Rain was pouring hard the day Renee Albertson first connected, face-to-face, with a marine mammal. She was a 7-year-old visiting British Columbia’s Sealand aquarium (Canada’s now-defunct answer to California’s SeaWorld) with her mom and dad. The daily show had been cancelled because of the downpour. The usual crowds were absent. As the soggy trio from [...]
Category » Departments
July 11, 2012
Legacy of a Whale
Renee Albertson’s childhood encounter led her, decades later, to French Polynesia
July 3, 2012
Dolphin Defender
Rebecca Hamner boats New Zealand’s coastline collecting DNA from endangered dolphins
A dolphin’s dorsal fin can be as distinctive as a human fingerprint. As the fin slices through the sea, its unique pattern of pigments, nicks and scars relays the animal’s personal story to observers on the surface. Often, scientists can use these markings to ID individual dolphins. But for some species, fin IDs are not [...]
June 29, 2012
Science Without Borders
Want to do science today? Make sure your passport is up to date.
When land grant universities were created 150 years ago, science was already an international activity. Well before the signing of the Morrill Act in 1862, American scientists aboard six U.S. Navy vessels had circumnavigated the globe, collected thousands of plant and animal specimens and mapped parts of the Pacific Ocean from the Columbia River to [...]
June 27, 2012
Labor of Love
Master's student aims to solve health-care puzzle
The resilience of the women was surprising, as was their appreciation for just being heard. After all, they are at the bottom of the social hierarchy in one of the world’s poorest countries. No one had shown much interest in their stories until an Oregon State University student showed up last winter. Bonnie Ruder, a [...]
June 20, 2012
Relay for Wheat
If wheat breeding were a relay race, the land grant all-star team would include Foote, Kronstad, Peterson and now Zemetra
When he was a college student, Bob Zemetra found the perfect career. “I liked working with plants, and I realized that in plant breeding — in theory — I could be outside in the good part of the year and inside in the bad part of the year.” Things didn’t turn out that way, he [...]
June 7, 2012
Floating Dock from Japan Carries Potential Invasive Species
Starfish, crabs, oysters and algae are among the Asian hitchhikers
When debris from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan began making its way toward the West Coast of the United States, there were fears of possible radiation and chemical contamination as well as costly cleanup. But a floating dock that unexpectedly washed ashore in Newport this week and has been traced back to the [...]
June 7, 2012
Wheat for the West
Land grant research catapulted wheat farming into an economic power that feeds the world
It is arguably the plant that made the West. Pioneers brought wheat in practically every wagon on the Oregon Trail. It fed farm families in the Willamette Valley and miners in the John Day and California gold-rush towns. It was currency and foreign exchange. As the nation grew, scientists developed dryland and irrigated growing techniques. [...]
June 6, 2012
Fisher of Rivers
Haley Ohms wades into Dolly Varden research in Japanese streams
A river runs through Haley Ohms’ life. Actually, a whole bunch of rivers. So spending the summer hip-deep in fast-moving water will feel familiar to the Oregon State University graduate student — even if those cold, tumbling waters flow on the other side of the Pacific Rim. The fish will seem familiar, too. The Dolly [...]
June 5, 2012
Pumped Up
Zachary Dunn helps bring clean water to Kenyan farmers
How far would you go to help someone get a glass of clean water? Zachary Dunn knows exactly how far he’d go: 9,000 miles. And that’s just one trip, one way. By summer’s end, Dunn and fellow Oregon State University students had traveled almost 36,000 miles — greater than the Earth’s circumference — to help [...]
June 1, 2012
Value-Added Scientist
Mark Whitham’s know-how is a sought-after commodity for small canners hoping to kick-start or upgrade their facilities.
June 1, 2012
“They Never Tasted Fish Like This Before”
A Coos Bay entrepreneur teamed up with an Oregon Sea Grant seafood specialist to create a new business and local jobs.
May 30, 2012
Life-Saving Science
At a recent meeting of the American Meteorological Society in New Orleans, I participated in a discussion of early warning systems that give the public time to take cover from tornadoes and to prepare for hurricanes. Today, we have hours or days to get out of harm’s way. Contrast that with the hurricane in Galveston, [...]
May 30, 2012
Running Clear
Gary Klinkhammer turned water analysis into environmental protection
The Arctic Ocean, 1997. Gary Klinkhammer had strapped a water chemistry analyzer onto the hull of a retired U.S. Navy nuclear submarine to measure carbon. He had come to this bleak and desolate place looking for organic matter, fertile detritus dumped into the ocean by massive rivers in Siberia and North America. “The Arctic in [...]
May 30, 2012
Battling the Superbugs
Science wages war on bacteria that are resisting modern drugs
This story has echoes of heroes tramping the Earth (or the galaxy) on a quest to defeat the forces of darkness. Along the way, the travelers encounter strange creatures with remarkable powers. They endure harrowing tests of mental strength and technological prowess. In the end, they prevail, bringing down the enemy and discovering a truth [...]
May 30, 2012
Turncoat Proteins
Scientists scope out the earliest signs of disease
It’s one of life’s little ironies. The proteins in our bodies fight infection, carry messages, ferry oxygen and build tissue. But then, like double agents in a spy novel, they can betray us. They overreact to a virus and attack our own organs. They promote cancer, help clog arteries or set up roadblocks in the [...]
May 30, 2012
Business Partners
Entrepreneurs leverage OSU research in startup companies
One sunny spring afternoon, friends sat together in the backyard of a Corvallis home sipping wine, bemoaning the recent hike in gas prices to $3.50 per gallon. Among them were a former product-development specialist for Hewlett-Packard and an Oregon State University chemist. Perhaps inspired by the bioethanol in their glasses, what might happen, they wondered, [...]
May 30, 2012
From Wood to Watts
Forest-based fuels could fire up rural development, but at what cost?
About a million years ago in South Africa, a Homo erectus cave dweller used fire on purpose, and some charred bones at the site suggest it may have been for cooking. Thus was born the biofuels industry — and also the first known barbecue. The name of that cave, Wonderwerk, means “miracle” in the Afrikaans [...]
May 30, 2012
Plates of Honor
Julie Green memorializes final meal choices by death-row prisoners
In 1997, Julie Green had just moved to Norman, Oklahoma, when she sat down to read the local paper with her morning tea and toast. As she was looking at the column of news from around the state, she was riveted by an item describing an execution that had happened the previous night. The column [...]
May 30, 2012
Sowing seeds for business
Startup companies and entrepreneurs work hand-in-hand with researchers
New startup companies are emerging from Oregon State research. Here are three young companies just getting their feet on the ground.
May 29, 2012
The Exercise Gender Gap
Men are more active than women
Men exercise more than women do — 18 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity for women versus 30 minutes for men, on average — a study has found. This is bad news for women, who are more prone to “metabolic syndrome” — a cluster of risk factors including so-called “stubborn belly fat” often targeted in diet ads. [...]
May 29, 2012
Of Predators and Herds
Big meat-eaters mean healthy ecosystems
The health of any ecosystem starts with razor-like teeth and an appetite for meat. The “apex” predators — big carnivores like bears and wolves at the top of the food web — keep things in balance, OSU researchers have found in study after study in the western United States. Now, the findings have been confirmed [...]
May 29, 2012
Hail Oceanus!
Marine research vessel switches coasts
It was a beautiful day for a shakedown cruise off the Oregon coast. For a crew based at Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center, March 7, 2012, was also a good day to get to know their new ship, the research vessel (R/V) Oceanus. Scientists and crew took Oceanus, the sister ship to OSU’s [...]
May 29, 2012
The Oh! Zone
Far-out findings from science
Ancient Blood Brothers Like the “sloth moth,” which lives only in the fur of the ambling two-toed and three-toed mammals, the “bat fly” exists only in the fur of the winged, cave-dwelling mammals. Now scientists know that the flea-like, blood-sucking fly has been hanging around with bats for at least 20 million years. That’s because [...]
May 29, 2012
Parents Should Chill Out
Toddlers whose parents anger easily tend to throw more tantrums and become upset, a new study shows. Looking into the nature-versus-nurture question long debated in childrearing, researchers found a clear link between over-reactive parenting and negative emotions in young children. “You set the example as a parent in your own emotions and reactions,” says researcher [...]
May 29, 2012
Infectious Science
The National Institutes of Health is supporting OSU researchers with $4.5 million spread across 16 active projects. Among them: Jon Furuno, College of Pharmacy, studies the incidence and severity of MRSA in hospitals and long-term care facilities. Margaret Dolcini, Department of Public Health, studies the behaviors and attitudes of urban African-American youth at risk of [...]
May 29, 2012
The Power’s in the Purple
A new type of tomato that’s “as black as an eggplant” is being touted for its health-enhancing properties. Poetically named “Indigo Rose,” the new variety was bred at OSU as a powerful source of antioxidants — micronutrients known to fight the harmful “free radicals” implicated in cancers and other diseases. It’s the purple pigment, in [...]
May 29, 2012
Tracking the Titans
A whale named Varvara is following in the fluke-path of a whale named Flex, who surprised scientists last year by taking an unexpected migratory route from Russia to Oregon. Scientists led by Bruce Mate at the Marine Mammal Institute are following Varvara’s incredible journey via satellite signals from an electronic “tag” she received in September. [...]
May 26, 2012
Data Driven
Chris Patton uses computer modeling to help build world-champion racecars
When Chris Patton was helping his Formula SAE team design a racecar for international competition, he made an unusual suggestion: angle the rear wheels outward in relation to the car. Common knowledge would warn against that move. Turning the rear tires outward makes the car less stable. But Patton, a Ph.D. student in mechanical engineering [...]
May 25, 2012
Resistance Times Ten
Pathogens resistant to one or more drugs are on the rise. Below are 10 diseases associated with antimicrobial resistance identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 1. Anthrax. Occurs rarely in humans. Caused by exposure to infected animals or animal products. Also has been used in [...]
May 25, 2012
Evidence for Change
Rigorous climate science trumps our senses
Some people take a dim view of the idea that Oregon, as well as the rest of the world, could be expected to continue warming in coming decades. They may cite March snowfall in the Willamette Valley or unpublished comparisons of mean temperatures over a given time period in specific places. Appealing as it is, [...]
