Dear Colleagues,

To say the least, this has been a turbulent period for our College, Oregon State and the world. The challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic have shifted life as we know it, severely disrupting our university’s operating model and our personal lives. Whatever challenges you face, this unfolding crisis is no doubt taking a toll.

I know that you have been giving deeply, and I want to take a moment to thank you for all your hard work in providing uninterrupted teaching and service. You have adjusted and stepped up to meet unfamiliar challenges under very difficult circumstances. Your dedication to our students’ wellbeing and success is the only reason the College has been able to continue its mission during this time.

I hear many accounts of hardworking instructors delivering remote teaching, while also managing much heavier demands of their family. Similarly, others in the College continue showing up every day, typically from virtual home offices, to provide IT services, supervise remote student workers, advise current and future students, steward human and financial resources and otherwise serve students, colleagues and our mission. For every unsung hero story that is broadly shared, there are countless more.

While we are stretched thin, at times we are also energized as we dedicate ourselves to efforts that will not only get us through this crisis but can make us stronger in the long run. The College of Science community is determined and resilient, and I deeply appreciate all that you are doing to help students and each other succeed in spite of the profound challenges.

Stay healthy and be safe,

Roy Haggerty
Dean, College of Science

Research Highlights

A first-ever winter and spring study of plankton in the North Atlantic by microbiologist Stephen Giovannoni reveals important information about climate change. The study suggests the ocean’s capacity to absorb carbon dioxide has been overestimated, and this discovery is likely to force a negative revision of global climate calculations. This story was featured in The Guardian.

An international research collaboration, led by chemist Kyriakos Stylianou has taken an important step toward the commercially viable manufacture of biobutanol, an alcohol whose strong potential as a fuel for gasoline-powered engines could pave the path away from fossil fuels.

Research Funding

Microbiologist Maude David received $279K from Second Genome for her project, “Development of a Commercial Platform for Discovery and Validation of Key Microbial Metabolites in CNS Disorders.”

Microbiologist Sascha Hallett received $75K from University of California Santa Cruz for her project, “Monitoring and Modeling Pathogen Exposure in Salmon Migrating to the Delta.”

Chemist Xiulei (David) Ji received $200K from the National Science Foundation for his project, “Collaborative Research: Elucidation of the Grotthuss Topochemistry in Reticular Electrodes for Fast Proton Batteries.”

Chemist Wei Kong received $332K from the NIH’s Institute of General Medical Sciences for her project, “Serial Single Molecule Electron Diffraction Imaging: Atomic Structures of Biological Macromolecules without Crystals.”

Chemist Mas Subramanian received a $200K grant from the National Science Foundation for his project, “EAGER: Discovery of Next Generation Durable Non-toxic Inorganic Red Pigments.” Read more about Subramanian’s search for a new inorganic red pigment.

Research Proposal Support

You can find funding opportunities on ECOS. To access a suite of tools and resources available to faculty, visit the College of Science Proposal Support webpage.

National Honors

Marine ecologist Bruce Menge was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s most prestigious honorary societies that honors exceptionally accomplished individuals who are engaged in advancing the public good.

College Honors

Mathematics Ph.D. candidate Choah Shin received the Larry Martin and Joyce O’Neill Fellowship. The $25K fellowship, endowed by alumnus Larry Martin (’59) and his wife Joyce O’Neill, recognizes accomplished students whose research involves computational modeling.

OSU’s Team-based Rapid Assessment of Community-level coronavirus Epidemics, or TRACE-COVID-19 for short, which launched April 12, has been featured in U.S. News and World Report, The Washington Post, The Oregonian, OPB News, KGW8 television and many other regional and national media outlets.

Co-founded by Distinguished Professor Douglas Keszler, OSU spinout company Inpria recently acquired $31 million in funding to support its pathbreaking semiconductor innovations. The news was reported in the Oregonian, Business Wire, Geekwire and other media nationwide.

A story in Oregon Public Broadcasting, “A New Kind of Blue from an Oregon Research Lab,” reports on chemist Mas Subramanian’s discovery of a new hibonite version of blue that is more vivid than the toxic cobalt blue used by manufacturers. 

Biology alumna and current science education graduate student Hannah Royal (’19) was featured in the Chronicle of Social Change on how the coronavirus has affected her.

Inspiration Dissemination (88.7 KBVR FM) featured Joaquin Rodriguez, a senior studying biochemistry and biophysics. Rodriguez does research on viruses and he explains why the coronavirus has a higher rate of transmission than other infectious diseases. Rodriguez is from Lima, Peru, and he continues to live in Corvallis due to travel restrictions.   

Pushing forward in the face of COVID

OSU scientists embarked on a groundbreaking project this month that involves testing in the greater Corvallis community to determine the prevalence of the virus that causes COVID-19. The project called Team-based Rapid Assessment of Community-Level Coronavirus Epidemics, or TRACE-COVID-19 for short, is among the first in the nation that will provide an overview of an entire community’s COVID-19 wellness. Population biologist Ben Dalziel, Dean Roy Haggerty and marine biologist Jane Lubchenco are helping lead this project, along with other OSU collaborators.

Departments across the College joined the university’s drive to provide much-needed supplies to the health care community in Benton County. The drive resulted in thousands of donations, including sanitizer, gloves, masks and lab coats.

Justin Sanders (Microbiology Ph.D. ’13), assistant professor at OSU Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine, and his colleagues stepped up to help produce a critical COVID-19 test component. They are producing viral transport medium (VTM), a specific liquid that protects the virus’s genetic material until patients’ nasal swabs can be tested at Samaritan hospital.

Alumna SreyRam Kuy (Microbiology’ 00) is making a difference inside and outside the operating room. In her role as a Health Innovators Fellow, Kuy developed a Covid-19 Preparation Tool to help healthcare facilities, businesses and communities rapidly gauge their preparedness for the outbreak, identify areas of weakness and strategically target resources for their greatest impact.

Acclaimed and award-winning emeritus professor of biochemistry and writer of metabolic melodies Kevin Ahern shared a new verse encouraging us to look forward to the future and the end of the #Covid19 shutdown.

Senior statistics instructor Katie Jager was highlighted in OSU Today as an unsung hero for her efforts to support her colleagues with the transition to remote teaching. Read more about her extraordinary efforts here. 

Student success

After a sudden end to a phenomenal season, award-winning point guard Mikayla Pivec leaves a lasting legacy at Oregon State. Graduating in only three years with an Honors degree in Biohealth Sciences, Mikayla is now pursuing a master’s degree in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics.

The Minority Association of Premedical Students (MAPS) helps students from underrepresented backgrounds get into medical school. The club held a conference in January for OSU students interested in learning specifically about LGBTQ+ issues in medicine. 

OSU academic advisors, instructors, faculty, staff and students can nominate a student or a College of Science Equity Promise Scholarship. During the current public health emergency, the scholarship’s eligibility requirements have been expanded. Currently, any student who is majoring in a College of Science program – whether they are an undergraduate, post-bacc or graduate student – is eligible to apply for these one-time emergency funds.

Upcoming events

September 7-10
Lima, Peru
Jane Lubchenco, Distinguished Professor of biology, is slated as plenary speaker at the 5th International Symposium on the Ocean in a High CO2 World. The Symposium is a gathering of the world’s leading experts in ocean acidification research.