Chancellor's Award for Research Excellence
The Chancellor’s Award for Research Excellence recognizes outstanding scholarly achievement by a member of the WSU Vancouver faculty. This honor is presented annually at the WSU Vancouver commencement ceremony.
Christine Portfors
Each year the Chancellor’s Award for Research Excellence is bestowed upon a Washington State University Vancouver faculty member whose research quality and quantity is exemplary and whose work has had a positive influence on the community. Christine Portfors, associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences, works with mice and bats to understand how complex sounds are processed by the auditory system and to determine how age-related hearing loss impacts this processing.
Dr. Portfors’ research interests focus on understanding the sounds animals use to communicate and how these sounds are processed by the brain. Her research is directly translational to humans in that it is important for understanding speech perception and in developing novel techniques and therapies to reduce the impact of hearing loss in humans.
Dr. Portfors’ scholarly record and International reputation is outstanding. She has published 36 articles in leading refereed scientific journals. She has given more than 40 presentations at National and International scientific conferences. In 2011, she was an invited speaker at the International Bioacoustics Congress in La Rochelle, France and the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. She also co-organized a meeting at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Virginia that brought together leading scientists in the field of acoustic communication. Also in 2011, Dr. Portfors’ research was highlighted in a video produced by the National Science Foundation’s online science magazine, “Science Nation.”
She has received federal grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation totaling almost $2 million since her arrival at WSU Vancouver in 2001. She has also received grants from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Bureau of Land Management and Bat Conservation International.
Dr. Portfors is dedicated to training and mentoring graduate and undergraduate students. Her students regularly present their research at national meetings such as the Society for Neuroscience and international meetings such as the International Congress for Neuroethology. Her students have also co-authored articles in leading journals. Dr. Portfors’ undergraduate students have won research awards at the Research Showcases in Vancouver and Pullman and have received grants from the College of Sciences.
Dr. Portfors works with the community through extensive outreach programs. Her annual Halloween bat talk has brought hundreds of families to WSU Vancouver to learn about bats and meet them face-to-face. She and her students take their knowledge about bats and brains to local elementary, middle and high schools to engage students in science with a hands-on approach. She is also dedicated to acting as a role model for female students interested pursuing careers in science. Her impact on the educational community has enhanced WSU Vancouver’s reputation as the institution to look to for cutting-edge research in the fields of neuroscience and biology.