|
| Volume 5, Issue 11 Summer, 2005 |
update!
RESEARCH NEWSLETTER |
Seth White's undergraduate experience at OSU was good; he explored various aspects of science in excellent classes. Yet it was OSU's opportunities for real-world research, he says, that really "sparked" his education. He spend one spring in an immersion program at the coast, and during his senior year became a field technician.
|
White went to the U. of Wyoming to earn his Masters degree, and he's returned to OSU as a doctoral student under Hiram Li of the Department of Fisheries & Wildlife. We contacted him recently doing research towards his dissertation in Eastern Oregon. When he surfaced from snorkeling in streams, he shared thoughts about his undergraduate experiences: "One of the most important influences during my undergrad experience at OSU was doing a senior thesis project. While working as a technician in the Menge-Lubchenco lab, Jane brought up the idea of doing a senior project, even though it wasn't a requirement for my major. She and Bruce made their lab resources available, so I did research on 'Biodiversity and disturbance in Oregon's Rocky Intertidal Areas.' The project involved some new data collection and lots of early morning trips to the coast in order to meet the low tides. The Richard Chambers Environmental Research Grant for undergraduate research helped buy field equipment and my transportation back and forth to the coast. "Designing the research project, developing hypotheses, collecting data, interpreting results, talking with other scientists, writing the project up . . .. All that really solidified for me that I really like the whole process of science. It sparked my interest in community ecology, and in explaining why we see certain patterns of plant and animal distributions in the natural world. "As an intern I discovered a love for freshwater streams as a system. And I got an exposure to graduate students and learned how they think about research. I still use the approaches and ways of thinking — and the interest in natural history — that were fostered here." |
| Postcard from SW: "This is me identifying aquatic invertebrates from the South Fork John Day River, on the tailgate of my truck (The same truck I used to do my senior thesis fieldwork as an undergraduate at OSU!)" |
Hiram Li says, "When Seth was an undergrad, I worked with him enough to know how good he was at communicating. My grad student, now recognized as an 'Outstanding Young Scientist' himself, raved about him. Ranchers would want to know what researchers were doing, and Seth would take the time to explain it. He'd get them to respect the research — even if they didn't agree with it."
"I recommended him, and Seth became a graduate student of an internationally respected scientist, Frank Rahel, at U. of Wyoming."
Among Seth's honors and awards was an honorable mention and publication of his essay in Fisheries, in an national contest. The assignment was to describe his research clearly and succinctly to the public. Li says, "When Seth came back to Oregon, he was writing for the Forest Service, and they didn't want him to leave! They still come to him with some requests for projects and would love to lure him back!" White's committee recently approved his project, "Patterns, behavior, and paradigms for fish communities in an eastern Oregon stream network."
|
|
|
|
Postcard from SW: "This is me on a log across Black Canyon Creek in eastern Oregon, drawing a habitat map." |
Update: Welcome to this new position. Pat Hawk: Thank you! I'm very happy to be here, and the success of our faculty is a major reason I'm here. Since they made it a record-breaking year—again —for bringing in grants, the sheer volume of proposals has stretched the abilities of our existing staff who serve PIs. So I'm here, helping with the day-to-day operations of this office, as well as supporting and developing our administrators who deal with proposals. Helping whenever and wherever I can. Update: We've heard you know your stuff. PH: I actually am passionate about this work. I do have a background in all facets of sponsored programs administration, the integrated pre- and post-award systems, and F&A rate proposal . . . I've worked in several universities, including a top NIH school, and at the federal level. So I've seen a lot of different systems, and I'm connected nationally in this field. |
|
Update: How will you help OSU faculty?
PH: Everything that I can do, from answering questions to helping them balance the deadlines, is to reduce the burden on PIs. As the institutional signatory office for proposals, this is the starting point for sponsored programs. The whole "life cycle" of a project flows better if we take the time for a good start.
I'm also working towards even better coordination among all of the key offices — contracts, post-award administration, and the cost-analysis unit.
As we move towards an electronic proposal system, I plan to make the impact on faculty minimal. We're going to synthesize things, with the expectation that an electronic proposal to any agency will be simple.
Update: Should we ask you about indirect costs?
PH: In this business, you hear all the time, "They're too high." My standard answer is, "It pays for the lights, the heat, the water . . . and it also pays for me." To one researcher, I added, "I hope you're not telling me I'm not worth it!"
He walked away. Weeks later, he came back and said, "I was just at a conference and I shared a cab with someone from Columbia. Do you know that our rates are lower than theirs? We should do something about that—we're losing money!"
I'm tickled pink to have met Dean Bloomer. He's written one of the best descriptions—from a faculty member's standpoint—of indirect costs.
see Indirect Costs: A Primer prepared by Dean Sherm Bloomer; and Office of Sponsored Programs and Research Compliance
For monthly email notification of |
|
The media has been hovering around Doug Warrick, a-flutter with his discoveries about the aerodynamic mechanisms of hummingbirds. The popular attention is due to not only the appeal of hummingbirds, but also interest in the technology used, "digital particle imaging velocimetry." The study was published in Nature, and he's been contacted by the press in Britain, Canada, France, India and Spain. "Countries without access to such technology seem even more fascinated," Warrick says.The story has also been picked up by AP and CNN; NSF's website; miscellaneous publications including one dedicated to technology, design, and architecture; and even personal "blogs." "I suspect I've said it all, to all kinds of interviewers," says the assistant professor of zoology. "And most of them have been getting it right," Warrick says. "I find it curious that, thus far, the only inquiries I've received from individuals have been from engineers, and not necessarily because of the cool technology we used. I keep getting calls — they seem genuinely impressed with hummingbirds as flying machines. In my experience, it's not often engineers are impressed with naturally evolved systems; I think they'd rather operate under the great aerodynamicist Theodore von Karman's view that 'scientists discover that which is, and engineers create that which never was.' |
notes: The image at the top of the newsletter is also from Warrick's lab: it is a hummingbird and haze of oil illuminated by laser. The equipment for the digital imaging velocimetry is at the University of Portland. Warrick believes several OSU units are in contact with the producers about possible purchases. |
 |
 |
A retreat in June gathered deans, industry partners, private entrepreneurs, and faculty from several different disciplines to discuss the creation of OSU's Innovation Campus (OSU-INC, a virtual campus) and Innovation Place (OSU-IP, the physical site and buildings). In thorough presentations, the participants learned about successful enterprises at Purdue University (www.purdueresearchpark.com) and North Carolina State University (www.centennial.ncsu.edu), from Dr. Pankaj Sharma and Dr. David Winwood, respectively. Attendees also learned about some of the innovation centers that may find a home at the new campus, and brainstormed about the vision, challenges, and new opportunities that Innovation Place will provide. |
Presenters included representatives from ONAMI and other OSU faculty and staff. A site design team provided a visual focus with various building models and ideas for OSU-IP. "We discussed the big questions, and found out that there are great ideas and much enthusiasm— and a lot of work to be done," says John M. Cassady. "OSU-INC and OSU-IP have become a reality that many are applauding as a great opportunity to re-energize the campus and create a focal point for attracting new faculty, students, and innovative research and ideas." |
 |
Though many questions are still being raised, OSU-IP will likely provide opportunities for collaboration among businesses and university researchers, new opportunities for students, new educational partnerships, and growth for the university, local community, and the entire state.
for background:
Gazette Times (June, 2005) ; OSU Press Release (2004) ; Update, the Research Office Newsletter (2003)
__
Article by guest reporter Elizabeth Thompson, undergraduate communication major
The Illinois Researcher Information Service (IRIS) is a funding database, alert service, and more, to which OSU subscribes. See details about this resource in a previous issue of Update. |
 |
|
whereas . . .
The Institutional Research Interactive Information System (IRIIS - more "I"s) is an interactive tool that now empowers users to quickly search Oregon State University student enrollment information and generate tables and charts to satisfy their need for aggregate University information. Refer to the website, and to Kim Clark in the OSU Office of Institutional Research. |
Nature recently published a study on parasites carried by an invasive species of minnow in Europe, by Michael Kent and colleagues.
Kent, director of OSU's Center for Salmon Disease Research, wants people to be alerted to the wider picture. "Our study brings to light a problem that's often close to home, and is not only about fish, " he says.
"Invasive species sometimes eat native species, and/or take over their food sources. Yet another layer of concern with invasions has been often overlooked. Invading organisms sometimes carry pathogens that are devastating to native hosts."
Kent notes a variety of examples of this phenomena: " There was the introduction of bird malaria to Hawaii. And in humans, smallpox to Native Americans," he says. "Aquatic examples include Asian shrimp with viruses, which have caused severe disease in native shrimp in North and South America. Also, whirling disease, caused by a European parasite that is relatively harmless in its normal host, the brown trout, is now causing severe disease in certain populations of wild rainbow trout in North America, including Oregon."
Kent and colleagues are currently investigating parasites and bacteria in introduced marine and freshwater fishes in Hawaii.
see Oregonian article about the minnow study
 |
A bird's-eye view of OSU's new garden of medicinal herbs,adjacent to the pharmacy building, planted just in time for July's 46th annual meeting of the American Society of Pharmacognosy. [see press
release] |
What do potatoes, professors, and the patenting program have in common?
Answer: Laurel Halfpap. Her work has protected and benefited them all, and more. For nine years, she has been a licensing associate and then the assistant director of OSU's Office of Technology Transfer, with a focus on the life sciences. She is leaving the University this summer to accept a position as a senior technology manager at TechLink, a federal organization that is part of Montana State University.
"You couldn't have a better advocate than Laurel," says Craig Sheward, Director of Technology Transfer. "Her dedication is to getting the best for the researcher and inventor, getting the best for the University, and successfully getting products out to the public. She's inevitably been confronted with some incredible tangles, of legalities, preferences, timelines, fine print and bottom lines. And she works through them - we've never seen her give up, on even the knottiest. "
Think of Laurel Halfpap when you enjoy Oregon potatoes. And see the long list of OSU patents that she has contributed to, especially in pharmacy, microbiology, and horticultural genetics, at http://oregonstate.edu/research/technology/industry_patents.htm
Reading List: Books by Faculty and StaffA Selection of Books by Faculty and Staff and Books, Journals, and Patents Funding ResourcesOSU and external programs and other opportunities
for faculty. |
|
Shared OSU Facilities and Services - Resource ListAccess research resources across disciplines on campus. Please contact the Research Office about facilities to add to this list. Online OSU Newsletters and MagazinesNews and feature publications abound around campus. Link to a list of those available online, about everything from academics to cultural events. |
|
Scholarship and Research across CampusThe broad, deep, and diverse research and scholarship activities of OSU faculty across campus are presented at Research Summaries. Update, The Research Office NewsletterThis newsletter is produced approximately monthly and announced via email to all OSU faculty and staff. Subscribe at http://lists.oregonstate.edu/mailman/listinfo/update-the-research-office-newsletter. Please send any news or comments to jana.zvibleman@oregonstate.edu . Link to archived issues. |
|
Oregon State University Research Office
312 Kerr Administration Building, Corvallis, OR 97331
Phone 541-737-3437 Fax 541-737-3093
researchsupport@oregonstate.edu
Copyright © 2005
Oregon State University
Contact Us | Site Map | OSU Home Page | OSU Disclaimer
