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Events

Celebrating excellence in teaching and advising: 2024 College of Science Awards

The College of Science gathered on Feb. 29 to recognize and celebrate our high achieving faculty and staff at the 2024 Combined Awards Ceremony.

The following faculty and staff received awards in the categories of teaching and advising.

Congratulations to all the awardees!

Camrie Smith sits with her hands in her lap wearing a white sweater. She is outdoors with a wall of vines behind her. Her natural hair is pulled back and she smiles broadly at the camera.
Students

Zoology senior showcases Black excellence in STEM

As children, most of us were asked what we wanted to be when we grew up. Quipping dreams of ballerinas, firefighters, doctors or mythical characters — how many of us actually pursued them? Camrie Smith always said she wanted to work with animals. And it stuck.

Interns at the University of Michigan Medical School gather for a photo.
Students

Pre-med undergrad explores the convergence of medicine and research

After landing a coveted internship spot reserved for Honors College students, biology fourth-year Varsha Karthikeyan explored the nuanced intersection between research and medicine.

A turquoise podium with a SACNAS figure showing the years 1973 to 2023.
Events

OSU shines at nation’s largest STEM conference, SACNAS

Earlier this fall, more than 6,000 people gathered for the nation’s largest STEM diversity event of the year, the 2023 National Diversity in STEM (NDiSTEM) conference, hosted in Portland, Oregon.

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News

New Nepal Study Abroad: Explore the interweaving of culture and biology

A brand-new, three-week study abroad opportunity in Nepal is being launched for students to experience. Led by Dee Denver, head of the Department of Integrative Biology, the Intersections of Biodiversity and Buddhist Cultures in Nepal course promises a trek through the Himalayas, excursions in lowland jungles, and time spent in centuries-old monasteries.

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Mathematics

Classroom puzzles to cosmic insights: Students and professor demystify mathematical theorem

More than 150 years ago, Joseph Bertrand stated a mathematical theorem. Proving why this theorem is true hasn’t been a simple endeavor. Two College of Science alumni, along with professor Patrick De Leenheer, recently published a paper in the SIAM Review pulling back the curtain on Bertrand’s Theorem. Together, they wrote a proof that is accessible to undergraduate mathematics or physics students.

Alysia Vrailas-Mortimer sits at a lab table showing equipment to a student.
Research

Expanding undergraduate research: Fruit fly experience has students “buzzing”

Every student deserves hands-on research opportunities. But how can that be a reality with limitations on time and available faculty?

Alysia Vrailas-Mortimer, College of Science associate professor and principal investigator with the Linus Pauling Institute, and her colleagues in the Fly-CURE consortium stumbled upon a solution they hope to expand across the U.S.

Kendra Yasui
Students

BioHealth Sciences senior breaks down barriers to bring healing and science education

Aspiring doctor Kendra Yasui began her medical education during her early years working in her family's orchard near Hood River, Oregon. Now graduated with Honor's degrees in biohealth science and Spanish, she hopes to provide health care for underserved Spanish-speaking communities.

Sullivan Bailey-Darland in front of an urban backdrop.
Students

A ‘limitless degree’: Physics senior pushes the boundaries of his field

How does DNA move? How do cells communicate with each other? When it comes to these questions, it’s easy to think of molecular biologists behind the words. But as physics and mathematics senior Sullivan “Sully” Bailey-Darland knows, there are many more voices asking.

Alyssa Pratt stands in front of a pole with a sign that reads "We did it." She is wearing her graduation cap and gown.
Students

Biochemistry and computer science senior bridges gap between the byte and the gene

Goldwater scholar and graduating senior Alyssa Pratt has always had a love for the sciences. She started with a love for the stars and now spends her day in the cyberspace realm with her double major in computer science; and biochemistry and molecular biology at Oregon State University.

Jessica Lopez standing in a white dress with sunflower infant of a brick building.
Students

A comforting hand and healing career: Biohealth sciences senior strides into healthcare

Jessica Lopez, who graduated from Oregon State this spring with a bachelor's degree in biohealth sciences, spent the worst of the pandemic watching hundreds of people die.

Ebunoluwa Morakinyo is seen dancing with an Nigerian flag during African night.
Students

Biochemistry and molecular biology senior thrives from the stage to the lab

Being a Beaver has stretched Ebunoluwa Morakinyo to develop her passions inside and outside of the lab. A senior honors biochemistry and molecular biology student at Oregon State, her time on campus has included celebrating her culture while looking forward to a career dedicated to helping others.