Cultivating transdisciplinary research to advance the science of sustainable earth ecosystems:

• OSU reduces pesticide usage worldwide The Integrated Plant Protection Center has built free online tools that link nearly 16,000 weather stations across the country to the biology of over 100 pests and plant diseases. This allows farmers to spray at precise times, making pesticide usage more efficient and less taxing on the environment.

• OSU expands pesticide info program A five-year, $5 million grant, funded by the EPA, has enabled OSU’s National Pesticide Information Center to expand its online services. Last year the website had 1.8 million visitors, with 32 million overall hits, and the hotline handled 17,000 phone calls, offering information in over 170 languages.

• OSU breeds drought-resistant wheat varieties: This year, AgSci researchers released two new high-yield, disease-resistant wheat varieties, “Rosalyn” and “Bobtail,” that show resistance to drought, important to growers in the face of a changing climate.
• REACCH assesses impact of changing climate on NW cereal crops Regional Approaches to Climate Change is a 5-year, $20 million project funded by NIFA. John Antle is leading the Modeling component of the project, which will use climate data and crop simulation models to assess impacts and adaptation in Pacific Northwest wheat-growing systems.

• New research shows how climate change impacts disease vectors A new study, led by Taal Levi (Fisheries and Wildlife), suggests that changing climate patterns may be altering the transmission of certain pathogens, including the bacterium that causes Lyme disease.

• Marine Studies Initiative builds on 75 years of research MSI, a new model created to address critical issues facing Oregon and the globe, is strengthened by long-term, highly interdisciplinary research conducted by three AES research units: the Seafood Laboratory in Astoria (established in 1940), the Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station, and the Marine Mammal Institute.

• Study finds reduction in harmful emissions Funded by the OSU Superfund Research Program and led by environmental chemist Staci Simonich, a recent study discovered that emission control systems added to a Portland General Electric plant in 2011—which targeted mercury—inadvertently lowered dangerous airborne PAHs.

• Art About Agriculture connects urban and rural culture for 40 years Space within the remodeled Strand Ag Hall will serve as a rotating gallery for this 250-piece art collection, which was recently appraised at more than $300,000. This collection has been purchased exclusively with private funds, gifts, sponsors, and special grants.

• Faculty combine Art and Science Jay Noller, one of several AgSci scientists/artists, uses soils as a subject and a medium for his paintings, which are exhibited internationally, including a large permanent display at the Allison Inn in Newberg. He uses visual art as a way for students to see the world beneath their feet.

• To strengthen supported graduate programs, AgSci created a new policy to provide units with a clear and defined model for predicting graduate tuition remission.
• Doctoral students are recognized for Noteworthy Advance in Bioinformatics: Zhian Kamvar and Javier Tabima (Botany and Plant Pathology) were featured in PeerJ for their novel statistical software to analyze data on clonal populations of microbes, fungi, and oomcyetes.
• Graduate student groups are active in collaborative outreach and research, for example:
• Team-Tox, in Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, provides professional development beyond the formal EMT curriculum. In 2014, Team-Tox set up grade-school level demonstrations, experiments, and resources for teachers, reaching over 700 K-12 students.
• Hatfield Student Organization works to expand educational experiences and increase professional development through fundraising and research activities. They raised over $3,600 for the Samaritan Foundation Patient Support Fund.
• Fisheries and Wildlife Graduate Student Association actively engages online students with campus-based colleagues in activities, symposia, and professional development opportunities.
• BUDS (Bolstering Undergraduate Development and Success), created by graduate students in Botany and Plant Pathology to mentor undergraduates and strengthen academic excellence.

• Provost Hiring Initiative funding provided the College with 5 new faculty positions in addition to 7 new positions funded by AgSci to strengthen programs across the state. Among the new hires are:
• Leigh Torres, studying geospatial ecology of marine megafauna, directed toward improving conservation management of protected species.
• Sergio Arispe, studying rangeland plant communities, directed toward how grazing affects revegetation following wildfire.
• Valtcho Jeliazkov, the new Director of the Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center, focusing on improving the sustainability of winter wheat production in the region.
• AgSci faculty secures $49.4 million in sponsored research grants and contracts in FY2015. A few examples:
• John Selker will use NSF funding to collect thermal data using drones in atmospheric zones that have been hard to study until now.
• Michael Behrenfeld will lead a NASA-funded research project investigating phytoplankton blooms—the foundation of the marine food web. He will test the idea that warming oceans will have previously-unforeseen impacts on marine ecosystems.
• Bruce Mate is leadinga new U.S. Navy-funded research project investigating the movements of whales and how marine life will be affected by current El Nino conditions.
• Robert Tanguay received an EPA grant to conduct the first-ever comprehensive in vivo toxicity studies of flame retardants.
• Hong Liu collaborated with Widmer Brewing to use fuel cells to clean wastewater and produce electricity. Her research, which began as a BEST award, is being extended with an NSF grant.
• Pankaj Jaiswal, with NSF funding and international co-investigators, is developing a common semantic framework for the ever-expanding array of sequenced plant genomes and phenotype data, called the Planteome Project.
• Jeff Chang and colleagues received funding from USDA-NIFA-SCRI to work on gall-forming bacterial diseases that cause nurseries up to $1 million in lost revenue annually.
• AgSci offers in-depth faculty orientations and trainings to increase faculty success The College sponsors ongoing research discussion groups and professional development workshops for new and mid-career faculty. Recent topics: grant-writing workshops and specific grant intensives; Paul Axtell trainings for new faculty and administrators; mentoring workshops; networking events to build collaborative research, including one integrating research on the topic of water.