Dear colleagues, 

Thank you for the support you have shared in the launches of our diversity action plan (DAP), “Embedding Equity, Access and Inclusion,” and our strategic plan, “Extending the Reach and Impact of Science.” These interconnected plans reflect the strategies we developed as a community to learn, explore and solve the most pressing issues facing our state and the world.

Implementation of these plans requires our deliberate, collaborative action, and I’d like to share recent developments with you.

This first year – our Foundation year – of implementation has laid excellent groundwork to tackle strategic goals set by our plan and includes significant initiatives and events to keep the College moving forward.

We have formed a college-wide Strategic Plan Implementation Core Council co-chaired by Jessica Siegel, associate dean for academic and student affairs, and Virginia Weis, acting associate dean for research and graduate studies. The College also created three equity working groups: the Gender Equity Committee, the Equity Data Collection Committee and the Equity, Access and Inclusion (EAI) Leadership Council.

We have created a reporting infrastructure – an implementation updates website – that can be leveraged across the College, including a reporting tool that enables updates on progress to be recorded at localized levels.

As the DAP is completely incorporated into the Strategic Plan, the implementation strategy and reporting tool for both plans are united to Move Science Forward. Going forward, implementation of College of Science strategic goals will be continually documented in this Google spreadsheet. Viewers can navigate between tabs to review the specific details of individual tactics, and use data filter views to review or sort data.

In addition to building this foundation, our College community has done considerable work at every level to increase belonging, provide learning opportunities and implement systemic changes to make science more equitable, accessible and inclusive. Here are just a few highlights:

The College’s inaugural Inclusive Excellence Award Lecture was delivered by Marilyn Mackiewicz in an inspiring talk, “Empowering Cultures of Belonging: Thriving, Innovating and Solving Global Challenges.” I highly recommend watching this talk on the College’s Youtube channel if you haven’t already!

We established the new College of Science Gender Equity in Leadership Fund, open to any faculty-led programs that enhance and build leadership skills and opportunities for individuals who previously or currently identify as women. Read about this year’s three awardees in Impact.

Steps were taken at the unit level, also. For example, to create a sense of belonging for their students, the chemistry department redesigned the Gilbert Hall entrance with alumni spotlights and a welcoming, helpful directory with posters of faculty placed throughout the building. They also created a welcoming study space called Triple Point for undergraduate and graduate students.

The integrative biology department has provided ample opportunities for learning and growth, including several reading and discussion groups focused on DEJI issues. They have hosted training and workshops for their faculty, including topics on sex and gender in the classroom and ways to decolonize research. The statistics department has also worked to bring learning opportunities to their faculty, including a workshop on Social Justice Education: “Critical and Inclusive Practices for Faculty.”

Our departments have also done significant work to support diverse communities locally, regionally and nationally. Biochemistry and biophysics faculty helped develop techniques and approaches for teaching biochemistry to the visually impaired. At the regional level, microbiologists developed and delivered the Pernot Microbiology Camp, focused on engaging historically underrepresented youths in microbiology. The physics department participated in the American Physical Society’s IDEA Network of equity-minded physics departments, providing support and contributing ideas to help advance EAI goals nation-wide.

To effect change at a systemic, procedural and policy level, other units took important steps.  For example, the mathematics department developed processes to make their national honorary mathematics society (Pi Mu Epsilon) more diverse and inclusive. And in the dean’s office, we updated the College’s Search Rules to better ensure new hires embody our values of equity, access and inclusion.

This is only a sample of our work, but it speaks to the breadth and depth of our commitment college-wide. In the next newsletter, we will outline how the College has allocated financial resources for EAI work within the College and across the university. Thank you for all you are doing to make the vision of these plans for our community a reality. Every member of the College of Science is important to this process. In the near future, we will share more information on how you can stay involved.

Finally, I encourage you to join colleagues in developing OSU’s next strategic plan. Explore the university’s Strategic Plan Development website for opportunities to participate, including the upcoming University town hall on April 20.

Vrushali Bokil
Interim Dean, College of Science

Research Highlights

Chemist Kyriakos Stylianou is part of a multidisciplinary team that developed a dual-purpose catalyst that purifies herbicide-tainted water while also producing hydrogen. The team included researchers from Oregon State College of Engineering and HP Inc. Findings of the study were published in the journal ACS Catalysis.

Two marine ecologists, Kirsten Grorud-Colvert and Su Sponaugle, worked with a former Integrative Biology doctoral student to study larvae produced by black rockfish. A linchpin of the West Coast commercial fishing industry, black rockfish fared better than originally feared during two recent years of unusually high ocean temperatures. Findings were published in Nature’s Scientific Reports.Materials chemist Xiulei “David” Ji developed a new electrolyte that raises the efficiency of zinc metal anode in zinc batteries to nearly 100%. Ji collaborated with HP Inc. and GROTTHUSS Inc., an Oregon State spinout company. Their research represents a breakthrough in the process of creating alternative lithium-ion batteries for large-scale energy storage.

Research Funding

Computational biochemist David Hendrix received $1M from the National Science Foundation for a project entitled “Collaborative Research: Ideas Lab: Discovery of Novel Functional RNA Classes by Computational Integration of Massively-Parallel RBP Binding and Structure Data.”

Marine ecologist Sarah Gravem received $230K from The Nature Conservancy for her project entitled “The ‘landscape of fear’ created by sunflower sea star and its effects on sea urchin behavior and kelp abundance.”

Physicist Heidi Schellman is part of a new $3.2M consortium funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science to train the next generation of computational high-energy physicists. Schellman is developing online training materials as part of this project.

Marine ecologist Kristen Grorud-Colvert received $149K from the Oregon Ocean Science Trust for a project entitled “The missing link: Quantifying juvenile dynamics of key commercially and recreationally important fishes along Oregon’s nearshore.”

Eco-physiologist Jamie Cornelius received $99K from the National Geographic Society for her project entitled “Acute impacts of fire and smoke on bird behavior physiology and survival.”

Ecologist Rebecca Terry received $912K from the National Science Foundation for her project entitled “The Small Mammals of the Paisley and Connley Caves: Disentangling Drivers of Diversity in Pleistocene Extinction Survivors.”

Chemist Chris Beaudry received $482K from the National Science Foundation for his project entitled “Connective Stereospecific Generation of Alkenes Continued.”

Research Proposal Support

Want to explore funding opportunities, or do you need a reminder on upcoming proposal deadlines? Check out ECOS, the College of Science’s funding and research news page. For assistance on identifying and preparing funding proposals, email the Research Development Unit at research.development@science.oregonstate.edu.

On International Women’s Day March 8, the College of Science celebrated with a four-part video series highlighting the incredible work of women in the College to create a healthier planet. The series features microbiology Ph.D. candidate Savanah Leidholt, integrative biology Ph.D. student Olivia Burleigh, marine ecologist Rebecca Vega Thurber and marine biologist Virginia Weis.

Mathematician Malgorzata Peszynska was honored by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) during Women’s History Month. Peszynska has been a SIAM member for more than 20 years and has served in many leadership roles.

A third-year College of Science student was named a 2023 Goldwater Scholar. Kimberly Truong, who is double majoring in computer science and mathematics, is Oregon State’s 45th honoree overall since the program’s 1986 inception. Truong plans to obtain a Ph.D. in machine learning and pursue a university faculty position that will allow her to conduct research at the intersection of machine learning and software engineering.

Biochemist Joe Beckman’s startup e-Msion, focused on innovative electron capture dissociation technology, was recently acquired by Agilent Technologies. A global leader in life science, diagnostics and applied markets, Agilent had more than $6.8B in revenue last year and customers in 110 countries.

Meet Rachel Palmer, the new assistant director of career development in the College of Science. An Oregon State biology graduate, Palmer is familiar with the College and is excited to help students navigate toward successful careers.

Students from Oregon State Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science, more commonly known as SACNAS, attended the National Diversity in STEM Conference last term. Students were able to network and spent a week immersed in the culture of Puerto Rico.

The College of Science’s YouTube page has more new videos! Our recruitment video, “Why undergraduate research matters (and why it’s better at Oregon State) with Virginia Weis,” highlights the Colleges status as a research powerhouse. Another video, “Using chemistry to capture CO2 with Kyriakos Stylianou,” covers research into metal-organic frameworks. And a third video features Francis Chan discussing “How science can solve global challenges.” 

Resources and Tools

Need some College of Science letterhead or a PowerPoint template to get you started on your presentation? Check out this College of Science-specific site with a variety of templates, from posters and programs to presentations and letterhead.

Upcoming Events

Health Professions Fair
April 19, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., Memorial Union Ballroom
This Health Professions Fair is an opportunity for students to connect with professional schools and programs to learn about graduate education and careers in healthcare.

Dam Proud Day
April 26
Join the College of Science community on April 26 in supporting four different funds: Undergraduate Research Frontiers Fund, the Dean’s Scholarship Fund, the Biochemistry & Biophysics Excellence Fund and the Microbiology Strategic Fund. The Undergraduate Research Frontiers Fund is a new opportunity for students to participate in academic-year paid research. Check out the College of Science Dam Proud Day website to learn more.

Berg Lecture featuring Jo Handelsman
Thursday, April 27 at 5-7:30 p.m., LaSells Stewart Center Construction & Engineering Hall
We invite you to RSVP now for the inaugural Berg Lecture, featuring internationally acclimated microbiologist Jo Handelsman. In her lecture, “A world without soil: Science and stewardship of our endangered natural resource,” she will address the impacts of climate change on the world’s soil loss and suggest practices to improve soil health now.

College of Science Town Hall: FY22 Financial Plan and UIT
May 17, noon to 2 p.m., (Hybrid) Memorial Union, Multi-purpose Room 13
In this college-wide informational meeting, Interim Dean Vrushali Bokil will share highlights of the our financial situation within the context of OSU’s budget. Mark Johnson, interim financial planning manager, will present the state of College budget, followed by a Q&A session. Andrew Wheeler, UIT director of customer experience, will address critical IT concerns.

Gilfillan Lecture
May 18, 5:30 to 7 p.m., (Hybrid) LaSells Stewart Center, Construction & Engineering Hall
Save the date! Physicist Heidi Schellman will be presenting the annual Gilfillan Lecture. Schellman will share her personal journey as a scientist and her fascination with neutrinos – mysterious subatomic particles. She will discuss her work with the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment and how Oregon State is building tools to deal with massive amounts of data.

Recent Events

Math For All
Feb. 25
Mathematician Swati Patel hosted the second annual Math For All conference. Focused on addressing systemic racism and inequities in mathematics, the conference was an open and friendly space for people to gather and talk about math and math education. Talks and discussions covered everything from human rights in data science to the mathematics of paper folding.

American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Society Conference (ASBMB)
March 25-29
Lauren Dalton and Kar van Zee took 13 undergraduates and 1 Biochemistry and Biophysics Ph.D. student to present their research in Seattle. Two students, Kaitlyn Kim and Michelle Wambui, received ASBMB Student Chapter Travel Awards. Biochemistry and Biophysics Excellence Funds raised during Dam Proud Day were used to support the other undergraduates with travel fellowships.

Science Pub
April 5
The role of single-celled microbes in buffering climate change impacts in ocean waters was the focus on Kimberly Halsey’s Oregon State Science Pub talk. She discussed how gaseous organic molecules are transferred at a surprisingly high rate between plankton and the surface of the ocean. These gasses contribute up to 20% of the marine carbon cycle.

Industry-University Collaborative Conference Program
April 7
Chemist Marilyn Mackiewicz and undergraduate student Citlali Nieves Lira created a new event aimed at bringing together undergraduate students, industry representatives, faculty and alumni. Students were able to attend professional development workshops on networking, negotiation strategies and resume building.

Science Pro
April 11
The College of Science held a career exploration event to connect students with professionals working in biotechnology fields. The event included 15-minute sessions for engaging in small group discussions with community partners.