Every year, wildfires ravage the American West. According to NOAA and the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), in 2025 alone 72,068 fires burned across more than 5 million acres in the US*. In the wake of these fires, a question looms: what now? Careful forest management could help prevent future fires in a post-burn area, but this requires balancing removal of fuel sources with maintaining crucial habitat. This week’s guest, Noelle Foster, is searching for this Goldilocks method of management. Noelle is a first year graduate student in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Sciences, studying the effects of megafire on wildlife in Western Oregon. She focuses on how burn severity, time since fire, and habitat characteristics shape how an ecosystem recovers after a wildfire.

One of the major management practices Noelle has been researching is timber salvage after wildfire. Salvage logging after wildfire is a complex decision that involves ecological, economic and logistical considerations. For private land owners, salvage logging can recover some of the economic value of a burned stand, reduce heavy fuels and improve safety around homes and roads. However, even burned timber can provide crucial habitat for recovering wildlife. So, with all these stakeholders at play, what’s the best course of action?

To hear all about the globe-trotting, softball playing, bird loving Noelle, tune in to KBVR 88.7FM at 7PM PST on March 1st for the live show, or check out the show on our podcast pages.


*NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Monthly Wildfires Report for Annual 2025, published online January 2026, retrieved on March 1, 2026 from https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/monthly-report/fire/202513. DOI: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.ncdc:C00774

White clover is a perennial legume that originated in Europe and has become one of the most widely distributed legumes in the world. White clover is one of the most important pasture legumes. It is highly palatable and nutritious forage for all classes of livestock and most wildlife. It is also beloved by honey bees! However, recently local farmers have observed unusual reduction in the quantity and quality of the white clover in their pastures. The culprit? A tiny weevil. Clover seed weevils (Tychius picirostris) are a small gray weevil about 0.1 inch long. Their larvae damage clover seeds, feeding within and destroying seeds. This pest can seriously infest white clover and needs routine control in western Oregon, typically via insecticide treatment. Concerningly, some weevils have developed resistance to certain insecticides, exacerbating the pest issue.

Wyatt Davis-Hinze is a master’s student in the Crop and Soil Science Department at Oregon State University, and his research examines the abundance and mechanisms of insecticidal resistance in clover seed weevils. His work integrates crop science, entomology, and applied biochemistry to understand how insecticidal resistance develops and to inform more effective, sustainable pest management strategies for growers in the Pacific Northwest. His research interests lie at the interface of entomology and plant pathology, where the aim is to study how plant diseases and insect pests interact to influence crop health and yield. Of particular interest is developing and evaluating strategies that emphasize durable management strategies of key pests and pathogens in Pacific Northwest cropping systems.

To hear all about tiny bugs, the nitty-gritty of pesticides, and transporting weevils across international borders, tune in to KBVR 88.7FM at 7PM PST on February 15th for the live show, or check out the show on our podcast pages.

Written by Hannah Stuwe

Climate change driven by global warming is a highly debated topic in today’s world. However, what we can be sure of is that certain gases cause changes to our environment and are often referred to as “greenhouse gases”. A large scientific effort has been made to capture these gases and turn it into things with less environment impact. One particular way is by creating molecules that mimic our bodies natural mechanisms. This is called biomimetic science and is the topic of our guest’s research, Bella Mc Coll

Bella is a third-year PhD student researching under Dr. Addison Desnoyer, in the Department of Chemistry here at OSU. Bella is an Oregon native and comes to us from Beaverton. Outside of the lab Bella has many interests particularly those involving the fiber arts. These interests have allowed her to come up with research ideas that uses her scientific mind to help answer questions for her creative mind.

Tune into KBVR 88.7 FM at 7 pm PST on February 1st to hear Bella talk about how growing up in a natural medicine house inspired her to find the harmony between science and nature.

Written by E Hernandez

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent environmental contaminates and their research has been featured on this show quite a bit. A little known fact is that estimates on the amount of PFAS in the environment range from 12,000 to 7 million. The number of working hours needed to analyze all those compounds would take many lifetimes. However, advancements in machine learning models have allowed for accurate estimates of crucial properties used to better understand PFAS. This cutting-edge research is the focus of our guest this week, Boris Droz.

Boris is a newly minted staff scientist in the lab of Dr. Gerrad Jones, in the Department of Biological and Ecological Engineering at OSU. Boris is originally from Switzerland and came to OSU in 2025 as a post-doc. Boris brings with him a deep knowledge and appreciation of both the rationale and in-lab work that goes into developing robust and useful machine learning models. His knowledge and expertise is a boon for OSU’s research prowess.

Tune into KBVR 88.7 FM at 7 pm PST on January 25th to hear Boris talk about how an apprenticeship in primary school was his ticket to traveling the world.

Written by E Hernandez

“Mathematics compares the most diverse phenomena and discovers the secret analogies that unite them.” — Joseph Fourier

Mathematical modeling has become an essential tool across all disciplines of science. Models are built and applied in everything from astrophysics to food science. Andrés Pinos-Sánchez, a masters student in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Sciences in the lab of Will White, uses modeling to investigate the population dynamics of bull kelp and sea urchins on the Oregon coast. The goal of his research is to determine what’s the best pathway to recover kelp forests in Oregon, which are in drastic decline due to rising sea temperatures and overpopulation of purple sea urchins. The decline of bull kelp in Oregon’s coastal ecosystems is detrimental to several species, like rockfish which make up a large part of the commercial fishery in Oregon.

Andrés has been able to model the outcome of different kelp restoration tactics, determining the best potential course of action before having to step foot in the field. Modeling these restoration tactics potentially saves Oregon taxpayers and conservation groups millions of dollars and saves our environment from unintended consequences.

Tune in to KBVR 88.7FM on January 18th at 7PM to hear all about modeling population dynamics, the intricacies of preparing a system for restoration, and the pros and cons of sea otter reintroduction in Oregon. You can also check out the show on streaming services or wherever you get podcasts.

Written by Hannah Stuwe

The term “sensors” is broad and often conjures up different ideas in people’s heads. For example, motion sensors that turn lights off and on. However, sensors could be powerful tools to help monitor people’s health in a non-invasive way. As science develops a large amount of research is being done to make sensors smaller and more efficient. Continuous glucose monitors and smart rings are a great example of recent advancements. Development of technologies like these is the research focus of our guest this week, Pavel Sengupta.

Pavel is a 5th year PhD student in the lab of Dr. Dipankar Koley, in the division of Analytical Chemistry here at OSU. Pavel is from Kolkata, India and came to America after earning his B.S. and M.S. from the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology. Driven by his curiosity and strong sense of wonder for science, Pavel has become a pillar of his Department and OSU as a whole. It is our pleasure to share his story on Inspiration Dissemination.

Tune into KBVR 88.7 FM at 7 pm PST on January 11th to hear Pavel talk about how he let his passions steer his path through education and research.

Written by E Hernandez

Blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus)  are the largest animals that have ever existed on Earth. Despite this, they feed exclusively on krill (Nyctiphanes australis) which are typically no larger than 2 cm. Thus, they must consume massive amounts of these tiny organisms to support the large energy requirements of their life history processes. Researchers are interested in understanding how predator-prey dynamics between blue whales and krill may shift with changing ocean conditions. Nicole Principe is a 2nd year PhD student in the Geospatial Ecology of Marine Megafauna (GEMM) Lab at the Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute, led by Dr. Leigh Torres. Her PhD work is part of the SAPPHIRE (Synthesis of Acoustics, Physiology, Prey, and Habitat in A Rapidly Changing Environment) Project and will focus on blue whales in the South Taranaki Bight in Aotearoa (New Zealand). This interdisciplinary work involves using oceanographic data, active acoustics for prey, drone imagery (i.e., photogrammetry), and hormone analysis to investigate the availability of krill and blue whale health and population resilience to climate change. 

Most blue whales, like other baleen whales, are migratory, meaning they move from cold-water feeding grounds to warmer waters for breeding. However, past research from the GEMM lab suggests that blue whales in the South Taranaki Bight do not migrate. Instead, blue whale song and acoustic calls can be heard year-round in this area, making it an important foraging and breeding ground for this population. Intermittent upwelling makes this a highly productive feeding area for blue whales, where high levels of primary productivity support large aggregations of krill. Therefore, these animals seem to stay for long periods of time, potentially year-round, to exploit these prey resources.

Part of Nicole’s work will build on previous work conducted by the GEMM lab by investigating the co-response of marine prey and predator to marine heatwaves. Marine heatwaves are a period of unusually high water temperatures and can have significant effects on ecosystems. As climate change continues, marine heatwaves may become more severe and prolonged. By understanding how krill and subsequently, blue whales respond to these events, researchers can then predict how populations may be impacted in the future, ultimately informing conservation measures. 

Nicole also completed a master’s degree studying bottlenose dolphin distribution in freshwater rivers in South Carolina, and spent a year and a half working for a marine mammal stranding network. Tune into the podcast this Sunday, November 9th to learn more about all of these incredible experiences!

Written by: Taylor Azizeh