Eleanor Ford (62’, Microbiology) was six feet tall. Not literally, but when she shared her passion for laboratory safety, her personality could fill a room. Despite being only four feet, eleven inches, and a woman in a male-dominated field in the 1960s, when she talked, people listened.
As the world held its breath, Oregon State alumnus Steve Bjornson waited for results. The VP and COO of Pfizer’s vaccine research and development organization, he successfully led a team of hundreds of scientists in an unprecedented effort to develop a COVID-19 vaccine.
The Oregon State University Alumni Association will honor Joel Peterson, a renowned winemaker and 1969 graduate of the College of Science, as one of the Alumni Fellows during the 2024 Black and Orange Awards Celebration.
Catherine Sterrett has always been called to medicine, but when she found herself as a patient, compassion became her greatest motivation. Now a graduating senior, she looks forward to where her career will take her.
College of Science Ph.D. student Kelly Shannon has been selected as Oregon’s young ambassador for the American Society for Microbiology. With only one candidate chosen for each state, he has joined the ranks of distinctly remarkable up-and-coming microbiologists.
Lice: creepy, crawly, but to a young Amelia Noall, fascinating. “There was an outbreak at my school, and of course I got it. But I started looking at the bugs through my microscope and thinking, ‘Wow, these are so interesting!’” she recalled. As she followed her curiosity, picking leaves from the ground and examining their hidden structures through the microscope lens, she unknowingly paved the way toward her time as a microbiology major — and now senior — at Oregon State.
When honors student Sahana Shah ran for the student House of Representatives, she won the election with the most votes of any candidate. One of her main platforms? Helping establish a disability cultural center to better adapt the campus to the needs of neurodiverse students. She is now joining forces with other student groups to bring the idea to life.
Oregon State's College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) made all the difference in engaging microbiology major Bruno Salas Garcia in his college experience. A first-generation student, he is on track to dental school and plans to serve rural communities similar to where he grew up.
New Excellence in Microbiology Faculty Scholar Kimberly Halsey researches the marine carbon cycle, fosters student engagement and promotes inclusivity in admissions.
Christine Tataru receives the 2021-22 Larry W. Martin & Joyce B. O’Neill Endowed Fellowship for her work in computational modeling that seeks to understand how gut microbiomes impact their human hosts’ health. She develops tools and frameworks to advance microbiome research, then uses these tools to explore gut-brain axis phenomenon.
Assistant professor of microbiology Maude David received the 2020 Breaking Barriers Award in Education from the President’s Commission on the Status of Women, which honors excellent and high impact in teaching and mentoring that has paved the way for gender equity in higher education.
