Words from the Dean
May 2019
Dear colleagues,
As we move toward the conclusion of a great year filled with scientific discoveries, engaged and successful students, and all of the interesting and important challenges of research and education, I want to update you as much as possible on the College budget and related elements. Although I had hoped to receive the College’s budget by now, the university is, with good reason, awaiting the outcome of the 2019 legislative cycle. Consequently, we may not know what our budget will be for several weeks. Nonetheless, I want to communicate where I think the College of Science is, where it needs to go, and some context.
Key contextual elements beyond the College of Science include:
- Decline in state support for higher education when compared both to inflation and to other states. Oregon spends $5,959 per student FTE, 17% less than Washington and 42% less than California.
- Roughly 2/3 of OSU’s education and general funds come from tuition (see p. 9) which puts appropriate but tremendous pressure on us to be student-centered in everything we do.
- Enrollment is flat, and may be declining. This is largely a demographics issue – the number of graduating high school seniors is down almost everywhere in the United States. Lower enrollment means lower revenue.
- PERS and PEBB costs are escalating.
- OSU is wisely choosing to invest in infrastructure improvements, such as renovating Cordley Hall. However, this takes funds from other priorities.
While this context is challenging, there are hopeful signs in Salem of additional support in this biennium for higher education. Furthermore, OSU now recognizes that the way that funds flow internally across the university tax colleges like Science and Liberal Arts at higher levels than others, and it is committed to fixing the problem. Lastly, the leadership of the university believes in the mission and vision of the College of Science and is committed to funding it at an appropriate level.
Looking ahead, my vision for the College is that our students and faculty discover how life and the whole universe work. Together, we will
- Ignite a passion for science in all learners
- Pursue basic and curiosity-driven research wherever the questions lead
- Thrive in a data-rich world
- Improve human and ocean health
- Develop sustainable materials to power our economy and help our planet, and
- Move discoveries from the lab to people’s lives.
To achieve this vision, we need a body of well-supported, excellent tenure-track faculty, students, and support staff. To the best of our ability, we will continue to support our current research-active, tenure-track faculty so they can have continued excellence in research and teaching. Although we may not be able to have faculty numbers at the level of the mid-2010’s, we will continue to strategically hire promising new faculty. Faculty who are less research-active can help, as many already do, by picking up a larger share of teaching. At the same time, we must support our research-active, tenure-track faculty and their graduate students with the best facilities, equipment, and support staff that we can find.
On this last point, this year we have invested in facilities and staff to better support research, and we have received several major philanthropic gifts to support graduate students. In the coming years, we will continue to make these investments. We will renovate Cordley Hall – an investment of more than $100,000,000. Soon after Cordley Hall, I expect renovations and new facilities for some of our departments, with even greater investment.
To ignite a passion for science in all learners means we need to have well-supported, fairly compensated, and respected non-tenure-track faculty and advisors. Together with tenure-track faculty, these are excellent, professional colleagues who do outstanding work teaching science across our disciplines to students. In our next budget, I will be looking for ways to increase our investment in professional development and other ways to help in this area.
I am so proud of your Beaver spirit, and I know that I can count on you to work together with me to address challenges and pursue opportunities. Next week, on Thursday, June 6, I will present the State of the College. I will elaborate further on some of my comments above, and celebrate your many accomplishments this year. The State of the College is scheduled for 4 – 6 p.m. in Kelly Engineering, room 1001 and includes a social gathering during the last half of the event. I hope to see you there!
Roy Haggerty
Dean, College of Science
All the news that’s fit to print.
Please submit news, honors and awards, discoveries, events, research funding, student news, alumni updates and more. Just send us a quick email by the end of the month.
Research updates
Research Highlights
Read more of the most recent research happening on our iMPACT blog site.
Rebecca Maher, a graduate student research fellow in the microbiology department who led OSU’s part of a National Science Foundation study, concluded that localized attempts to curb pollution on coral reefs won’t be enough to save them without a worldwide effort to reduce global warming.
Research Funding
Biochemist/biophysicist Colin Johnson was awarded $337K by the NIH Deafness & Other Communication Disorders agency for his project “In vivo and in vitro studies of the deafness associated protein otoferlin.”
Mathematician Malgorzata Peszynska was awarded $224K for her project “Modeling with constraints and phase transitions in porous media.”
Microbiologist Maude David was awarded $197K , which is part of a $1.94M grant from Second Genome, Inc., a pass-through entity for the National Institute of Health. The award funds her project “Development of a Commercial Platform for Discovery and Validation of Key Microbial Metabolites in CNS Disorder,” to study the connection between autism and the microbiome.
Biochemist Michael Freitag won $165K from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture for his project “Charting terra incognita: Mechanisms for chromatin-mediated gene silencing during fungal pathogenesis.”
Biologist Virginia Weis received $125K from the National Science Foundation for her project “IOS EDGE: Functional-genomics tools for Cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis.”
Chemist Walter Loveland was awarded a $115K grant from the Los Alamos National Laboratory for his project “Preparation of Targets for Los Alamos National Laboratory.”
Research Proposal Support
The University Venture Development Fund (UVDF) application is OPEN! UVDF provides funding for projects that enhance the value and commercial potential of OSU-affiliated applied innovations and support the innovation economy in Oregon. All OSU-affiliated research faculty and students who work under the direction of a faculty PI, are eligible to apply. Clients of the OSU Advantage Accelerator program may apply with prior approval. Deadline to send applications via Cayuse for OSRAA’s review and approval is June 3, 2019, at 5:00 p.m. PDT.
You can find more funding opportunities on ECOS. To access a suite of tools and resources available to faculty, visit the College of Science Proposal Support webpage.
Congratulations
National Honors
Congratulations! Four science students have received prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) awards in 2019. Biochemistry and biophysics seniors Jenna Beyer and Delaney Smith and integrative biology doctoral students Zechariah Meunier and Kamron Kayhani are among 11 students at OSU to receive the fellowships this year. In addition, biochemistry and biophysics alumna Lynda Bradley (B.S. ’15), who is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in biology at Emory University, also won a GRFP award this year.
And more congratulations! Three science students have been awarded the prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship, the top undergraduate award in the country for sophomores and juniors in STEM fields. Third-year students Ryan Tollefsen, an Honors double major in physics and mathematics); Kendra Jackson, a biochemistry and molecular biology major; and Isabella Karabinas, an Honors double major in biochemistry and molecular biology and psychology; all received the national honor.
And more! Honors biochemistry and biophysics senior Delaney Smith (’19) and integrative biology Ph.D. student Andrea Burton are among four OSU students awarded the Fulbright Scholarship this year.
University Honors
Chemist Mike Lerner received the 2019 Innovation Award, and chemist Marita Barth was one of three recipients of the Excellence in Online Teaching and Student Engagement Award. Both were honored at a recent annual OSU Ecampus Faculty Forum. Check out this awards video.
The Honors College has named biologist Bob Mason the 2019 Sandy and Elva Sanders Eminent Professor. The award recognizes outstanding faculty at OSU who participate in Honors College programs and stimulate creative advancements in teaching in the college.
Nominations Wanted
Now open! All faculty, staff and students are invited to submit nominations for the 2019 College of Science Faculty and Staff Awards. The deadline is July 15, 2019.
Consider nominating a colleague for one of these awards:
F.A. Gilfillan Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Science
Recognizes distinguished scholarship and scientific accomplishments by faculty members in Science. Special consideration is given to candidates with distinguished research careers.
Milton Harris Award in Basic Research in Science
Recognizes exceptional achievement in basic research by honoring an outstanding faculty member in the College of Science. Special consideration is given to recent research that was carried out at OSU and that will have a significant impact on its field.
Dean’s Early Career Achievement Award
Recognized exceptional achievement in research and education by an early-career tenure-stream faculty member.
Outstanding Faculty Research Assistant or Associate Award
Recognizes an individual Faculty Research Assistant, Associate, or Senior Faculty Assistant or Associate with a career record of outstanding job performance and contributions.
Gladys Valley Award for Exemplary Administrative Support Recognizes outstanding job performance and dedication by a College staff person to the individual’s Department and to the College.
ASBC Exemplary Service Award Recognizes a non-managerial member of the Arts and Sciences Business Center staff for exemplary service to the College.
Visibility
Distinguished OSU Professor and renowned marine ecologist Jane Lubchenco wrote an editorial in New York Times arguing that Barry Lee Myers is the wrong person to lead NOAA, the nation’s premier weather and ocean science agency, given his lack of scientific credentials, conflicts of interest and the pervasive culture of sexual harassment at AccuWeather, a private weather-forecasting company that he led. The company relies on data from NOAA’s National Weather Service.
Mas Subramanian’s discovery of YInMn Blue was featured in the article “In search of blue,” by Kai Kupferschmidt in the May issue of Science.
Subramanian was on a global stage in York, England on May 10 collecting his Perkin Medal, an international award granted by the Society of Dyers and Colourists, which was announced in the November 2018 issue of the College of Science Newsletter). Congratulations again, Mas!
NEws
$37,930!
That’s the amount the College of Science raised on OSU’s inaugural Dam Proud Day, an annual opportunity to come together as a community and support OSU, and needless to say, we are Dam Proud of it! Kudos to all who donated and got the word out and to the marketing team’s new assistant director of marketing Tamara Cissna for spearheading the marketing campaign. Matching gifts from four donors, including Dean Haggerty, totaled $11,045. Bravo!
Welcome
Xavier Siemens
Welcome to Xavier Siemens, a renowned astrophysicist who is joining the physics department and will significantly expand our astrophysics program. A member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, Dr. Siemens comes most recently from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where he has held the rank of associate professor since 2011. His focus is “super-massive black holes,” the largest type of black holes which are millions to billions of times the mass of the Sun.
That degree in physics will not let you down! OSU physics alumnus Alex Dauenhauer graduated into a dismal job market in 2010. He began as a lab technician for Nike Golf and now he works as an engineer in the optical engineering department of Collins Airspace. Deuenhauer works on helmet mounted displays for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 stealth fighter, a product that gives pilots unparalleled situational awareness.
New Branding Website
Our marketing team partnered with University Relations and Marketing to develop a College of Science sub-brand website with templates you can download, a College of Science messaging platform, brand guidelines and other resources. These tools are for you to use whenever you are creating OSU or department marketing efforts. Need help? Attend our Branding workshop on June 3 from 1-3 p.m in the MU room 109. Register now!
Congratulations!
We are proud to announce that 21 science faculty have received a promotion and/or tenure for the 2018-19 academic year. These faculty are among our most outstanding researchers, scholars, teachers and mentors. Please join us in congratulating them on their outstanding accomplishments!
Biochemistry and Biophysics
- Dr. Zhen Yu will be promoted to Senior Faculty Research Assistant.
- Dr. David Hendrix will be promoted to Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and granted indefinite tenure. He has an appointment in Biochemistry and Biophysics.
Chemistry Department
- Dr. Paul Blakemore will be promoted to Professor of Chemistry.
- Dr. Sandra Loesgen will be promoted to Associate Professor of Chemistry and granted indefinite tenure.
- Dr. Dipankar Koley will be promoted to Associate Professor of Chemistry and granted indefinite tenure.
- Dr. Neal Sleszynski will be promoted to Senior Instructor II.
- Dr. Christopher Knutson will be promoted to Senior Instructor I.
- Liping Yang will be promoted to Senior Faculty Research Assistant I.
Integrative Biology Department
- Dr. Lindsay Biga will be promoted to Senior Instructor I.
- Jonathan Robinson will be promoted to Senior Faculty Research Assistant I.
Mathematics Department
- Dr. David Koslicki was promoted to Associate Professor of Mathematics and granted indefinite tenure.
- Sara Clark will be promoted to Senior Instructor I.
- Dr. Ryan Hass will be promoted to Senior Instructor I.
- Dr. Elizabeth Jones will be promoted to Senior Instructor I.
Microbiology Department
- Dr. Thomas Sharpton will be promoted to Associate Professor of Microbiology and granted indefinite tenure. He has a joint appointment in Statistics.
Physics Department
- Dr. Elizabeth Gire will be promoted to Associate Professor of Physics and granted indefinite tenure.
- Dr. Matthew Graham will be promoted to Associate Professor of Physics and granted indefinite tenure.
- Dr. Weihong Qiu will be promoted to Associate Professor of Physics and granted indefinite tenure.
- Dr. Bo Sun will be promoted to Associate Professor of Physics and granted indefinite tenure.
- Dr. Randall Milstein will be promoted to Senior Instructor I.
Statistics Department
- Lydia Newton will be promoted to Senior Faculty Research Assistant II.
- Dr. Thomas Sharpton will be promoted to Associate Professor of Microbiology and granted indefinite tenure. He has a joint appointment in Statistics.
Watch the Gilfillan Lecture
If you missed the F.A. Gilfillan Memorial Lecture featuring chemist May Nyman’spresentation, “Scientific discoveries from the alphabet soup of nuclear waste,” last month, watch the video. Nyman discussed the scientific discoveries that have emerged from her research on nuclear wastes and her discoveries of new chemical processes and materials to clean up radioactive waste, degrade chemical warfare agents like nerve gas and support sustainable methods for nuclear fuel processing.
Events
Upcoming events
June 3
Memorial Union, 109, 1 – 3 p.m.
OSU Branding Workshop: For anyone who has ever struggled over just how to use the OSU brand, this Branding Workshop is for you. All faculty and staff are encouraged to attend this workshop, which will give you a better understanding of how to use the OSU brand, logo, colors, fonts, photography, and messages in your marketing materials. Get a tour of our newly launched branding website with templates you can download, guidelines and resources tailored for College of Science faculty and staff. Space is limited. Register today!
June 5
Memorial Union Ballroom, 4 – 5:30 p.m.
State of Diversity at Oregon State Address and Reception: All faculty and staff are urged to attend this important event where Dr. Charlene Alexander, Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer, will highlight the incredible work underway across the university to advance inclusive excellence and discuss progress made on OSU’s Diversity Strategic Plan. This is the second annual event hosted by the Office of Institutional Diversity. The event is free, but RSVP is requested. Tickets not required for this event.
June 6
Kelley Engineering Center, Room 1001, 4 – 6 p.m.
State of the College: Dean Roy Haggerty invites all faculty and staff in the College of Science to the State of the College event. He will share updates on the College’s budget, research, enrollment, capital campaign planning and his vision for the upcoming academic year. A Q&A session and a light reception during the last half of the event.
June 14
Lawn outside Linus Pauling Science Center and Nash Hall, Noon
Microbiology and BioHealth Sciences Graduation Luncheon
June 14
Library Quad outside Kidder Hall, 4 – 5:30 p.m.
College of Science Graduation Reception
June 14
Memorial Union 13 (Multipurpose Room), 7 – 9 p.m.
Biochemistry and Biophysics Graduation Dessert
June 15
Cordley Courtyard, 8 – 9 a.m.
Integrative Biology Graduation Breakfast
June 15
Gilbert/GBAD Courtyard, 2 – 4 p.m.
Chemistry Graduation Reception
Recent Events
May 30
The Department of Integrative Biology’s 2019 Robert M. Storm Distinguished Lecture featured Dr. Patricia Brennan, an assistant professor of biological science at Mount Holyoke College. In her talk, “Time To Step Up! Defending ‘Oddball’ Science’,” she focused on the reasons we should support basic science and the role of scientists in advocating for what she calls “oddball” science.
April 30
Dam Proud Day: OSU’s inaugural fundraising day was a chance for everyone in our College – students, staff, faculty and alumni – to become a champion of science and make a contribution to science worth doing and to science education. Donations supported research opportunities, scholarships for first-year students and student travel.
May 4
Spring Family Weekend: For the third straight year, a special event co-hosted by the College of Science and the Honors College welcomed students, parents and families to a brunch, art exhibit of student work and a talent show featuring the many talents of science and Honors students.
May 10-11
Mi Familia Weekend: OSU and the College of Science welcomed hundreds of Hispanic students and their families for this annual celebration of cultural diversity and student success. The bilingual event, hosted by the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in STEM (SACNAS), featured inspiring guest speakers, workshops and performances that children of all ages can enjoy. For the first time, the event united with Juntos Family Day (below).
May 11
Juntos Family Day: Over 90 students and families visited campus for this fourth annual event which introduces Hispanic and Latino students and their families to college life. The College of Science was a sponsor of the event and Associate Dean Henry Jansen gave the opening address in Spanish. The hands-on science activities at the Linus Pauling Institute were very popular!
May 13
Recognizing Excellence 2019 OSU Distinguished Professors Mas Subramanian in Chemistry and Virginia Weis in Integrative Biology presented Distinguished Professor Lectures.
May 17
Yunker Lecture: Dr. Kennedy Reed, a theoretical atomic physicist for the Livermore National Laboratory, presented the Physics Department’s 38th annual Yunker Lecture. In his talk, “Physics in Africa,” Reed shared his own experiences as a visiting scientist in African countries and the daunting challenges physicists in African universities face when conducting research and training students.
May 23
Scholarship Dessert: Our annual dessert recognized scholarship students and our generous donors in a standing-room only celebration in the Memorial Union Lounge with speeches from a science alumna and a current scholarship student.