive.org (License), not modified.