Forget about clear, pristine waters. The real action for some scientists is in dark swamps where black stained water has the acidity of vinegar.
Category » Summer 2006
July 23, 2006
Coastal Winds, Changing Seas
The winds were late last year, but when they did arrive, they blew harder and longer than normal. The result: a series of “bizarre events” in Oregon’s normally productive coastal waters.
July 23, 2006
After the Fire
On a winter day last February, it was standing room only in the Medford, Oregon, city hall.
July 23, 2006
The Weight of Wine
For Jim Kennedy, it’s all about mouth feel. The sensation of wine on the palate can be silky and smooth or coarse and hard. Wine experts call it texture.
July 23, 2006
Greening the Bottom Line
In the business world, profit has long been the standard for performance. Red ink on the bottom line raises red flags with investors. However, companies are increasingly judged on their social and environmental behavior as well as economics.
July 23, 2006
Training for a Science-Smart Workforce
Innovative businesses need savvy employees, people who know science and understand commerce, people like Bill Becker and Akihide Takagi.
July 23, 2006
Maps Help Plow New Ground for Oregon Grass
Two OSU scientists have produced the first collection of maps that show climate, soil characteristics and plant species suitability for the People’s Republic of China.
July 23, 2006
Green Power
Plugging into Nature
Oil addicition — how can we kick it? OSU scientists and engineers have new ideas that hold promise and well-developed technologies that are already replacing fossil fuels. Here are five projects leading to our energy future.
July 23, 2006
Tense Times
In middle school, why do some students glide through while others struggle?
Remember middle school? No stress, right? Psychologist Jennifer Connor-Smith knows firsthand how difficult that transition can be. She and her students are looking at how personality helps or hinders teens’ ability to deal with the crisis of the day.
July 23, 2006
Undergrads in the Lab
Undergraduate researchers Janelle Quest and Kathryn Cellerini have been working shoulder-to-shoulder with their professor Jennifer Connor-Smith to identify and isolate the factors that influence adolescent stress management. As part of a cadre of research assistants in OSU’s Department of Psychology, they are getting the kind of nuts-and-bolts experience in social science that typically comes along [...]
July 23, 2006
To Conquer Vitamin E
Trekking through the last frontier of vitamin exploration
Taking a vitamin E supplement? There’s more to it than just popping a pill. Maret Traber of OSU’s Linus Pauling Institute is revealing E’s secrets, including its cozy partnerships with vitamin C and fat.
July 22, 2006
Views from the Lagoon
Passengers on OSU’s 2006 Gray Whale Expedition to Baja came from places as far-flung as Ypsilanti, North Dakota; Oakland, Iowa; and Tucson, Arizona. Most, however, live in Oregon. Here are a few impressions from San Ignacio Lagoon. Julie Brinck, a retired registered nurse from Florence, Oregon, said: “Entering the lagoon gave me sort of a [...]
July 22, 2006
A Primordial Commonality
One breezy afternoon while we were anchored in San Ignacio Lagoon, a passenger came out on deck, asking if anyone had seen her jacket. After she decided it must have blown overboard, one guy gazed across the chop and remarked, “Somewhere out there is a whale wearing a lime-green windbreaker.” Added another, “Yeah, and his [...]
July 22, 2006
To Hear Whales Breathe
“There is magic in the air.” Not a sentence one would expect to see in association with research and field science, is it? But the great thing about science is that it so often skates along the edge of understanding; and just past that edge are mysteries that sometimes seem like magic. It’s the pursuit [...]
June 22, 2006
Tracking the Great Whales
Bruce Mate's pioneering tagging technologies are helping protect marine mammals from human impacts.
Some whale species and other marine mammals are still not in the clear. Research by Bruce Mate and colleagues in the Marine Mammal Program is revealing new details about ocean ecosystems and helping to address new threats.
February 22, 2006
Anatomy of a Career
Bruce Mate, OSU Professor of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oceanography Hatfield Marine Science Center He was a Midwest kid, a self-described “technical nerd” who hung out with ham-radio buffs and fell in love with a girl who played flute to his percussion in the school band. Before he headed to Oregon with his bride, Mary Lou, [...]
