Barely a century has passed since Louis Pasteur developed a vaccination for rabies. Since then, scientists have discovered treatments for some of the worst human scourges: smallpox, tuberculosis, polio and influenza. Much of their success can be traced to experiments on animals under circumstances that would shock us today. Pasteur learned about rabies by infecting [...]
Category » Departments
May 21, 2013
Balancing Work and Family
Drew Arnold balances personal with professional
Babies don’t wait for you to get your master’s degree. They arrive on their own schedules and change your life. Drew Arnold learned that lesson when he became a father. He also found that sleep comes in a distant third to family and education. In 2010, he began a graduate program in mechanical engineering at [...]
May 21, 2013
Oregon 9.0
When the next Big One comes, will we be ready?
Professor Scott Ashford has seen the consequences of “megathrust” quakes in Chile, Japan and New Zealand: buildings and bridges tilted and broken like toys, beachfront tourist towns reduced to rubble, pipelines squeezed out of the ground like toothpaste out of a tube, businesses closed or forced to relocate.
May 21, 2013
OSU Advantage: Sustainable Semis
Partnership with Daimler Trucks North America produces carbon-fiber prototype
Trucking companies are looking for new ways to cut fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. A partnership between Oregon State and Daimler is making inroads
May 21, 2013
From Data to Doing
Converting climate science to community action
Adapting to climate change requires two key things: good data and boots on the ground. As oceans rise, icecaps melt, snowpack diminishes, wildfires rage and aquifers dry up, coupling science to action becomes ever more urgent. But the barriers to linking science to practical action are formidable, often springing from deep disparities in worldview among [...]
May 21, 2013
Sea Trio
Oregon State will lead design and construction of coastal research vessels
Oregon State has been designated by the NSF as the lead institution for the design, building and launching of as many as three state-of-the-art research vessels.
May 21, 2013
Grape Crush
Food scientists find new uses for pulpy winery leftovers
As you sip your favorite Oregon wine, do you ever wonder what happened to the discarded remains of those luscious grapes?
May 21, 2013
Flight Plan
UAV technology can create jobs, save money and lives
UAVs can help manage wildfires, support a search-and-rescue mission, plant trees to avoid wind or heat damage, monitor wildlife, improve irrigation, detect crop-disease outbreaks and gauge environmental health.
May 21, 2013
Freedom of Access
The public deserves and needs access to scientific information
“For scholars, access to the work of their peers is fundamental to the advancement of research.”
May 21, 2013
Nomads No More
Anthropology student listens to the voices of Mongolian herders
Pressure from encroaching modernization is threatening traditional patterns of migration and collaboration in Inner Mongolia.
May 20, 2013
Of Texts and Textiles
Tapestries loom large in Renaissance literature and modern metaphor
For the rich and the royal, arras hangings were status symbols. They depicted ancient stories of valor and virtue.
May 20, 2013
Online and Face-to-Face
Active learning combines technology and teamwork
The hallowed “sage on the stage” tradition is giving way to a more interactive process leavened by Wi-Fi and the Web.
May 20, 2013
Aquatic Vigil
Labs go to extraordinary lengths for fish and other water dwellers
It boils down to a centuries-old debate among philosophers, scientists, veterinarians, farmers, ranchers, aquarists, and pet owners: What is our obligation to captive animals?
May 15, 2013
A Preventable Disaster
Arsenic exposure could have long-lasting public health consequences
Fighting a war of independence should be turmoil enough for a small country, but in 1970, the people of Bangladesh also had to deal with a deadly cholera outbreak. This water-borne disease threatened the country’s plentiful surface water and put public health at risk. To solve this crisis, the government, together with international aid agencies, [...]
May 9, 2013
Connective Tissue
Finding hope where facts and values intersect
When Michael P. Nelson talks about his work, he mentions carcasses and cadavers to a startling degree — startling because Nelson is not a physician or a veterinarian or even a biologist. He’s a philosopher. So at first glance, necropsy seems an odd topic of discourse. But it starts to make sense when you notice [...]
May 3, 2013
Biochar video
Learn how biochar is made, sequesters carbon and protects water quality
Perry Morrow, student in the Oregon State University Water Resources Graduate Program, produced this video on biochar, the carbonized remains of plants. Turning low-value wood and other biomass into biochar sequesters carbon from the atmosphere for hundreds of years. The resulting material may also benefit water quality by absorbing pollutants such as copper, lead, zinc [...]
May 3, 2013
Learning to Fly
More parents provide support for their adult children
For many first-year college students, going to a new school represents “leaving the nest.” They are now responsible for housing, bills and their own education. But according to Heidi Igarashi , a research assistant at Oregon State University, most are still in their parents’ nest and will be for several more years. “Parents used to [...]
April 11, 2013
Four Oregon State students honored by Barry M. Goldwater Foundation
Three Oregon State University students have been awarded the prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, an annual award given for the nation’s top undergraduate student research scholars in science, math and engineering by the federally endowed Goldwater Foundation. A fourth student has received an honorable mention, making this OSU’s most successful year ever in the annual [...]
April 3, 2013
Yellowstone: One of the World’s Largest Calderas
Keep up on the latest research
The Yellowstone caldera is no typical volcano. Its elongated form measures about 35 miles by 45 miles, considerably larger than most. Yellowstone Lake stands at the center of the caldera and shows evidence of volcanic activity that has formed some of its arms. Yellowstone contains one of the world’s largest geothermal systems. The caldera has [...]
April 3, 2013
Researcher Profile: Adam Schultz
A professor of geology and geophysics, Adam Schultz received his Ph.D. at the University of Washington in 1986. He came to Oregon State University in 2003 and directs the National Geoelectromagnetic Facility, which loans geophysics equipment to scientists, industry and government. His research interests include geothermal systems, the Cascade volcanic arc, the Cascadia subduction zone [...]
April 3, 2013
Rethinking Yellowstone
The hotspot theory gets a makeover from the emerging science of magnetotellurics
A geological mystery lies beneath the majestic beauty of Yellowstone National Park. Once thought solved, the enigma continues to unfold through the lens of a young science known as magnetotellurics. As accepted theory goes, over the past 16 million years a rising plume of magma in the Earth’s mantle produced massive amounts of lava and [...]
February 26, 2013
Roots of Relationship
Under the pine needles lies one of the secrets to forest health
The summer is warm and sunny in Corvallis, but my travels draw me east. Over and past the Cascades is an open land where the cold sparkling waters of a river flow north, and the sweet smell of Ponderosa pine blends with the fresh scent of lodgepole — the Deschutes National Forest. My one-person tent [...]
February 14, 2013
Posture for the Planet
Green Yoga combines inner peace with ecological consciousness
For many people, yoga is a form of relaxation. But in India, the birthplace of the exercise, yoga is beginning to stretch beyond the boundaries of one’s self and into the ecological realm. A new movement called “Green Yoga” encourages men and women who practice yoga — called yogis and yoginis — to strive for [...]
February 8, 2013
SimCity for Your Greenhouse
USDA Gives Technology Award to Forestry Student
When Lee Buckingham’s dad brought home a broken HP computer, Lee took it apart and fixed it. He was 15 years old. Through high school and college, the Oregon State graduate student in Forest Engineering, Resources and Management fed his appetite for technology (“I like to build them from parts”) and taught himself to write [...]
February 1, 2013
Corps of Discovery
Mastering the natural history of Oregon's storied lands and waters - and passing it on
Just as some babies are born with special gifts for music or math, Harvard’s Howard Gardner argues, others come into the world with an exceptional sensitivity to nature. The Oregon Master Naturalist program was designed to tap into this devotion to the land and build a statewide corps of expert volunteers.
January 31, 2013
Concord Elementary School
Where vegetables sprout (and kids, too)
Amid the chaos, the kids are learning about the art of gardening.
January 31, 2013
Lake of the Woods
Where the wild things are
“The three key words in the mission of Oregon Master Naturalists are explore, connect, contribute.”
January 30, 2013
An Ethical Tightrope
Learning to make delicate choices
Making ethical choices about animals can be a philosophical high-wire act — a precarious balance of practicality and principle. Weighing practical needs against “normative ethics” — right or wrong, good or bad, just or unjust — requires more than a handbook of do’s and don’ts. “The institutional protocols — the laws, regulations, policies — provide [...]
January 29, 2013
Documenting the Giants
Canopy science for old-growth forests
Forest scientist and Oregon State University alumnus Steve Sillett studies and climbs the largest trees in the world. Since 1987, he’s climbed more than 1,000 of these arboreal giants, many of which reach heights greater than 200 feet tall and diameters upwards of 20 feet. Sillett’s study of old-growth forests — and in particular redwood [...]
January 29, 2013
Oregon State University In Asia
Scientific partnerships flourish across the region
For growth in research and educational opportunities, Oregon State University faculty and students increasingly look west. Connections to Asia are expanding. They encompass a wide range of activities including academic conferences, student exchanges and faculty collaborations. They focus on business, engineering, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, wood science, music and more. The university’s growing international influence is fueled [...]
