I hope your winter term is off to a good and productive start. We are making good progress working through our budget issues with strong financial support from the Provost’s Office. We will continue to make improvements by working together to improve student success and generate revenue that will not only strengthen the College of Science, but sustain it.

The dawn of a new year always serves as its own motivation for projects, collaborations, ideas and discovery. Building upon the excitement of a new year, I look forward to reconnecting with many of you to learn how things are going at next month’s Winter Awards Ceremony and reception to celebrate teaching and advising excellence in our College of Science.

The term is already well underway and everyone’s schedules and plates are filling up. Please take a moment to scan through the updates and news in this newsletter, especially the Open Educational Resources Notice Requirement from the Provost and the tremendous innovations in our college algebra courses that are starting to pay off with dramatic improvements in student retention, performance and engagement. Go, Team Math!

A number of our faculty are featured in OSU’s new documentary, “Saving Atlantis,” a film about scientists and communities fighting to save coral reefs. The film is being screened on campus Feb. 20 and features faculty Rebecca Vega-Thurber and Virginia Weis as well as a grad student and former postdoc. Congratulations to them for raising the visibility of our oceans, coral reefs and showcasing our College’s work in marine science.

I expect 2018 to hold great promise and impressive accomplishments. Thank you for all that you do to make the College of Science a thriving community for all.

Best wishes for a healthy and productive year.

RoyRoy Haggerty
Dean, College of Science

Research Highlights

Read more of the most recent research happening in our College online.

Drugs from dirt? Yes! A type of soil-dwelling bacterium produces molecules that induce death in melanoma cells, according to new research by chemist Sandra Loesgen.

Investing in Faculty

This past year, the College of Science piloted a program to provide faculty with grant proposal support and preparation. Bettye Maddux established the Proposal Support Unit in the College working in collaboration with researchers across campus. We are thrilled to announce that under her leadership, we have successfully submitted 119 proposals in the past year.

Given the success of this model, the College has hired Bettye full-time as Director of Proposal Support. She is available to assist all faculty, postdocs, graduate students and anyone else with proposal preparation. Her primary focus is facilitating large, complex, multi-investigator, multi-disciplinary or multi-institutional proposals. She also monitors grant funding opportunities and provides resources and tools to increase faculty competitiveness. Funding opportunities can be found on ECOS.

In addition, Bettye assists researchers with budget review to assure compliance; review of Cayuse records, Fastlane data entry, or Cayuse 424; and review of documents for compliance with the RFP; and communication with OSRAA on budget review before submission. Feel free to contact her by email or phone 7-7304, if for proposal support.

The College remains committed to supporting faculty in their research, which is a fundamental part of the College’s mission. Currently the unit consists of just Bettye, but the hope it to eventually growing the unit to support more than 140 researchers.

To learn more about whole suite of tools and resources available to you, visit the College of Science Proposal Support webpage.

“Anna Reflects on Her Choices,” by Dr. Jerri Bartholomew.

Microbiology professor Jerri Bartholomew gave a talk on her lifelong involvement with science and art as part of an Arts Lecture Series at Western New Mexico University on Jan. 11. A glass artist and a renowned scientist, Bartholomew brings the skill of keen observation and a spirit of discovery to both art and science. 

Alien alloy bust? According to a widely-discussed New York Times article in December about the federal government’s one-time UFO Program, the government’s former  subcontractor stockpiles “somewhere in Las Vegas” alien metal alloys with “some kind of compound that they don’t recognize.” Really?! According to chemist May Nyman, interviewed in Live Science, “If we had such mysterious metals, you could take it to any university where research is done, and they could tell you what are the elements and something about the crystalline phase within a few hours.” Sounds like a challenge, May!

OSU Statistics was well-represented in December at the 2017 International Indian Statistical Association (IISA) conference held in Hyderabad, India. Sastry Pantula offered a strong voice on a panelist that discussed women in statistics and data science and another one on career development. Sharmodeep Bhattacharryya presented his research on “Estimation and Inference in Networks and Graphical Models” and chaired a session on “Probability, Random Matrices, and Big Data.”

YInMn Blue, the new blue pigment discovered by Mas Subramanian in 2009, is making headlines again. The discovery is featured in the winter edition of Amtrak’s “OnTrak” magazine (see p. 19). Complimentary print copies will be available in every seat pocket of “Amtrak Cascades” trains running from Eugene to British Columbia via Portland and Seattle.

“Anna Reflects on Her Choices,” by Dr. Jerri Bartholomew.

Microbiology professor Jerri Bartholomew gave a talk on her lifelong involvement with science and art as part of an Arts Lecture Series at Western New Mexico University on Jan. 11. A glass artist and a renowned scientist, Bartholomew brings the skill of keen observation and a spirit of discovery to both art and science. 

Alien alloy bust? According to a widely-discussed New York Times article in December about the federal government’s one-time UFO Program, the government’s former  subcontractor stockpiles “somewhere in Las Vegas” alien metal alloys with “some kind of compound that they don’t recognize.” Really?! According to chemist May Nyman, interviewed in Live Science, “If we had such mysterious metals, you could take it to any university where research is done, and they could tell you what are the elements and something about the crystalline phase within a few hours.” Sounds like a challenge, May!

OSU Statistics was well-represented in December at the 2017 International Indian Statistical Association (IISA) conference held in Hyderabad, India. Sastry Pantula offered a strong voice on a panelist that discussed women in statistics and data science and another one on career development. Sharmodeep Bhattacharryya presented his research on “Estimation and Inference in Networks and Graphical Models” and chaired a session on “Probability, Random Matrices, and Big Data.”

YInMn Blue, the new blue pigment discovered by Mas Subramanian in 2009, is making headlines again. The discovery is featured in the winter edition of Amtrak’s “OnTrak” magazine (see p. 19). Complimentary print copies will be available in every seat pocket of “Amtrak Cascades” trains running from Eugene to British Columbia via Portland and Seattle.

Upcoming events

January 31
Kearney Hall 112, 6:00 p.m.
SURE Science Information Session. Please spread the word to your freshman, sophomore and junior students. This workshop is an ideal introduction to the value of hands-on summer research and also helps students apply for a SURE Science grant and identify a faculty mentor.

February 1
Oregon Convention Center, Portland. 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
The 2018 State of the University Address with President Ray will focus on celebrating OSU’s 150 years of transforming Oregon, the nation, and the world.

February 8
LaSells Stewart Center, Austin Auditorium, 9 a.m.
If you are in dire need of some laughs, don’t miss creator of PHD Comics, Jorge Cham. He will be on campus to present “The Science Gap,” a talk exploring how scientists can “close the disconnect” with the public and better communicate and collaborate to solve society’s present and future challenges. The event is free and open to the public. Presented by the College of Engineering. Location:

February 10
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Mas Subramanian presents a TED talk at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill on the theme “Color Wheel.” The conference will challenge the audience to rethink their notion of a black and white world and embrace a more nuanced and colorful understanding of humanity. The event will begin in the binary, in which the world is seen as black or white. Speakers will discuss the problem of using this binary lens and provide new ways to lift our collective consciousness. TEDxUNC is expecting more than 1,000 attendees in the university’s historic Memorial Hall. He is honored to be invited to be the only male among the eight speakers.

February 20 
LaSells Stewart Center, 5:00 p.m.
As part of OSU150’s Sea Grant Festival, Jane Lubchenco, one of our Distinguished Professors in Integrative Biology and former head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), will present “Hope for People and the Ocean.”

LaSells Stewart Center, 7:00 p.m.; doors open at 6:00 (RSVP required).
Bring the popcorn and watch a special screening of “Saving Atlantis,” an OSU-produced, feature-length documentary about scientists and communities fighting to save coral reefs around the world. The film features science faculty Rebecca Vega-Thurber and Virginia Weis; Ph.D. student Ryan McMinds; and former postdoc Jesse Zanaveldt. Dean Haggerty will provide introductory remarks.

February 22
Memorial Union, Horizon Room.5:30 – 7:00 p.m.
College of Science Teaching and Advising Awards. Join us for our Winter Awards celebrating excellence in teaching and advising. Most of the awards are determined by student nominations to honor the people who have positively impacted their lives.

April 20, 2018
Laura Greene, President of the American Physical Society and Director of the National Magnetic Field Laboratory will present the annual Yunker Lecture.

Recent Events

January 6
Mas Subramanian gave a well-received talk on YInMn Blue and a life in science to over 800 people at TEDxSalem V, an all-day event featuring talks, performances, lunch and lots of swag.