Talking on a cell phone or listening to a personal music player while exercising seem as natural to most people as walking or breathing. Yet most of the dozens of electronic devices we use contain the heavy metal cadmium, the culprit in a variety of maladies if ingested. For the past decade, College of Idaho biology professor Dr. Sara Heggland and more than 40 of her students have studied how cadmium affects bone health and the onset of osteoporosis.

College of Idaho President Dr. Marv Henberg applauded his faculty and staff for a successful 2010-2011 school year and challenged them to continue generating bold ideas that will ensure continued academic and fiscal success in the years to come during his annual State of the College Address on Aug. 25 inside Langroise Recital Hall.

A College of Idaho psychology professor and her students will use a newly awarded National Science Foundation grant to examine the effectiveness of the growing number of programs that claim to improve memory and attention. The NSF awarded Dr. Meredith Minear a $216,454 grant – paid out over 36 months – to fund her project “Training and Transfer of Executive Processes,” which examines the human brain’s ability to train.

Dr. Don Mansfield, a professor of biology at The College of Idaho, will use a $365,815 National Science Foundation grant to enhance what scientists and the public know about plants, lichens and fungi in southwest Idaho and surrounding areas. The NSF grant will be paid out over 36 months to fund SWITCH, a collaboration between C of I and Boise State University to create an online resource focusing on the unique botany of the region.