IMPACT

Meet the six 2025 Alumni Award recipients who made important discoveries, dedicated their time to others and improved the world through science.

From frogs to global health, Barbara Han’s journey reveals how curiosity can lead to groundbreaking science. Her innovative research uses AI and machine learning to predict and prevent future epidemics around the world.

The “baby boom” of ochre sea stars that followed a population crash a decade ago is enabling the species to recover on the Oregon Coast.

This year, the College of Science stood out across multiple categories, with honorees recognized for advancing student success, championing affordability, sparking innovation and driving world-class discovery.

This round of funding supports biologist Mark Novak and biochemist Adrian Gombart, whose work addresses urgent global questions from climate-driven shifts in marine food webs to the genetic underpinnings of immune system function.

The explosion of new lemur species that began when the first of those animals arrived on Madagascar more than 50 million years ago has not died down, according to scientists who’ve identified three different groups of lemurs with high speciation rates.

Students traded textbooks for tangible skills in a rural Mexican field clinic, dressing wounds, working alongside veterinarians and seeing up close what care animals truly need.

Podrabsky, an OSU alumnus with deep roots in Oregon, returns to Corvallis after serving more than 20 years at Portland State University, where he built a globally recognized research program and held several senior leadership roles.

Junior Natalie Donato earns national recognition for her dedication to marine conservation and science communication.

A College of Science alumna and a Ph.D. student have been awarded 2025–26 Fulbright U.S. Student Program grants to conduct research abroad. They join 17 College of Science students and alumni who have earned Fulbright honors over the past decade.

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.

Jacob Van of Beaverton International School is one of Oregon's 2025 National Merit Scholars. He plans to stay in the Pacific Northwest to attend Oregon State University’s Honors College and study biology on the pre-medicine track. The winners of the highly competitive $2,500 scholarship are judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills and potential for success of all National Merit Scholars, according to the scholarship organization.