I promised myself years ago that when my mentor, Admiral James D. Watkins, passed away, wherever I was, whatever I was doing, I would make arrangements to go to his funeral.

And now it happened.   So I jumped on a red-eye flight back to Washington, DC and attended the funeral ceremony.  It was a beautiful service,  in one of the largest Catholic churches in the country.  It was attended by Senators, Cabinet Members, military, clergy, and many “just plain” people.

He was a highly decorated Naval officer, and a devoutly religious man.  Maybe it was that mixture that gave him the special perspective that I  as a younger man found so instructive.

Here are some of the lessons I learned from my mentor:

“Get out in front of your skis”

Sometimes it’s best to be a little uncomfortable.  Sometimes you just need to move from where you are.

“Don’t look over your shoulder”

If you’re not sure whether you’ve got the backing of your team, then you probably need to build a better team.  If you’re going the wrong way, they’ll jump in front of you to force a new direction.

“Do your homework, then put it away”

The value is in learning the lesson, not in showing everyone what you know.  Build on the knowledge, don’t celebrate it.

“You can build an argument, but you have to earn support”

Collecting evidence to make your case is the easy part.  The tough job is selling the case and making it important to others.

There are many other lessons that I learned from my mentor, and each one is remarkable in its breadth of relevance.  I can apply those lessons to my work and my life.  Every researcher should be so lucky as to have a mentor like mine.

Rick Spinrad, VP for Research

Please enter the conversation! We appreciate your comments to issues raised in this post and others on the Spin on Research blog.

It’s not a usual day when one gets to hear Bill Gates plus two Cabinet Secretaries, yet I was so privileged at the convocation of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU) in Washington, DC in late June.  The event was a celebration of the Morrill Act of 1862, the enabling legislation for the concept of Land Grant institutions.

I listened carefully throughout the day for hints at the speakers’ perspectives on - what else? – research.

Mr. Gates was quite enthusiastic in his advocacy of extending higher education to broader audiences via  – no surprise – technology.  He loves that universities already are putting courses on line for hundreds of thousands of students –  a first wave of future capabilities. He intimated that such use of technology begs the need for more advances in managing educational content, delivery and assessment.  I sat proudly thinking about how OSU is right where we should be on this wave, reaching out to the far corners of the state and the world, and developing better ways to do so.

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack made an impassioned plea:  when you think of agriculture, think beyond food. Think, for instance, textiles. Think biofuels.  I appreciated his broadened perspective, which got Dean Arp (sitting next to me at the session) and me thinking about emerging OSU leadership in the intersection of ag sciences and material sciences. In both fields, OSU researchers already hold positions of preeminence.

The presence of  Secretary of Education Arne Duncan helped remind me that our researchers are superlative not only in their fields of study, but also in inspiring and training the next generations of researchers – and how that also is integral to our land-grant commitment.

One of my favorite presentations emphasized the role of Land Grant universities in building and sustaining our national strengths in physical sciences and engineering. Dr. Chuck Vest, President of the National Academy of Engineering, and past President of MIT, really inspired me to think about our strengths in these areas here at OSU.

The APLU convocation was a great confirmation of what so many of us here know: Land Grant Universities are a linchpin in the technological progress and leadership of our nation.  And they have been for a century and a half.  Our challenge is to continue to build on that legacy. I imagine our descendants celebrating the Morrill Act with the same enthusiasm at the tercentennial in the year 2162!

Rick Spinrad, Vice President for Research

On March 23rd, 2012, Rick Spinrad joined Bob Houtman, NSF Section Head- Ocean Sciences Division;  Sabah Randhawa, OSU Provost and Executive Vice President; Rob Munier, WHOI Vice President;  Marine Facilities and Operations; Mark Abbott, Dean, College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences; and John Byrne, OSU President Emeritus, CEOAS Past Dean; and others in Newport, Oregon to bid thanks and farewell to the Research Vessel Wecoma, and to welcome R/V Oceanus. The following is from Rick Spinrad’s remarks at the “retirement” event.
Let’s do some time-traveling.

It’s November 3rd , 1976,  6:04 in the evening. Less than 24 hours earlier, Gerald Ford and Bob Dole won Oregon, but lost the Presidential election to a toothy peanut farmer from Georgia. From a pier in Newport, Oregon, the still-shiny, brand new R/V Wecoma cast her lines and set out for a short cruise along the C-line to test gear in preparation for the upcoming long cruise off of Peru. The official ship’s log for that coastal jaunt is hardly a page-turner: they consumed 5278 gallons of fuel, 3600 gallons of fresh water, 25 gallons of lube oil (and although it was not recorded as such, an unknown volume of 95% laboratory-grade ethanol).

Improbably, the most noteworthy development was in the ship’s laundry; the log reads  ” The shipping ring on the laundry washer has broken. This item permitted partial use of washer in rolling ship operation. “  In other words, the agitator moved with the movement of the vessel. Gotta love that kind of resourcefulness.

The only research-relevant note in the log: “scientists have a very good procedure set up for launching and recovering the nephelometer under positive control.  I feel it is much more satisfactory than our close quarter R/V YAQUINA operation.”  So we knew the new ship would be an improvement over our older vessel.

How telling that was, in terms of the next 35 years of research that would be conducted aboard this wonderful vessel. The ship’s crew included Captain Linse, Chief Mate Tony Loskota, Cook Tom Kluttz (incidentally, my wife, Alanna, still uses Tom’s recipe for macaroons  – *provided below –  best in the world ) and AB John Keiper. The scientific crew was led by Ron Zaneveld and Hasong Pak, with a rowdy bunch of techs and students: Bob Kaupaun, Bob Bartz, Jim Kitchen …. and one long haired, banjo playing graduate student whose name was misspelled on the manifest as Rick Spinrod.

I had the pleasure of being on the Wecoma for 53 days, off the coasts of Oregon, Washington and Peru.

After 1976, and for the next 3½ decades, the R/V Wecoma served as host to an oceanographic hall of fame.  OSU’s researchers filled the bunks: Chief Scientists with the names of Smith, Huyer, Carey, Pearcy, Kulm, Caldwell, Schrader, Miller, Zaneveld, Dymond, Gordon, Pak, Keller, Heath, Small, Lilley, Paulson, Prahl, Collier, and no doubt many others, just up to the 1986 period when the ship was laid up for repairs. And that’s just the Beavers.  Consider this list of other Chief Scientists from that same period: Barber, Cox, Knauer, Lorenzen, Bruland, Wyrtki, Knox, Murray, Weiss, Martin, Hickey, Brown, Beardsley, Winant, Irish, Karl, Robison, Packard.  Believe me, this is impressive to people in the marine sciences.

Wecoma was witness to discoveries that changed the way we think about our world, including how upwelling drives coastal productivity and fisheries; the magic of El Nino; the sheer power of deep-sea vulcanology; and understanding the complex nature of how the interactions of the ocean and atmosphere affect our weather and climate.

Not to mention those Nobel-laureate-worthy discoveries of the real-time full water column monochromatic specific beam attenuation coefficients – conducted by the most preeminent optical oceanographic team in the universe: Spinrad and Zaneveld, (OK, Zaneveld and Spinrad!) If you want to know details,  let’s meet at the Beanery.

Seriously, the world is unquestionably a better place because of the service this ship, her crew, scientists and land-based staff have provided  - for longer than many of us have been alive.

The name Wecoma, I propose, might be an acronym for “With Every Cruise, One Meaningful Accomplishment.”

It’s not easy to say goodbye.  The “retirement” event was a pretty emotional moment for many of us.

Wecoma is a star.  She was a workhorse, a transport, a world-class lab, and, for many of us at some point in our lives – even if was after a night at Anna’s bar in Callao –  she was our home.

But this is also a wonderful time, as we welcome the R/V Oceanus into our OSU family.  We can only imagine the discoveries and revelations that this new vessel will help us attain. Understanding the mysteries of ocean acidification, the complex microbial networks that define the foodweb of the seas, the ever-more intricate definitions of the four-dimensional structures of ocean dynamics.  The OCEANUS will be our tour guide to the next generation of oceanography.

Recently I was enjoying a drink with an old friend of mine who said he couldn’t have been more delighted to see the Oceanus come to OSU.  He went on to add that our legacy of transdisciplinary research and scientific accomplishment couldn’t be better suited to Oceanus’s capabilities.  That friend is Bob Gagosian, the former Director of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.  We should feel good about that. I can’t wait to see what we do with our new ship!

The R/V WECOMA has sailed her last cruise for Oregon State University.  The last sample’s been drawn, the last station taken, the last watch retired.  The horizon will be her home, her legacy will be her name.  Research Vessel Wecoma, we wish you fair winds and following seas.

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bonus : recipe from the Wecoma

*Tom’s Macaroons

Stir together:

1-1/2 cup sugar
6 Tablespoons flour (matzoh flour works as well)
dash of salt
6 heaping cups shredded coconut

Beat until stiff :

6 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla

“Fluff in” sugar mixture with egg whites. Be sure to stir the ingredients carefully to keep the air in the egg whites.

Put oil on your hands and loosely roll the dough into balls.  The oil makes the dough slip off your fingers.  Don’t press too hard or handle too much.

Place on heavily sprayed cookie sheet , or use parchment paper.

Bake 350 degrees for about 15 minutes -  watch them carefully!

Makes 20

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bonus question:
What are the original meanings and origins of the words  “wecoma” and “oceanus”?

____

The winner of our U.Day quiz  participation drawing is
Mike Hinds, IT Communication Manager for Information Services!
Mike will receive his choice of a book by an  OSU author.

If you are not Mike, yet participated at the event, thank you – your prize can be a subscription to The Spin on Research. Congratulations!

Match each numbered question with an answer from the list below.

1. Which coffee shops are nearest the Research Office?

2. What is the least turn-around time you should allow for proposal review at the Office of Sponsored Programs (to avoid turning into a pumpkin)?

3.What are the values that inform the new OSU Research Agenda?

4.  What system, named after a horse bred by a Native American tribe, will make your funding life easier?

5.Which unit in the Research Office may help get the results of your work out there to benefit your neighbors?

6. Say your project includes a simple survey to be filled out by dog owners. Which office should you consult with?

7.Why do two Research Office  leaders have names starting with R-I-C ?

8. What green technology is available for able-bodied people to get up to the Research Office?

9. How can you get the inside scoop on the OSU research enterprise?

a. Three full business days 

 

 

 

 

 

b. The Office of Research Integrity – Institutional Review Board (IRB) 

 

 

 

 

 

c. The stairs

d. That’s a rich topic for research! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

e. Java Stop II in the  Valley Library;  and shops in McNary Dining Hall 

 

 

 

 

 

f. Subscribe to The Spin on Research blog 

 

g. Most specifically The Office for Commercialization and Corporate Development

 

 

 

h.Relevance, Integration, Collaboration, Leadership, Accessibility

i. Cayuse, for  electronic proposal submissions.

To  verify answers or find out more, please see oregonstate.edu/research, or call 541-737-3467

The issues we discussed at the meeting were fascinating, and relevant to all researchers, such as: prevention of muzzling of research, ensuring scientific results are used appropriately in development of policy, and fostering engagement by researchers with the media.  We discussed how important these issues are in terms of sustaining a leadership role for the U.S. in science, technology, engineering and math.

We also had an engrossing discussion about the implications of social media on issues of scientific integrity.  How do we consider the treatment of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube in the context of transmittal of scientific information?  How do we ensure that high quality, accurate research results are fairly represented in such media, and that specious and inaccurate information is flagged as such?  What lessons might we learn from Wikipedia and other such programs?

The issues associated with scientific integrity are manifold, and can become complicated quickly.  I wonder whether there is interest in having a similar dialogue here, at OSU, among our research community.  Let me know your thoughts.

Rick Spinrad
Vice President for Research

Read more Blog by Jane Lubchenco of NOAA ;    OSU Media Release

Round Table participants (alphabetical): brief bios – please see more about the distinguished careers, accomplishments, and contributions on websites of the organizations represented.

Dr. Robert D. Ballard, University of Rhode Island, Director for the Center for Ocean Exploration at URI’s Graduate School of Oceanography, member of the President’s Commission on Ocean Policy.

Dr. Ralph Cicerone, National Academies of Science, President, and Chair of the National Research Council.

Dr. John Holdren, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Co-Chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

Dr. Peter J. Lamb, University of Oklahoma, Professor in School of Meteorology and Director of Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies, was founding Chief Editor of the Journal of Climate,  currently Editor of Meteorological Monographs.

Dr. Jane Lubchenco, NOAA,  Administrator, and Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere.

Dr. Sandy MacDonald, NOAA, directs  Earth System Research Laboratory and serves as Deputy Assistant Administrator for Research Laboratories and Cooperative Institutes.

Dr. Jonathon R. Pennock, University of New Hampshire, director of both new Hampshire Sea Grant and the Marine Program at UNH.

Dr. Larry Robinson, NOAA, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Conservation and Management, and Deputy Administrator.

Ms. Lois Schiffer, NOAA, General Counsel.

Dr. Richard W. Spinrad, Oregon State University, Vice President for Research at OSU, previously Assistant Administrator for research for NOAA, and Research Director with the U.S. Office of Naval Research.

Dr. Warren Washington, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Senior Scientist, science advisor to five U.S. presidents.

Mr. Andy Winer, NOAA, Director of Strategic Initiatives & Partners and the Acting Director of External Affairs.

Mr. Robert Winokur,  Deputy and Technical Director, Office of the Oceanographer of the Navy, Chief of Naval Operations.

Dr. Terry Yosie, World Environment Center, President and CEO.

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The Vice President for Research and the Research Office provide direct administrative leadership and support for the following Centers and Institutes. Of course,  even more research units, some within colleges, are integral to the OSU enterprise,  and OSU has a significant leadership presence in key national programs.

Please see descriptions of the activities of centers and institutes at oregonstate.edu/research/multi/index.htm

and photos of the current directors at oregonstate.edu/research/multi/directors.htm (where you can identify the people pictured here)

If your unit’s description  is not up-to-date here, please “comment” on the blog so other readers get the word, and send your URL and exact changes to Jana.Zvibleman@oregonstate.edu

-Rick Spinrad, Vice President for Research

note:
Certain OSU Centers and Institutes are administered by the Vice President for Research, and those are the ones for which the Research Office site provides descriptions and photos of directors. The Research Office site also lists  Additional OSU research units and affiliated organizations ,  with links to many rich resources and collaborations.

Please subscribe to this blog for notices of future postings.

Vannevar Bush, the force behind the creation of the National Science Foundation

Roger Revel, one of the first scientists to study global warming and the movement of tectonic plates

Rachel Carson,  marine biologist and conservationist whose writings are credited with advancing the global environmental movement

Senator Fritz Hollings, father of important environmental legislation

Norm Augustine, former CEO of Lockhead Martin, and author of the seminal report Rising Above the Gathering Storm

Carl Sagan, astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer, and science communicator, advocated skeptical inquiry and the scientific method. He pioneered exobiology and promoted the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI)

Jacques-Yves Cousteau, explorer, ecologist, filmmaker, innovator, scientist, photographer, author and researcher who pioneered marine conservation

If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to this blog to enter the conversation and to receive notices of updates.

Role models are useful to inspire us. As I entered the study of science, I became aware of many who had forged the way.

I was  especially attracted to some because of any of a variety of attributes:  their commitment, contributions, genius,  energy, leadership.

These were individuals who came from a variety of different communities: politics, military, science, conservation.

One thing they had in common was a capability to fly above the fray, to recognize the not-so-obvious connections between society’s needs and scientific opportunities.

They also had an abiding optimism.  Most of those who have great influence on science are skeptical optimists.  They question everything, but know that in so doing they will seed progress.

Here are images of those who, early in my career, became what I call my Champions of Science.

They have remained so over the years.

I’m wondering if you can identify them. And whether you agree about their standing.

Who are your champions in your field? How have they influenced your work/your life?

I invite you to comment to this blog.

In an upcoming entry, we’ll post the names of those pictured here.

-Rick Spinrad
Vice President for Research
If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to this blog to enter the conversation and to receive notices of updates.

On this trip I focused on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and on the Department of Defense.  OSU receives about $25M per year from NIH, and just under $3M per year from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR).

Specifically, I visited leadership at the following agencies: AFOSR (Tom Russell, Director) , NIH Headquarters (Sally Rockey, Director of Extramural Research), National Cancer Institute (Peter Greenwald, Deputy for Prevention), National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (Josie Briggs, Director), National Institute of General Medical Service (Jeremy Berg, Director), and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (Hugh Auchincloss, Deputy Director).  In addition, I  had the opportunity to meet with Karina Edmonds, the coordinator of technology transfer for the Department of Energy.

Your program manager

All of these meetings were quite helpful to get a sense of where agencies want to go.  Given the current budget uncertainties in the Federal government, any insight we can get should help us maintain our competitive edge.  I think it’s fair to say that every agency representative that I met with wants to increase their engagement with our research community.  Without exception, each of them implored me to have our faculty (junior and senior) develop – if they have not already done so – an active and meaningful dialogue with their program managers.

So my question for the researchers who read this blog is whether you’ve made that call recently.  H ave you spoken with program managers at your relevant agency?  Do they know what your interests are?  If you’re not sure whom to call, talk to your colleagues or let me know.

Another message that came through loud and clear was that we have some real opportunities to drive the agency agendas.  Dr. Russell at AFOSR defined a process by which we could develop some effective white papers to share with his program officers.  This is something I’d like to pursue with several clusters of faculty.  And, this is consistent with the next steps we need to develop consonant with the pending release of the OSU Research Agenda.

At DOE, Dr. Edmonds also made clear that her responsibility was to foster development of intellectual property, at the DOE Labs. From her standpoint, the partnering that  we have with the labs (e.g. with PNNL through MBI and ONAMI) is a model for how to engage academia. So my questions, then, given our other relationships with DOE labs (NETL, NREL and Idaho National Lab, as examples): Are there opportunities for commercialization that we might want to push?  Are there areas where we might want to build new partnerships with DOE labs, based on the potential for collaboration over new intellectual property?

I started the week in DC by sitting on a working group at the National Science Foundation, discussing the challenges of what NSF calls “unsolicited mid-scale research.”  The National Science Board will be developing a report on this subject within the next year, and we should keep an eye out for that report.

Please see our examples of  outcomes of Federal Agency support for OSU research

- Rick Spinrad
Vice President for Research

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