Boise State Explore Magazine 2011

BOISE STATE 2 011

THE RESEARCH MAGAZINE OF BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY

A World of Promise DNA Nanotechnology Research at Boise State Dr. Bernard Yurke

An Institute for Ideas BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY

Creative Currency

Melville’s Marginalia

Sagebrush Survivors

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Features

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On the cover: Bernard Yurke, a research professor with joint appointments in the departments of Materials Science and Engineering, and Electrical and Computer Engineering, is one of the nation’s leading pioneers in DNA nanotechnology research.

Photography by John Kelly

THE RESEARCH MAGAZINE OF BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY

Sagebrush Survivors Pygmy rabbits inhabit one of the most threatened ecosystems in North America – the sagebrush steppe. Boise State researchers are studying the tiny mammals as part of efforts to preserve them and their habitat.

Creative Currency Through the process of knowledge and technology transfer, Boise State is working to leverage promising research to address critical issues and improve quality of life in Idaho and around the globe.

Engineering professor Bernard Yurke, left, and graduate student Hieu Bui discuss the results of a lab test involving their research in DNA nanotechnology.

An Institute for Ideas

A new Arts and Humanities Institute is in the planning stages.

The vision is to provide a physical space where performers, artists, historians, philosophers and writers can mingle and collaborate.

Boise State University Explore Magazine 2011 Vol. 3, No. 1

PRESIDENT Bob Kustra

EDITOR Janelle Brown

VICE PRESIDENT FOR RESEARCH/ EXECUTIVE EDITOR Mark Rudin

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Kathleen Tuck DESIGNER Ann Hottinger

PHOTOGRAPHERS John Kelly Carrie Quinney WRITERS Mike Journee Erin Ryan Sherry Squires

Departments 2

Research Record An engineering professor consults on the NOVA series “Making Stuff;” The Story Initiative reaches out to the community; the Challis Observatory probes the heavens; and a marketing professor assesses how new technologies affect companies.

30 In Print

A book series aimed at getting kids, and especially boys, to read is the brainchild of English professor and editor Jeffrey Wilhelm, plus a look at new books on police constables in England, the natural world in Latin American literature, theatre history, and Boise’s architecture.

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Cover Story

Research Snapshot English professor Steven OlsenSmith, a nationally recognized expert on Herman Melville’s life and writings, is the driving force behind an interactive website devoted to the marginalia of the 19th century author.

24 The Power of DNA

DNA may be best known as the language of life, but it also is a powerful nanoscale building material with the potential to transform fields ranging from consumer electronics and biological sensing to the detection and treatment of disease. Led by engineering professor Bernard Yurke, a Boise State team is pursuing groundbreaking research in this dynamic and important research area.

Boise State University is Idaho’s metropolitan research university, located in the state’s population center and capital city. The university is the largest in Idaho, with nearly 20,000 students enrolled in its undergraduate, master’s and Ph.D. programs.

Explore, the Research Magazine of Boise State University, is published by the Division of Research with support from the Office of Communications and Marketing.

Explore is available online at http://boisestate.edu/research.

Member of: University Research Magazine Association Division of Research

Boise State University Albertsons Library Room 153 1910 University Drive Boise, ID 83725-1135 (208) 426-5732

http://boisestate.edu/research

Welcome

Ne ws Bri efs Program aims to identify, help juvenile offenders

The Many Faces of Research

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— BOB KUSTRA, PRESIDENT

JOHN KELLY PHOTO

The breadth and depth of Boise State research astounds me.

A simple glance at the stories in this issue of Explore makes it clear that the work of our faculty and student researchers has many faces. A deeper read reveals the dedication they all bring to their work and scholarship. It is inspiring.

Join biologists sprinting through sagebrush after pygmy rabbits in order to better understand their dwindling habitat. Peek into the labs of a research team developing DNA nanostructures that could revolutionize the miniaturization of machines. Read over the shoulder of an English professor whose research on literacy led to a dynamic series of children’s books. Get an inside look at the creation of our new Arts and Humanities Institute, where the wisdom of the ancients will guide the progress of the future.

Whether biochemistry advances in fighting cancer, investigation of original music to return arrangements to their roots, or faculty contributions to a fantastic NOVA series on PBS, the passion and expertise of our researchers shines in every corner of discovery on our campus.

As you read these stories, I am sure you will find many things that astound you, and, like me, you’ll be left with little doubt about the better world Boise State research is helping to create.

Community and environwhile they are incarcerated and mental health professor Tedd offer resources for their support McDonald is assessing a new after release. program created to help the

McDonald, who also is Idaho Department of Juvenile director of the university’s Corrections uncover mental master’s degree program in and substance abuse problems health sciences, earned the Colamong juvenile offenders com- lege of Health Sciences’ faculty ing into the system. researcher of the year award

A pilot program run by for the 2009-2010 academic McDonald in 2009 revealed high year for his work with the Idaho numbers of juvenile offendDepartment of Corrections. ers with undiagnosed mental and substance Tedd McDonald abuse problems moving through the department’s system of 12 detainment facilities, making recidivism more likely.

In conjunction with the Department of Juvenile Corrections, McDonald is leading the design of a new program to help department clinicians identify juvenile offenders with problems, provide proper treatment

Solar-powered light poles

provide research opportunities

Boise State teamed up with Inovus Solar, a Boise-based renewable outdoor lighting company co-founded by Clay Young, (BA Marketing, ’84, MBA, ’85) to install grid-smart, solar-powered light poles that allow the real-time testing and development of new solar and power conservation technologies at Boise State.

The two light poles, erected near Bronco Stadium and lit by LED luminaries, are part of Boise State’s larger effort to foster initiatives and partnerships that make the university

a living laboratory for new technologies and ideas.

Once the poles are fitted with wireless lighting controls, the university’s Office of Technology Transfer and College of Engineering will work with Inovus Solar to define student projects that take advantage of and showcase the technologies. For example, students could model the cost and energy savings associated with dimming the lights during night hours when safety will not be compromised.

on

Research Record

Boise State R esearch

NOVA Series Features Engineering Professor’s Insights sub-themes: stronger, smaller, smarter and cleaner. Following the premiere, the shows will be available on NOVA’s website at pbs.org/wgbh/nova/.

Moll provided ideas for the show, reviewed scripts for scientific accuracy and helped identify resources, experts and locations for filming. She also helped raise funding, including a $2.5 million gift from the National Science Foundation and a $1 million grant for outreach and education from the U.S. Department of Energy. Moll even gave producers a day-long primer on the fundamentals of materials science.

To promote the show and its concepts, Moll worked with PBS to develop a series of public demonstrations at 20 sites around the country to introduce the concepts behind materials science.

She personally led a number of those demonstrations through a partnership between PBS, Idaho Public Television, the Discovery Center of Idaho, the Micron Foundation, Idaho National Laboratory and Boise State’s College of Engineering. — Mike Journee

JOHN KELLY PHOTO

A new four-part NOVA series on PBS exploring the materials that will shape the future is covered with the behindthe-scenes fingerprints of Amy Moll.

Moll, a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, was a leading consultant for the series “Making Stuff: Stronger, Smaller, Smarter, Cleaner.” The series features New York Times technology reporter David Pogue giving viewers an inside look at how innovations in materials are expanding technological frontiers.

“Most people haven’t heard about materials science as a discipline, so this was a great chance to play a role in increasing the visibility of a very important and fast-growing area of science,” said Moll, who in her 10 years at Boise State is responsible for securing more than $20 million in research funding in microelectronics packaging and a wide range of other projects.

Moll spent her 2007-2008 sabbatical working on the show, which premieres on PBS in January. Each hour-long episode focuses on one of the series’ main

Online catalog features Boise State publications

Researchers and casual readers alike have one-stop access to a variety of books focusing on Idaho and the American West through the Boise State University publications office, administered through the Division of Research.

This flexible publishing consortium,

a “university press” of sorts, is host to a handful of endowed series devoted to popular scholarship. These include the

Idaho Landscapes, Idaho Metropolitan Research, Otter Pre K-12 Education, Idaho Environmental and Health Sciences, and Hemingway Western Studies series.

In addition, the catalog of works also includes writings by Boise State faculty and staff published by other notable university and commercial presses, as well as magazines and DVDs.

“Each series has its own mission, purpose and financing,” said Todd Shallat, director of the Center for Idaho History and Politics and a member of the board of editors. “But the publications office offers authors a common marketing presence through pooled resources.”

Visit the catalog online at http:// www.boisestate.edu/research/pubs/.

Amy Moll holds a concrete sample she tested to determine its mechanical properties when compressed.

Two Boise State authors named in top 10 list for fiction

Creative writing professors Brady Udall and Anthony Doerr have been recognized by e-commerce giant Amazon.com. A list of the year’s 10 best literature and fiction books handpicked by editors of the site includes Udall’s The Lonely Polygamist (No. 10) and Doerr’s Memory Wall (No. 9)

Udall’s The Lonely Polygamist is an epic, tragicomic novel about the extremes of human relationships, embodied by a strangely familiar American family that includes four wives and 28 children. Doerr’s Memory Wall explores the power of memory in short stories and novellas set across the world and concerning the struggle to forget, remember and reconcile the past.

More news about books by Boise State faculty can be found on pages 30-34.

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Ne ws B r i e f s R emote

observatory studies quasars , gamma ray bursts

PHOTOS COURTESY DARYL MACOMB

Music professor David Mathie believes no instrument more closely mimics the human voice than the trombone. An accomplished trombonist himself, Mathie is leveraging the similarities between voice and instrument to create a new canon of trombone arrangements.

Mathie started editing musical arrangements for trombone about five years ago after finding that existing works had been edited beyond the composer’s intent, with excessive embellishments such as staccatos, accents and slurring.

He has since pored over hundreds of original compositions at the Syracuse University Library, the library at the State University of New York, Potsdam, and the Sibley Music Library at the Eastman School of Music, among others, transcribing them for brass and sending the arrangements to publishers.

“ I wanted to write something that would be respectful to the original.”

— David Mathie

JOHN KELLY PHOTO

Physics professor Daryl Macomb is interested in galaxies far, far away, or at least the black holes that populate them.

Macomb A globular cluster of studies the cosstars as viewed from mos with former the observatory NASA researcher telescope, below.

Jay Norris out of an observatory near Challis.

With the help of specialized computer software and a CCD camera that converts light into electrical signals, Macomb can remotely manipulate the observatory’s telescope. This allows him to study quasars (super massive black holes) and gamma ray bursts (explosions billions of light years away associated with the birth of a black hole) from the comfort of his home or office.

The images he receives are helping him make sense of the universe. “They tell us how the universe works,” he said, “and what’s out there.”

A Scholarly Approach to Composition

“A lot of existing arrangements for trombone are poor, in part because no research is done on the source material,” Mathie said. “Most arrangers are not scholars. They just put in what sounded good to them. But in the original sources, none of that was in there.

“I’ve been trying to recover some of the purity of intent and execution in the music. I wanted to write something that would be respectful to the original and take into account the scholarship.”

Mathie has tackled everything from Beethoven to Brahms, Schubert to Gabrieli.

“You have to be care-

ful when you edit 21st century interpretations of pieces that were written in 1610,” he said. “Renaissance sounds best for trombone because most of the music of that era is choral. “

His 13 arrangements to date have been performed by collegiate groups and professional ensembles, including Juilliard’s trombone choir and the Los Angeles Philharmonic brass section, as well as groups in Berlin and Vienna. They also have earned him favorable reviews in the International Trombone Association journal. Sample Mathie’s arrangements at www.boise state.edu/music/Music Department/mathie.html.

— Sherry Squires

Program supports caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients in rural Idaho

Boise State’s Center for the Study of Aging is leading the development and study of an online training and support network for caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients in rural Idaho.

Called Building a Better Caregiver, the transitional research effort will customize a program developed by Stanford University for California’s rural areas. Its focus is to meet the needs 4 | BOISESTATE.EDU

of Idahoans living in areas too remote to have easy access to the support systems and information available in the state’s metropolitan areas.

Community and environmental health professor Sarah Toevs, director of the center, is developing the program in conjunction with the Idaho Commission on Aging and federal agencies. It features online courses

with facilitators, literature, discussion boards and a wide range of other caregiver resources. Toevs also will lead efforts to assess the program’s impact on its main goal: allowing those afflicted with Alzheimer’s and related diseases to stay in their homes under the care of loved ones – avoiding expensive institutionalization for as long as possible.

Research Record

Story Initiative Celebrates Power of a Well-Told Tale

CARRIE QUINNEY PHOTO

Before there were books or even language, there were stories. Early humans developed a “theory of mind,” the ability to imagine the intentions of others. It helped them remember and learn from the past, and it wasn’t long before they found ways to communicate.

“Story created language,” said creative writing professor Clay Morgan. “Perhaps it was a child who told the first story to another child. On that day, we became truly human.”

Morgan is examining the connection between humanity and storytelling through The Story Initiative, a Boise State program he founded in 2009. It explores the phenomenon of story in disciplines including film, literature, law, psychology, history, art, music, philosophy, politics, business, medicine, biology and religion.

“Story simulates life by engaging the senses, triggering emotions and creating awareness of consequence and meaning. Story is shared, experiential, chronological thinking,” said Morgan. “Today, scientists are researching whether story might be biologically

Story Story Night, supported

by The Story Initiative at Boise State, provides a venue for Nick Garcia to tell a tale.

based, a genetic instinct.”

Partnerships between the university and community organizations have created a range of opportunities for education and entertainment related to story. One of the favorites is Story Story Night, the brainchild of Morgan and Boise-based arts groups The Cabin literary center and Alley Repertory Theater.

Each month it provides a stage and an audience for true tales told without notes or props. Morgan calls it “shared imagination,” and it continues to pack

the house.

Clay Morgan

The next phase of the initiative will involve comparative research through a web forum on the origins and principles of story. Morgan also has proposed a class on story at Boise State that will mix conceptual material with illustrative film or live performance.

“Story is how we inhabit time, how cultures and individuals remember, and how we learn and plan and dream,” Morgan said. “It’s who we are.” — Erin Ryan

Marketing professor assesses technology-business link Marketing professor Shikhar Sarin, recognized worldwide as an expert on high-tech Shikhar Sarin markets and marketing new products, is assessing how technology is affecting business for a growing number of companies.

Business always has been about relationships, but those relationships change a great deal when companies deal

in e-commerce. The introduction of online business transactions means a change in the traditional ways of doing business.

“Companies have largely dealt with customers and with their sales force on a more personal level,” Sarin said. “But a growing global economy and e-commerce opportunities lead to faceless, nameless transactions. That increases efficiency in the short run, but in the long run it completely changes the business model. I’m looking at how that model is going to need to adapt.”

His research also is focused on helping companies that develop new tech-

nologies understand how to apply them in their own work environment, as well as assess if there is an outside market. Sarin, whose recent work includes designing and implementing training for HewlettPackard’s marketing teams around the globe, said companies often aren’t sure what to do with new technology once they discover it.

“Existing frameworks within most businesses are not good outlets for radical – and often times useful – technologies,” Sarin said. “Companies need an effective strategy for pushing out these technologies to fully benefit from them.”

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Boise State biology students Tom Allen, Amy Ulappa and Jamie Utz race across uneven ground in hopes of cornering a pygmy rabbit in its burrow. The disc Allen is holding is thrown to simulate an aerial predator, a ploy aimed at getting the rabbit to seek cover.

Neatly clipped sagebrush leaves, left, a burrow dug in the soil and fresh scat nearby are clues pygmy rabbits are in the vicinity.

6 | BOISESTATE.EDU

Pygmy rabbits face many threats.

Boise State is conducting studies that may help preserve them.

Story by ERIN RYAN Photography by CARRIE QUINNEY

The only sound is the crunch of sagebrush.We stalk the prairie like wolves, eyes wide and sweeping for a flash of movement.

“Giddy-up!” biology professor Jen Forbey yells, and feet pound after a furry rocket. Most people will never know wild pygmy rabbits exist let alone see one, but we’ll spend hours giving chase. This time the rabbit wins.

“My first trip out I was miserable,” says junior biology major Kristina Gehlken. “Then I saw one.

The adrenaline hit hard.”

Forbey has mentored many such converts. Working her field site outside Shoshone in south-central Idaho requires stamina and patience. From winter camping to handling scat, the demands of the research are as rugged and fascinating as the backdrop.

Biology professor Jen Forbey

Blending in almost completely with its surroundings, a pygmy rabbit stays motionless to escape detection.

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Graduate student Amy Ulappa positions a trap in the entrance to a burrow where a cornered rabbit hides.

Graduate student Jamie Utz, left, junior Kristina Gehlken and Ulappa examine a captured pygmy rabbit.

The rabbit’s ears, hind feet and weight are measured to determine if it is mature enough to join a captive study population.

“The sagebrush steppe is considered the most threatened ecosystem in North America, and we lack knowledge about who relies on it,” says Forbey. “Because they can’t survive anywhere else, pygmy rabbits provide a rare opportunity to explore dynamic interactions within this unique habitat.“

No bigger than a softball, captured pygmy rabbits are weighed and measured to determine if they’re mature enough to join a study population. Researchers agree they put an adorable face on the issue of environmental decline.

“Pygmy rabbits are hunted by coyotes, badgers, weasels and raptors. Recreation, wildfires, invasive species and development are destroying and fragmenting their habitat. To top it off, their food supply is of really poor quality. They’re suffering death by 1,000 cuts,” Forbey says. “So how do we conserve them?”

In answering this question, Forbey and her students are supported primarily by Idaho Fish and Game, the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service.

The rabbits they capture in the field are transported to nutritional expert Lisa Shipley’s wildlife ecology lab at Washington State University, where Boise State graduate students Amy Ulappa and Jamie Utz use the captive population for their research on diet quality and stress.

Forbey’s students also work with pygmy rabbit expert Janet Rachlow at the University of Idaho to better understand an animal that is at once vulnerable and tough – just like the sagebrush steppe.

“From the highway it looks like a waste8 | BOISESTATE.EDU

land,” Forbey says. “Some people call it the sagebrush sea because, like the ocean, there’s a lot going on under the surface.”

One of those things is the ability of pygmy rabbits to handle toxins in the sagebrush they consume. Part of the less than one percent of mammals worldwide that are dietary specialists, they depend almost entirely on a single food source. Fortunately for the rabbits, that source tastes terrible.

“If you eat something no one else wants you don’t have to worry about competition,” says Ulappa.

Chemical compounds called terpenes create the distinctive smell and contribute to the toxicity of sagebrush. Pygmy rabbits are believed to have special enzymes that combat the toxins and help absorb nutrients. Ulappa’s project, however, has shown that while plants may look identical and grow in the same environment, unique chemistry and different nutrient levels may affect whether they are heavily foraged or ignored. Her goal is to create a model to predict dietary preference, and Gehlken is working on another model that will allow assessment of plant nutrition and chemistry in a matter of seconds and ultimately map the pygmy rabbit “foodscape.”

“Rather than gathering and processing samples by hand and waiting months for lab

Jamie Utz, left, and Amy Ulappa gently hold a captured pygmy rabbit that will join a study population at a Washington State University lab.

The Boise State graduate students are studying the rabbits’ stress responses and diet quality.

results, our model could allow ecologists and land managers to interpret diet quality in the field with a portable near-infrared scanner,” Gehlken says. “Current conservation of sagebrush habitat is focused on cover characteristics, not food quality.”

Another mad dash results in a cornered rabbit. Utz plugs escape routes around the burrow while Ulappa camouflages a trap in the entrance.

“We can split the atom, but I can’t get my hands on 450 grams of rabbit,” Utz says. “It really puts me in my place.”

Working with the captive population at Washington State, Utz uses cues such as coyote urine and raptor calls to determine how much risk is worth the reward of tasty food and whether good cover minimizes the stress of predation threats. The data is helping her devise a non-invasive biomarker for stress using fecal pellets.

After a long but successful day in the field, the research team heads home.

“The sagebrush steppe is considered the most threatened ecosystem in North America, and we lack knowledge about who relies on it. Because they can’t survive anywhere else, pygmy rabbits provide a rare opportunity to explore dynamic interactions within this unique habitat.”

— Biology professor Jen Forbey

“The hope is that wildlife managers will be able to run pellets through a chemical assay to evaluate how stressed animals are without trapping or tagging,” she says.

“Pygmy rabbits were just up for endangered status, but there isn’t enough research to warrant the listing.”

Metal clicks. The trap holds two adult pygmy rabbits, a male and a female – Forbey’s Holy Grail. They seem calm in the steady hands of her students, who understand how their adventures on the sagebrush steppe may connect to the preservation of a species.

“It’s the excitement of the students that keeps me going,” Forbey says, “watching them all of a sudden become aware of what has been here all along.”

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I t Ta k e s a By identifying and supporting promising ideas and inventions developed at Boise State, the university is working to leverage its intellectual property to help address pressing issues and improve quality of life across the globe.

JOHN KELLY PHOTO

Students David Meine, left, and Nhung Nguyen conduct an experiment with chemistry professor Dale Russell.

10 | BOISESTATE.EDU

JOHN KELLY PHOTO

CARRIE QUINNEY PHOTO

An Innovation Team meeting at Boise State includes a lively discussion among industry experts and university faculty, staff and students.

Chemistry professor Henry Charlier is an inventor on the first two drug-related patents issued to Boise State.

By ERIN RYAN

Technology Transfer: Turning Creative Brains into Commercial Brawn Two things changed Henry Charlier’s life – a microscope and malignant melanoma. As a thirdgrader looking through an eyepiece for the first time, he decided to be a scientist.

When his Uncle Chuck died of metastatic skin cancer a few years later, he vowed to find a cure.

Now a chemistry professor at Boise State University, Charlier is an inventor on two U.S. patents that could help him keep his promise. They support his efforts to improve chemotherapy that employs a class of drugs called anthracyclines. While effective against most cancers, anthracyclines

can cause permanent heart damage and are weakened by a metabolic enzyme. If Charlier can design chemical compounds that inhibit that enzyme, it could lead to a more powerful treatment in lower, less toxic doses. The patents also protect the next phase of his research, which will explore the potential of enzyme inhibitors as weapons against cancer itself.

But without commercialization, Charlier ’s work wouldn’t have the chance to make a difference. Though critical, creation of knowledge is only the first step toward reaching the masses. By identifying and supporting promising ideas and inventions developed at Boise State, the university is working to leverage such intellectual property to help address pressing issues and improve quality of life across the globe.

A CRUCIAL ROLE

“The world is shifting from resource-based economies to knowledge-based production, meaning the transfer of knowledge and technology from universities to the marketplace will play an even more crucial role in economic development and success,” said Boise State Vice President for Research Mark Rudin. “The challenges of the 21st century demand out-of-thebox ideas, and Boise State is poised to answer the call.”

The transfer of knowledge and technology begins with a great idea and – provided everything works out just right – ends with a great product that benefits the public. But even the most compelling idea needs extensive market research and funding mechanisms to move it forward. Other essential steps are outlined in the illustration on page 12. At Boise State, the Office of Technology Transfer in EXPLORE—2011 | 11

the Division of Research oversees this process, drawing on resources both on campus and in industry to evaluate research concepts and support them through commercialization.

“The contributions our fac-

ulty and students make in the marketplace are significant, but we’re not a commercial organization,” Rudin said. “Companies bring a lot of knowledge to the table, and we need to tap that expertise.”

Te c h n o l o g y Tr a n s f e r a t B O I S E S TAT E

Faculty conduct studies that result in an idea for a new product or invention.

Many steps are required to turn a great idea into a commercial product.

Develop prototypes

Identify industry collaborators

Direct market research

Disclose invention

Conduct field testing

Assess technology readiness level

License the invention

BE N E F I T S OF C O MME R C I ALIZAT ION CO

Enhances Idaho’s competitiveness

ILLUSTRATION BY ANN HOTTINGER

Assess patentability

Creates new jobs and businesses

12 | BOISESTATE.EDU

Solves major medical, technological issues

Supports new studies

Provides royalties to Boise State, researchers

Boise State researchers are pursuing projects in every stage of commercialization. For example, engineering professor Peter Müllner co-invented a novel type of metallic foam that has attracted industry interest for its potential to revolutionize microelectronics. Chemistry professor Dale Russell developed a portable contaminant sensor that is being tested in the field. Physics professor Byung Kim created a new device with applications across the spectrum of nanoparticle research.

And nursing professor Cindy Clark’s tools for determining civility in the workplace are being utilized on an international scale. These projects are highlighted on page 17.

Some researchers would put their discoveries directly in the hands of the public if they could, but it’s not that simple.

“I just want to help people,” Charlier said, “but if you publish without patenting first your work will never see the light of day in the clinic.”

The reason is simple. Without the potential for profit the business sector will not invest. Whether in the form of a device prototype or a new industrial process, the intellectual property in Boise State’s portfolio must come with the promise of exclusive rights to development.

PROMISING PATENTS

CARRIE QUINNEY PHOTO

Charlier’s patents – the first drug-related ones ever issued to Boise State – provide security and legitimacy for his molecular adventures.

They are focused on designing molecules that can bind to enzymes and stop them from doing harm. His current work involves inhibiting carbonyl reductase, a metabolic enzyme that weakens anthracycline-based chemotherapy and leads to more of the drugs being administered and more risk of grave damage done to the heart.

“Chemotherapy is like trying to cure cancer by shooting the tumor out with an indiscriminate bullet,” Charlier said. “If we can stop or slow this enzyme’s degradation of chemotherapy drugs, we might be able to protect patients and make their treatment work better.”

Charlier began testing his theory by envisioning an effective inhibitor and purchasing commercial compounds that resembled the base structure.

Through collaboration, he obtained other promising compounds made by colleagues.

His student Christopher Ewing (B.S., Chemistry, ’08) studied Charlier’s entire body of work before identifying several more candidate compounds.

One was triclosan, which is found in household items like soap and toothpaste. At that time, it proved to be the best inhibitor of carbonyl reductase ever discovered.

“It was a very, very exciting find,” said Ewing, now a medical student at Western University and co-inventor with Charlier on a related patent issued to Boise State.

“Dr. Charlier pointed me in

a direction I never thought I would go. He gives students intellectual freedom, allowing them to open their minds to new possibilities.”

Ewing’s discovery highlights the way knowledge and technology transfer play off the disparate strengths of academic and industry partners. University research can explore uncharted avenues in ways a private company, working on deadline to find a specific solution, never could. Thanks to that freedom, Charlier now has the makings of a universal chemical structure hoped to be the ultimate carbonyl reductase inhibitor – one he believes also may have the ability to kill cancer cells being treated with anthracyclines. If this synergy can be demonstrated the implications for cancer sufferers are huge, but only if the intellectual property is inserted into the commercialization pipeline.

“The more I learn about it,” Charlier said, “the more fascinated I am with the process.”

Mar y Givens, director of the Office of Technology Transfer, discusses a project with MBA student Erik Bergset during an Innovation Team meeting.

Glossary Knowledge Transfer is the process of creating, capturing and distributing knowledge, ensuring its availability for future use. At Boise State, it is accomplished through student education, scholarly publications, faculty consulting, academic conferences and research collaborations.

Technology Transfer is a type of knowledge transfer that entails sharing knowledge, skills and technologies to make scientific and technological developments more widely accessible and primed for development.

Technology Readiness Level is a measure used by government agencies and companies to assess the maturity of evolving technologies prior to incorporating them into systems.

Intellectual Property refers to distinct creations of the mind recognized by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Common types include copyrights, trademarks and patents.

Commercialization is the translation of intellectual property into new products in the marketplace, where the public and society can benefit.

EXPLORE—2011 | 13

CARRIE QUINNEY PHOTO

Biomedical engineering professor Michelle Sabick helps identify promising research concepts generated by faculty and move them toward commercialization. For example, “Stretch” and “Echo” are code names for projects that could impact the health care field by introducing a high-tech method for measuring muscle flexibility and ergonomically-enhanced ultrasound equipment. Prototypes and materials related to these projects are displayed above.

ADVANCING TECH TRANSFER

No Boise State faculty member understands the process better than Michelle Sabick. In addition to being a biomedical engineering professor and co-director of the Center for Orthopaedic and Biomechanics Research, she also is the inaugural Technology Transfer Fellow.

Two days a week, Sabick “Universities are the drivers of monumental shifts in thinking and ways of improving our world, but knowledge for its own sake is not enough.

Through the ingenuity of our faculty and the skills our graduates bring to the evolving global workplace, Boise State is applying new knowledge to the demands and challenges of the 21st century.”

— Mark Rudin, Vice President for Research, Boise State

14 | BOISESTATE.EDU

devotes her time and energy to advancing the university’s broad commercialization efforts, from mentoring inexperienced faculty researchers to leading an interdisciplinary Innovation Team through market projections and assessments of technology readiness level, a metric that gauges the maturity of intellectual property.

“Companies want to invest but only if the legwork has been done,” she said. “One aspect of my job is to help figure out what’s in our arsenal, what stage of the process it’s in, and whether it has real-world applications that will be useful and reasonable to implement.”

Sabick’s research has been supported by industry giants from Johnson & Johnson to the NFL, giving her insight into the needs of the market and the challenge of being a professor working to balance teaching, service, research and the tenure track. The traditional reward system

in higher education depends mostly on scholarly publications, which can preclude commercialization if certain protocols aren’t followed.

“This is an education for most faculty members, so I do a lot of ‘in-reach.’ They need to recognize that their work can benefit people or inspire a spinoff company without them being burdened by the process,” Sabick said. “Research gets an idea to a certain point, and you need support staff to take it to the next level.”

That’s why Sabick spent her sabbatical in 2009 taking an MBA class in Boise State’s College of Business and Economics, deepening her understanding of business planning, startups and the world outside the lab.

“When I got into engineering I wanted to focus on applied design, but most of my research has been basic,” she said. “This was an opportunity to change direction.”

Finding pathways to application and commercialization are the primary tasks of Boise State’s Small Business Administration-funded Innovation Team, which includes management professor Kent Neupert and two graduate students, one in business administration and the other in engineering. Guided by Office of Technology Transfer Director Mary Givens, they evaluate and advance the technology readiness level of inventions that then are reviewed by a volunteer advisory board of experts. One such expert is executive-in-residence Ed Zimmer, the retired CEO of Boisebased manufacturer ECCO Group and a key advisor to those hoping to maximize the

A STRONG PERFORMANCE

That currency is the result of funded research, and Boise State is performing above the

— Bill Connors, President and CEO, Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce

Office of Technology Transfer Director Mary Givens, left, Technology Transfer Fellow Michelle Sabick and Walter Seale, M.D., discuss a future collaboration.

CARRIE QUINNEY PHOTO

Engineering professor Peter Müllner and graduate student Cassie Witherspoon discuss lab tests for magnetic shape-memory foam, a promising area for technology transfer. Witherspoon has presented her research at a conference in France, conducted field work at Los Alamos National Laboratory, and coauthored a paper on magnetic shape-memory foam published in Nature Materials.

national average when it comes to the number of invention disclosures relative to research expenditures. As the OTT continues to build infrastructure, the number is expected to rise.

“It’s interesting to see who’s got amazing ideas and what the university has done to protect them,” said Sabick.

“The process before wasn’t formal, but in many cases, intellectual property from years past is still viable and relevant.”

Sabick’s team currently is focused on patent disclosures for three projects with potential in the health care field: a high-tech method for measuring muscle flexibility,

CARRIE QUINNEY PHOTO

impact of knowledge generated at Boise State.

“There are 18 fundamental phases of commercialization, starting with creative work done by our faculty and students and facilitation by our staff. Sometimes the university is involved in seven, sometimes two, sometimes all of these phases before industry steps in.

It takes a village,” Givens said.

“From influencing the refinement of early-stage technology to delivering field-tested products to store shelves, industry partners are essential to the large-scale development of Boise State’s creative currency.”

“The old image of university professors contemplating the cosmos has been replaced with one of active researchers trying to impact the cosmos. Boise State research is creating new opportunities for economic growth in Idaho by attracting cutting-edge industries, venture capitalists and the growing creative class.”

EXPLORE—2011 | 15

“Micron and Boise State are partnering to provide out-of-the-box solutions in competitive markets. Academia and industry, in collaboration with private and public entities, can foster an ecosystem of innovation that supports creation of new businesses and retention of those that define our Treasure Valley.”

— Jai Jaiprakash, Director of Business Development, Micron ergonomically-enhanced ultrasound equipment, and an improved ventilator system for emergency situations.

Students are involved across the board, including senior kinesiology major Carly Gerard. With the help of students in the Radiologic Sciences Department, she collected data on wrist movement and muscle strain related to use of traditional ultrasound equipment. In addition to creating the prototype of a new system that could mitigate stress

injuries, Gerard has attended Innovation Team meetings related to her project.

“It’s helpful knowing how what I’m learning can be applied and if there’s a market for it,” she said. “It would be neat to see it go from an idea to an actual device, especially if it keeps health care providers from getting debilitating injuries.”

That surprisingly complicated journey from an idea to something substantial is the essence of transfer, Givens said.

“Boise State has been generating knowledge for almost 80 years, but it wasn’t until recently that the university really sunk its teeth into

ECONOMIC ENGINE:

How Boise State Research Benefits Idaho • Federally funded Boise State research supports jobs, innovation and the education of a skilled work force. Research activities generate knowledge and technologies that have the potential to improve resource management and industrial efficiencies for businesses and enhance the health and quality of life of Idaho’s citizens.

• Each $1 million of research activity maintains 11 direct jobs and 18 indirect jobs in Idaho; 80 percent of Boise State research activities are federally funded.

This funding is new money injected into Idaho’s economy.

• In fiscal year 2010, 55 new industry products were designed and prototyped

by Boise State’s College of Engineering TechHelp New Product Development Lab. • Boise State receives approximately 22 percent of its total revenue from state appropriations. That state support is leveraged to attract an additional $250 million of revenue for Boise State operations each year.

• Boise State is performing above the national average relative to invention disclosures resulting from research expenditures, according to the Association of University Technology Managers annual technology transfer survey.

16 | BOISESTATE.EDU

its own stockpile of intellectual property,” she said.

“We have more momentum than ever before, and we are doing everything we can to engage industry in providing creative solutions to the challenges facing our state and global community.”

Beyond profit for businesses, prestige for researchers and gamechanging innovations for society, the value of transfer is in the skills, insights and expertise individuals such as Ewing and Gerard will take with them in their professional lives.

“We have 19,993 pieces of intellectual property – our students,” Rudin said. “They are the most powerful knowledge transfer we have.”

B O I SE STATE ’ S C REAT I V E C U RRE N C Y

University faculty pursue research on many fronts that holds great promise

By MIKE JOURNEE for commercialization. Here’s a look at four researchers and their inventions.

Dale Russell

Peter Müllner

Cindy Clark

Byung Kim

Sensors Test Contaminants

Memory Foam Changes Shape

Tool Assesses Civility in Workplace

Microscope Aids Molecular Studies

New sensor technology developed by chemistry professor Dale Russell could soon pave the way for a flexible and highly portable test for soil contaminants like arsenic, mercury, plutonium and uranium. Russell’s devices, which use an integrated chip to detect the electronic signature of contaminants, are about the size of an eyeglasses case and versatile enough to be used in handheld devices to get immediate, in-the-field results or fixed in place (even underground) for an extended period to log data over time.

Under the auspices of the Office of Technology Transfer, the sensors are being tested for use in monitoring underground plumes at the Idaho National Laboratory.

With three patents related to this technology and two more pending, Russell also is working with OTT and engineers to develop environmentally robust packaging and a userfriendly interface to make the sensors usable in a wide variety of settings, including situations like the clandestine monitoring of international compliance with nuclear nonproliferation treaties.

One of Boise State’s most promising technology transfer projects revolves around engineering professor Peter Müllner ’s work with magnetic shapememory foam. The nickelmanganese-gallium alloy foam changes shape when exposed to a magnetic field but returns to its original shape once the magnetic field has been reoriented – making it a potentially ideal replacement for the tiny, fragile moving parts used in a wide variety of devices, electronics and small machines.

Müllner, who is director of the Boise State Center for Materials Characterization, is working with OTT and collaborators at Boise State and Northwestern University on patents for the foam itself and an energyharvesting device using the same material that could generate off-the-grid power for any application where energy is needed in remote locations. OTT also is helping Müllner and his collaborators find companies and other partners interested in using the foam in their products and devices.

Nursing professor Cindy Clark’s tools for determining civility in the workplace – especially health care and higher education settings – have received international recognition for their effectiveness. Her Incivility in Nursing Education survey is used in universities and hospitals in the United States, as well as Israel, Iran, Indonesia and China.

And with development help from psychology professor Eric Landrum, the new Organization Civility Scale is garnering interest from consultants who help all types of organizations grapple with incivility problems.

After years of “giving away” her INE survey in the name of academic collaboration, Clark now is working closely with OTT to help manage further licensing, promotion and distribution of the tools. For a flat fee, groups can contact Clark through OTT to use either tool, engage her services for assessing the data that comes from the surveys and consult with her on ways to address any problems.

Physics professor Byung Kim has developed a new type of microscope that will allow researchers to study the way individual molecules interact with one another – an area of nanoscience obscured by the minute scale of the substances involved. With National Science Foundation funding, Kim is studying whether a cantilever-based optical interfacial force microscope will reveal the forces that cause certain molecules to “grab” one another when they get too close – a phenomenon yet to be explained by science. The work could prove invaluable in the development of new medications and for a wide range of nanoparticle research.

Kim’s patent-pending device employs a miniscule cantilever on a normal interfacial force microscope to hold the molecules apart, allowing researchers to measure and study the forces that cause the phenomenon. With help from OTT, Kim is working with engineers to develop the device and determine the most practical path forward to ensure the technology is accessible and affordable for researchers.

EXPLORE—2011 | 17

A Home for

New Arts and Humanities Institu

“Is it an art or a science?”

This often-asked question rings with mutual exclusivity.

Yet Aristotle, the great pillar of western philosophy and learning, saw little difference between his love of poetry and physics. And Sir Isaac Newton, whose 17th century observations in physics, mathematics and astronomy made him one of history’s most important scientists, considered himself a philosopher first.

The idea that art and science are two sides of the same coin is as fundamental and timeless as knowledge itself. But this con-

cept often is obscured in a modern culture where scientific discovery has become a commodity that feeds our economy, national security and viability as a society, as well as our yen for the next best gadget.

While the importance of science and technology isn’t disputed, many scholars in the humanities and arts are concerned that an overwhelming focus on these disciplines runs the risk of separating mankind’s quest for discovery and knowledge from its an-

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phi•los•o•phy

r Big Ideas

ute Returns Learning to Its Roots

By MIKE JOURNEE cient roots. This premise – that the meaning of our existence as humans should inform the progress of our society – is behind a new initiative to grow an Arts and Humanities Institute at Boise State University.

“Our path forward depends greatly on where we are today and where we were yesterday,” said Boise State President Bob Kustra. “As we look to our future, our continued success as a metropolitan research university depends on our ability to gain the perspective and balance that can only come from the spirit of inquiry, creative thought and artistic practice. These ideals and concepts make us a

university, and with them we will infuse our research agenda with the beauty and meaning of being human.”

Since Kustra publicly announced the creation of the Arts and Humanities Institute in the fall of 2009, faculty members from the departments of Art, History, English, Modern Languages and Literatures, Music, Theatre Arts and Philosophy have been developing the concepts and framework for the institute. With fundraising efforts gearing up, the group is sketching out a vision for a new physical space on campus

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ILLUSTRATION BY ANN HOTTINGER EXPLORE—2011 | 19

where the work of painters, sculptors, dancers, actors and musicians will mingle with that of historians, philosophers and writers to spark ideas, questions and conversations about the world today.

It is a bold move. Jim Leach, chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, told the institute’s planners that budget concerns have most of academia retrenching.

Instead, Boise State’s “counterintuitive” plan had “straightforward confidence” that impressed him.

The vision is to create a new physical space on campus where the work of painters, sculptors, dancers, actors and musicians will mingle with that of historians, philosophers and writers to spark ideas about the world today.

For Boise State, the time is right. In the last decade, research funding has tripled largely on the strength of the university’s focus on growth in technical, scientific or professional fields. A similar institutionwide investment must be made for the arts and humanities, Kustra contends. The “life-long skills” of critical thinking, selfinquiry and the communication of ideas – all embodiments of the arts and humanities – will serve students well beyond the next economic downturn, making them adaptable to practically any intellectual challenge or employment situation.

“The arts and humanities are the lens through which society understands itself,” said Laura Rushing-Raynes, a music professor on the committee developing concepts for the institute.

In many ways, planners hope to replicate the interdisciplinary approach that fields in 20 | BOISESTATE.EDU

science, technology, engineering and mathematics (known as STEM) have developed using the perspective of multiple fields. Many of today’s biggest advances are coming in areas where traditional disciplines like physics, engineering and biology overlap. Following a similar model, Boise State’s new institute will provide both physical and intellectual space for arts and humanities faculty working in different disciplines to compare and combine ideas and shape new perspectives.

Particularly important and unique to

Dig Deep

An Opportunity to

Creative Research in the Arts and Humanities For the three inaugural honorees in Boise State’s Arts and Humanities Research Fellows Program, this past year has been a time of discovery, creativity and accomplishment. With support from the Division of Research, the fellows receive time for activities outside of regular teaching, service and committee duties, dedicated space in the Ron and Linda Yanke Family Research Park, and up to $15,000 in funding for their projects. Here’s a look at the inaugural group, who finish their year in May. A new cadre of fellows will be selected this spring.

the Boise State endeavor is the inclusion of both the arts and the humanities from the outset. Most academic institutes or centers of this nature focus on one or the other rather than both in equal measure.

“That is what is so exciting about the way this institute is being imagined,” said Cheryl K. Shurtleff-Young, a professor of art. “Art would be very, very different without philosophy and history, and vice versa.

That notion is really where we started in thinking about what this institute will be.”

While the institute’s creation is a work in progress, Boise State wasted no time in

getting some initial stages of its programming up and running.

With support from the Division of Research, three Boise State faculty members were named last spring as the first Arts and Humanities Research Fellows.

Barton Barbour Department of History Arts and Humanities Research Fellow

Already known in academic circles for his history of Fort Union in North Dakota and his recent biography of famed trapper Jedediah Smith, Barton Barbour once again is immersed in the North American fur trade.

This time he’s taking a closer look at Wyoming’s Fort Laramie. While the fort was a major stop on the Oregon Trail, its early years as a fur trading post relate to a much broader Western history. While a lot is known about the site as a military fort, little is known about its humbler beginnings.

Trappers, Indians, beavers, buffalo and timber-built trading posts are icons of the Wild West. Barbour notes that they also formed the foundation for U.S.-Indian policy and the symbiotic relationship between fur traders and the North American government.

“Understanding the 19th century fur trade is extremely useful in explaining North American Indian history,” Barbour said. “The fur traders were always there first, before

CARRIE QUINNEY PHOTO

Fort Laramie and the Fur Trade: A Window on the West

“Understanding the 19th century fur trade is extremely useful in explaining North American Indian history” — Barton Barbour the rest of white civilization caught up with them. Interactions in the fur trade were common everywhere – no other epoch in American history has this continuity.”

How these traders and trappers dealt with native populations, particularly the nature of their transactions and their policies regarding liquor, greatly influenced the development of federal laws overseeing trade and commerce

meant to maintain a peaceful frontier.

While Barbour had thousands of pages of documents to support his work while writing his book about Fort Union, few records remain from the early years of Fort Laramie. The Arts and Humanities Research Fellowship has allowed him a full year of unencumbered focus to complete his new manuscript, which he plans to deliver to the University of Oklahoma Press this summer. — Kathleen Tuck EXPLORE—2011 | 21

Also, the first arts and humanities interdisciplinary research community – a research cluster made up of faculty from art history, English, history and philosophy – began interdisciplinary research as the Group for Early Modern Studies (GEMS). With funding from the Division of Research, GEMS members are merging individual research efforts that focus

Cheryl Hindrichs Department of English Arts and Humanities Research Fellow

Influenza killed an estimated 50 million people in 1918, yet the pandemic barely registered a blip in modernist literature, an innovative artistic movement of the time that addressed some of the deepest problems of modern life. English professor Cheryl Hindrichs first heard the staggering figure while a doctoral student.

“Why isn’t illness one of the great themes of literature? It begged the question for me,” she said. “If the war was such a defining moment for all of these writers, why not illness and influenza? I was shocked at the time to find that something this obvious didn’t have a definitive critical book on it, and it’s been in the back of my mind ever since.”

Hindrichs is producing a book manuscript on the role of physical illness in modernist fiction titled Pandemic Modernity: The Aesthetics and Ethics of Illness in Modernist Literature. Hindrichs’ work will build upon that of her greatest love in literature, Virginia Woolf, a prominent modernist who identified some of the difficulties in writing about illness in her essay, “On Being Ill.” Woolf questioned why illness hadn’t taken its place in literature alongside love, war and jealousy.

22 | BOISESTATE.EDU

JOHN KELLY PHOTO

The Role of Illness in Literature: A Critical Analysis

“Literature can be a way into these difficult conversations and for making sense out of our experiences.” — Cheryl Hindrichs Hindrichs’ book will deconstruct how illness and death are addressed in a number of modernist works.

“Perhaps it’s so traumatic that we don’t have the language to describe it,” Hindrichs said. “But modernists were all about finding words for things that were hard to explain.”

Hindrichs also will draw upon the themes explored in her book to design undergraduate and graduate courses on the depiction of illness in the arts and humanities. She hopes to collaborate

with College of Health Sciences faculty to create a forum for the campus and community in which literature serves as a lens to focus on the ethical questions, tricky challenges and rich experiences health care workers encounter.

“Illness is a common experience but one that so profoundly affects us when we’ve had to deal with something really serious,” she said. “Literature can be a way into these difficult conversations and for making sense out of our experiences.”

— Sherry Squires

on the early modern period (circa 1500-1800).

Another research group being built around the concept of the environment and society is in its formative stages.

Plans for the institute’s permanent home, while in the embryonic stage, include world-class areas for performance, study, exhibits, public spaces and studios.

“Ideally this building would be a beautiful piece of architecture – a piece of art itself,” said history professor Lisa Brady, a member of the faculty planning group. “It should be an inviting, open gathering place without boundaries and limits for how we

see ourselves as humanists and artists, where people can explore these big, deep concepts.”

But no matter the final brick-and-mortar form of the institute, everyone agrees the ideas that fill the building are most important.

“We want to introduce ideas and spark conversations among people about what’s happening in the world,” said Brady. “Engaging with and gaining an understanding of the perspective of someone we disagree with is the first step toward having a civil and productive discussion about the problems the world faces.”

Larry M c Neil Department of Art Arts and Humanities Research Fellow

There is nothing pretty about the power plants, coal mines and flooded native villages Larry McNeil is capturing on film. The beauty of his photography, in this case, is its ability to capture the realities of climate change.

McNeil has embarked on a yearlong project to document the connection between landscape and climate change in America. He is photographing coal-fired power plants that spew greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, coal mines that fuel these plants and evidence of a warming climate, such as melting glaciers.

He has visited eastern Wyoming to photograph the largest coal mine in North America and will visit several Western states throughout the year. On a trip to the small town in Alaska where he grew up, he discovered that the immense glacier he remembered from his childhood has receded three miles.

“That was so startling to me,” he said. “We understand climate change intellectually. I hope this work gets more people involved in the humanistic side. We see issues differently when we connect with them through art.”

CARRIE QUINNEY PHOTO

Climate Change and Landscape: A Visual Journey

“We see issues differently when we connect with them through art.” — Larry McNeil

McNeil is using photography, printmaking and digital media to convey the impact of coal-fired plants. He’s also planning a photography project with bicycle commuters in Boise who have embraced a non-polluting mode of travel, and he will visit Alaska several times in the coming year to create a photographic series that captures the impact global climate change has on the lifestyles of people in the Arctic.

The project follows a long line of acclaimed work from McNeil, who recently was selected as one of five

artists nationwide to contribute to the Art in Embassies program. He also has received a National Geographic All Roads Award that showcases the photography of indigenous and underrepresented minority cultures. His work recently was exhibited at University of California, Davis, and McNeil hopes it eventually reaches a wide audience.

“I think this project’s potential strength is that it can reach out nationally and internationally,” he said. “Everyone contributes to this crisis – it has no borders.” — Sherry Squires EXPLORE—2011 | 23

So tiny that trillions can self-assemble in a single test tube, DNA nanostructures serve as scaffolding for nanoscale devices and for other experimental applications.

Dynamic DNA

By JANELLE BROWN

A Boise State research team is developing promising new uses for “the language of life“ 24 | BOISESTATE.EDU

“I’m intrigued by things we don’t yet understand.

The joy of discovery is what motivates me most.”

— Bernard “Bernie“ Yurke

JOHN KELLY PHOTO

Boise State engineering professor Bernard Yurke, right, discusses a lab experiment with junior Jessica Minick.

DNA strands are programmed to bind at specific points to fold into “smiley faces.”

Step inside Bernard Yurke’s office, and a few clues about his groundbreaking research are instantly on display.

In the corner, a computer screen glows with images of DNA origami “smiley faces,” so tiny that if rendered life size, 10,000 of them would stretch across the head of a pin.

On the wall a whiteboard teems with equations, symbols and notes scrawled in red marker, a mathematical conversation-in-progress about microelectronics devices far too small to see with

the naked eye.

Atop a table sits a 3-foot model of a DNA double helix, 100 million times larger than actual size, its distinctive spiral “staircase” an irresistible allusion to technological steps still on the horizon.

Yurke, universally known as “Bernie” to his colleagues at Boise State and around the world, uses these tools and many others to conduct ground-

breaking research in DNA nanotechnology, a field of study that focuses on manipulating DNA and other matter at the atomic or molecular level. With funding from the National Science Foundation and years of experience at legendary Bell Labs, Yurke leads a multidisciplinary team at Boise State in research that could transform fields ranging from consumer electronics and biological sensing to the detection and treatment of disease.

EXPLORE—2011 | 25

Graduate student Hieu Bui, left, discusses a technical issue with Yurke and research professor Elton Graugnard.

JOHN KELLY PHOTO

“You throw out an idea, and Dr. Yurke knows everything about it.

He taught me that science is exciting,” said Amber Cox-Huddleston, a senior majoring in materials science and engineering.

“I’m intrigued by things we don’t yet understand. The joy of discovery is what motivates me most,” said Yurke, a research professor with joint appointments in the departments of Materials Science and Engineering, and Electrical and Computer Engineering, and the recipient of several international prizes for his pioneering work in DNA nano-

Bill Knowlton

Knowlton has played a founding role in nanotechnology research at Boise State, including establishing interdisciplinary teams to pursue research in biomaterials and microelectronics. An expert in electron transport measurement and fabrication of electronic devices, Knowlton directs efforts to characterize DNA nanoscale devices using electrical and atomic force microscopy.

26 | BOISESTATE.EDU

technology and quantum optics.

At the heart of Yurke’s research is deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, the language of life that contains the genetic code for all living organisms, with the exception of some viruses. While DNA’s role in determining inherited traits such as eye color or susceptibility to disease is familiar to many, what may be less known is

Jeunghoon Lee

An expert in nanomaterials chemistry, Lee is the materials provider for DNA-based research for nanodevices and medical applications. He directs the synthesis and assembly of nanoparticles such as quantum dots and gold nanoparticles for various uses. By attaching DNA to the inorganic nanoparticles, Lee enables them to bind to DNA nanostructures at specific locations.

DNA’s use as a nanoscale building material. By harnessing its unique properties, Yurke and colleagues in the Nanoscale Materials and Device Group at Boise State are working to develop new technologies for fabricating devices such as microprocessors used in computers that are smaller, faster and more energy efficient than current processes allow.

“Boise State is among only a handful of research universities in the country with established groups working in the area of DNA nanotechnology,” said Vice President for Research Mark Rudin. “The work Dr. Yurke and his colleagues are pursuing is truly impressive and holds great promise as a viable technology and a concrete asset for the university in the future.”

UNIQUE PROPERTIES

DNA may not instantly come to mind when thinking of building material, but the concept is hardly farfetched. Yurke likens scientists who use DNA to build nanoscale devices to carpenters who use wood to construct houses. “Both wood and DNA are biomaterials,” he said.

What makes DNA so intriguing is its ability to self-assemble from the bottom up, like Legos put together one piece at a time.

Will Hughes

Hughes brings a strong background in nanotechnology and biomaterials to DNA nanotechnology research, where he directs nanoparticle assembly and works with Knowlton to direct characterization studies of DNA nanoscale devices.

Hughes also is exploring medical applications of DNA nanotechnology, including developing blood tests to detect certain cancers.

Researchers can exploit this mechanism to create nanodevices that are much smaller than is possible with top-down processes, such as lithography techniques used to etch circuitry on silicon. DNAbased nanodevices can pack 100 times the density of silicon-based nanodevices in the same space, an enormous leap in miniaturization that could lead to new microelectronics products and applications not even imagined today.

“How this new technology might become useful someday is still a ways out,” Yurke said. “It’s like the early days of microprocessors, where private individuals could own computers but no one knew exactly what to do with them because word processing and spread sheets hadn’t yet been invented. We’re in the same situation. We have a tool kit that can be used to do a lot of neat things, but we haven’t yet figured out the killer application.”

Yurke and his colleagues in the Nanoscale Materials and Device Group at Boise State are conducting research that could bridge the gap between theory and commercial viability. He is the principal investigator on an NSF grant, “Self Assembling Nanophotonic and Nanoelectronic Devices on a DNA Nanobreadboard,” that also includes

Wan Kuang

Boise State faculty in chemistry, materials science, and electrical and computer engineering. In addition, Yurke is working with faculty in biology, chemistry and several engineering fields on biomedical applications of DNA nanotechnology.

The work is the culmination of a long and impressive career for Yurke, who joined Boise State’s College of Engineering in 2008 after nearly 25 years at Bell Labs, which at its peak was the top research institution of its kind in the country. For Yurke, the move to Boise State was a return home: He grew up in Boise, graduated from Borah High School in 1971 and attended what then was Boise State College for two years. When he ran out of physics classes to take, he moved on first to the University of TexasAustin and then to Cornell, where he earned a doctorate in physics in 1982. Cornell alumnus Douglas Osheroff, who went on to win the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1996, helped recruit the new Ph.D. to work at Bell Labs.

“Bernie Yurke is a really smart, really creative guy,” said Osheroff, who now is at Stanford and visited the Boise State campus last year. “The things he’s been able to do using DNA,” Osheroff marveled. “How does he

Kuang uses his expertise in optics and lasers to direct the optical characterization of DNA nanoscale devices. The research involves developing capabilities of light-emitting nanoparticles to “switch” between various states in order to transmit energy. Kuang also works with Yurke on numerical modeling and computer programming to fabricate DNA nanostructures.

It’s a Small World DNA nanotechnology deals with structures between 1 and 100 nanometers in size: • A nanometer is one billionth of a meter • A sheet of paper is about 100,000 nanometers thick • A human hair is 50,000 nanometers wide • A DNA nanotube is 7 nanometers wide • A DNA double helix is 2 nanometers wide come up with ideas like that?”

“He is a lightning rod for DNA nanotechnology research,” added engineering professor Bill Knowlton. “Bernie is so engaged in science that he’s like a little kid. That excitement and enjoyment spills over, and it benefits all of us.”

A YOUNG AND DYNAMIC FIELD

One of the compelling aspects of DNA nanotechnology is how young it is. It was invented in 1982 by NYU’s Ned Seeman, who first developed the concept of using DNA’s branched formations to build nanostructures with useful properties. A decade later, a research paper on DNA computing brought new interest to the field. Then, in 2006, Caltech’s Paul Rothemund demonstrated how DNA’s self-assembly mechanism could be harnessed to create

Elton Graugnard

A physicist, Graugnard has expertise in fabrication and characterization of nanoscale materials. He oversees undergraduate and graduate students pursuing laboratory studies and contributes both to research in fabricating DNA nanoscale devices and in building DNA-based molecular circuitry to detect nucleic acids or proteins in blood that indicate the presence of diseases.

Cheryl Jorcyk

A molecular biologist, Jorcyk collaborates with the Nanoscale Materials and Device Group on studies aimed at using DNA as a chemical amplifier to detect the presence of nucleic acids called microRNAs in blood serum. Elevated levels of specific microRNAs indicate the presence of certain cancers, such as metastatic prostate cancer.

EXPLORE—2011 | 27

Graduate student Craig Onodera presents his research results at a weekly meeting of students and faculty involved in DNA nanotechnology research.

JOHN KELLY PHOTO

DNA origami is tiny and cheap to fabricate. It can be made in any shape, nanomaterials of any type can be added anywhere on the structure, and trillions can be made at once. two- and three-dimensional shapes at the nanoscale level, such as smiley faces, maps or cubes. Called DNA origami, the technique opened doors to using DNA as scaffolding on which nanoparticles could be mounted to fabricate nanoscale microelectronics devices.

Yurke also occupies an honored place in DNA nanotechnology’s short history. He is credited with developing the first molecular machine that uses DNA – nanoscale “tweezers” that exploit DNA’s hybridization properties to open and close, and that could lead to possible applications such as synthetic muscle.

The invention was featured as the cover story in Nature in 2000 A petri dish holds DNA nanostructures deposited on mica sheets, part of a process to examine the samples using atomic force microscopy.

JOHN KELLY PHOTO

28 | BOISESTATE.EDU

and has been cited close to 500 times in academic journals by researchers who have built on his original breakthrough.

“Bernie Yurke is one of the leading pioneers of DNA nanotechnology,” said Rothemund, who collaborates with Yurke.

“He basically enabled the field to go from building static, nonmoving DNA structures to dynamic moving DNA structures. An entire subfield of active DNA self-assembly sprang up as a direct result of Bernie’s Nature article.”

The official name of Yurke’s invention is “toehold-mediated strand removal in DNA nanostructures.” According to Seeman, the invention continues to be the driving force for all sequence-specific DNA-based nanodevices and for all DNAbased circuitry. “This was a giant contribution,” he said.

Today, Yurke and the Nanoscale Materials and Device Group continue to expand research boundaries, including collaborations with peers at Duke, Caltech and other research institutions, as well

as colleagues at Boise State.

Among their projects is using DNA origami structures as a platform, or “DNA nanobreadboard,” on which tiny components can be attached. The idea is to use this technology to fabricate multi-component devices with potential for use in next-generation microelectronics products and for other, as yet unimagined, applications. The biomaterial’s unique characteristics make this approach promising: Not only is DNA origami tiny even by nanoscale standards, it also is very cheap to fabricate; it can be made in any shape; nanomaterials of any type can be added anywhere on the structure; and trillions can be made at once.

A SPECIAL TYPE OF ‘BREADBOARD’

Yurke is credited with coining the term “DNA nanobreadboard,” now in widespread scientific use, after considering the way hobbyists several generations ago used actual kitchen breadboards to mount vacuum tubes and other components to build radios. “A DNA nanobreadboard basically functions in the same way, just on a much smaller scale,” Yurke explained.

TR A

The Power of Self-Assembly:

A

T

G C

Some Boise State research focuses T C A G G A C T T C C G on a type of DNA nanobreadboard G A A C A T T G G T A C called a “nanotube,” a long tube only G A C G A T C T T A A C G G A The “twisted ladder” of theC DNA double helix T 7 nanometers thick on which tiny G G T A T C G C T G C A C the assembles according to bonds between four bases.

T G A components can be mounted. An A C A T C T A C G T C A T T G A C Each type of base on one strand forms a bond with just A A article published in the August 2010 C G G C T A T G T C G T G Gonly with T, and A C one type of base on the other (A bonds T T T A AG issue of Nano Letters, “Programmable G T A G A A C T T G T CT G only with C), forming a unique geneticCA sequence.

A Periodicity of Quantum Dot Arrays C C A G G CT G A C G C T A AT T A A T with DNA Origami Nanotubes,” G G G C A Researchers use biotechnology techniques C CG G T C T A A T A describes the progress of Boise State A to harness DNA’s unique properties: C T G T C C G G C A C T AT C G C C researchers in fabricating the devices.

A G T G G T G G A Hieu Bui, a graduate student in elecA C T C A SCAFFOLD STRAND TG A C T C G trical and computer engineering, was A T SCAFFOLD STRAND GG T G C G lead author on the Nano Letters article.

A G T TT A T C C A G C A T

A related research area involves T C T G A C C G G A T A C C G A T A G G G “splicing” DNA nanotubes together, T T A C A G G C A T either end-to-end or in various A T T G C SCAFFOLD STRAND G G T A configurations, to create a larger A C T G T G C OF T C 1) STAPLE STRANDS T T A G surface on which to attach nanoT C C A C C A A G G A SYNTHETIC DNA A C C T G G A T T G scale components. Craig A G G C T SCA Onodera, G C are programmed with AC A C STAPLE G T G A FFO T STRAND C C a graduate student in materials C G LD S T C G complementary bases (A-T G T A C T R G STAPLE G AND science and engineering, is conductand T-A or G-C and C-G) to A T STRAND T A C C G C ing this research under Yurke’s and C G G “stick” at specific points to a G C G G T A TG A A C long DNA scaffold strand. co-workers’ direction.

T G A T C T G G C G C

In addition, Yurke and otherAcolSTAPLE G G T STRAND A C T C G laborators, including biology professor G A G C A 2) THE STAPLE STRANDS AND T T A C SCAFFOLD STRAND T Cheryl Jorcyk, are pursuing medical T A A A C C SCAFFOLD STRAND are mixed C G A T G T G C applications of DNA nanotechnology, C T together in a solution. Trillions G G A A TT A T G G SCAFFOLD STRAND G STAPLE STRAND including using DNA as C can be processed in parallel.

A a chemical A TC A C C A G T T amplifier to detectC cancer-related miG G C T A A C G T G TA T C C C AG A G A A croRNAs in blood serum.

T C T T G STAPLE STRAND A C C SCAFFOLD STRAND G A G C T T 3) THE DNA STRAND FOLDS INTO A SPECIFIED T A A C C T T C

“These DNA-based tests will G A A T SHAPE, according to where the staple strands areC A A A TT C G C A G involve analyzing a blood sample and T T G A A programmed to bind to the scaffold strand.

C G T A This AC G STAPLE STRAND G G A T C C G T A AC C T A G will be a much faster and more costC C G T technique is called DNA origami.

T T TC C G G G T A A C efficient diagnostic tool than X-rays A G G T G G A T C C A A G C C T A or biopsies,” Jorcyk said. In addition, G T G T G T A C C G T SCAFFOLD STRAND C RECOGNITION STRAND C G C A the blood serum tests hold promise forC T C A T T C ST G A providing an early detection method A T G C STRAPLE C G A for cancers such as lung cancer, which T ND T SCAFFOLD STRAND A RECOGNITION STRAND A at present only can be diagnosed in NANOPARTICLES G C SCAFFOLD STRAND later stages.

RECOGNITION STRAND 4) SOME SECTIONS OF THE STAPLE STRANDS have STAPLE STRAND

Ask Yurke about these and otherA segments (drawn vertically) that don’t bind with the G possibilities for DNA nanotechnology, T scaffold strand. Instead, these “sticky sections” serve as NANOPARTICLES recognition strands onto which quantum dots, a type and his eyes sparkle. His enthusiasm SC A NANOPARTICLES of tiny semiconductor, or metal nanoscale particles can for his research, and Ffor FOLscience in STAPLE STRAND D ST bind.

R general, is contagious.

AND STAPLE STRAND C 5) THE NANOSTRUCTURE (ABOVE) FUNCTIONS AS A DNA

“I expect it to happen G soon,” he T A C A C NANOBREADBOARD – a template or substrate on which said, when asked when the emerging T A other nanostructures and various nanoparticles can be technology is likely to become G STA comPLE attached. DNA nanobreadboards can take various shapes, T mercially viable. “Industry already STR AND including DNA nanotubes (left).

C is invested in DNA nanotechnology

G

research, and there are a number of reG workC search groups around the world A A C G A G to see the T ing on this. It’s encouraging A T C A progress we’ve made and the potential C T G that lies ahead.”

EXPLORE—2011 | 29

N

DNA Nanotechnology and How it Works

A

T

T 6) THE A NANODEVICES FUNCTION AS TINY COMPONENTS that transfer

T

C G energy, process information, Aor operate as machines that perform tasks such Tas opening and closing tiny “tweezers.” Refining these nanodevicG C es, developingG applications, and integrating them into next-generation Ttechnologies C are the next steps in the research process.

G A

C

G A

T

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INFOGRAPHIC BY ANN HOTTINGER

T C

In Print

English professor Jeffrey Wilhelm gingerly holds a slug and a spider, both featured in The 10 Grossest Bugs. Other “grossest bugs” are displayed at left.

that

F eels Real

Getting kids, especially boys, to pick up a book is goal of The 10 series

A

By KATHLEEN TUCK

s a former classroom teacher, English professor and literacy expert Jeffrey Wilhelm is never at a loss for research ideas. But for years one question has bugged him more than all the others: How do you get kids, especially boys, to read?

The answer, according to his groundbreaking research, is fairly straightforward: tap into pre-existing interests and package them in a useful and appealing format that then bridges

30 | BOISESTATE.EDU

to new, related interests.

That’s the premise behind The 10, a 100volume book series dedicated to topics selected and edited by Wilhelm. A volume titled The 10

JOHN KELLY PHOTO

Reading

In Print “It’s a fact of life that boys resist literacy more actively than girls. There was a huge need to find out why boys underachieve girls and what we could do about it.“

Grossest Bugs is a fun-filled examination of creatures guaranteed to make your skin crawl. Along with close-up pictures of slugs, spiders and botfly fangs, the book also includes interesting, even bizarre factoids such as “a cockroach can live a whole week without a head.”

While it may elicit shudders from the squeamish, Grossest Bugs offers solid information in a way that invites readers to explore further. Other books in the series, which range in subject material from science and social studies to art and culture, do the same.

Readers can learn about the 10 most outrageous outlaws, shocking sports scandals, coolest dance crazes, revolting parasites, revolutionary inventions, disastrous accidents, unforgettable NASCAR experiences, daring heists and 92 other subjects. Aimed at 4th-12th graders, the glossy magazine-format books are short, filled with vivid illustrations, and peppered with thoughtprovoking questions and quick “wow,” “gross out” or “risk” trivia.

The 10 Grossest Bugs asks readers if they would be willing to accept maggot therapy as a last-ditch effort to clean a wound. In The 10 Most Essential Elements, readers can ponder whether hydrogen power is a better choice than fossil fuel, despite its higher cost. The 10 Most Innovative Bands asks what recent musical inventions might have a lasting influence on other bands.

Aimed at engaging readers, the books have become popular in classrooms across

— Jeffrey Wilhelm

the United States and Canada. Published by Rubicon Publishing in association with Scholastic Inc., each title comes with a teacher’s guide to assist with its use in the classroom.

“I want to help teachers teach kids,” said Wilhelm, whose 15 years teaching in grades 5-12 gave him plenty of insight into what motivates boys to pick up a book.

A Research-based Approach

The 10 Series

Wilhelm conducted a five-year study on Series editor boys’ reading habits both at school and at home, published in Reading Don’t Fix No Chevys: Jeffrey Wilhelm Literacy in the Lives of Young Men (coauthored Scholastic Books, 2008 with Michael Smith) in 2002. The study won the National Council of Teachers of English David H. Russell Award for Distinguished Research in English Education. Wilhelm also is co-author with Smith of Going With the Flow: How to Engage Boys (and Girls) in Their Literacy Learning, published in 2006.

“It’s a fact of life that boys reWilhelm’s five-year study found that sist literacy more boys read to get things done more than actively than girls,” he said. just for pleasure. “Boys need to be en“I asked myself gaged. They don’t read to please others, why? What can and they are less patient,“ he said. be done? Many studies out there cite the statistics, but they only offer quantitative data. There was a huge need to find out why boys underachieve girls and what we could do about it.”

EXPLORE—2011 | 31

In Print

Instead of looking at brain biology to determine why boys and girls take different approaches to reading, Wilhelm chose to focus on how to encourage new behavior. “I looked at what was in our control to address,” he said.

That meant getting into the heads of the boys in his study. Wilhelm had the boys keep logs of their reading behavior throughout the day and take interest surveys laced with literacy options to see what they liked Many of the authors of The 10 series to read. He asked them to have been participants in the Boise think aloud into a voice reState Writing Project, founded by corder as they read, recording their thoughts and reacWilhelm to improve writing and tions. And he wrote profiles literacy teaching in K-12 education. of boys embracing different types of literacy and noted the reactions of his study subjects.

“I found things that were true of each kid across all data sets,” Wilhelm said, including boys living in poverty and comfort, and from several different ethnic backgrounds.

What he found was that boys read to get things done more than just for pleasure.

“Boys need to be engaged,” Wilhelm said.

“They don’t read to please others, and they are less patient.”

The good news was that by developing interesting material aimed at engaging boys, girls – who tend to be less picky about what The 100 books in they read – would be helped as well. And topWilhelm’s series ics that appeal to elementary school children are designed to capture boys’ often also interest teenagers and adults. attention.

“We don’t really change as we age,” Wilhelm said. “We want reading to matter and be interesting. We want it to be fun and to provoke us. We want it to develop our identities and competence. I still read as if I were a middle school reader.”

PHOTO BY JOHN KELLY

32 | BOISESTATE.EDU

Developing the Series

To develop his series, Wilhelm created a template, helped identify 100 interesting topics based on curriculum areas and re-

cruited writers. Many of those writers were participants in the Boise State Writing Project, founded by Wilhelm to improve writing and literacy teaching in K-12 education.

He then held workshops to instruct the writers, about 90 total, on the template and writing style. Each penned one or more books and Wilhelm edited the series.

While some writers relied on historical records, journals and contemporary literature, some also involved their audience in the work. For instance, Wilhelm’s wife Peggy Jo wrote The 10 Most Innovative Bands while working as a music teacher at Foothills School of Arts and Sciences in Boise. She involved her music history class in selecting which bands should be included.

In fact, students are invited to be part of the process for each book. Every title includes a section at the end that lists the criteria used to select that book’s “10” and asks, “What do you think?” Readers are encouraged to agree or disagree with the list and to consider other possibilities.

Wilhelm currently is involved in another series of books aimed at students in grades 4-6. Books will tackle 10 social action topics: nutrition, water, identity, new media ethics, children’s rights, poverty, media bias, economy/finance, climate change and sustainable energy. As with The 10 books, these will build on topics that already are part of existing curriculum – the common core state standards – and mainly target boys.

The first book in Wilhelm’s new series, titled You Are What You Eat, and That’s Big Bad News, was written with his daughter, who was a high school senior at the time. It examines the problem of obesity as it relates to nutrition, the “supersize” culture and more.

“Boys will say ‘what will I learn from this’ or ‘what can I do with it,’ “ Wilhelm said. “This series will attempt to make them want to read, think and then act.”

In Print

“Imagery of the natural world has played an important role in Latin American literature.“ — Adrian Taylor Kane

Invisible Men: The Secret Lives of Police Constables in Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham 1900-1939

The Natural World in Latin American Literatures: Ecocritical Essays on Twentieth Century Writings

By Joanne Klein Liverpool University Press, 2010

Edited by Adrian Taylor Kane McFarland & Company Inc., 2010

EXPLORING HUMANITY THROUGH NATURE’S LENS

A collection of essays edited by Spanish professor Adrian Taylor Kane hopes to take Latin American literature to a new level, where place and its relationship to humanity can be more thoroughly explored.

As the title suggests, the essays examine literatures from the perspective of ecocriticism. This field involves exploring ecological values, human perceptions of nature and how they have changed throughout history, and whether or not current environmental issues are accurately represented or even mentioned in written works.

Until recently, ecocriticism was used primarily to address works written only in English. Kane’s edited anthology of 11 essays moves the conversation toward Latin American literature.

“Imagery of the natural world has played an important role in Latin American literature,” he said. “These essays give a sense of the possibilities that ecocriticism holds for the analysis of Latin American culture.”

The anthology first takes a historical approach, looking at the treatment of nature by four Latin American fiction writers throughout different time periods in the 20th century. It then tackles environmental utopias, a common theme in Latin American works. Finally, the essays address groups that traditionally don’t have a voice within society, offering glimpses into the oppression of both nature and marginalized groups.

“What binds these essays together is the conviction that analyzing the role of nature can help us better understand unique cultures and the human-nature relationships within them,” Kane said. — Sherry Squires

“We never hear about what it was like for them to walk the streets or what their lives were like at home.

I wanted to tell that story.“ — Joanne Klein

ILLUMINATING THE LIVES OF ‘INVISIBLE MEN’

History professor Joanne Klein’s latest book provides a unique window into working-class England from the turn of the 20th century to the outbreak of World War II, as seen through the eyes of everyday police constables.

Drawing on a vast archive of previously overlooked police records, Invisible Men: The Secret Lives of Police Constables in Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham 19001939 enlightens readers not only about the situations and people the police came across on their foot patrols, but also the social dynamics, politics and pressures that impacted them as individuals.

While Klein used surviving records such as disciplinary reports and the personal notebooks of the constables themselves, she is quick to point out that Invisible Men is not a wonkish work about policing policy. Nor is it a romantic look at that quintessentially English literary icon, the detective.

“It’s about how common constables went about their jobs and lives day after day,” said Klein, whose work and research interests center on the history of the working classes. “We never hear about what it was like for them to walk the streets or what their lives were like at home. I wanted to tell that story.”

One of the things that surprised Klein most was discovering how “chatty” her research subjects were. “They talked to everyone in the streets, in pubs, everywhere.

That’s probably part of the reason they were good cops, but you just don’t think of men like this being such talkers.

They were.” — Mike Journee EXPLORE—2011 | 33

In Print

“Architecture is the dialogue between generations that translates form into space.“ — Todd Shallat

Theatre Lives: An Introduction to Theatre

By Leslie Atkins Durham and Sally H. Shedd

Quintessential Boise: An Architectural Journey

Kendall Hunt Publishers, 2009

By Charles Hummel and Tim Woodward Edited by Todd Shallat and Jeanne Huff

“I wanted to make history come alive and help my students see it as relevant.“ — Leslie Durham

Idaho Metropolitan Research Series, 2010

BRINGING THEATRE HISTORY TO CENTER STAGE

MAKING THE CASE FOR ARCHITECTURAL ICONS

For Leslie Durham, theatre is a vibrant, living art form, populated throughout its history by engaging and engaged artists. Thus the deliberate dual pronunciation of her theatre history textbook title, Theatre Lives.

Durham, interim chair of the Department of Theatre Arts, said the title is meant to evoke the connection between those who create and experience theatre and the vitality of the discipline as an active art form. The book examines the creative processes, training, unique perspectives and influence of actors, directors, writers and other artists past and present.

“It is important for students to see their work in a broader context,” Durham said. “What they are doing has deep roots. I hope they will come to appreciate that as they move through their careers.”

Durham partnered with Sally Shedd, a colleague from graduate school who currently is a theatre professor at Virginia Wesleyan College, to create the book. Together they looked at what was missing from the current literature that would help make the topic more applicable to emerging artists.

“Most books have theatre history in one section, and the work of actors and directors in another,” Durham said.

“Until now, I had been cobbling this together on my own.

I wanted to make history come alive and help my students see it as relevant.”

For instance, a section on Greek theatre looks at the work of the playwright, while subsequent chapters focus on specific artists who proved to be essential to other periods.

Durham currently is working on a book titled Strictly Prohibited: Women’s Voices on New York Stages in the 2009-2010 Season, which analyzes the work of important female playwrights. — Kathleen Tuck

For history professor and preservationist Todd Shallat, architecture is memory and civic identity. A skyline, in many ways, defines its city.

That’s the premise behind Quintessential Boise: An Architectural Journey, a visual and intellectual tour through the architectural icons that make Boise, Idaho, unique. Penned by Charles Hummel, a lifelong designer of Boise buildings, and Tim Woodward, a longtime Boise journalist and native, Quintessential Boise was the first publication of Boise State’s Idaho Metropolitan Research Series, which explores urban-rural concerns that complicate regional planning.

“Architecture is the dialogue between generations that translates form into space,” said Shallat, who coedited the book and serves as director of Boise State’s Center for Idaho History and Politics. “A plea for smartgrowth planning, the book highlights the urban issues that vex metropolitan growth and points out the buildings and streets that define Boise and make it livable.”

Released in spring 2010, Quintessential Boise offers a five-star system for understanding authentic streetscapes, commentary on architectural traditions and styles, and analysis of growth and transportation patterns. It includes top-shelf photography, both contemporary and historic; art prints from the City of Boise’s collection; history and maps of neighborhood sub-regions; and personal reflections on downtown’s urban renewal.

“This book is dedicated to the proposition that streets and their buildings are keys to the life of a city and that good architecture, like good books, should engage the public in readable and provocative ways,” said Melissa Lavitt, dean of the College of Social Sciences and Public Affairs and editor of the Idaho Metropolitan Research Series. — Mike Journee

34 | BOISESTATE.EDU

Research Spotlight “Melville is the quintessential artist, in a sense. He never achieved affluence but he attained immortality for himself in literary history.“ — Steven Olsen-Smith

CARRIE QUINNEY PHOTO

English professor Steven Olsen-Smith

a Whale B oise S tate

of a

Job

researchers uncover new knowledge about literary icon H erman M elville

By SHERRY SQUIRES

R

arely does one get a glimpse into the formative thoughts and intellect of one of the world’s legendary writers. Thanks to Melville’s Marginalia Online, new insight into American icon Herman Melville and his work is surfacing more than a century after his death.

English professor Steven Olsen-Smith, a nationally recognized expert on Melville’s life and writings, is the driving force behind the interactive website devoted to the marginalia of the 19th century author famous for penning

such classics as Moby-Dick and Billy Budd. Marginalia, the formal term for notes and annotations made in the margins of books, can hold great value for scholars because it provides a window into the thought processes and interests of the person who scrawled the notes. In the case of Melville, a self-educated writer with an extensive personal library, the marginalia provides new opportunities to research Melville’s life and legacy.

“Everyone thinks of Melville as someone who has been thoroughly researched,” Olsen-Smith said. “What more could there be to say? The new information we’ve uncovered helps illustrate there is a lot more that remains to be said and found.”

A lifelong fascination

Olsen-Smith’s fascination with Melville springs from a deep admiration for his literary contributions and a curiosity about his life. Born in New York

Melville scrawled “Exquisite” in the margins of a page in his copy of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Mosses from an Old Man. Below, “Very curious, and —’ was marked in Melville’s copy of Thomas Warton’s History of English Poetry. Images courtesy Houghton Library, Harvard University.

EXPLORE—2011 | 35

Research Spotlight

CARRIE QUINNEY PHOTO

English professor Steven Olsen-Smith, left, and student Joshua Preminger, right, photograph a page from Dante’s The Divine Comedy that Herman Melville has marked and annotated. Student Eric Austin, center, also is working on the project.

Melville penned the above inscription in his copy of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s The Conduct of Life. The inscription “Alas!”, below, is found in Melville’s copy of Edward Fitzgerald’s Polonius.

Melville autographed his copy of Thomas Moore’s Poetical Works, opposite page. Images courtesy Houghton Library, Harvard University. Full citations listed in the online version of Explore at boisestate.edu/ research.

36 | BOISESTATE.EDU

City in 1819, Melville’s family fell into poverty. He spent time on whaling vessels and held a number of laborer’s jobs in his lifetime. His books and poetry were most often met with criticism. While lack of money precluded opportunities for formal education, Melville essentially educated himself by systematically reading a wide range of challenging books and making notes about what he thought at the time and why.

“He’s the quintessential artist, in a sense,” Olsen-Smith said.

“He never achieved affluence but he attained immortality for himself in literary history.”

Olsen-Smith is passing on that appreciation to a new generation of students. He and the four student interns who work on his project read Melville

every week and get together to talk about it — a Dead Poet’s Society-type gathering enjoyed by all.

“The students themselves are living the life of the mind here at Boise State, and the experience of working closely with Melville’s reading creates a sense of kinship that affirms and encourages their efforts,” Olsen-Smith said.

Illuminating the past

Olsen-Smith and his students are using high-tech software to bring the marginalia Melville left in books by authors ranging from Shakespeare to Milton back to life – even notes that had been erased and thought lost forever.

Their groundbreaking work, along with supporting work

by scholars at other research institutions, is now accessible to everyone at melvillesmarginalia. org. The website’s interactive format allows users to view images of Melville’s notes and read explanatory text about their significance.

While scholars around the world have long consulted Melville’s library of books as part of their studies, the work of the Boise State team has added new knowledge. “Our extended research has allowed us to recognize dimensions of evidence that other researchers have missed,” said Olsen-Smith.

For example, when Melville’s copy of The Natural History of the Sperm Whale by Thomas Beale was found in the 1930s, most of the marginalia had been erased. But

Last Word

an enhanced version of the book on Melville’s Marginalia Online allows users to trace Melville’s description of a dying whale in Moby-Dick, first published in 1851, back to his reading of Beale’s book.

The manuscript of MobyDick is not known to survive, so the evidence brings scholars as close as they can come to the artistic practices behind the book.

“The erased notes show

Analyzing marginalia

Olsen-Smith’s team plans to analyze the marginalia in other books that survive from Melville’s library, scan each page for the website and explain the links between the marginalia and Melville’s own works. The site went live in 2006, but a newly unveiled version allows users to thumb through Melville’s works page by page and access a fully searchable catalog of books and marginalia.

The task of analyzing the marginalia in Melville’s personal library will likely take years, both because of the size of the collection and the fact that only a fraction of the books so far have been recovered.

To date, 285 of the estimated 1,000 books have been found.

Olsen-Smith is the primary scholar responsible for tracking the recovery of Melville’s dispersed collection.

“A great deal of Herman Melville, as portrayed by technical work goes artist Joseph O.Eaton, 1870. Courtesy into getting one of the Houghton Library, Harvard University.

Melville works online,” said Joshua Preminger, that Melville read source ma- who recently graduated with terial with a predisposition degrees in philosophy and toward simile and metaphor,” English literature. “Working so said Olsen-Smith, noting that closely with works personally in the Beale book Melville marked and annotated by my compared a whale’s dying favorite author has taught me spout to a declining fountain, a great deal about his interests and the fights of rival bull as a thinker, his writing prosperm whales to conflicts in cess, and afforded invaluable Greek mythology between insight into the complexity gods and mortals. and meaning of his work.”

Research a powerful engine for economic growth In today’s challenging economic climate, the question “What’s the return on my investment?” has particular resonance. This is true for universities as well as for business and industry, as we consider whether the activities we’re pursuing today will help lead to economic growth and improved quality of life in the years ahead.

I believe an investment in research offers solid dividends for the future. By enriching the academic environment and expanding faculty-student interactions, research plays a central role in the university’s mission of preparing its students to excel in the workplace and in life. By creating new knowledge that can in turn be used to create new products and services, research leads to new jobs and opens new doors. By addressing major medical and technological challenges, research makes it possible to develop new drugs, treatments and technologies that enhance quality of life.

This is not to say that all research leads directly to economic development, any more than every manuscript leads to a bestseller or every prototype leads to a new product line. Instead, it is a key that opens windows of opportunity that otherwise would remain shuttered.

Technology transfer, the process of moving an idea or invention through the many steps required to bring it to the marketplace, is a major focus of this issue of Explore. I hope our article on pages 10-17 has provided you with some new insights about this dynamic process and Boise State’s equally dynamic landscape of creative people and projects.

The “creative currency” generated by Boise State research will increase in value in the years ahead. That’s good news for all of us, and for the state in which we live.

— MARK RUDIN, VICE PRESIDENT FOR RESEARCH EXPLORE—2011 | 37

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