IMPACT

Researchers in the College of Science, including faculty member Chris Suffridge and graduate student Kelly Shannon, uncovered how shifts in salmon diets may be fueling thiamine deficiency and widespread fry mortality.

Eric Cole, new student head advisor, earned the 2025 Olaf Boedtker Award for Excellence in Academic Advising by helping students, especially first‑generation and Pell‑eligible, break down barriers to study abroad and navigate academic paths with empathy and personal connection.

The College of Science is using research-backed pedagogy, interactive labs, and virtual kits to let students worldwide master science courses like chemistry, physics, and anatomy with the same rigor as in-person classes.

Nathan Clay-Ehart (‘24) had just graduated with a zoology degree when he boarded a plane to Aruba. The nine-day study abroad opportunity was his first chance to meet Oregon State classmates face-to-face after earning his degree entirely online.

The College of Science is proud to announce that Alison Bain, assistant professor of chemistry, has been named one of the “Talented Twelve” by Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society. The honor celebrates early-career researchers who are making the world a better place through chemistry.

A research team in the College of Science has revealed how cells move lipids — essential fats — between membranes, a process fundamental to brain health, metabolism and immunity.

Oregon State physicist Heidi Schellman has earned one of science’s highest honors for her pioneering work on the elusive neutrino. Her leadership in the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment is helping to unlock the mystery of why the universe is made of matter instead of antimatter.

Since the early 2000s, Family Science and Engineering Nights have brought science and discovery to elementary schools across western Oregon. With bubbling beakers, cryogenic demonstrations and gooey gel beads, these interactive evenings make STEM come alive for countless families — thanks in large part to longtime co-organizer Margie Haak.

As we mark the 100th anniversary of quantum mechanics and recognize World Quantum Day on April 14, it’s the perfect moment to spotlight Oregon State’s connection to this revolutionary science. Carl Kocher, now professor emeritus of physics, conducted the world’s first experimental observation of quantum entanglement in the 1960s — work that helped lay the foundation for decades of breakthroughs in quantum research.

Marilyn Rampersad Mackiewicz, a materials scientist at Oregon State, led a study that used ultraviolet light to precisely control the shape and size of silver nanoparticles – and discovered a way to make them stable in light and oxygen, boosting their potential for medical, environmental and electronic applications.

For the second time, a three-week study abroad opportunity in Nepal is available for students to experience. Led by Dee Denver, head of the Department of Integrative Biology, the Intersections of Biodiversity and Buddhist Cultures in Nepal course promises a trek through the Himalayas, excursions in lowland jungles, and time spent in centuries-old monasteries.

Maude David’s research sits at the crossroads of microbiology, neuroscience and artificial intelligence — an intersection that may hold the key to understanding some of the most complex disorders affecting the human brain and unlocking the secrets of deep-sea ecosystems.