IMPACT

Two species of sand-stabilizing beachgrasses introduced to the Pacific Northwest starting in the early 1900s are hybridizing, raising new questions about impacts to the coastal ecosystems the non-native plants have been engineering for more than a century.

Biochemists at Oregon State University have found a key new piece of the puzzle in the quest to use gene therapy to enable people born deaf to hear.

With expertise spanning marine ecology, biofuel development, new modes of energy capture, evolutionary genetics and the microbiomes of coral reefs, OSU is committed to research that puts the environment first.

Two students from the College of Science at OSU are among the 22 receiving a Katherine S. McCarter Graduate Student Policy Award, presented annually by the Ecological Society of America.

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

Biochemists have taken a key step toward new drugs and vaccines for combating COVID-19 with a deep dive into one protein’s interactions with SARS-CoV-2 genetic material.

Heather Masson-Forsythe, a fifth-year graduate student in the College of Science, is a winner in the 13^th annual Dance Your Ph.D. contest organized by Science Magazine in the newly created COVID-19 category. "I think the arts in general are really, really valuable on their own but also to communicate science, and as someone who really loves dance, I think it’s one of the best ways to communicate," she said.

In recognition of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, held on February 11, we acknowledge the women faculty, students and alumnae of the OSU College of Science.

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.

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.

Andres Cardenas (10', '15) has received funding to spend the next five years studying the impacts of prenatal and early childhood environmental stressors on children’s health and development.

Five faculty and scholars from the College of Science are among this year’s award recipients at University Day, OSU’s most prestigious annual awards for research mentoring, scholarship, teamwork, teaching and service.