IMPACT

College of Science faculty were awarded $24.4 million in new research grants and awards in fiscal year 2021, a 55% increase over the average of the previous three years and one of the highest award levels ever.

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.

Biophysicist Afua Nyarko has received $820K over a four-year period to conduct research into biological processes important for the regulation of cell growth, memory and kidney function. She hopes that her research will broaden the scope of scientific knowledge, opening new doors for disease treatment.

Professor of mathematics Holly Swisher was awarded a NSF grant to investigate a number of problems that relate to modular and automorphic forms, which have played a central role in many major problems in number theory over the last century.

Oregon State University research has identified a 100-million-year-old weevil unlike any other known fossilized or living weevil.

Researchers from Oregon State University say ecological data gathered during a recent low-flow experiment in the Grand Canyon is a key step toward understanding Colorado River ecosystems as the amount of water in the river continues to decline.

Ryan Mehl, professor of biochemistry and biophysics, has received two new grants that reflect the lab's growing success in genetic code expansion.

Davide Lazzati has been selected as the new Head of the Department of Physics.

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.

The McGraths put their knowledge of numbers to use and leveraged a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) to make a major gift to their alma mater while realizing a significant tax benefit.

“The QCD is the Holy Grail of donating,” Sue said. “Many of our friends didn’t know about it until we described it to them..."