Research news
Starker Lectures to explore forest biomass issues
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The 2013 Starker Lecture Series at Oregon State University will begin Feb. 28 and continue through May with the theme “Forest Biomass: Energy and Beyond.”
Leading experts will examine the changing use of forest biomass to produce energy, fuels and chemicals, while considering technical, economic, environmental implications, wildlife, soils and other issues. The lecture series will conclude with a field trip in Benton and Lane County.
All of the events are free and open to the public, and all lectures will be on a Thursday afternoon from 3:30-5 p.m. in Richardson Hall Room 107.
A capstone field trip titled “A Tour of Forest Biomass – from the Ground Up!” will be held May 30 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It will feature visits to forest biomass production sites and energy facilities, and a discussion of on-the-ground and facility supply and processing considerations, including technical, environmental and economic. Advance registration for the field trip, and more information about all of the lectures, is available online at http://starkerlectures.forestry.oregonstate.edu/
The speakers and their topics include:
- Feb. 28: “Sustainable Integrated Forest Biorefineries,” with Shri Ramaswamy, professor at the University of Minnesota.
- April 11: “Wood to Wing: Envisioning an Aviation Biofuels Industry Based on Forest Residuals in the Pacific Northwest,” with Michael Wolcott, director of the Institute for Sustainable Design at Washington State University.
- May 2: “Environmental Considerations,” a panel discussion including Matthew Betts, associate professor at OSU, discussing forest wildlife habitat; Robert Harrison, a professor at the University of Washington discussing forest soil productivity; and Elaine Oneil, research scientist with the University of Washington discussing forest product life cycle analysis.
- May 16: “Oregon’s Biomass Experience: An Integrated Approach to Forest Biomass,” with Matt Krumenauer, senior policy analyst with the Oregon Department of Energy.
- May 30: “A Tour of Forest Biomass – from the Ground Up!” capstone field trip.
The Starker Lecture Series is sponsored by the Starker family in honor of T.J. and Bruce Starker, and is supported by the Oregon Forest Resources Institute and the OSU College of Forestry.
Boiler Plate: College of Forestry Media Contact: David Stauth Source:Julie Howard, 541-737-1591
Promote to OSU home page: Not Promote to the OSU home pageStarker Lectures to explore forest biomass issues
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The 2013 Starker Lecture Series at Oregon State University will begin Feb. 28 and continue through May with the theme “Forest Biomass: Energy and Beyond.”
Leading experts will examine the changing use of forest biomass to produce energy, fuels and chemicals, while considering technical, economic, environmental implications, wildlife, soils and other issues. The lecture series will conclude with a field trip in Benton and Lane County.
All of the events are free and open to the public, and all lectures will be on a Thursday afternoon from 3:30-5 p.m. in Richardson Hall Room 107.
A capstone field trip titled “A Tour of Forest Biomass – from the Ground Up!” will be held May 30 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It will feature visits to forest biomass production sites and energy facilities, and a discussion of on-the-ground and facility supply and processing considerations, including technical, environmental and economic. Advance registration for the field trip, and more information about all of the lectures, is available online at http://starkerlectures.forestry.oregonstate.edu/
The speakers and their topics include:
- Feb. 28: “Sustainable Integrated Forest Biorefineries,” with Shri Ramaswamy, professor at the University of Minnesota.
- April 11: “Wood to Wing: Envisioning an Aviation Biofuels Industry Based on Forest Residuals in the Pacific Northwest,” with Michael Wolcott, director of the Institute for Sustainable Design at Washington State University.
- May 2: “Environmental Considerations,” a panel discussion including Matthew Betts, associate professor at OSU, discussing forest wildlife habitat; Robert Harrison, a professor at the University of Washington discussing forest soil productivity; and Elaine Oneil, research scientist with the University of Washington discussing forest product life cycle analysis.
- May 16: “Oregon’s Biomass Experience: An Integrated Approach to Forest Biomass,” with Matt Krumenauer, senior policy analyst with the Oregon Department of Energy.
- May 30: “A Tour of Forest Biomass – from the Ground Up!” capstone field trip.
The Starker Lecture Series is sponsored by the Starker family in honor of T.J. and Bruce Starker, and is supported by the Oregon Forest Resources Institute and the OSU College of Forestry.
Boiler Plate: College of Forestry Media Contact: David Stauth Source:Julie Howard, 541-737-1591
Promote to OSU home page: Not Promote to the OSU home pageEvents, tours to recognize Linus Pauling Day
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University will recognize the birthday of Linus Pauling, two-time Nobel laureate and its most famous alumni, on Feb. 28 with events that are free and open to the public.
A tour of Pauling artifacts and memorabilia will be held in the OSU Library Special Collections, on the fifth floor of Valley Library, at 11 a.m. No pre-registration is required.
A lunch, with proceeds to benefit the OSU Food Drive, will be at noon in the Linus Pauling Science Center. And a tour of the new building and the Linus Pauling Institute will begin at 12:30 p.m. in the lobby. Pre-register for that tour by contacting jana.zvibleman@oregonstate.edu by Feb. 26.
The day has been proclaimed Linus Carl Pauling Day by Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber.
Boiler Plate: Linus Pauling Institute Media Contact: David Stauth Source:Jana Zvibleman, 541-737-8205
Promote to OSU home page: Not Promote to the OSU home pageEvents, tours to recognize Linus Pauling Day
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University will recognize the birthday of Linus Pauling, two-time Nobel laureate and its most famous alumni, on Feb. 28 with events that are free and open to the public.
A tour of Pauling artifacts and memorabilia will be held in the OSU Library Special Collections, on the fifth floor of Valley Library, at 11 a.m. No pre-registration is required.
A lunch, with proceeds to benefit the OSU Food Drive, will be at noon in the Linus Pauling Science Center. And a tour of the new building and the Linus Pauling Institute will begin at 12:30 p.m. in the lobby. Pre-register for that tour by contacting jana.zvibleman@oregonstate.edu by Feb. 26.
The day has been proclaimed Linus Carl Pauling Day by Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber.
Boiler Plate: Linus Pauling Institute Media Contact: David Stauth Source:Jana Zvibleman, 541-737-8205
Promote to OSU home page: Not Promote to the OSU home pageOSU to honor two faculty leaders as “Distinguished Professors”
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University will honor a leading medical researcher and a pioneer in the development of artificial intelligence with the highest honor it gives to its faculty, recognition as “Distinguished Professors.”
Joseph Beckman, director of the Environmental Health Sciences Center at OSU, and Thomas Dietterich, director and professor of intelligent systems in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science will be honored for their achievements this spring.
Sabah Randhawa, OSU provost and executive vice president, said the two faculty members chosen for the award share similar traits of teaching excellence, critically important research contributions, leadership and service to the university and to their respective fields.
“Joe Beckman and Tom Dietterich really exemplify what we hope faculty will strive to become as they develop their careers,” Randhawa said. “They serve as extraordinary role models and exemplars of multi-faceted achievement, from the classroom to the laboratory and beyond. They also have the respect and admiration from their colleagues and peers throughout the world, as well as on campus.”
Beckman is the Ava Helen Pauling Chair and principal investigator in OSU’s Linus Pauling Institute. A faculty member in the College of Science, he is perhaps best known for his discovery of the role of peroxynitrite in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, as well as his studies on antioxidants and nutrients that may help slow progression of the disease.
He is the 2012 recipient of the prestigious Oregon Health & Science University Medical Research Foundation’s Discovery Award, as well as several other honors. An OSU faculty member since 2001, Beckman served as a 2nd lieutenant in the U.S. Army Medical Services Corps, and spent a dozen years as captain in the U.S. Army Reserve’s Medical Services Corps.
“Joe is a true innovator in the study of neurodegenerative disease,” noted Vince Remcho, dean of the College of Science. “I first met Joe when he visited OSU in 2001, and I found his studies on superoxide dismutase and its potential role in ALS to be fascinating. Joe is a valued colleague, a talented scientist, and a wonderful mentor to our junior faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates.”
Dietterich is a pioneer in the field of machine learning and, like Beckman, is one of the most highly cited scientists in his field. He has obtained more than $30 million in research grants over his career, helped build a world-class research group at Oregon State, and created three software companies. Dietterich also co-founded two of the field’s leading journals and was elected first president of the International Machine Learning Society.
In 2012, Dietterich was chosen president-elect of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. His research has numerous applications in such diverse fields as drug design, electronic manufacturing, information management, ecological modeling, and natural resource management.
“Tom leads by example providing exemplary mentoring for faculty and students, collaborating with nearly every discipline on campus, and gaining international respect for his work,” said Sandra Woods, dean of the College of Engineering. “We are so proud to have his leadership in the college.”
Boiler Plate: Generic OSU Boiler Plate Media Contact: Mark Floyd Source:Sabah Randhawa, 541-737-2111
Promote to OSU home page: Not Promote to the OSU home pageOSU to honor two faculty leaders as “Distinguished Professors”
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University will honor a leading medical researcher and a pioneer in the development of artificial intelligence with the highest honor it gives to its faculty, recognition as “Distinguished Professors.”
Joseph Beckman, director of the Environmental Health Sciences Center at OSU, and Thomas Dietterich, director and professor of intelligent systems in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science will be honored for their achievements this spring.
Sabah Randhawa, OSU provost and executive vice president, said the two faculty members chosen for the award share similar traits of teaching excellence, critically important research contributions, leadership and service to the university and to their respective fields.
“Joe Beckman and Tom Dietterich really exemplify what we hope faculty will strive to become as they develop their careers,” Randhawa said. “They serve as extraordinary role models and exemplars of multi-faceted achievement, from the classroom to the laboratory and beyond. They also have the respect and admiration from their colleagues and peers throughout the world, as well as on campus.”
Beckman is the Ava Helen Pauling Chair and principal investigator in OSU’s Linus Pauling Institute. A faculty member in the College of Science, he is perhaps best known for his discovery of the role of peroxynitrite in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, as well as his studies on antioxidants and nutrients that may help slow progression of the disease.
He is the 2012 recipient of the prestigious Oregon Health & Science University Medical Research Foundation’s Discovery Award, as well as several other honors. An OSU faculty member since 2001, Beckman served as a 2nd lieutenant in the U.S. Army Medical Services Corps, and spent a dozen years as captain in the U.S. Army Reserve’s Medical Services Corps.
“Joe is a true innovator in the study of neurodegenerative disease,” noted Vince Remcho, dean of the College of Science. “I first met Joe when he visited OSU in 2001, and I found his studies on superoxide dismutase and its potential role in ALS to be fascinating. Joe is a valued colleague, a talented scientist, and a wonderful mentor to our junior faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates.”
Dietterich is a pioneer in the field of machine learning and, like Beckman, is one of the most highly cited scientists in his field. He has obtained more than $30 million in research grants over his career, helped build a world-class research group at Oregon State, and created three software companies. Dietterich also co-founded two of the field’s leading journals and was elected first president of the International Machine Learning Society.
In 2012, Dietterich was chosen president-elect of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. His research has numerous applications in such diverse fields as drug design, electronic manufacturing, information management, ecological modeling, and natural resource management.
“Tom leads by example providing exemplary mentoring for faculty and students, collaborating with nearly every discipline on campus, and gaining international respect for his work,” said Sandra Woods, dean of the College of Engineering. “We are so proud to have his leadership in the college.”
Boiler Plate: Generic OSU Boiler Plate Media Contact: Mark Floyd Source:Sabah Randhawa, 541-737-2111
Promote to OSU home page: Not Promote to the OSU home pageSurvey: Climate change a concern, not a priority to coastal leaders
A new survey has found that Oregon coastal leaders are concerned about climate change, but slow to address it because of other priorities - a weak economy and preparing for an earthquake/tsunami.
Body:CORVALLIS, Ore. – Many Oregon coast public officials and community leaders believe their local climate is changing and that the change will affect their communities. But overall, they say, addressing the changing climate is not an urgent concern.
These are among the findings of a survey by Oregon Sea Grant at Oregon State University.
During 2012, Sea Grant surveyed coastal professionals such as city managers and planners, elected officials such as city council members and county commissioners, and other leaders including those with nongovernmental organizations. Approximately 60 percent of the 140 survey respondents believe the local climate is changing. By contrast, 18 percent think it is not, and 22 percent don't know.
While most believe that their professional efforts toward addressing climate change would benefit the community, both elected officials and other coastal professionals also believe that a combination of governments and other organizations should initiate a local response to the likely effects of climate change.
Overall, actions appear to be lagging behind beliefs and concerns, according to the research leader, Joseph Cone, the Sea Grant assistant director.
“As of last May, many coastal professionals – about 44 percent of the survey respondents -- were not currently involved in planning to adapt to its effects,” said Cone.
The survey results placed climate change effects next to the bottom on a list of seven significant “potential stressors on your community during the next 10 years.” Coastal professionals scored climate change effects considerably lower (46 percent of respondents said they were moderately to extremely concerned) than the top-ranked stressors – a weak economy, and the impacts of a tsunami or earthquake (approximately 70 percent moderately to extremely concerned for each).
The hurdles to planning most often encountered were a lack of agreement over the importance of climate change effects and a lack of urgency regarding them. Where planning for effects has begun, it has mainly been in an early fact-finding stage, the survey showed. Anticipating this, questions asked what specific information needs coastal professionals had. Most needed was information about diverse environmental and social considerations.
Highly rated needs included information about flooding or saltwater intrusion, species and habitat vulnerability, and predictions of ecosystem impacts; and also social and economic vulnerabilities, the cost of climate adaptation, and how to communicate climate risks rated as important information needs.
The survey was administered online to 348 individuals. Some coastal participants for the survey came from a list of respondents from a similar climate change study conducted by Oregon Sea Grant in 2008, which sampled Oregon coastal managers and practitioners.
Not all coastal communities or officials in them could be, or were, included in the 2012 study. The sample is what statisticians call a “purposive sample” rather than a random sample of all coastal professionals, and provided timely and targeted insights that can help guide further climate planning and assistance, said Cone.
A report of the findings, Coastal Climate Change: Survey Results for Oregon 2012, prepared by OSU doctoral candidate Kirsten Winters, is available for download at http://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/sgpubs/coastal-climate-change-survey-results
The Oregon survey was based in large part on a California coastal assessment conducted by California Sea Grant and its partners, and is part of a national Sea Grant study on coastal communities and climate change adaptation, led by Cone.
Boiler Plate: Oregon Sea Grant Source:Joseph Cone, 541-737-0756
Promote to OSU home page: Not Promote to the OSU home pageSurvey: Climate change a concern, not a priority to coastal leaders
A new survey has found that Oregon coastal leaders are concerned about climate change, but slow to address it because of other priorities - a weak economy and preparing for an earthquake/tsunami.
Body:CORVALLIS, Ore. – Many Oregon coast public officials and community leaders believe their local climate is changing and that the change will affect their communities. But overall, they say, addressing the changing climate is not an urgent concern.
These are among the findings of a survey by Oregon Sea Grant at Oregon State University.
During 2012, Sea Grant surveyed coastal professionals such as city managers and planners, elected officials such as city council members and county commissioners, and other leaders including those with nongovernmental organizations. Approximately 60 percent of the 140 survey respondents believe the local climate is changing. By contrast, 18 percent think it is not, and 22 percent don't know.
While most believe that their professional efforts toward addressing climate change would benefit the community, both elected officials and other coastal professionals also believe that a combination of governments and other organizations should initiate a local response to the likely effects of climate change.
Overall, actions appear to be lagging behind beliefs and concerns, according to the research leader, Joseph Cone, the Sea Grant assistant director.
“As of last May, many coastal professionals – about 44 percent of the survey respondents -- were not currently involved in planning to adapt to its effects,” said Cone.
The survey results placed climate change effects next to the bottom on a list of seven significant “potential stressors on your community during the next 10 years.” Coastal professionals scored climate change effects considerably lower (46 percent of respondents said they were moderately to extremely concerned) than the top-ranked stressors – a weak economy, and the impacts of a tsunami or earthquake (approximately 70 percent moderately to extremely concerned for each).
The hurdles to planning most often encountered were a lack of agreement over the importance of climate change effects and a lack of urgency regarding them. Where planning for effects has begun, it has mainly been in an early fact-finding stage, the survey showed. Anticipating this, questions asked what specific information needs coastal professionals had. Most needed was information about diverse environmental and social considerations.
Highly rated needs included information about flooding or saltwater intrusion, species and habitat vulnerability, and predictions of ecosystem impacts; and also social and economic vulnerabilities, the cost of climate adaptation, and how to communicate climate risks rated as important information needs.
The survey was administered online to 348 individuals. Some coastal participants for the survey came from a list of respondents from a similar climate change study conducted by Oregon Sea Grant in 2008, which sampled Oregon coastal managers and practitioners.
Not all coastal communities or officials in them could be, or were, included in the 2012 study. The sample is what statisticians call a “purposive sample” rather than a random sample of all coastal professionals, and provided timely and targeted insights that can help guide further climate planning and assistance, said Cone.
A report of the findings, Coastal Climate Change: Survey Results for Oregon 2012, prepared by OSU doctoral candidate Kirsten Winters, is available for download at http://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/sgpubs/coastal-climate-change-survey-results
The Oregon survey was based in large part on a California coastal assessment conducted by California Sea Grant and its partners, and is part of a national Sea Grant study on coastal communities and climate change adaptation, led by Cone.
Boiler Plate: Oregon Sea Grant Source:Joseph Cone, 541-737-0756
Promote to OSU home page: Not Promote to the OSU home pageAuthor to take audience on exploration of animals’ inner world on March 7
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Virginia Morell, author of the new book, “Animal Wise,” will give insights into the inner world of animals during a talk at Oregon State University on Thursday, March 7.
The free, public event begins at 7 p.m. in the Construction & Engineering Hall of the LaSells Stewart Center on the OSU campus.
Covering a range of topics, ranging from how earthworms make decisions to how birds practice songs in their sleep, Morell will take audience members on an exploration into the hearts and minds of wild and domesticated animals.
Morell’s is the first book of its kind to look at a range of animals – from the smallest insects to the largest mammals – and to ask the question: How has evolution selected for the expression of intelligence and emotion?
“Animal Wise” transports readers to field sites and laboratories around the world, introducing readers to pioneering animal-cognition researchers and their surprisingly intelligent and sensitive subjects. She explores how this rapidly evolving, controversial field has only recently overturned old notions about why animals behave as they do. Morell also probes the moral and ethical dilemmas of recognizing that even “lesser animals” have cognitive abilities such as memory, feelings, personality, and self-awareness – traits that many once believed were unique to human beings.
Morell is a Medford-based science writer who has written for National Geographic, Science, Smithsonian and other publications. She is also the author of “Ancestral Passions,” a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.
“Animal Wise” will be released Feb. 26 by Crown Publishing/Random House. Morell’s talk is sponsored by OSU’s Spring Creek Project.
Boiler Plate: College of Liberal Arts Media Contact: Angela Yeager Source:Charles Goodrich, 541-737-6198
Multimedia: Promote to OSU home page: Not Promote to the OSU home pageAuthor to take audience on exploration of animals’ inner world on March 7
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Virginia Morell, author of the new book, “Animal Wise,” will give insights into the inner world of animals during a talk at Oregon State University on Thursday, March 7.
The free, public event begins at 7 p.m. in the Construction & Engineering Hall of the LaSells Stewart Center on the OSU campus.
Covering a range of topics, ranging from how earthworms make decisions to how birds practice songs in their sleep, Morell will take audience members on an exploration into the hearts and minds of wild and domesticated animals.
Morell’s is the first book of its kind to look at a range of animals – from the smallest insects to the largest mammals – and to ask the question: How has evolution selected for the expression of intelligence and emotion?
“Animal Wise” transports readers to field sites and laboratories around the world, introducing readers to pioneering animal-cognition researchers and their surprisingly intelligent and sensitive subjects. She explores how this rapidly evolving, controversial field has only recently overturned old notions about why animals behave as they do. Morell also probes the moral and ethical dilemmas of recognizing that even “lesser animals” have cognitive abilities such as memory, feelings, personality, and self-awareness – traits that many once believed were unique to human beings.
Morell is a Medford-based science writer who has written for National Geographic, Science, Smithsonian and other publications. She is also the author of “Ancestral Passions,” a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.
“Animal Wise” will be released Feb. 26 by Crown Publishing/Random House. Morell’s talk is sponsored by OSU’s Spring Creek Project.
Boiler Plate: College of Liberal Arts Media Contact: Angela Yeager Source:Charles Goodrich, 541-737-6198
Multimedia: Promote to OSU home page: Not Promote to the OSU home pageStudy: Climate change impact on stream flow differs according to location
A new study found that large, snow-fed rivers including the Willamette, McKenzie and Deschutes, may actually be more sensitive to climate change impacts because of steep terrain and geology.
Body:CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new analysis of river basins in the western United States suggests that climate change will have the greatest impact on summer stream flows in those waterways that might seem less vulnerable – the large, snow-fed rivers that originate in the high Cascades and other mountain ranges.
Though these iconic rivers – including the Willamette, McKenzie, Deschutes, Klamath and Rogue – appear to have plenty of water, they also may be among the most sensitive to climate change, the study concludes.
Results were published in the journal, Hydrological Processes.
“These are big rivers fed by snow that enters deep groundwater systems with highly permeable geology,” said Mohammad Safeeq, a post-doctoral researcher at Oregon State University and lead author on the study. “Their response to climate change involves more than just a change in snowfall patterns – the steepness of the terrain and the ‘drainage efficiency’ of the system are just as important to flow rates.
“We looked at 61years of records and it looks like Cascade streams today have an average summer flow that is about two centimeters lower – or about a 36 percent decline – over historical averages,” he added.
Gordon Grant, a research hydrologist with the Pacific Northwest Research Station of the U.S.D.A. Forest Service and co-author on the study, says resource managers shouldn’t panic over such analyses, which he hopes won’t lead to “fear-mongering.”
“Oregon will continue to have plenty of water in the future,” Grant emphasized. “The storage offered in our high Cascades groundwater system is a unique gift on this planet and one that won’t go away. But it is important to acknowledge that even these big, bountiful rivers will be affected by climate change and that may have an impact on everything from power generation, to irrigation and fish survival.”
In their study, the researchers explored daily stream flow data from 81 watersheds across the western United States during the years 1950 to 2010, to explore the drainage efficiency and snowpack dynamics of the systems. They also looked at rain-driven systems and discovered these, too, have experienced declining stream flow in late fall and winter.
While both rain- and snow-driven river systems respond to changing climate differently, the study showed that the intrinsic speed at which water moves through the ground once it falls out of the sky or melts is a key factor in determining how much water will be available in rivers in the future. This speed depends on the steepness of the terrain and the porosity and permeability of the underlying geology.
For instance, the researchers note that in areas with steep slopes and relatively impermeable rocks – such as the Coast Range or older Cascades – rain and snowmelt rapidly run off the land, resulting in high flows in winter and very little water in summer.
In contrast, in young volcanic areas such as the high Cascades the heavy snowfall melts and instead of flowing directly into rivers, much of it seeps into the porous underlying rock and begins a slow journey toward the Deschutes, McKenzie, Rogue and other big river systems.
This slow journey through the rocks means that in a warming climate, when there will be less snow and earlier melt in the spring, rivers draining regions like the Cascades will continue to drop for longer periods, resulting in lower late-summer flows.
“Summer stream flow in rain-driven streams and those in rapidly draining landscapes such as the Coast Range won’t be affected as much by climate change because they’re already more or less dry in the summer,” said Grant, who is a courtesy professor in OSU’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences. “Systems like the Calapooia River, for example, just don’t have as much water to lose.
“There may be some seasonal differences,” he added, “but the impact by the end of summer isn’t as great as in the slow-draining systems.”
Safeeq, a post-doctoral researcher in OSU’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, noted that no one previously had looked at the magnitude of retrospective stream flow change in different river basins “through the lens of their hydro-geologic differences.”
“They act differently and in ways many scientists may not have predicted,” Safeeq pointed out. “The bottom line is that slow-draining, snow-driven river systems may appear to be less affected by climate change, but they are in fact most sensitive to change.”
Grant noted that the study shows that “we have to look beyond just knowing where snow will turn to rain in the future to predict stream flows. The geology of the landscape and its effect on how fast water moves is equally important.”
Boiler Plate: College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences Media Contact: Mark Floyd Source:Mohammad Safeeq, 541-750-7345
Gordon Grant, 541-750-7328
Multimedia: Promote to OSU home page: Not Promote to the OSU home pageStudy: Climate change impact on stream flow differs according to location
A new study found that large, snow-fed rivers including the Willamette, McKenzie and Deschutes, may actually be more sensitive to climate change impacts because of steep terrain and geology.
Body:CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new analysis of river basins in the western United States suggests that climate change will have the greatest impact on summer stream flows in those waterways that might seem less vulnerable – the large, snow-fed rivers that originate in the high Cascades and other mountain ranges.
Though these iconic rivers – including the Willamette, McKenzie, Deschutes, Klamath and Rogue – appear to have plenty of water, they also may be among the most sensitive to climate change, the study concludes.
Results were published in the journal, Hydrological Processes.
“These are big rivers fed by snow that enters deep groundwater systems with highly permeable geology,” said Mohammad Safeeq, a post-doctoral researcher at Oregon State University and lead author on the study. “Their response to climate change involves more than just a change in snowfall patterns – the steepness of the terrain and the ‘drainage efficiency’ of the system are just as important to flow rates.
“We looked at 61years of records and it looks like Cascade streams today have an average summer flow that is about two centimeters lower – or about a 36 percent decline – over historical averages,” he added.
Gordon Grant, a research hydrologist with the Pacific Northwest Research Station of the U.S.D.A. Forest Service and co-author on the study, says resource managers shouldn’t panic over such analyses, which he hopes won’t lead to “fear-mongering.”
“Oregon will continue to have plenty of water in the future,” Grant emphasized. “The storage offered in our high Cascades groundwater system is a unique gift on this planet and one that won’t go away. But it is important to acknowledge that even these big, bountiful rivers will be affected by climate change and that may have an impact on everything from power generation, to irrigation and fish survival.”
In their study, the researchers explored daily stream flow data from 81 watersheds across the western United States during the years 1950 to 2010, to explore the drainage efficiency and snowpack dynamics of the systems. They also looked at rain-driven systems and discovered these, too, have experienced declining stream flow in late fall and winter.
While both rain- and snow-driven river systems respond to changing climate differently, the study showed that the intrinsic speed at which water moves through the ground once it falls out of the sky or melts is a key factor in determining how much water will be available in rivers in the future. This speed depends on the steepness of the terrain and the porosity and permeability of the underlying geology.
For instance, the researchers note that in areas with steep slopes and relatively impermeable rocks – such as the Coast Range or older Cascades – rain and snowmelt rapidly run off the land, resulting in high flows in winter and very little water in summer.
In contrast, in young volcanic areas such as the high Cascades the heavy snowfall melts and instead of flowing directly into rivers, much of it seeps into the porous underlying rock and begins a slow journey toward the Deschutes, McKenzie, Rogue and other big river systems.
This slow journey through the rocks means that in a warming climate, when there will be less snow and earlier melt in the spring, rivers draining regions like the Cascades will continue to drop for longer periods, resulting in lower late-summer flows.
“Summer stream flow in rain-driven streams and those in rapidly draining landscapes such as the Coast Range won’t be affected as much by climate change because they’re already more or less dry in the summer,” said Grant, who is a courtesy professor in OSU’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences. “Systems like the Calapooia River, for example, just don’t have as much water to lose.
“There may be some seasonal differences,” he added, “but the impact by the end of summer isn’t as great as in the slow-draining systems.”
Safeeq, a post-doctoral researcher in OSU’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, noted that no one previously had looked at the magnitude of retrospective stream flow change in different river basins “through the lens of their hydro-geologic differences.”
“They act differently and in ways many scientists may not have predicted,” Safeeq pointed out. “The bottom line is that slow-draining, snow-driven river systems may appear to be less affected by climate change, but they are in fact most sensitive to change.”
Grant noted that the study shows that “we have to look beyond just knowing where snow will turn to rain in the future to predict stream flows. The geology of the landscape and its effect on how fast water moves is equally important.”
Boiler Plate: College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences Media Contact: Mark Floyd Source:Mohammad Safeeq, 541-750-7345
Gordon Grant, 541-750-7328
Multimedia: Promote to OSU home page: Not Promote to the OSU home pageOSU leads effort to help local schools recruit, support dual-career couples
Oregon State University is helping to address the concerns of dual-career couples by taking the lead in establishing the Greater Oregon Higher Education Recruitment Consortium, a branch of the national organization that helps proactively address dual-career concerns.
Body:CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University is helping to address the concerns of dual-career couples by taking the lead in establishing the Greater Oregon Higher Education Recruitment Consortium, a branch of the national organization that helps proactively address dual-career concerns.
The local branch includes both private and public colleges, community colleges and universities in Oregon and Washington, and is directed by Robynn Pease. It was established by the OSU Provost’s Office under the direction of Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Becky Warner.
It is one of 14 regional members of the national Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC). The Greater Oregon branch has just launched its website (www.goherc.org) this week to coincide with an updated HERC website and assist more than 200,000 job seekers across the country.
GO HERC allows job seekers to directly link to regional, relocation, diversity, dual career, and job seeking resources. There is also access to free webinars by experts on a range of recruitment and retention topics.
Warner said the philosophy around recruitment has dramatically shifted across campuses in the United States, and taking into account the broader context of familial relationships is essential.
“We do not just recruit an individual anymore,” Warner said. Instead, she added, universities take into account a potential faculty or staff member’s connections to their family and to the community.
Warner said it’s important that potential faculty and staff identify when the university or the community is not a good fit, because universities can spend thousands of dollars bringing new employees to campus, and if they ultimately leave because it wasn’t the right decision, everyone loses.
Because HERC encompasses public and private institutions around the country, as well as some corporate partners, it does what OSU couldn’t do by itself, offer a comprehensive glimpse into the local job market. “OSU can’t go it alone,” she said.
Pease hopes to attract not only more universities to the membership, but also to bring top employers to the table as well. Employees coming to universities often have highly educated partners and spouses with marketable job skills, which she believes could become an untapped resource for local employers.
“This program helps us retain the top talent in the region,” Pease said, because employees are more likely to remain at OSU and other institutions if their partners can find meaningful employment locally as well.
GO HERC is comprised of 18 dues-paying members representing an array of private and public institutions across Oregon and southern Washington with a goal of increasing membership by 50 percent in the coming year. As a member of GO HERC, institutions convey to potential faculty and staff that their institutions are diverse, family-friendly and supportive of dual-career couples.
For more information about GO HERC, contact Pease at 541-737-4842 or robynn.pease@oregonstate.edu.
Boiler Plate: Generic OSU Boiler Plate Media Contact: Theresa Hogue Source:
Robynn Pease, 541-737-4842
Promote to OSU home page: Not Promote to the OSU home pageOSU leads effort to help local schools recruit, support dual-career couples
Oregon State University is helping to address the concerns of dual-career couples by taking the lead in establishing the Greater Oregon Higher Education Recruitment Consortium, a branch of the national organization that helps proactively address dual-career concerns.
Body:CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University is helping to address the concerns of dual-career couples by taking the lead in establishing the Greater Oregon Higher Education Recruitment Consortium, a branch of the national organization that helps proactively address dual-career concerns.
The local branch includes both private and public colleges, community colleges and universities in Oregon and Washington, and is directed by Robynn Pease. It was established by the OSU Provost’s Office under the direction of Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Becky Warner.
It is one of 14 regional members of the national Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC). The Greater Oregon branch has just launched its website (www.goherc.org) this week to coincide with an updated HERC website and assist more than 200,000 job seekers across the country.
GO HERC allows job seekers to directly link to regional, relocation, diversity, dual career, and job seeking resources. There is also access to free webinars by experts on a range of recruitment and retention topics.
Warner said the philosophy around recruitment has dramatically shifted across campuses in the United States, and taking into account the broader context of familial relationships is essential.
“We do not just recruit an individual anymore,” Warner said. Instead, she added, universities take into account a potential faculty or staff member’s connections to their family and to the community.
Warner said it’s important that potential faculty and staff identify when the university or the community is not a good fit, because universities can spend thousands of dollars bringing new employees to campus, and if they ultimately leave because it wasn’t the right decision, everyone loses.
Because HERC encompasses public and private institutions around the country, as well as some corporate partners, it does what OSU couldn’t do by itself, offer a comprehensive glimpse into the local job market. “OSU can’t go it alone,” she said.
Pease hopes to attract not only more universities to the membership, but also to bring top employers to the table as well. Employees coming to universities often have highly educated partners and spouses with marketable job skills, which she believes could become an untapped resource for local employers.
“This program helps us retain the top talent in the region,” Pease said, because employees are more likely to remain at OSU and other institutions if their partners can find meaningful employment locally as well.
GO HERC is comprised of 18 dues-paying members representing an array of private and public institutions across Oregon and southern Washington with a goal of increasing membership by 50 percent in the coming year. As a member of GO HERC, institutions convey to potential faculty and staff that their institutions are diverse, family-friendly and supportive of dual-career couples.
For more information about GO HERC, contact Pease at 541-737-4842 or robynn.pease@oregonstate.edu.
Boiler Plate: Generic OSU Boiler Plate Media Contact: Theresa Hogue Source:
Robynn Pease, 541-737-4842
Promote to OSU home page: Not Promote to the OSU home pageResearchers invent “acoustic-assisted” magnetic information storage
OSU engineers have invented a new technology that could improve the magnetic storage of data, with many possible applications in a field that is nearing the limits of data storage with existing approaches.
Body:CORVALLIS, Ore. – Electrical engineers at Oregon State University have discovered a way to use high- frequency sound waves to enhance the magnetic storage of data, offering a new approach to improve the data storage capabilities of a multitude of electronic devices around the world.
The technology, called acoustic-assisted magnetic recording, has been presented at a professional conference, and a patent application was filed this week.
Magnetic storage of data is one of the most inexpensive and widespread technologies known, found in everything from computer hard drives to the magnetic strip on a credit card. It’s permanent, dependable and cheap. However, long-term reliability of stored data becomes an increasing concern as the need grows to pack more and more information in storage devices, experts say.
“We’re near the peak of what we can do with the technology we now use for magnetic storage,” said Pallavi Dhagat, an associate professor in the OSU School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. “There’s always a need for approaches that could store even more information in a smaller space, cost less and use less power.”
That can be possible, scientists say, if the magnetic materials are temporarily heated, even for an instant, so they can become momentarily less stiff and more data can be stored at a particular spot. This has proven difficult to do, because the heating tends to spread beyond where it is wanted and the technology involves complex integration of optics, electronics and magnetics.
With the new approach, ultrasound is directed at a highly specific location while data is being stored, creating elasticity that literally allows a tiny portion of the material to bend or stretch. It immediately resumes its shape when the ultrasound waves stop. The data can be stored reliably without the concerns around heating.
It should also be possible to create a solid state memory device with no moving parts to implement this technology, researchers said. Unlike conventional hard-disk drive storage, solid state memory would offer durability.
These advances were recently reported at the 12th Joint MMM/Intermag Conference in Chicago.
“This technology should allow us to marry the benefits of solid state electronics with magnetic recording, and create non-volatile memory systems that store more data in less space, using less power,” said Albrecht Jander, also an associate professor of electrical engineering and collaborator on the research.
This approach might work with materials already being used in magnetic recordings, or variations on them, the investigators said. Continued research will explore performance, materials and cost issues.
Advances in data storage are part of what has enabled the enormous advance in high technology systems in recent decades.
A disk drive at the dawn of this era in the 1950s had five megabyte capacity, cost today’s equivalent of $160,000, weighed about a ton, had to be moved with a forklift and was so big it had to be shipped on a large cargo aircraft. Experts at the time said they could have built something with more storage capacity, but they could not envision why anyone would want it, or buy it.
A system today that stores 500 gigabytes, or 100,000 times as much information, is found routinely in laptop computers that cost a few hundred dollars.
Boiler Plate: College of Engineering Media Contact: David Stauth Source:Pallavi Dhagat, 541-737-9927
Albrecht Jander, 541-737-2974
Multimedia: Promote to OSU home page: Promote to the OSU home pageResearchers invent “acoustic-assisted” magnetic information storage
OSU engineers have invented a new technology that could improve the magnetic storage of data, with many possible applications in a field that is nearing the limits of data storage with existing approaches.
Body:CORVALLIS, Ore. – Electrical engineers at Oregon State University have discovered a way to use high- frequency sound waves to enhance the magnetic storage of data, offering a new approach to improve the data storage capabilities of a multitude of electronic devices around the world.
The technology, called acoustic-assisted magnetic recording, has been presented at a professional conference, and a patent application was filed this week.
Magnetic storage of data is one of the most inexpensive and widespread technologies known, found in everything from computer hard drives to the magnetic strip on a credit card. It’s permanent, dependable and cheap. However, long-term reliability of stored data becomes an increasing concern as the need grows to pack more and more information in storage devices, experts say.
“We’re near the peak of what we can do with the technology we now use for magnetic storage,” said Pallavi Dhagat, an associate professor in the OSU School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. “There’s always a need for approaches that could store even more information in a smaller space, cost less and use less power.”
That can be possible, scientists say, if the magnetic materials are temporarily heated, even for an instant, so they can become momentarily less stiff and more data can be stored at a particular spot. This has proven difficult to do, because the heating tends to spread beyond where it is wanted and the technology involves complex integration of optics, electronics and magnetics.
With the new approach, ultrasound is directed at a highly specific location while data is being stored, creating elasticity that literally allows a tiny portion of the material to bend or stretch. It immediately resumes its shape when the ultrasound waves stop. The data can be stored reliably without the concerns around heating.
It should also be possible to create a solid state memory device with no moving parts to implement this technology, researchers said. Unlike conventional hard-disk drive storage, solid state memory would offer durability.
These advances were recently reported at the 12th Joint MMM/Intermag Conference in Chicago.
“This technology should allow us to marry the benefits of solid state electronics with magnetic recording, and create non-volatile memory systems that store more data in less space, using less power,” said Albrecht Jander, also an associate professor of electrical engineering and collaborator on the research.
This approach might work with materials already being used in magnetic recordings, or variations on them, the investigators said. Continued research will explore performance, materials and cost issues.
Advances in data storage are part of what has enabled the enormous advance in high technology systems in recent decades.
A disk drive at the dawn of this era in the 1950s had five megabyte capacity, cost today’s equivalent of $160,000, weighed about a ton, had to be moved with a forklift and was so big it had to be shipped on a large cargo aircraft. Experts at the time said they could have built something with more storage capacity, but they could not envision why anyone would want it, or buy it.
A system today that stores 500 gigabytes, or 100,000 times as much information, is found routinely in laptop computers that cost a few hundred dollars.
Boiler Plate: College of Engineering Media Contact: David Stauth Source:Pallavi Dhagat, 541-737-9927
Albrecht Jander, 541-737-2974
Multimedia: Promote to OSU home page: Promote to the OSU home pageOSU alum, NASA astronaut to discuss space experiences
OSU engineering alumnus and NASA astronaut Donald Pettit will speak on "Techno-Stories from Space" in a presentation on Friday, Feb. 22, at the LaSells Stewart Center.
Body:CORVALLIS, Ore. – Donald Pettit, an Oregon State University alumnus, NASA astronaut and member of three space missions, will speak at OSU on Friday, Feb. 22, on “Techno-Stories from Space.”
The presentation, which is free and open to the public, will be in the LaSells Stewart Center’s Construction and Engineering Hall from 3-4 p.m.
Pettit, an Oregon native from Silverton, was a 1978 OSU graduate, has worked as a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, and overall has spent more than a year living and working in space. His presentation will discuss the challenges and learning opportunities presented by extensive time spent in the International Space Station.
Boiler Plate: College of Engineering Media Contact: David Stauth Source:Thuy Tran, 541-737-6020
Multimedia: Promote to OSU home page: Not Promote to the OSU home pageOSU alum, NASA astronaut to discuss space experiences
OSU engineering alumnus and NASA astronaut Donald Pettit will speak on "Techno-Stories from Space" in a presentation on Friday, Feb. 22, at the LaSells Stewart Center.
Body:CORVALLIS, Ore. – Donald Pettit, an Oregon State University alumnus, NASA astronaut and member of three space missions, will speak at OSU on Friday, Feb. 22, on “Techno-Stories from Space.”
The presentation, which is free and open to the public, will be in the LaSells Stewart Center’s Construction and Engineering Hall from 3-4 p.m.
Pettit, an Oregon native from Silverton, was a 1978 OSU graduate, has worked as a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, and overall has spent more than a year living and working in space. His presentation will discuss the challenges and learning opportunities presented by extensive time spent in the International Space Station.
Boiler Plate: College of Engineering Media Contact: David Stauth Source:Thuy Tran, 541-737-6020
Multimedia: Promote to OSU home page: Not Promote to the OSU home pageA war without end - with Earth’s carbon cycle held in the balance
A major battle is going on between the most abundant organism in the oceans, and a virus that's now known to attack it. The results have implications for the Earth's carbon balance.
Body:CORVALLIS, Ore. – The greatest battle in Earth’s history has been going on for hundreds of millions of years - it isn’t over yet - and until now no one knew it existed, scientists reported today in the journal Nature.
In one corner is SAR11, a bacterium that’s the most abundant organism in the oceans, survives where most other cells would die and plays a major role in the planet’s carbon cycle. It had been theorized that SAR11 was so small and widespread that it must be invulnerable to attack.
In the other corner, and so strange-looking that scientists previously didn’t even recognize what they were, are “Pelagiphages,” viruses now known to infect SAR11 and routinely kill millions of these cells every second. And how this fight turns out is of more than casual interest, because SAR11 has a huge effect on the amount of carbon dioxide that enters the atmosphere, and the overall biology of the oceans.
“There’s a war going on in our oceans, a huge war, and we never even saw it,” said Stephen Giovannoni, a professor of microbiology at Oregon State University. “This is an important piece of the puzzle in how carbon is stored or released in the sea.”
Researchers from OSU, the University of Arizona and other institutions today outlined the discovery of this ongoing conflict, and its implications for the biology and function of ocean processes. The findings disprove the theory that SAR11 cells are immune to viral predation, researchers said.
“In general, every living cell is vulnerable to viral infection,” said Giovannoni, who first discovered SAR11 in 1990. “What has been so puzzling about SAR11 was its sheer abundance; there was simply so much of it that some scientists believed it must not get attacked by viruses.”
What the new research shows, Giovannoni said, is that SAR11 is competitive, good at scavenging organic carbon, and effective at changing to avoid infection. Because of that, it thrives and persists in abundance even though it’s constantly being killed by the new viruses that have been discovered.
The discovery of the Pelagiphage viral families was made by Yanlin Zhao, Michael Schwalbach and Ben Temperton, OSU postdoctoral researchers working with Giovannoni. They used traditional research methods, growing cells and viruses from nature in a laboratory, instead of sequencing DNA from nature. The new viruses were so unique that computers could not recognize the virus DNA.
“The viruses themselves, of course, appear to be just as abundant as SAR11,” Giovannoni said. “Our colleagues at the University of Arizona demonstrated this with new technologies they developed for measuring viral diversity.”
SAR11 has several unique characteristics, including the smallest known genetic structure of any independent cell. Through sheer numbers, this microbe has a huge role in consuming organic carbon, which it uses to generate energy while producing carbon dioxide and water in the process. SAR11 recycles organic matter, providing the nutrients needed by algae to produce about half of the oxygen that enters Earth’s atmosphere every day.
This carbon cycle ultimately affects all plant and animal life on Earth.
Contributors to this research included scientists at OSU’s High Throughput Culturing Laboratory; the University of Arizona’s Tucson Marine Phage Lab; University of California/San Diego’s National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research; and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, which provided opportunity to sample viruses from nature. Funding was provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Marine Microbiology Initiative.
Boiler Plate: College of Science Media Contact: David Stauth Source:Stephen Giovannoni, 541-737-1835
Multimedia: Promote to OSU home page: Promote to the OSU home pageA war without end - with Earth’s carbon cycle held in the balance
A major battle is going on between the most abundant organism in the oceans, and a virus that's now known to attack it. The results have implications for the Earth's carbon balance.
Body:CORVALLIS, Ore. – The greatest battle in Earth’s history has been going on for hundreds of millions of years - it isn’t over yet - and until now no one knew it existed, scientists reported today in the journal Nature.
In one corner is SAR11, a bacterium that’s the most abundant organism in the oceans, survives where most other cells would die and plays a major role in the planet’s carbon cycle. It had been theorized that SAR11 was so small and widespread that it must be invulnerable to attack.
In the other corner, and so strange-looking that scientists previously didn’t even recognize what they were, are “Pelagiphages,” viruses now known to infect SAR11 and routinely kill millions of these cells every second. And how this fight turns out is of more than casual interest, because SAR11 has a huge effect on the amount of carbon dioxide that enters the atmosphere, and the overall biology of the oceans.
“There’s a war going on in our oceans, a huge war, and we never even saw it,” said Stephen Giovannoni, a professor of microbiology at Oregon State University. “This is an important piece of the puzzle in how carbon is stored or released in the sea.”
Researchers from OSU, the University of Arizona and other institutions today outlined the discovery of this ongoing conflict, and its implications for the biology and function of ocean processes. The findings disprove the theory that SAR11 cells are immune to viral predation, researchers said.
“In general, every living cell is vulnerable to viral infection,” said Giovannoni, who first discovered SAR11 in 1990. “What has been so puzzling about SAR11 was its sheer abundance; there was simply so much of it that some scientists believed it must not get attacked by viruses.”
What the new research shows, Giovannoni said, is that SAR11 is competitive, good at scavenging organic carbon, and effective at changing to avoid infection. Because of that, it thrives and persists in abundance even though it’s constantly being killed by the new viruses that have been discovered.
The discovery of the Pelagiphage viral families was made by Yanlin Zhao, Michael Schwalbach and Ben Temperton, OSU postdoctoral researchers working with Giovannoni. They used traditional research methods, growing cells and viruses from nature in a laboratory, instead of sequencing DNA from nature. The new viruses were so unique that computers could not recognize the virus DNA.
“The viruses themselves, of course, appear to be just as abundant as SAR11,” Giovannoni said. “Our colleagues at the University of Arizona demonstrated this with new technologies they developed for measuring viral diversity.”
SAR11 has several unique characteristics, including the smallest known genetic structure of any independent cell. Through sheer numbers, this microbe has a huge role in consuming organic carbon, which it uses to generate energy while producing carbon dioxide and water in the process. SAR11 recycles organic matter, providing the nutrients needed by algae to produce about half of the oxygen that enters Earth’s atmosphere every day.
This carbon cycle ultimately affects all plant and animal life on Earth.
Contributors to this research included scientists at OSU’s High Throughput Culturing Laboratory; the University of Arizona’s Tucson Marine Phage Lab; University of California/San Diego’s National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research; and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, which provided opportunity to sample viruses from nature. Funding was provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Marine Microbiology Initiative.
Boiler Plate: College of Science Media Contact: David Stauth Source:Stephen Giovannoni, 541-737-1835
Multimedia: Promote to OSU home page: Promote to the OSU home page
