IMPACT

Earlier this fall, more than 6,000 people gathered for the nation’s largest STEM diversity event of the year, the 2023 National Diversity in STEM (NDiSTEM) conference, hosted in Portland, Oregon.

The Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics will present “Women Leaders in STEM: Challenges and Rewards” on Wednesday, Dec. 13. The event is partially funded by the College of Science’s Gender Equity Leadership Fund, awarded to Biochemistry and Biophysics Head Elisar Barbar in 2023 to implement projects for the advancement of women faculty and those assigned female at birth in the College.

The College of Science community recently gathered to celebrate this year’s Alumni Award recipients. These alumni distinguished themselves through their groundbreaking research, strong leadership and efforts to enhance equity, access and inclusion.

For two days, Oregon State welcomed over 1,000 elementary students to experience the thrills of science outside the classroom. Discovery Days, a biannual outreach event sponsored by the College of Science, brimmed with activities for kids to enjoy while they met graduate and undergraduate students eager to share their enthusiasm for the inspiring field.

The discovery related to gravitational waves which made international headlines earlier this year and was predicted by Albert Einstein more than a century ago will be the topic of Oregon State University’s Science Pub on Dec. 6. Jeff Hazboun, an astrophysicist in the College of Science and one of the researchers who led the project that resulted in the gravitational wave astronomy breakthrough, will talk about the discovery and future directions for the research at 6 p.m. Dec. 6 at the Old World Deli in Corvallis.

Microbiologist Jo-Ann Leong never imagined that her quest for a new vaccine would ultimately change the world we live in today.

The remnants of ancient bacteria live inside each of us as mitochondria, structures in cells that are critical for life. Breakthrough work from Simon Johnson, B.S. biochemistry and biophysics ‘09, and his lab has shed new light on how dysfunction of mitochondria causes human disease. For his great strides towards a cure for mitochondrial diseases within a decade since his last degree, Johnson has received the 2023 Young Alumni Award in the College of Science.

Biophysicist Gaudenz Danuser will present the 38th annual Yunker Lecture, “Cell Shapes Keep Cells in Shape,” focused on the interplay between cell shape and molecular action that governs function, particularly in cancer cells. Monday, Oct. 9 in the Memorial Union Horizon Room at Oregon State University’s Corvallis campus, the lecture will begin at 5 p.m. with a light reception beforehand at 4 p.m

A trailblazer in experimental particle physics, Professor Heidi Schellman will present the 2023 F.A. Gilfillan Memorial Lecture, “Dealing with big data: What to do when your neutrino detector is the size of a building.” In her talk, Schellman will share her personal journey as a scientist and her fascination with neutrinos – mysterious particles that could hold answers to the universe.

This past summer, Ph.D. student Savanah Leidholt set out to create a summer “bootcamp” for area high school students to draw more students from BIPOC, LGBTQ+, low-income and other diverse backgrounds to the study of microbiology.

Oregon State University Assistant Professor Swati Patel and two colleagues wanted to do something to counter systemic inequities in mathematics. In response, they founded the Math For All conference at Tulane University in New Orleans. Math For All is now a national conference that hosts regional conferences annually throughout the country, including a satellite location at Oregon State.

Internationally acclaimed microbiologist Jo Handelsman, who served as the science advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama as the Associate Director for Science at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, will give the inaugural Berg Lecture on Thursday, April 27 at 5 p.m.