Journalists are encouraged to contact OSU's Department of News and Research Communications at 541-737-0787 for assistance. Media personnel seeking expert sources for their stories can contact OSU news editor Sean Nealon at 541-737-0787 or sean.nealon@oregonstate.edu.
For more specific content, science news writer Steve Lundeberg is also available at 541-737-4039, or steve.lundeberg@oregonstate.edu.
Oregon State University researchers have received a $1 million grant to study the impact of adding seaweed to the diets of beef cattle as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
When Victory Chiamaka Obieke misses home, she paints it. In her third year in the mathematics Ph.D. program at Oregon State University, it isn’t easy being 7,000-plus miles away from her home country, Nigeria, Obieke said in a gallery, surrounded by her colorful artwork.
College of Science and Oregon State University researchers received a $1 million federal grant to study the impact of adding seaweed to the diets of beef cattle as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
An international collaboration that includes OSU astrophysicist Vanessa Polito has identified a phenomenon, likened to the quick-footed movements of an iconic cartoon predator, that proves a 19-year-old theory regarding how solar flares are created.
In 2009, Professor Mas Subramanian of Oregon State University made a serendipitous discovery that startled the world – a new durable brilliant blue pigment. Recently the team has also made durable magenta pigments. Here, Dr. Cecilia Kruszynski, editor of Wiley Analytical Science, interviews Prof. Subramanian about the significance of these discoveries and the challenges one encounters in designing intense inorganic pigments with desired color in the laboratory.
OSU researchers developed a highly efficient photocatalyst using metal-organic frameworks and metal oxides. It rapidly produces hydrogen from sunlight and water, offering a sustainable alternative to fossil fuel-based hydrogen production.
Chemist Xiulei “David” Ji is a member of one of the two new Energy Innovation Hubs, funded by the Department of Energy for $125 million. "Rechargeable batteries, such as Li-ion and lead-acid batteries, have had a tremendous impact on the nation’s economy. Emerging applications will require even greater energy storage capabilities, safer operation, lower costs, and diversity of materials to manufacture batteries."
Julie Alexander, senior researcher at Oregon State University, said even without climate change, dam installations still alter the flow regime of rivers, which then changes the water’s temperatures since reservoirs act as thermal units that get warm in the summer.
A game-changing material developed by College of Science researcher Kyriakos Stylianou turns sunlight and water into clean hydrogen fuel. In an hour, a gram of the material, dubbed RTTA-1 by the researchers, made more than 10,700 micromoles of hydrogen. It utilized light particles "at an impressive rate of 10%." So, every time 100 photons hit RTTA-1, there were 10 that helped to make hydrogen, all per the experts.
In a major step for the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, a project in large collaboration with Professor Heidi Schellman, scientists have detected the first neutrinos using a DUNE prototype particle detector at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.
To help people find the bluest waters, CV Villas collected unfiltered Google map images of 200 beaches around the globe, then analyzed them to show their RGB color code and cross-referenced that with the color code of the certified bluest shade of blue, YInMn Blue, which was discovered by Mas Subramanian at OSU in 2009.
Researchers in the College of Science have created a highly efficient photocatalyst that can rapidly produce hydrogen from sunlight and water. This catalyst, developed through a combination of metal-organic frameworks and metal oxides, represents a significant advancement in the production of clean energy. It holds promise for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and providing a sustainable alternative to traditional hydrogen production methods, which rely on fossil fuels.
Sarah Gravem's study showing that sunflower sea stars could potentially regulate purple sea urchin populations and, as a result, restore and maintain healthy kelp forests, was shared in the Oregonian. The Oregonian article is part of a series documenting the sudden changes remaking ecosystems, transforming the fishing industry, reshaping offshore recreation and altering what's on local menus.
Once-towering seaweed forests off the coast of Oregon are beginning to resemble clear-cut wastelands. In 2024, Advance Local Media newsrooms in Alabama, New Jersey, Michigan and Oregon set out to document the changes, with Oregon State marine ecologist Sarah Gravem weighing in.
A community science initiative along the West Coast is using volunteer observations to study the effect of wildfire smoke on birds. COS researcher Jamie Cornelius shared her research, which involves catching, tagging and monitoring common forest songbirds in the smokiest Oregon regions.
An Oregon State University researcher, Mas Subramanian, who made color history in 2009 with a vivid blue pigment has developed durable, reddish magentas inspired by lunar mineralogy and ancient Egyptian chemistry.
Any schoolkid will tell you seahorse dads carry their babies. But sea spiders? There are 1,500 species of these long, spindly-legged denizens, found in oceans worldwide, and most are doting fathers that care for their unborn young. They range from tiny creatures roaming intertidal pools to behemoths stalking the polar depths.
Ocean life found in Oregon and Northern California’s tide pools is struggling to recover from a 15-year heat wave brought on by climate change, a new study conducted by Oregon State University researchers shows.
Iron is one of the cheapest and most abundant metals on the planet, unlike nickel and cobalt, which are used in lithium-ion batteries to power electric vehicles, and ubiquitous devices, from mobile phones to laptops. Oregon State University chemistry researcher Xiulei “David” Ji is an author of a new study that shows iron can be used to replace metals that are scarce, expensive and can be environmentally damaging to extract.
While vitamin D is widely recognized for maintaining a balanced mood and robust immune function, emerging studies highlight its crucial influence on gut health and the beneficial bacteria within.
