Research news
Mobile LIDAR technology expanding rapidly
The rapidly expanding technology of mobile LIDAR could change the way we see, study and record the land forms around us, with multiple applications in science and industry.
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Imagine driving down a road a few times and obtaining in an hour more data about the surrounding landscape than a crew of surveyors could obtain in months.
Such is the potential of mobile LIDAR, a powerful technology that’s only a few years old and promises to change the way we see, study and record the world around us. It will be applied in transportation, hydrology, forestry, virtual tourism and construction – and almost no one knows anything about it.
That may change with a new report on the uses and current technology of mobile LIDAR, which has just been completed and presented to the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. It will help more managers and experts understand, use and take advantage of this science.
The full exploitation of this remarkable technology, however, faces constraints. Too few experts are trained to use it, too few educational programs exist to teach it, mountains of data are produced that can swamp the computer capabilities of even large agencies, and lack of a consistent data management protocol clogs the sharing of information between systems.
“A lot of people and professionals still don’t even know what mobile LIDAR is or what it can do,” said Michael Olsen, an assistant professor of civil engineering at Oregon State University, and lead author of the new report. “And the technology is changing so fast it’s hard for anyone, even the experts, to keep up.
“When we get more people using mobile LIDAR and we work through some of the obstacles, it’s going to reduce costs, improve efficiency, change many professions and even help save lives,” Olsen said.
LIDAR, which stands for light detecting and ranging, has been used for 20 years, primarily in aerial mapping. Pulses of light up to one million times a second bounce back from whatever they hit, forming a highly detailed and precise map of the landscape. But mobile LIDAR used on the ground, with even more powerful computer systems, is still in its infancy and has only been commercially available for five years.
Mobile LIDAR, compared to its aerial counterpart, can provide 10 to 100 times more data points that hugely improve the resolution of an image. Moving even at highway speeds, a technician can obtain a remarkable, three-dimensional view of the nearby terrain.
Such technology could be used repeatedly in one area and give engineers a virtual picture of an unstable, slow-moving hillside. It could provide a detailed image of a forest, or an urban setting, or a near-perfect recording of surrounding geology. An image of a tangle of utility lines in a ditch, made just before they were backfilled and covered, would give construction workers 30 years later a 3-D map to guide them as they repaired a leaking pipe.
Mobile LIDAR may someday be a key to driverless automobiles, or used to create amazing visual images that will enhance “virtual tourism” and let anyone, anywhere, actually see what an area looks like as if they were standing there. The applications in surveying and for transportation engineering are compelling, and may change entire professions.
Just recently, mobile LIDAR was used to help the space shuttle Endeavour maneuver through city streets to reach its final home in Los Angeles.
Some of the newest applications, Olsen said, will have to wait until there are enough experts to exploit them. OSU operates one of the few programs in the nation to train students in both civil engineering and this evolving field of “geomatics,” and more jobs are available than there are people to fill them. Due to a partnership with Leica Geosystems and David Evans and Associates, OSU has sufficient hardware and software to maintain a variety of geomatics courses. But more educational programs are needed, Olsen said, and fully-trained and licensed professionals can make $100,000 or more annually.
Other nations, he said, including Canada, have made a much more aggressive commitment to using mobile LIDAR and training students in geomatics. It is critical for the U.S. to follow suit, Olsen said.
Collaborators on the new report included researchers from the University of Houston, Lidarnews.com, David Evans and Associates, Persi Consulting, and Innovative Data, Inc.
Boiler Plate: About the OSU College of Engineering: The OSU College of Engineering is among the nation’s largest and most productive engineering programs. In the past six years, the College has more than doubled its research expenditures to $27.5 million by emphasizing highly collaborative research that solves global problems, spins out new companies, and produces opportunity for students through hands-on learning. Media Contact: David Stauth Source:Michael Olsen, 541-737-9327
Multimedia:Video of space shuttle move:
Promote to OSU home page: Not Promote to the OSU home pageMobile LIDAR technology expanding rapidly
The rapidly expanding technology of mobile LIDAR could change the way we see, study and record the land forms around us, with multiple applications in science and industry.
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Imagine driving down a road a few times and obtaining in an hour more data about the surrounding landscape than a crew of surveyors could obtain in months.
Such is the potential of mobile LIDAR, a powerful technology that’s only a few years old and promises to change the way we see, study and record the world around us. It will be applied in transportation, hydrology, forestry, virtual tourism and construction – and almost no one knows anything about it.
That may change with a new report on the uses and current technology of mobile LIDAR, which has just been completed and presented to the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. It will help more managers and experts understand, use and take advantage of this science.
The full exploitation of this remarkable technology, however, faces constraints. Too few experts are trained to use it, too few educational programs exist to teach it, mountains of data are produced that can swamp the computer capabilities of even large agencies, and lack of a consistent data management protocol clogs the sharing of information between systems.
“A lot of people and professionals still don’t even know what mobile LIDAR is or what it can do,” said Michael Olsen, an assistant professor of civil engineering at Oregon State University, and lead author of the new report. “And the technology is changing so fast it’s hard for anyone, even the experts, to keep up.
“When we get more people using mobile LIDAR and we work through some of the obstacles, it’s going to reduce costs, improve efficiency, change many professions and even help save lives,” Olsen said.
LIDAR, which stands for light detecting and ranging, has been used for 20 years, primarily in aerial mapping. Pulses of light up to one million times a second bounce back from whatever they hit, forming a highly detailed and precise map of the landscape. But mobile LIDAR used on the ground, with even more powerful computer systems, is still in its infancy and has only been commercially available for five years.
Mobile LIDAR, compared to its aerial counterpart, can provide 10 to 100 times more data points that hugely improve the resolution of an image. Moving even at highway speeds, a technician can obtain a remarkable, three-dimensional view of the nearby terrain.
Such technology could be used repeatedly in one area and give engineers a virtual picture of an unstable, slow-moving hillside. It could provide a detailed image of a forest, or an urban setting, or a near-perfect recording of surrounding geology. An image of a tangle of utility lines in a ditch, made just before they were backfilled and covered, would give construction workers 30 years later a 3-D map to guide them as they repaired a leaking pipe.
Mobile LIDAR may someday be a key to driverless automobiles, or used to create amazing visual images that will enhance “virtual tourism” and let anyone, anywhere, actually see what an area looks like as if they were standing there. The applications in surveying and for transportation engineering are compelling, and may change entire professions.
Just recently, mobile LIDAR was used to help the space shuttle Endeavour maneuver through city streets to reach its final home in Los Angeles.
Some of the newest applications, Olsen said, will have to wait until there are enough experts to exploit them. OSU operates one of the few programs in the nation to train students in both civil engineering and this evolving field of “geomatics,” and more jobs are available than there are people to fill them. Due to a partnership with Leica Geosystems and David Evans and Associates, OSU has sufficient hardware and software to maintain a variety of geomatics courses. But more educational programs are needed, Olsen said, and fully-trained and licensed professionals can make $100,000 or more annually.
Other nations, he said, including Canada, have made a much more aggressive commitment to using mobile LIDAR and training students in geomatics. It is critical for the U.S. to follow suit, Olsen said.
Collaborators on the new report included researchers from the University of Houston, Lidarnews.com, David Evans and Associates, Persi Consulting, and Innovative Data, Inc.
Boiler Plate: About the OSU College of Engineering: The OSU College of Engineering is among the nation’s largest and most productive engineering programs. In the past six years, the College has more than doubled its research expenditures to $27.5 million by emphasizing highly collaborative research that solves global problems, spins out new companies, and produces opportunity for students through hands-on learning. Media Contact: David Stauth Source:Michael Olsen, 541-737-9327
Multimedia:Video of space shuttle move:
Promote to OSU home page: Not Promote to the OSU home pageFormer CDC director Julie Gerberding to speak at OSU on April 3
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Julie Gerberding, the first woman to direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will speak at Oregon State University on Wednesday, April 3, on “Becoming the Healthiest Nation.”
Her free public lecture, which is part of OSU’s Discovery Lecture Series, begins at 7 p.m. in LaSells Stewart Center.
In her talk, Gerberding will outline how the United States, while spending more on health care than any other nation, is far from being the healthiest country in the world. She advocates for private-public partnerships to improve health care and lower costs.
In 2005, she was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world for her leadership of CDC during the growing threats of bioterrorism and SARS. Forbes magazine listed her among the 100 most powerful women in the world for four consecutive years.
Gerberding is now president of the vaccine division of pharmaceutical company, MERCK. During her tenure as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from July of 2002 to January of 2009, CDC expanded its efforts in disaster preparedness, response to bioterrorism, preventing pandemics and addressing SARS and other emerging global health threats.
Her earlier career focused on preventing occupational HIV transmission. Gerberding has a medical degree from Case Western Reserve University and is on the faculty of the University of California at San Francisco.
More information is available at: http://oregonstate.edu/urm/events/discovery
Boiler Plate: Generic OSU Boiler Plate Media Contact: Mark Floyd Promote to OSU home page: Not Promote to the OSU home pageFormer CDC director Julie Gerberding to speak at OSU on April 3
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Julie Gerberding, the first woman to direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will speak at Oregon State University on Wednesday, April 3, on “Becoming the Healthiest Nation.”
Her free public lecture, which is part of OSU’s Discovery Lecture Series, begins at 7 p.m. in LaSells Stewart Center.
In her talk, Gerberding will outline how the United States, while spending more on health care than any other nation, is far from being the healthiest country in the world. She advocates for private-public partnerships to improve health care and lower costs.
In 2005, she was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world for her leadership of CDC during the growing threats of bioterrorism and SARS. Forbes magazine listed her among the 100 most powerful women in the world for four consecutive years.
Gerberding is now president of the vaccine division of pharmaceutical company, MERCK. During her tenure as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from July of 2002 to January of 2009, CDC expanded its efforts in disaster preparedness, response to bioterrorism, preventing pandemics and addressing SARS and other emerging global health threats.
Her earlier career focused on preventing occupational HIV transmission. Gerberding has a medical degree from Case Western Reserve University and is on the faculty of the University of California at San Francisco.
More information is available at: http://oregonstate.edu/urm/events/discovery
Boiler Plate: Generic OSU Boiler Plate Media Contact: Mark Floyd Promote to OSU home page: Not Promote to the OSU home pageNew study questions the role of kinship in mass strandings of pilot whales
A new study published in the Journal of Heredity has found that pilot whales do not beach themselves because of family ties - a hypothesis that has grown in popularity in recent years.
NEWPORT, Ore. – Pilot whales that have died in mass strandings in New Zealand and Australia included many unrelated individuals at each event, a new study concludes, challenging a popular assumption that whales follow each other onto the beach and to almost certain death because of familial ties.
Using genetic samples from individuals in large strandings, scientists have determined that both related and unrelated individuals were scattered along the beaches – and that the bodies of mothers and young calves were often separated by large distances.
Results of the study are being published this week in the Journal of Heredity.
Scott Baker, associate director of the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University, said genetic identification showed that, in many cases, the mothers of calves were missing entirely from groups of whales that died in the stranding. This separation of mothers and calves suggests that strong kinship bonds are being disrupted prior to the actual stranding – potentially playing a role in causing the event.
“Observations of unusual social behavior by groups of whales prior to stranding support this explanation,” said Baker, who frequently advises the International Whaling Commission and is co-author of the Journal of Heredity article. The OSU cetacean expert is a professor in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at the university’s Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Ore.
The mass stranding of pilot whales is common in New Zealand and Australia, involving several thousand deaths over the last few decades, according to Marc Oremus of the University of Auckland, who is lead author on the study. The researchers say their genetic analysis of 490 individual pilot whales from 12 different stranding events showed multiple maternal lineages among the victims in each stranding, and thus no correlation between kinship and the grouping of whales on the beach.
This challenges another popular hypothesis – that “care-giving behavior” directed at close maternal relatives may be responsible for the stranding of otherwise healthy whales, Oremus said.
“If kinship-based behavior was playing a causal role in strandings, we would expect that whales in a stranding event would be related to one another through descent from a common maternal ancestor, such as a grandmother or great-grandmother – and that close kin would be clustered on the beach,” Oremus said. “Neither of these was the case.”
Because of the separation of mothers and calves, or in some cases, the outright absence of mothers among the victims, the study has important implications for agencies and volunteers who work to save the stranded whales, Baker said.
“Rescue efforts aimed at ‘refloating’ stranded whales often focus on placing stranded calves with the nearest mature females, on the assumption that the closest adult female is the mother,” Baker pointed out. “Our results suggest that rescuers should be cautious when making difficult welfare decisions – such as the choice to rescue or euthanize a calf – based on this assumption alone.”
Long-finned pilot whales are the most common species to strand en masse worldwide, the researchers noted, and most of their beaching events are thought to be unrelated to human activity – unlike strandings of some other species. Both naval sonar and the noise of seismic exploration have been linked to the stranding of other species.
The phenomenon is not new. In fact, mass strandings of whales or dolphins were described by Aristotle more than 2,000 years ago and were thought to have some kind of natural cause, Baker said, although it is unclear what that may be.
“It is usually assumed that environmental factors, such as weather or the pursuit of prey, brings pilot whales into shallow water where they become disoriented,” Baker said. “Our results suggest that some form of social disruption also contributes to the tendency to strand.”
“It could be mating interaction or competition with other pods of whales,” Baker said. “We just don’t know. But it is certainly something that warrants further investigation.”
The researchers hope their study will lead to better genetic sampling of more pilot whales and other stranded whale species, as well as the use of satellite tags to monitor the survival and behavior of whales that are helped back into the ocean.
“The causal mechanisms of these strandings remain an enigma,” Oremus said, “so the more avenues of research we can pursue before and after the whales beach themselves, the more likely we are to discover why it happens.”
The study was funded by the Marsden Fund of the Royal Society of New Zealand and the Australian Marine Mammal Centre, with support from the New Zealand Department of Conservation and the Australian Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment. Baker’s work is supported by a Pew Marine Conservation Fellowship for the study of dolphins around islands of the South Pacific.
Boiler Plate: Hatfield Marine Science Center Media Contact: Mark Floyd Source:Scott Baker, 541-272-0560
Marc Oremus, New Caledonia +649-83-74-81
Multimedia: Promote to OSU home page: Promote to the OSU home pageNew study questions the role of kinship in mass strandings of pilot whales
A new study published in the Journal of Heredity has found that pilot whales do not beach themselves because of family ties - a hypothesis that has grown in popularity in recent years.
NEWPORT, Ore. – Pilot whales that have died in mass strandings in New Zealand and Australia included many unrelated individuals at each event, a new study concludes, challenging a popular assumption that whales follow each other onto the beach and to almost certain death because of familial ties.
Using genetic samples from individuals in large strandings, scientists have determined that both related and unrelated individuals were scattered along the beaches – and that the bodies of mothers and young calves were often separated by large distances.
Results of the study are being published this week in the Journal of Heredity.
Scott Baker, associate director of the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University, said genetic identification showed that, in many cases, the mothers of calves were missing entirely from groups of whales that died in the stranding. This separation of mothers and calves suggests that strong kinship bonds are being disrupted prior to the actual stranding – potentially playing a role in causing the event.
“Observations of unusual social behavior by groups of whales prior to stranding support this explanation,” said Baker, who frequently advises the International Whaling Commission and is co-author of the Journal of Heredity article. The OSU cetacean expert is a professor in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at the university’s Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Ore.
The mass stranding of pilot whales is common in New Zealand and Australia, involving several thousand deaths over the last few decades, according to Marc Oremus of the University of Auckland, who is lead author on the study. The researchers say their genetic analysis of 490 individual pilot whales from 12 different stranding events showed multiple maternal lineages among the victims in each stranding, and thus no correlation between kinship and the grouping of whales on the beach.
This challenges another popular hypothesis – that “care-giving behavior” directed at close maternal relatives may be responsible for the stranding of otherwise healthy whales, Oremus said.
“If kinship-based behavior was playing a causal role in strandings, we would expect that whales in a stranding event would be related to one another through descent from a common maternal ancestor, such as a grandmother or great-grandmother – and that close kin would be clustered on the beach,” Oremus said. “Neither of these was the case.”
Because of the separation of mothers and calves, or in some cases, the outright absence of mothers among the victims, the study has important implications for agencies and volunteers who work to save the stranded whales, Baker said.
“Rescue efforts aimed at ‘refloating’ stranded whales often focus on placing stranded calves with the nearest mature females, on the assumption that the closest adult female is the mother,” Baker pointed out. “Our results suggest that rescuers should be cautious when making difficult welfare decisions – such as the choice to rescue or euthanize a calf – based on this assumption alone.”
Long-finned pilot whales are the most common species to strand en masse worldwide, the researchers noted, and most of their beaching events are thought to be unrelated to human activity – unlike strandings of some other species. Both naval sonar and the noise of seismic exploration have been linked to the stranding of other species.
The phenomenon is not new. In fact, mass strandings of whales or dolphins were described by Aristotle more than 2,000 years ago and were thought to have some kind of natural cause, Baker said, although it is unclear what that may be.
“It is usually assumed that environmental factors, such as weather or the pursuit of prey, brings pilot whales into shallow water where they become disoriented,” Baker said. “Our results suggest that some form of social disruption also contributes to the tendency to strand.”
“It could be mating interaction or competition with other pods of whales,” Baker said. “We just don’t know. But it is certainly something that warrants further investigation.”
The researchers hope their study will lead to better genetic sampling of more pilot whales and other stranded whale species, as well as the use of satellite tags to monitor the survival and behavior of whales that are helped back into the ocean.
“The causal mechanisms of these strandings remain an enigma,” Oremus said, “so the more avenues of research we can pursue before and after the whales beach themselves, the more likely we are to discover why it happens.”
The study was funded by the Marsden Fund of the Royal Society of New Zealand and the Australian Marine Mammal Centre, with support from the New Zealand Department of Conservation and the Australian Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment. Baker’s work is supported by a Pew Marine Conservation Fellowship for the study of dolphins around islands of the South Pacific.
Boiler Plate: Hatfield Marine Science Center Media Contact: Mark Floyd Source:Scott Baker, 541-272-0560
Marc Oremus, New Caledonia +649-83-74-81
Multimedia: Promote to OSU home page: Promote to the OSU home pageOSU Alumni Association to honor three at April gala on campus
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State University Alumni Association will present three of its highest honors this April 26 during its spring awards celebration.
The E.B. Lemon Distinguished Alumni Award will go to Hal Schudel of Corvallis, from the class of 1953. Schudel is a former faculty member and founder of what many consider to be the largest Christmas tree operation in the world. He is a pioneer in that industry, which is crucial to Oregon's economic health, and a supporter of OSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences.
The Lemon award is the association's most prestigious honor, given to OSU alumni who make significant contributions to society and whose accomplishments and careers bring acclaim to the university.
The Jean and C.H. “Scram” Graham Leadership Award will go to Bill Perry of Canby, a 1989 graduate. Perry is past president of the association’s board of directors and a supporter of the association and the university. He is vice president of government relations for the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association.
The Graham award honors individuals who promote the alumni association and have demonstrated extraordinary volunteer service to the university.
The Honorary Alumni Award will go to Mark McCambridge of Corvallis, OSU's vice president for Finance and Administration since 2001. The award is the highest honor the association can bestow upon those who are not alumni of OSU. A member of the university's financial team since 1994, McCambridge has played a key role in reorganizing the university to make the best possible use of its resources, and he has championed the cause of fiscal transparency.
The recipients will be honored at an April 26 event; reservations are required for the gala, which will follow the theme of "In Honored Footsteps." It begins with a social hour at 6 p.m. at the CH2M HILL Alumni Center.
For more information, visit osualum.com/springawards, send an email to osualum@oregonstate.edu, or call 877-OSTATER (877-678-2837).
Boiler Plate: Alumni Association Media Contact: Kevin Miller Source:Julie Schwartz, 541-737-7916
Promote to OSU home page: Not Promote to the OSU home pageOSU Alumni Association to honor three at April gala on campus
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State University Alumni Association will present three of its highest honors this April 26 during its spring awards celebration.
The E.B. Lemon Distinguished Alumni Award will go to Hal Schudel of Corvallis, from the class of 1953. Schudel is a former faculty member and founder of what many consider to be the largest Christmas tree operation in the world. He is a pioneer in that industry, which is crucial to Oregon's economic health, and a supporter of OSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences.
The Lemon award is the association's most prestigious honor, given to OSU alumni who make significant contributions to society and whose accomplishments and careers bring acclaim to the university.
The Jean and C.H. “Scram” Graham Leadership Award will go to Bill Perry of Canby, a 1989 graduate. Perry is past president of the association’s board of directors and a supporter of the association and the university. He is vice president of government relations for the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association.
The Graham award honors individuals who promote the alumni association and have demonstrated extraordinary volunteer service to the university.
The Honorary Alumni Award will go to Mark McCambridge of Corvallis, OSU's vice president for Finance and Administration since 2001. The award is the highest honor the association can bestow upon those who are not alumni of OSU. A member of the university's financial team since 1994, McCambridge has played a key role in reorganizing the university to make the best possible use of its resources, and he has championed the cause of fiscal transparency.
The recipients will be honored at an April 26 event; reservations are required for the gala, which will follow the theme of "In Honored Footsteps." It begins with a social hour at 6 p.m. at the CH2M HILL Alumni Center.
For more information, visit osualum.com/springawards, send an email to osualum@oregonstate.edu, or call 877-OSTATER (877-678-2837).
Boiler Plate: Alumni Association Media Contact: Kevin Miller Source:Julie Schwartz, 541-737-7916
Promote to OSU home page: Not Promote to the OSU home pageOSU turns winemaking waste into food supplements and flowerpots
Researchers at Oregon State University have discovered how to turn the pulp from crushed wine grapes into a natural food preservative, biodegradable packaging materials and a nutritional enhancement for baked goods.
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers at Oregon State University have discovered how to turn the pulp from crushed wine grapes into a natural food preservative, biodegradable packaging materials and a nutritional enhancement for baked goods.
The United States wine industry creates a tremendous amount of waste from processing more than 4 million tons of grapes each year, mostly in the Pacific Northwest and California, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Wineries typically pay for the pulp to be hauled away, but a small percentage is used in low-value products such as fertilizer and cow feed.
"We now know pomace can be a sustainable source of material for a wide range of goods," said researcher Yanyun Zhao, a professor and value-added food products specialist with the OSU Extension Service. "We foresee wineries selling their pomace rather than paying others to dispose of it. One industry's trash can become another industry's treasure."
The pulp, which consists of stems, skins and seeds, is known as pomace and is packed with dietary fiber and phenolics, which have antioxidant effects. OSU researchers have dried and ground it to create edible and non-edible products.
For example, they extracted dietary fiber from pomace and turned it into powders that can be added to foods. Because the phenolics in pomace also control microbial growth and keep fats from deteriorating, OSU researchers also added the powdery fiber to yogurts and salad dressings to extend their shelf life by up to a week without changing taste and texture.
The researchers also used pomace to make colorful, edible coatings and films that can be stretched over fruits, vegetables and other food products. They contain antioxidants, seal in moisture and control the growth of some bacteria.
Additionally, the scientists added pomace powders, which are gluten-free, to muffins and brownies. They replaced up to 15 percent of the flour in the recipes with it and thus increased the fiber and antioxidants in the baked goods. The research continues as scientists are also adding pomace to yeast breads.
"Adding fiber-rich ingredients can change a dough's absorption qualities and stiffness," said OSU cereal chemist Andrew Ross. "We're trying to find the right balance of pomace in dough while measuring the bread for its density, volume, color and taste. Commercial bakeries need this information before using pomace flour for large-scale production."
OSU has also made pomace into biodegradable boards, which can further be molded into containers, serving trays and flowerpots. After burial in soil for 30 days, the products degraded by 50 percent to 80 percent.
Researchers found that the methods for making products from pomace vary depending on if the pulp is from red or white grapes. That's because winemaking processes differ for each varietal and they produce pulp with different levels of sugar, nitrogen, phenolics and other compounds. In their experiments, researchers used pomace from grapes that included Pinot Noir, Merlot, Morio Muscat and Müller Thurgau.
Now, OSU is seeking to establish partnerships with companies interested in marketing the products it developed.
The research has been published in various journals, including the Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Food Chemistry, and the Journal of Food Science.
Boiler Plate: Generic OSU Boiler Plate Media Contact: Daniel Robison Source:Yanyun Zhao, 541-737-9151
Andrew Ross, 541-737-9149
Multimedia:
Yanyun Zhao, a food scientist at Oregon State University, holds a muffin made with grape pomace. (Photo by Lynn Ketchum.)
Oregon State University made this biodegradable fiberboard from grape pomace, which consists of the skins, stems and seeds left over from winemaking. (Photo by Lynn Ketchum.)
OSU turns winemaking waste into food supplements and flowerpots
Researchers at Oregon State University have discovered how to turn the pulp from crushed wine grapes into a natural food preservative, biodegradable packaging materials and a nutritional enhancement for baked goods.
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers at Oregon State University have discovered how to turn the pulp from crushed wine grapes into a natural food preservative, biodegradable packaging materials and a nutritional enhancement for baked goods.
The United States wine industry creates a tremendous amount of waste from processing more than 4 million tons of grapes each year, mostly in the Pacific Northwest and California, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Wineries typically pay for the pulp to be hauled away, but a small percentage is used in low-value products such as fertilizer and cow feed.
"We now know pomace can be a sustainable source of material for a wide range of goods," said researcher Yanyun Zhao, a professor and value-added food products specialist with the OSU Extension Service. "We foresee wineries selling their pomace rather than paying others to dispose of it. One industry's trash can become another industry's treasure."
The pulp, which consists of stems, skins and seeds, is known as pomace and is packed with dietary fiber and phenolics, which have antioxidant effects. OSU researchers have dried and ground it to create edible and non-edible products.
For example, they extracted dietary fiber from pomace and turned it into powders that can be added to foods. Because the phenolics in pomace also control microbial growth and keep fats from deteriorating, OSU researchers also added the powdery fiber to yogurts and salad dressings to extend their shelf life by up to a week without changing taste and texture.
The researchers also used pomace to make colorful, edible coatings and films that can be stretched over fruits, vegetables and other food products. They contain antioxidants, seal in moisture and control the growth of some bacteria.
Additionally, the scientists added pomace powders, which are gluten-free, to muffins and brownies. They replaced up to 15 percent of the flour in the recipes with it and thus increased the fiber and antioxidants in the baked goods. The research continues as scientists are also adding pomace to yeast breads.
"Adding fiber-rich ingredients can change a dough's absorption qualities and stiffness," said OSU cereal chemist Andrew Ross. "We're trying to find the right balance of pomace in dough while measuring the bread for its density, volume, color and taste. Commercial bakeries need this information before using pomace flour for large-scale production."
OSU has also made pomace into biodegradable boards, which can further be molded into containers, serving trays and flowerpots. After burial in soil for 30 days, the products degraded by 50 percent to 80 percent.
Researchers found that the methods for making products from pomace vary depending on if the pulp is from red or white grapes. That's because winemaking processes differ for each varietal and they produce pulp with different levels of sugar, nitrogen, phenolics and other compounds. In their experiments, researchers used pomace from grapes that included Pinot Noir, Merlot, Morio Muscat and Müller Thurgau.
Now, OSU is seeking to establish partnerships with companies interested in marketing the products it developed.
The research has been published in various journals, including the Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Food Chemistry, and the Journal of Food Science.
Boiler Plate: Generic OSU Boiler Plate Media Contact: Daniel Robison Source:Yanyun Zhao, 541-737-9151
Andrew Ross, 541-737-9149
Multimedia:
Yanyun Zhao, a food scientist at Oregon State University, holds a muffin made with grape pomace. (Photo by Lynn Ketchum.)
Oregon State University made this biodegradable fiberboard from grape pomace, which consists of the skins, stems and seeds left over from winemaking. (Photo by Lynn Ketchum.)
Series of Austrian films will show in Corvallis starting April 9
CORVALLIS, Ore. – A series of films from Austria, including the recent Oscar winner “Amour,” will be shown in Corvallis starting the week of April 9.
Organized by the German program of Oregon State University’s School of Language, Culture, and Society, this series of four recent Austrian films is free and open to the public.
All films are subtitled and will play at the Darkside Cinema, 215 S.W. 4th St., Corvallis. The schedule is:
Tuesday, April 9, 4 p.m.: “Landscapes of Memory – The Life of Ruth Kluger,” a biopic about high-profile author Ruth Klüger, a famous scholar of German literature. Her autobiography, “Still Alive: A Holocaust Girlhood Remembered,” is an international bestseller. The director Renata Schmidtkunz and Holocaust survivor Klüger will be present for the screening.
Tuesday, April 23, 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.: “Breathing,” tells the story of a 19-year-old man who finds a new lease on life when he takes a job at a funeral home.
Tuesday, May 14, 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.: “Kuma,” a drama about the intertwining lives of two women, Fatma, a housewife with six children, and Ayse, a 19-year-old who is about to become the second wife of Fatma’s husband.
Tuesday, June 4, 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.: “Amour,” the Oscar-winning drama portrays the lives of a retired Parisian couple whose love is tested when the wife becomes severely ill.
The series is sponsored by the Austrian Consulate General in Los Angeles.
Boiler Plate: College of Liberal Arts Media Contact: Angela Yeager Source:Sebastian Heiduschke, 541-737-3957
Multimedia: Promote to OSU home page: Not Promote to the OSU home pageSeries of Austrian films will show in Corvallis starting April 9
CORVALLIS, Ore. – A series of films from Austria, including the recent Oscar winner “Amour,” will be shown in Corvallis starting the week of April 9.
Organized by the German program of Oregon State University’s School of Language, Culture, and Society, this series of four recent Austrian films is free and open to the public.
All films are subtitled and will play at the Darkside Cinema, 215 S.W. 4th St., Corvallis. The schedule is:
Tuesday, April 9, 4 p.m.: “Landscapes of Memory – The Life of Ruth Kluger,” a biopic about high-profile author Ruth Klüger, a famous scholar of German literature. Her autobiography, “Still Alive: A Holocaust Girlhood Remembered,” is an international bestseller. The director Renata Schmidtkunz and Holocaust survivor Klüger will be present for the screening.
Tuesday, April 23, 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.: “Breathing,” tells the story of a 19-year-old man who finds a new lease on life when he takes a job at a funeral home.
Tuesday, May 14, 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.: “Kuma,” a drama about the intertwining lives of two women, Fatma, a housewife with six children, and Ayse, a 19-year-old who is about to become the second wife of Fatma’s husband.
Tuesday, June 4, 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.: “Amour,” the Oscar-winning drama portrays the lives of a retired Parisian couple whose love is tested when the wife becomes severely ill.
The series is sponsored by the Austrian Consulate General in Los Angeles.
Boiler Plate: College of Liberal Arts Media Contact: Angela Yeager Source:Sebastian Heiduschke, 541-737-3957
Multimedia: Promote to OSU home page: Not Promote to the OSU home pageNew “moon” app a hit
A new app created by Chris Vanderschuere, an OSU student, to describe current facts about the moon has been downloaded by more than a million people around the world.
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Chris Vanderschuere was just doing a little programming task to help a Beaverton, Ore., school teach facts about the moon. But his Moon application became much more than that.
Vanderschuere, a student at Oregon State University, got about a million more downloads than he expected, from 150 countries.
The app can run on any iOS device like an iPad or iPhone, but was designed primarily for devices with location ability, such as cellular triangulation or GPS. It calculates information to answer many questions. What did the moon look like on July 4, 1776? Where in the sky will the moon be tomorrow? How far is the moon from Earth right now?
It uses the current time and location, or those that the user enters, and displays details of the moon such as the phase, location in the sky and moonrise and moonset times. A lunar surface image from NASA creates a three-dimensional center graphic that changes second-by-second as the shadow travels across the moon. A smaller picture of a moon spins around a compass to show where the moon is located in the sky, and another displays the angle above the horizon.
Vanderschuere said his mother suggested the app, for use in the K-8 school where she works. But a Portland, Ore., kayaking company is now using it to schedule their full-moon kayaking trips. And a photographer on safari in Africa used the app to get the perfect moon picture.
The project, Vanderschuere said, has also been a great learning experience – about programming, entrepreneurial skills, and more about the moon than he ever thought he’d know.
“What people see are some pretty graphics of the moon phases, but in order to do that I had to learn a lot of engineering principles behind the scenes,” Vanderschuere said.
Boiler Plate: About the OSU College of Engineering: The OSU College of Engineering is among the nation’s largest and most productive engineering programs. In the past six years, the College has more than doubled its research expenditures to $27.5 million by emphasizing highly collaborative research that solves global problems, spins out new companies, and produces opportunity for students through hands-on learning. Media Contact:Rachel Robertson, 541-737-7098
Source: Multimedia: Promote to OSU home page: Not Promote to the OSU home pageNew “moon” app a hit
A new app created by Chris Vanderschuere, an OSU student, to describe current facts about the moon has been downloaded by more than a million people around the world.
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Chris Vanderschuere was just doing a little programming task to help a Beaverton, Ore., school teach facts about the moon. But his Moon application became much more than that.
Vanderschuere, a student at Oregon State University, got about a million more downloads than he expected, from 150 countries.
The app can run on any iOS device like an iPad or iPhone, but was designed primarily for devices with location ability, such as cellular triangulation or GPS. It calculates information to answer many questions. What did the moon look like on July 4, 1776? Where in the sky will the moon be tomorrow? How far is the moon from Earth right now?
It uses the current time and location, or those that the user enters, and displays details of the moon such as the phase, location in the sky and moonrise and moonset times. A lunar surface image from NASA creates a three-dimensional center graphic that changes second-by-second as the shadow travels across the moon. A smaller picture of a moon spins around a compass to show where the moon is located in the sky, and another displays the angle above the horizon.
Vanderschuere said his mother suggested the app, for use in the K-8 school where she works. But a Portland, Ore., kayaking company is now using it to schedule their full-moon kayaking trips. And a photographer on safari in Africa used the app to get the perfect moon picture.
The project, Vanderschuere said, has also been a great learning experience – about programming, entrepreneurial skills, and more about the moon than he ever thought he’d know.
“What people see are some pretty graphics of the moon phases, but in order to do that I had to learn a lot of engineering principles behind the scenes,” Vanderschuere said.
Boiler Plate: About the OSU College of Engineering: The OSU College of Engineering is among the nation’s largest and most productive engineering programs. In the past six years, the College has more than doubled its research expenditures to $27.5 million by emphasizing highly collaborative research that solves global problems, spins out new companies, and produces opportunity for students through hands-on learning. Media Contact:Rachel Robertson, 541-737-7098
Source: Multimedia: Promote to OSU home page: Not Promote to the OSU home pageReconstruction of temperature history shows significance of recent warming
By the year 2100, Earth will be warmer under all greenhouse gas emission scenarios that at any time in the last 11,300 years, according to a newly published study in Science.
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Using data from 73 sites around the world, scientists have been able to reconstruct Earth’s temperature history back to the end of the last Ice Age, revealing that the planet today is warmer than it has been during 70 to 80 percent of the time over the last 11,300 years.
Of even more concern are projections of global temperature for the year 2100, when virtually every climate model evaluated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) shows that temperatures will exceed the warmest temperatures during that 11,300-year period known as the Holocene – under all plausible greenhouse gas emission scenarios.
Results of the study, by researchers at Oregon State University and Harvard University, were published this week in the journal Science. It was funded by the National Science Foundation’s Paleoclimate Program.
Lead author Shaun Marcott, a post-doctoral researcher in Oregon State’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, noted that previous research on past global temperature change has largely focused on the last 2,000 years. Extending the reconstruction of global temperatures back to the end of the last Ice Age puts today’s climate into a larger context.
“We already knew that on a global scale, Earth is warmer today than it was over much of the past 2,000 years,” Marcott said. “Now we know that it is warmer than most of the past 11,300 years. This is of particular interest because the Holocene spans the entire period of human civilization.”
Peter Clark, an OSU paleoclimatologist and co-author on the Science article, said many previous temperature reconstructions were regional in nature and were not placed in a global context. Marcott led the effort to combine data from 73 sites around the world, providing a much broader perspective.
“When you just look at one part of the world, the temperature history can be affected by regional climate processes like El Niño or monsoon variations,” noted Clark. “But when you combine the data from sites all around the world, you can average out those regional anomalies and get a clear sense of the Earth’s global temperature history.”
What that history shows, the researchers say, is that over the past 5,000 years, the Earth on average cooled about 1.3 degrees (Fahrenheit) – until the past 100 years, when it warmed ̴ 1.3 degrees (F). The largest changes were in the northern hemisphere, where there are more land masses and greater human populations.
Climate models project that global temperature will rise another 2.0 to 11.5 degrees (F) by the end of this century, largely dependent on the magnitude of carbon emissions. “What is most troubling,” Clark said, “is that this warming will be significantly greater than at any time during the past 11,300 years.”
Marcott said that one of the natural factors affecting global temperatures over the past 11,300 years is gradual change in the distribution of solar insolation associated with Earth’s position relative to the sun.
“During the warmest period of the Holocene, the Earth was positioned such that Northern Hemisphere summers warmed more,” Marcott said. “As the Earth’s orientation changed, Northern Hemisphere summers became cooler, and we should now be near the bottom of this long-term cooling trend – but obviously, we are not.”
Clark said that other studies, including those outlined in past IPCC reports, have attributed the warming of the planet over the past 50 years to anthropogenic, or human-caused activities – and not solar variability or other natural causes.
“The last century stands out as the anomaly in this record of global temperature since the end of the last ice age,” said Candace Major, program director in the National Science Foundation’s Division of Ocean Sciences, which co-funded the research with NSF’s Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences. “This research shows that we’ve experienced almost the same range of temperature change since the beginning of the industrial revolution as over the previous 11,000 years of Earth history – but this change happened a lot more quickly.”
The research team, which included Jeremy Shakun of Harvard University and Alan Mix of Oregon State, primarily used fossils from ocean sediment cores and terrestrial archives to reconstruct the temperature history. The chemical and physical characteristics of the fossils – including the species as well as their chemical composition and isotopic ratios – provide reliable proxy records for past temperatures by calibrating them to modern temperature records.
Using data from 73 sites around the world allows a global picture of the Earth’s history and provides new context for climate change analysis.
“The Earth’s climate is complex and responds to multiple forcings, including CO2 and solar insolation,” Marcott said. “Both of those changed very slowly over the past 11,000 years. But in the last 100 years, the increase in CO2 through increased emissions from human activities has been significant. It is the only variable that can best explain the rapid increase in global temperatures.”
Marcott received his Ph.D. in geology in 2011 from OSU.
Boiler Plate: College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences Media Contact: Mark Floyd Source:Shaun Marcott, 541-737-1209
Peter Clark, 541-737-1247
Multimedia: Promote to OSU home page: Promote to the OSU home pageReconstruction of temperature history shows significance of recent warming
By the year 2100, Earth will be warmer under all greenhouse gas emission scenarios that at any time in the last 11,300 years, according to a newly published study in Science.
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Using data from 73 sites around the world, scientists have been able to reconstruct Earth’s temperature history back to the end of the last Ice Age, revealing that the planet today is warmer than it has been during 70 to 80 percent of the time over the last 11,300 years.
Of even more concern are projections of global temperature for the year 2100, when virtually every climate model evaluated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) shows that temperatures will exceed the warmest temperatures during that 11,300-year period known as the Holocene – under all plausible greenhouse gas emission scenarios.
Results of the study, by researchers at Oregon State University and Harvard University, were published this week in the journal Science. It was funded by the National Science Foundation’s Paleoclimate Program.
Lead author Shaun Marcott, a post-doctoral researcher in Oregon State’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, noted that previous research on past global temperature change has largely focused on the last 2,000 years. Extending the reconstruction of global temperatures back to the end of the last Ice Age puts today’s climate into a larger context.
“We already knew that on a global scale, Earth is warmer today than it was over much of the past 2,000 years,” Marcott said. “Now we know that it is warmer than most of the past 11,300 years. This is of particular interest because the Holocene spans the entire period of human civilization.”
Peter Clark, an OSU paleoclimatologist and co-author on the Science article, said many previous temperature reconstructions were regional in nature and were not placed in a global context. Marcott led the effort to combine data from 73 sites around the world, providing a much broader perspective.
“When you just look at one part of the world, the temperature history can be affected by regional climate processes like El Niño or monsoon variations,” noted Clark. “But when you combine the data from sites all around the world, you can average out those regional anomalies and get a clear sense of the Earth’s global temperature history.”
What that history shows, the researchers say, is that over the past 5,000 years, the Earth on average cooled about 1.3 degrees (Fahrenheit) – until the past 100 years, when it warmed ̴ 1.3 degrees (F). The largest changes were in the northern hemisphere, where there are more land masses and greater human populations.
Climate models project that global temperature will rise another 2.0 to 11.5 degrees (F) by the end of this century, largely dependent on the magnitude of carbon emissions. “What is most troubling,” Clark said, “is that this warming will be significantly greater than at any time during the past 11,300 years.”
Marcott said that one of the natural factors affecting global temperatures over the past 11,300 years is gradual change in the distribution of solar insolation associated with Earth’s position relative to the sun.
“During the warmest period of the Holocene, the Earth was positioned such that Northern Hemisphere summers warmed more,” Marcott said. “As the Earth’s orientation changed, Northern Hemisphere summers became cooler, and we should now be near the bottom of this long-term cooling trend – but obviously, we are not.”
Clark said that other studies, including those outlined in past IPCC reports, have attributed the warming of the planet over the past 50 years to anthropogenic, or human-caused activities – and not solar variability or other natural causes.
“The last century stands out as the anomaly in this record of global temperature since the end of the last ice age,” said Candace Major, program director in the National Science Foundation’s Division of Ocean Sciences, which co-funded the research with NSF’s Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences. “This research shows that we’ve experienced almost the same range of temperature change since the beginning of the industrial revolution as over the previous 11,000 years of Earth history – but this change happened a lot more quickly.”
The research team, which included Jeremy Shakun of Harvard University and Alan Mix of Oregon State, primarily used fossils from ocean sediment cores and terrestrial archives to reconstruct the temperature history. The chemical and physical characteristics of the fossils – including the species as well as their chemical composition and isotopic ratios – provide reliable proxy records for past temperatures by calibrating them to modern temperature records.
Using data from 73 sites around the world allows a global picture of the Earth’s history and provides new context for climate change analysis.
“The Earth’s climate is complex and responds to multiple forcings, including CO2 and solar insolation,” Marcott said. “Both of those changed very slowly over the past 11,000 years. But in the last 100 years, the increase in CO2 through increased emissions from human activities has been significant. It is the only variable that can best explain the rapid increase in global temperatures.”
Marcott received his Ph.D. in geology in 2011 from OSU.
Boiler Plate: College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences Media Contact: Mark Floyd Source:Shaun Marcott, 541-737-1209
Peter Clark, 541-737-1247
Multimedia: Promote to OSU home page: Promote to the OSU home pageOSU makes oysters safer to eat with improved purification method
Oregon State University researchers have improved an old method of making oysters safer to eat so that more bacteria are removed without sacrificing taste and texture.
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University has improved an old method of making oysters safer to eat so that more bacteria are removed without sacrificing taste and texture.
The improved process nearly clears their digestive tracts of the bacteria Vibrio parahaemolyticus, which can cause gastroenteritis, an infection marked by severe abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea. Each year in the United States, more than 40,000 cases of Vibrio parahaemolyticus infection are linked to the consumption of seafood, particularly raw oysters, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"This bacteria is a huge safety concern," said Yi-Cheng Su, an OSU professor of seafood microbiology and safety. “Cooking oysters easily kills it, but many consumers want to eat raw shellfish without worrying about foodborne illness. Oysters are also worth more to the seafood industry when alive.”
To make oysters safer, processors freeze, heat up or pressurize the mollusks. They also place them in tanks of clean seawater at room temperature. In the latter case, which is known as depuration, the shellfish filter clean water through their system and excrete most bacteria from their digestive tracts into the water. The dirty water is then filtered and sterilized with UV light.
But depuration at ambient temperature is not fully effective, researchers say. More than 10 percent of the Vibrio bacteria still remain after two days of depuration.
Pressurization, freezing and heat treatment kill all the Vibrio bacteria but they also kill the shellfish. Additionally, freezing and heat treatment negatively affect their taste, texture, shelf life and value.
Seeking a better alternative, Su and his colleagues tweaked the depuration method. They chilled the water to between 45 and 55 degrees and sterilized it with ultraviolet light. Their method eliminated 99.9 percent of the bacteria after four to five days. The oysters stayed alive during the purification, and their texture and taste were not altered. The new depuration process is also more cost-effective, Su said.
"Temperature-controlled depuration uses less electricity than other methods that rely on freezers, heat, pressurization and even radiation," he said. "Depuration systems are also relatively cheap to build – just a few shellfish holding tanks each equipped with a water pump, a UV sterilizer and a temperature control device."
The oysters still need to be placed in cold storage after the depuration process because warm environments allow any remaining bacteria to multiply quickly, nullifying the depuration process.
OSU researchers are also exploring ways to speed up the low-temperature depuration process by adding antimicrobial agents to the seawater in the tanks.
Oregon producers sold $3 million of farmed oysters in 2011, according to a report by the OSU Extension Service.
Boiler Plate: Generic OSU Boiler Plate Media Contact: Daniel Robison Source:Yi-Cheng Su, 503-325-4531
Multimedia:
Researcher Yi-Cheng Su pulls an oyster from a depuration tank at Oregon State University's Seafood Laboratory in Astoria. As the oysters filter the water, they excrete harmful bacteria from their digestive tracts and become safe to eat. (Photo by Lynn Ketchum.)
OSU makes oysters safer to eat with improved purification method
Oregon State University researchers have improved an old method of making oysters safer to eat so that more bacteria are removed without sacrificing taste and texture.
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University has improved an old method of making oysters safer to eat so that more bacteria are removed without sacrificing taste and texture.
The improved process nearly clears their digestive tracts of the bacteria Vibrio parahaemolyticus, which can cause gastroenteritis, an infection marked by severe abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea. Each year in the United States, more than 40,000 cases of Vibrio parahaemolyticus infection are linked to the consumption of seafood, particularly raw oysters, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"This bacteria is a huge safety concern," said Yi-Cheng Su, an OSU professor of seafood microbiology and safety. “Cooking oysters easily kills it, but many consumers want to eat raw shellfish without worrying about foodborne illness. Oysters are also worth more to the seafood industry when alive.”
To make oysters safer, processors freeze, heat up or pressurize the mollusks. They also place them in tanks of clean seawater at room temperature. In the latter case, which is known as depuration, the shellfish filter clean water through their system and excrete most bacteria from their digestive tracts into the water. The dirty water is then filtered and sterilized with UV light.
But depuration at ambient temperature is not fully effective, researchers say. More than 10 percent of the Vibrio bacteria still remain after two days of depuration.
Pressurization, freezing and heat treatment kill all the Vibrio bacteria but they also kill the shellfish. Additionally, freezing and heat treatment negatively affect their taste, texture, shelf life and value.
Seeking a better alternative, Su and his colleagues tweaked the depuration method. They chilled the water to between 45 and 55 degrees and sterilized it with ultraviolet light. Their method eliminated 99.9 percent of the bacteria after four to five days. The oysters stayed alive during the purification, and their texture and taste were not altered. The new depuration process is also more cost-effective, Su said.
"Temperature-controlled depuration uses less electricity than other methods that rely on freezers, heat, pressurization and even radiation," he said. "Depuration systems are also relatively cheap to build – just a few shellfish holding tanks each equipped with a water pump, a UV sterilizer and a temperature control device."
The oysters still need to be placed in cold storage after the depuration process because warm environments allow any remaining bacteria to multiply quickly, nullifying the depuration process.
OSU researchers are also exploring ways to speed up the low-temperature depuration process by adding antimicrobial agents to the seawater in the tanks.
Oregon producers sold $3 million of farmed oysters in 2011, according to a report by the OSU Extension Service.
Boiler Plate: Generic OSU Boiler Plate Media Contact: Daniel Robison Source:Yi-Cheng Su, 503-325-4531
Multimedia:
Researcher Yi-Cheng Su pulls an oyster from a depuration tank at Oregon State University's Seafood Laboratory in Astoria. As the oysters filter the water, they excrete harmful bacteria from their digestive tracts and become safe to eat. (Photo by Lynn Ketchum.)
OSU signs memorandum confirming partnership to help veterans
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University has signed the Department of Defense’s Memorandum of Understanding – known as DoD-MOU – which will offer military veterans and service members more streamlined admission, better access to services, and continued access to federal Tuition Assistance (TA) benefits at OSU.
The memorandum is a partnership between the Department of Defense and participating colleges and universities. The new MOU provides participating schools with more detailed guidelines on how to deal with students utilizing TA benefits. OSU already has 115 Tuition Assistance recipients through the program, one of the highest numbers in the state.
This student population is likely to continue to grow over the next 3-5 years, according to Gus L. Bedwell, OSU’s veterans resources coordinator.
Additionally, during the past four years, the number of military veterans or their dependents has doubled at OSU, prompting the university to expand its Veterans Services team by hiring Bedwell to work with students, along with two veterans certifying officials in the Registrar’s Office.
The university has roughly 900 students receiving Veterans Administration benefits, and the number of students on campus who may qualify for assistance may be even higher.
“We’re really happy to sign the MOU with the Department of Defense,” Bedwell said. “In doing so, it confirms our longstanding commitment to veterans, service members – and their service to our country. Additionally, it opens the door for future students to take advantage of programs like natural resources at are offered online only at Oregon State University.”
Bedwell suggests that veterans or their dependents interested in OSU first go to the university’s website for veterans at: http://oregonstate.edu/veterans/home/, which lists different resources and activities on campus. Any veteran, or family member, needing assistance may also contact him directly at gus.bedwell@oregonstate.edu, or call his office at 541-737-7662.
Boiler Plate: Generic OSU Boiler Plate Media Contact: Mark Floyd Source:
Gus Bedwell, 541-737-7662
Promote to OSU home page: Not Promote to the OSU home pageOSU signs memorandum confirming partnership to help veterans
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State University has signed the Department of Defense’s Memorandum of Understanding – known as DoD-MOU – which will offer military veterans and service members more streamlined admission, better access to services, and continued access to federal Tuition Assistance (TA) benefits at OSU.
The memorandum is a partnership between the Department of Defense and participating colleges and universities. The new MOU provides participating schools with more detailed guidelines on how to deal with students utilizing TA benefits. OSU already has 115 Tuition Assistance recipients through the program, one of the highest numbers in the state.
This student population is likely to continue to grow over the next 3-5 years, according to Gus L. Bedwell, OSU’s veterans resources coordinator.
Additionally, during the past four years, the number of military veterans or their dependents has doubled at OSU, prompting the university to expand its Veterans Services team by hiring Bedwell to work with students, along with two veterans certifying officials in the Registrar’s Office.
The university has roughly 900 students receiving Veterans Administration benefits, and the number of students on campus who may qualify for assistance may be even higher.
“We’re really happy to sign the MOU with the Department of Defense,” Bedwell said. “In doing so, it confirms our longstanding commitment to veterans, service members – and their service to our country. Additionally, it opens the door for future students to take advantage of programs like natural resources at are offered online only at Oregon State University.”
Bedwell suggests that veterans or their dependents interested in OSU first go to the university’s website for veterans at: http://oregonstate.edu/veterans/home/, which lists different resources and activities on campus. Any veteran, or family member, needing assistance may also contact him directly at gus.bedwell@oregonstate.edu, or call his office at 541-737-7662.
Boiler Plate: Generic OSU Boiler Plate Media Contact: Mark Floyd Source:
Gus Bedwell, 541-737-7662
Promote to OSU home page: Not Promote to the OSU home page
