IMPACT

A wildlife research biologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Brent Wolf couldn't be happier with the career path he's found.

Five incoming graduate students were awarded 2021-2022 ARCS Foundation Oregon Chapter scholarships. This year, ARCS Oregon is supporting a record number of 79 scholars: 25 at OHSU, 44 at OSU and 10 at UO.

We are proud of our many College of Science graduate students who have received honors, scholarships and fellowships this year. Here are a few highlights of some of these noteworthy students.

Dickinson was working as an engineer at HP in Corvallis when she realized that a better understanding of data would make her work even more impactful. The value of data for industry really stood out to her, she said. Oregon State’s two-year online Graduate Program in Data Analytics gave her the flexibility to earn her credentials while still working full-time at HP.

Congratulations to Isabel Rodriguez (M.S. Physics '21) for being the 2021 recipient of the Harriet “Hattie” Redmond Award. This award celebrates a member of the OSU community who works as an agent of change in service of racial justice and gender equity.

College of Science students tap into a network of clubs to find their voice, grow professionally and serve the community. Groups underrepresented in STEM, including women, people of color and LGBTQ individuals, forge a more inclusive future together in these student clubs.

Peter Banwarth (M.S. ’12) is an epidemiologist and public health data scientist with the Benton County Health Department in Oregon. He has developed models to guide county health policies on testing, safety and health measures for employees and the public to minimize infections and deaths in Corvallis and nearby areas.

Research by an Integrative Biology Ph.D. candidate Anne Devan-Song in Oregon State University’s College of Science has upended the conventional wisdom that for a century has incorrectly guided the study of the eastern spadefoot toad, which is considered endangered in part of its range.

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.

Integrative Biology Ph.D. candidate Bryan K. Lynn studies evolutionary game theory, advocates for LGBTQ+ equity, and excels at pastry creation. His work uses mathematical modeling to investigate the evolution of cooperation, using bacteria as his subjects.

Two species of sand-stabilizing beachgrasses introduced to the Pacific Northwest starting in the early 1900s are hybridizing, raising new questions about impacts to the coastal ecosystems the non-native plants have been engineering for more than a century.

Biochemists at Oregon State University have found a key new piece of the puzzle in the quest to use gene therapy to enable people born deaf to hear.