Outreach

Advocating for science, shaping lives

Our dedication to outreach is part of what makes Oregon State such a great place to study science. Our students serve communities across the Willamette Valley and Oregon. They work alongside faculty to help science students and teachers to improve the quality of education and training in science and mathematics in collaboration with community colleges and state and regional agencies.

Our students make a tremendous difference in the Willamette Valley through service learning opportunities that support education initiatives, create strong and vibrant communities and enhance job skills like collaboration, teamwork, leadership and communication.

The College of Science is committed to helping our students navigate campus resources and programs to create a meaningful, transformative student experience.

Partnerships

Hatfield Marine Science Center

Oregon State University has partnered with the Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC) located in the coastal town of Newport, Oregon. Established as a marine laboratory for OSU in 1960, the Center currently hosts collaborative research and education programs from seven OSU colleges and six state and federal agencies on its 49-acre campus. Today, HMSC is a leading marine laboratory distinguished by its collaborative research partnerships.

The College of Science is a longtime collaborator with HMSC. As OSU’s coastal campus and a base for oceanographic research, the Hatfield Marine Science Center enables our students learn by doing. A popular learning laboratory, HMSC offers students research opportunities, experiential learning and instruction and a popular summer internship program.

The idea of spending a summer living, studying, learning and researching on the Oregon Coast attracts students from across science and other disciplines to the Summer and Marine Environmental Studies Programs at HMSC.

Our biology major coupled with a marine science option offers students fieldwork and laboratory course work in marine biology, ecology, conservation and oceanography. With a focus on research, this option includes experiential courses that students take at the OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport while living at the coast. Former students say the hands-on learning and the experience of living among their peers at the Oregon coast was one of their greatest memories of their OSU education. There is much to learn from our oceans.

HMSC is a valuable and unique resource for visiting scientists and science students interested in studying our marine ecosystems. It combines marine science expertise, a perfect location steps away from the Pacific Ocean, a world-class seawater system, experimental wet labs, OSU’s Guin Library and a weekly seminar series.

Since 2016, Oregon State University has partnered with the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), one of the nation's leading science centers. Joining forces to bring together researchers, educators and the public, OSU and OMSI have helped researchers collaborate more effectively on the broader impacts of their grant proposals. OMSI hosts its popular Science Communication Fellowship cohort program on OSU’s Corvallis campus every spring.