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.
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 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.
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.
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.
Mathematics graduate student Ruby Chick pursues interdisciplinary research on microplastics through the National Science Foundation Research Traineeship Program at Oregon State University.
Tapping into 35 years of satellite imagery, researchers at Oregon State University have dramatically enlarged the database regarding how climate change is affecting kelps, near-shore seaweeds that provide food and shelter for fish and protect coastlines from wave damage.
Nationally known climate scientist and Oregon State University alumnus Warren Washington and his wife, Mary, have established OSU’s largest endowed scholarship fund for students engaged in climate studies.