Winter 2022

Oregon State University Pollinator Health Extension Specialist Andony Melathopoulos prefers to call the stinging insects by their less sensationalized name: giant Asian hornets.

New research shows that warm-water habitats can be critically important for the survival of cold-water fish such as trout and salmon.

Two Oregon State University Extension Service Small Farms program projects have been awarded U.S. Department of Agriculture grants totaling more than $800,000 to strengthen the viability of Oregon’s small and mid-scale farms and food businesses.

Oregon State University’s Dr. Frank Chaplen and Ph.D. student Elsie W. are currently working on research that may offer a promising solution. Their work takes advantage of naturally occurring denitrifiers, a type of bacteria that convert nitrogen from one form to another. 

Considering what the world looks like to a plankton offers a new path to solving the paradox of the plankton.

OSU has received a $333,777 grant from the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research to study whether protein from byproducts such as fish heads, bones and skin left over after processing can be recovered and used as an ingredient in food or dietary supplements.

“There is a real danger that Traditional Knowledge, such as crop rotation and drought adaptation, will be lost and the city will be less resilient,” said Abigail Tomasek, a geoengineer at Oregon State University in Corvallis. 

The study included collaring a sampling of carnivores, monitoring deer and elk kill sites via game cameras and analyzing scat to determine what predators living within the 40-square-mile experimental forest and range were eating.

A 443-acre tidal wetland habitat restoration project in Oregon’s Tillamook Bay designed to reduce flooding and improve salmon habitat also brought a host of other socioeconomic benefits to the community, a new report from Oregon State University researchers shows.

The former Super Bowl XXVII MVP spent two years developing and researching the beer-making process and partnered with Oregon State University's Food and Science Technology Department to pore over his pour options.

At the Oregon State University Seafood Lab in Astoria, researchers are hard at work to change how fish waste is used, with the help of a grant from a national food and agriculture research foundation. 

“We wanted to share with Oregonians, and the public in general, the stories of these whales because they are residents of Oregon like us, and they have personalities and stories to tell,” said Leigh Torres, principal investigator at OSU’s Marine Mammal Institute. “These whales have interesting lives that we’ve learned a lot about over the years through our research.”

Oregon State University researchers have described a new legume tree from flowers embedded in several lumps of amber recovered from deep within an amber mine in the mountains of the Dominican Republic.

OSU's Chad Higgins sat down with Science Friday to discuss Agrivoltaics, a way to grow plants and provide solar energy at the same time.

Richard van Breemen, a researcher with Oregon State’s Global Hemp Innovation Center, and collaborators, including scientists at Oregon Health & Science University, found that a pair of cannabinoid acids bind to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, blocking a critical step in the process the virus uses to infect people.

Researchers from Oregon State University, Montana State University and the U.S. Forest Service found that falling gas prices and, to a lesser extent, rising income levels, drove land development from 1982 to 2000.

“It is a male-dominated industry, and it has been for a long time,” OSU Professor Carol Lorenzen told The Food Institute. “Women want to be successful, but there are barriers.”

“This is the biggest predation event on this planet: the biggest apex predator taking down the biggest prey,” says study co-author Robert Pitman, a marine ecologist at OSU’s Marine Mammal Institute. “We don’t have dinosaurs anymore, so for me as a whale biologist and a zoologist it’s an amazing thing.”

On Feb. 9 at 7 p.m., Friends of Haystack Rock presents Taylor Chapple, “The Science of Sharks: Meeting the Predator Next Door,”  presented on Facebook Live, @Friends of Haystack Rock.

Preclinical research involves using cell cultures and/or animal models to test the safety and efficacy of a new drug candidate, Richard van Breemen explained.

3D printing could unlock custom textures, flavors and nutritional content in foods, but cost, capacity and lack of printable ingredients is currently holding the technology back from taking over the market, according to a food expert.

Scientists in the College of Agricultural Sciences delved into the mysteries of SCOBY by using DNA sequencing and they found that there are four different types of SCOBY.

Yanyun Zhao leads a research team focusing on sustainable food packaging and processing.  She has studied apple pomace and other byproducts from processing fruit and vegetable juice and winemaking as an alternative for recycled newspaper in molded pulp manufacturing.

The toxic preservative is not the only problem with tire wear particles, says Susanne Brander, an Oregon State University toxicologist and co-chair of a recent California Ocean Science Trust and Ocean Protection Council science advisory team on microplastics in marine ecosystems.

A comprehensive new map and report tracking whale migrations around the globe highlights where they go in the high seas and the cumulative impacts the animals face from industrial fishing, ship strikes, pollution, habitat loss and climate change.

Oregon State University is one month into the 153-million-dollar renovation of the west side of Reser Stadium and everything appears to be on schedule.

The board also heard an update on the national search that is underway and anticipates the selection of a new president to occur in late May.

Oregon State University has been ranked one of the nation’s five best providers of online education for the fourth consecutive year by U.S. News & World Report, judged on the strength of its faculty and the distance learning opportunities they deliver.

Jessica Xu | 4th Year, Post-bacc | Environmental Economics and Policy | CAS Student Ambassador | OSU MANRRS Treasurer | Los Angeles, CA

Samuel Hoefler | Agronomy, Crop and Soil Sciences | Meadville, PA | Head Grower at Prūf Cultivar | Transfer Student | Ecampus

Matthew Mehlschau | Agronomy, Crop and Soil Science | Minor in Agriculture and Food Business Management | Warrens Memorial Scholarship | Flanagan Scholarship | Jefferson, OR

The College of Agricultural Sciences is home to countless clubs and organizations that seek to aid students in their continued academic, professional, and personal growth. One of those clubs is MANRRS—Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Sciences.

Techniques to efficiently analyze data from hydrophones are not well developed. This new research led by Jill Munger when she was an undergraduate student, begins to change that. Munger came to Oregon State having worked more than 20 years in the corporate world.

Five of the fifteen Oregon State University students and recent graduates that have been announced as semi-finalists for the 2022-2023 Fulbright U.S. Student Program are from Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences.

Congratulations to Stan, Jackie, Sage, Christina, and Jane!

Isabella Ruikis, an undergraduate student, is developing a podcast series with a Social Justice theme that describes survivor experiences during and following the Rogue Valley Alameda fires last year. 

The free Science Pub was run from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on February 14th.  The event was broadcast on YouTube Live. Registration is required and can be completed at https://beav.es/wik.

This theory is based on new evidence from nanoscopic magnetic material found within cells in the noses of salmon. The paper’s lead author is Renee Bellinger, who began the research as a doctoral student at Oregon State, completing her Ph.D. in fisheries science in 2014.

I took my first step out of Cauthorn Hall into the crisp, cool morning. My boots dampened by the morning dew, my brain buzzing with curiosity surrounding the unknown adventures the next four years at Oregon State would bring. Like most college freshmen, I had no idea how this new chapter in life would progress. But I never could have imagined the chaos to come. 

Butterfly bush is in such high demand that consumers at nurseries request it by name. This makes it a highly valuable crop in Oregon’s leading agricultural sector: the nursery and greenhouse industry—the first ag industry in Oregon to surpass $1 billion in annual farmgate value.

Ag Sciences at Oregon State University is more than a college. It’s a community. A community made up of generations upon generations of students, graduates, faculty & staff, industry and stakeholders of all backgrounds, all bound by the common goal to make tomorrow better.

Proud to partner with the Oregon Potato Commission in potato variety trials and other research, including the development of new breeds of potatoes. Especially exciting to join them in sharing the joy of potatoes while cheering on the Beaver football team!

During World War II, Schryver taught advanced landscape design at Oregon State University. They created welcoming parks, school yards and institutional campuses, and tamed wilderness such as the Breitenbush Hot Springs resort surrounded by the Willamette National Forest, said Valencia Libby, author of the new book, “The Northwest Gardens of Lord & Schryver” ($29.95, Oregon State University Press).