How our scientists are working for a sustainable future

Two Ph.D. students in the College of Science have been selected for the prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program.

For Lily Miksell, the Alexei Lubchenco Menge Undergraduate Research Fellowship presented an exciting opportunity to pursue her interests in ecology and conservation.

Scientists at Oregon State University have shown that viral infection is involved in coral bleaching – the breakdown of the symbiotic relationship between corals and the algae they rely on for energy.

Two Ph.D. students in the College of Science — Grace Deitzler in microbiology and John Stepanek in integrative biology — are among three OSU students to receive prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) awards in 2020.

Mathematics graduate student Ruby Chick pursues interdisciplinary research on microplastics through the National Science Foundation Research Traineeship Program at Oregon State University.

Corals that appear healthy are more prone to getting sick when they’re home to too many parasitic bacteria, new research at Oregon State University shows. “The clear relationship we’ve discovered between this kind of bacteria and disease resistance in Caribbean staghorn coral is a crucial piece of the puzzle for coral restoration efforts in that region,” said study co-author Becca Maher, a Ph.D. candidate at Oregon State.

An evolutionary and population geneticist with strong regional and global impact, Professor Michael Blouin will present the 2021 Gilfillan Memorial Lecture, “What Darwin couldn’t imagine: A personal journey through the ever-changing field of evolutionary genetics.”

One of the most highly cited marine ecologists in the world, Distinguished Professor Jane Lubchenco, will lead climate and environmental science efforts in the White House as the new deputy director of climate and environment.

The iconic sunflower sea star has been listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature following a groundbreaking population study led by Oregon State University and The Nature Conservancy.

Leaders of 14 major maritime nations announced their commitment to achieve 100% sustainable ocean management of their national waters by 2025, acting on recommendations of a group of global experts co-chaired by OSU marine ecologist Jane Lubchenco.

A pivotal National Science Foundation award will enable Oregon State scientists to investigate how microbes influence their wildlife host’s sensitivity and resilience to disruptive changes in the natural environment.

The endowed professorship recognizes Rebecca Vega Thurber’s distinguished contributions to several fields of microbiology that encompass coral reef ecology, virology, marine disease ecology and metagenomics.

As the world's population continues to grow, new research from OSU marine ecologist Jane Lubchenco predicts that the ocean may hold solutions.

The discovery of the first active methane seep in Antarctica is providing scientists new understanding of the methane cycle and the role methane found in this region may play in warming the planet.

An international research collaboration, led by Kyriakos Stylianou, an assistant professor of chemistry at Oregon State University, has taken an important step toward the commercially viable manufacture of biobutanol, an alcohol whose strong potential as a fuel for gasoline-powered engines could pave the path away from fossil fuels. The researchers are now looking to partner with industry to try to scale up the separation method using the new metal organic framework, says Stylianou, the study’s corresponding author. If it scales well, it could be an important milestone on the road toward non-reliance on fossil fuels.

For the first time, scientists have taken a winter sampling of phytoplankton in the North Atlantic. The results revealed that the carbon-absorbing cells were smaller than what scientists expected, meaning a key weapon in the fight against excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may not be as powerful as previously believed.

Jerri Bartholomew, the Emile F. Pernot Distinguished Professor and Head of the Department of Microbiology was selected as a 2019 Fellow of the American Fisheries Society, the world’s oldest and largest organization dedicated to advancing fisheries science and conserving fisheries resources.