Dear colleagues,

First, I’d like to bring your attention to an important event happening this week: Dr. Jayathi Murthy, Oregon State University’s president, is attending a special meet-and-greet to talk about her priorities for the university as they relate to the College of Science. I hope you will join us. Please RSVP today.

I am very pleased to announce that a new strategic plan implementation Core council has been assembled to start work soon on implementation of the College of Science’s new Strategic Plan. I would like to thank the faculty, staff and students who have agreed to serve on this important council to help lead the College towards our vision of a diverse community of science leaders driven to collaborate, innovate and discover, and work to improve life for the people of Oregon and beyond. You can view the council membership on a new Updates site on our Strategic Plan website.

As work on the implementation plan starts, I would like to highlight some events that address Goal 1 – Develop the next generation of science leaders, mentors and culture shapers and Goal 2 – Lead in fundamental, use-inspired and transdisciplinary scientific research, scholarship and innovation. As announced by Provost Feser and Vice President for Research Irem Tumer, the Office of Research Advancement (ORA) in the Research Office has developed the Research Impact and Advancement Academy (RIA) to support and invest into the growth of faculty as leaders in transdisciplinary collaborative research and innovation. The focus on dynamic team based  transdisciplinary research is also part of the vision of the Collaborative Innovation Complex, envisioned to have creative, driven faculty and students come together to solve critical challenges facing the world in areas such as climate science, oceanography, sustainability and water resources. The College of Science’s participation in the RIA Academy and in the planning of the CIC are important activities towards Goals 1 and 2 of our strategic plan.

The RIA research leadership professional development program, launched in October 2022,  aims to provide 10 faculty fellows opportunities to develop knowledge, skills, practices, and relationships needed to successfully lead large transdisciplinary proposals and funded solutions-focused research programs. I am happy to announce that out of 10 fellows, two are COS faculty who  have been awarded RIA fellowships, Assistant Professor of Chemistry Kyriakos Stylianou and Assistant Professor of Statistics, Katie Mclaughlin.

Integrated into the Academy will be 10 Valley Fellows, funded through a generous grant from the Wayne and Gladys Valley Foundation, who are exceptional junior faculty with innovative research in the field of biohealth. As a matter of great pride to the COS, three of our faculty have been selected as Biohealth Valley Fellows, who will train with the RIA academy and fellows. These are Assistant Professor of Microbiology Maude David, Associate Professor of Biochemistry & Biophysics David Hendrix, and Associate Professor of Physics Bo Sun.

I am also thrilled to announce a new fund in the College to support faculty members who previously or currently identify as women. Read more about this below!

I hope you all had a restful Thanksgiving break. I am especially grateful this year to be a part of this College and to have such dedicated, hardworking and passionate colleagues working with me to build a better world through scientific discovery.

Vrushali Bokil
Interim Dean, College of Science

Research Highlights

Physicist Ethan Minot was part of an international research team to develop a powerful, ultra-tiny spectrometer that fits on a microchip and is operated using artificial intelligence. This tool could improve everything from smartphone cameras to environmental monitoring. The study was published in Science.

Research Funding

Marine ecologist Francis Chan is the lead on a new $4.2M grant from NOAA to investigate how multiple climate change-related stressors are impacting marine ecosystems off the coast of Oregon, Washington and Northern California. The study will focus on Dungeness crab and krill, specifically.

Population biologist Ben Dalziel is the PI on a $1M grant from the National Science Foundation to identify, model, predict, track and mitigate the effects of future pandemics. The grant is part of a new program through the NSF focused on predicting and preventing future pandemics. Statistician Katherine McLaughlin is also part of the research team.

Chemist David Ji received a $3M grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to lead the development of a new, high-energy-density battery that does not rely on rare elements.

Chemist Claudia Maier received a $278K grant from Oregon Health & Science University for a grant entitled “Botanicals enhancing neurological and functional resilience in aging.”

Biologist Anne Jolles and microbiologist Claudia Hase received a $10K SciRIS grant for a project entitled “Oysters, Vibrio and its bacteriophages: A model system for understanding population and coevolutionary host-pathogen-hyperpathogen dynamics.”

Statistician Yuan Jiang, along with biologist Anna Jolles, received a $10K SciRIS grant for a project entitled “Harnesses longitudinal microbiome data to define the ecological roles of host-associated microbes.”

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.

Celebrating Graduate Students

The College of Science is proud of its graduate students, many of whom have received national and university-wide awards. We celebrated our graduate students on Nov. 3 at the second annual graduate student appreciation night.

College Honors

On Oct. 24, the College of Science gathered to celebrate the 2022 Alumni Award recipients. These awards publicly recognize our alumni, friends and colleagues for their distinguished personal and career achievements, service, and contributions to society that reflect positively on the College of Science and on Oregon State University.

After serving in the U.S. Air Force in cyberspace operations, Erin McCarn returned to school to earn her master’s in chemistry. McCarn is the recipient of the 2022-23 College of Science Mark and Vicki Hehnen Veteran’s Science Scholarship.

Regional Honors

The College of Science Department of Marketing and Communications team won three Best of CASE District VIII Awards this year – in the following categories:

1. Student recruitment publication for the College of Science Undergraduate Student Recruitment Viewbook (See award details) (View the publication)
2. Publication design awards for the 2019-21 College of Science Annual Report
   (See award details) (View the publication)
3. Publication design for the Undergraduate Student Recruitment Viewbook (See award details)

Call for nominations

It’s that time of year again! Help us pick the winners of the 2023 College of Science winter awards. Submit nominations for one or more awardsfor colleagues who are demonstrating excellence in teaching, service, administration or research by Dec. 1.

The new Gender Equity in Leadership Fund provides a $3K stipend to develop projects related to our mission while enhancing leadership skills and opportunities for faculty members who previously or currently identify as women. Submit your proposal by Jan. 15!

Physicist Ethan Minot was featured on Interesting Engineering for the powerful, ultra-tiny “lab on a chip” spectrometer he helped develop.

Local ABC and NBC news stations and the Seattle Times picked up the story about marine ecologist Francis Chan’s new $4.2M grant from NOAA to research the effects of climate change on Dungeness crab and krill.

Chemist David Ji’s $3M Department of Energy grant to develop a more sustainable battery was shared on FOX News and OPB.

This past summer, 40 College of Science undergraduate students participated in the SURE Science program, working with mentors on research in labs across campus. For many of these students, the opportunity to work full-time on a research project gave them hands-on experience and a glimpse of what a future in research might look like. Read more about their experience.

For two days in early November, nearly 1,000 elementary school students from around the area came to OSU to participate in Discovery Days, a biannual outreach program that immerses students in the rich and diverse world of science.

The College of Science is pleased to announce a new funding opportunity to support the advancement of faculty members who previously or currently identify as women. The new College of Science Gender Equity in Leadership Fund is aimed at enhancing and building leadership skills and opportunities. We strongly encourage multi-PI and collaborative proposals.

Resources and Tools

Need to update your College of Science directory profile with your latest publications and awards? Simply scroll to the bottom of your profile page and click the “Log In” button. From there, you will see an “edit” button at the top of the page and can make changes from there. You may also send your requested changes to Cari Longman in the College marketing department.

Upcoming Events

Meet-and-Greet with President Jayathi Murthy
Tuesday, Nov. 29, 4-5 p.m., MU Multipurpose Room 13
Join us for an opportunity to hear from Oregon State University’s new president, Jayathi Murthy as she shares her vision for the university and how the College of Science might fit into it. RSVP by Nov. 22.

Microbiology seminar featuring Dr. Stilianos Louca
Tuesday, Nov. 29, Noon, ALS 4000
Join the Department of Microbiology for their monthly seminar series. This month, Stilianos Louca, assistant professor from the University of Oregon’s Institute of Ecology and Evolution, will give a talk entitled “Ecology and Evolution of Microbial Metabolism.”

College of Science Inclusive Excellence Lecture
Thursday, Jan. 26, 5-7 p.m., LaSells Stewart Center Construction & Engineering Hall
Save the date for the College of Science’s inaugural Inclusive Excellence Lecture featuring Assistant Professor Marilyn Mackiewicz, recipient of the 2022 Inclusive Excellence Award.

College of Science Winter Awards
Tuesday, Feb. 21, Memorial Union Horizon Room
Join your College of Science colleagues as we celebrate excellence in teaching, advising, research and administration at our annual winter awards! Submit award nominations by December 1!

Recent Events

Alumni Awards
Oct. 24, 2022
College of Science faculty, alumni and friends celebrated five recipients of this year’s alumni awards. See “College Honors,” above, for more details.

Graduate student appreciation night
Nov. 3
Our second annual graduate student appreciation night was an evening of fun and celebration of all our graduate students do in the College of Science.

Discovery Days
Nov. 1 – 2
For two days, more than 1,000 elementary school students came to OSU to attend Discovery Days, a biannual outreach program that immerses students in the rich and diverse world of science.

SACNAS Conference
Oct. 26 – 29
College of Science faculty and graduate students attended the annual SACNAS conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico. May Nyman, Jenna Bustos and OSU alumna Ana Arteaga had the opportunity to take part and present in the Actinide Center of Excellence Symposium at the conference.