IMPACT

In the intricate languages of mathematics and biology, alumna Rachel Sousa, ‘20, is multilingual. Since graduating from Oregon State, she has bridged the disciplines through several prestigious research experiences and credits her success to seizing opportunities no matter the odds.

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.

Chad Giusti is an assistant professor of mathematics at Oregon State University. He works in pure and applied topology, with applications principally in neuroscience and complex systems. Here, we learn about the fascinating work Chad has done in applying the tools of topological data analysis to problems in medicine and biology.

Although having a box of 300 buzzing bees in the corner of her laboratory is uncharted territory for Maude David, who typically works with humans, she maintains a steadfast belief that science moves forward through interdisciplinary teams.

Statistics often operates behind the scenes. It’s a field whose results are used in the analyses of papers from physics to psychology, yet its power is not widely understood. Associate Professor Sharmodeep Bhattacharyya wants to change that.

Paul Kenis founded the California Wolf Center. Matthew Bacho helped confront AIDS. Deb Bellinghausen supervised a lab combatting periodontic diseases.

Now they are among the alumni who want to show their appreciation with financial donations to the microbiology department.

Thanks to the efforts of College of Science faculty, nearly 800 Oregon State students can now cross expensive anatomy textbooks off their to-buy list each year. Incredibly, so can the rest of the world.

A chemical element so visually striking it was named for a goddess shows a “Goldilocks” level of reactivity – neither too much nor too little – that makes it a strong candidate as a carbon scrubbing tool.

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

Physicist Jeff Hazboun had a remarkable year in 2023. He was a member of a multi-university team whose​ research went viral, and he received a coveted NSF​ Faculty Early Career Development award.

Achieving equity in science requires openness to challenging conversations and acknowledging that all disciplines have a history of exclusionary behavior. How do you change decades of behavior in science? Kirsten Grorud-Colvert will address this question at the 2023 College of Science Inclusive Excellence Lecture, “Inclusive Science: Gathering community for dialogue and action.”

One project keeps chemist Wei Kong awake at night, and it started as an idea nearly two decades ago. Now, after being awarded nearly $2 million for four years by the National Institutes of Health, the goal is to create a groundbreaking new tool with the potential to revolutionize drug development and enhance our understanding of disease mechanisms.