IMPACT

Oregon State University COVID-19 sampling in Redmond on Jan. 29-31 by TRACE Community field workers suggested 32 people per 1,000 in the community carried the coronavirus on those days.

Oregon State University’s groundbreaking project to determine community prevalence of the novel coronavirus is expanding to include three days of TRACE Community sampling this week in Redmond on Jan. 29, 30 and 31.

A resemblance to moss, lichens and fungi made for fantastic cover by a new genus and species of cylindrical bark beetle described by biologist George Poinar Jr.

The College of Science awarded two interdisciplinary teams funding to pursue promising leads in mental health and cancer research. One team will investigate the role of the gut-brain axis on sex differences in anxiety, and another will explore ways to develop an synthetic version of HHT-- a rare plant alkaloid that is showing great promise in the development of new medicines for multiple forms of cancer.

Emeritus Biology Professor George Poinar Jr., has identified a spectacular new genus and species of flower from the mid-Cretaceous period.

Malgorzata Peszynska, elected in the section on Mathematics, is the 18^th faculty member in the College of Science to be elected as AAAS Fellow.

Team-based Rapid Assessment of Community-Level Coronavirus Epidemics, or TRACE-COVID-19, was launched by OSU in April 2020 with door-to-door sampling in Corvallis and expanded to other cities around the state while also adding a wastewater testing component. In December, OSU received a $2 million grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation to create a national TRACE Center that will expand the OSU’s COVID-19 public health project to other states.

A pivotal National Science Foundation award will enable Oregon State scientists to investigate how microbes influence their wildlife host’s sensitivity and resilience to disruptive changes in the natural environment.

OSU scientists have discovered a microscopic nematode that could be an important biological control against invasive slugs that cause billions of dollars a year in agricultural damage worldwide.

Town hall centers Black experiences in the College, paves the way for action.

The endowed professorship recognizes Rebecca Vega Thurber’s distinguished contributions to several fields of microbiology that encompass coral reef ecology, virology, marine disease ecology and metagenomics.

Five faculty and scholars from the College of Science are among this year’s award recipients at University Day, OSU’s most prestigious annual awards for research mentoring, scholarship, teamwork, teaching and service.