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Three individuals walking through sand dunes, leaving footprints in their wake.
News

From 'Dune' to coastal conservation, researchers lead the way in shifting sands

Three years after the release of “Dune,” a film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s epic 1965 sci-fi novel, “Dune: Part Two” is reigniting the public’s fascination with sandy environs and humanity’s efforts to reshape them.

Sally Hacker, a professor of integrative biology in the College of Science, is working with the Oregon departments of Parks and Recreation and Land Conservation and Development to create guidebooks for coastal dune management based on the best available science.

A medium shot of a pacific sideband snail.
News

Researchers discover product that kills agricultural pests is also deadly to native Pacific Northwest snail

A product used to control pest slugs on farms in multiple countries is deadly to least one type of native woodland snail endemic to the Pacific Northwest.

Professor and Department Head Dee Denver led a 10-week laboratory project that showed the effect of a biotool marketed as Nemaslug on the Pacific sideband snail. The study was published today in PLOS One.

Picture with sand dune and dune grasses in the foreground, evergreens and sky in the background, taken from a high point above the Oregon Dunes
News

Dune: The 'terraformed' Oregon dunes that inspired Frank Herbert's sci-fi epic

Today, a string of small to medium-size towns dot the Oregon coast, filled with beach cottages, artisanal bakeries, and art galleries, and it is a popular vacation spot for families and retirees. It was all made possible by the earnest terraforming schemes imported by European settlers more than a century ago, says Sally Hacker, a coastal ecologist at Oregon State University who studies the Oregon dunes.

Kirsten Grorud-Colvert stands in a blue shirt with her hair in a bun in front of green trees.
Integrative Biology

Inclusive Excellence Lecture: ‘Gathering community for dialogue and action’

Achieving equity in science requires openness to challenging conversations and acknowledging that all disciplines have a history of exclusionary behavior. How do you change decades of behavior in science? Kirsten Grorud-Colvert will address this question at the 2023 College of Science Inclusive Excellence Lecture, “Inclusive Science: Gathering community for dialogue and action.”

Two rhinoceroses striding out of a river.
News

New Nepal Study Abroad: Explore the interweaving of culture and biology

A brand-new, three-week study abroad opportunity in Nepal is being launched 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.

University Day 2023
News

Science receives record-breaking 12 awards at University Day

College of Science faculty, staff, and graduate students have earned a record-breaking number of honors at University Day, a celebratory launch to the academic year featuring an annual awards ceremony. Science winners amassed an impressive 12 awards, beating the previous record of seven and garnering the most of any college across Oregon State.

A juvenile blackrock fish
OSU Press Releases

Juvenile black rockfish affected by marine heat wave but not always for the worse, College of Science research shows

Larvae produced by black rockfish, a linchpin of the West Coast commercial fishing industry for the past eight decades, fared better during two recent years of unusually high ocean temperatures than had been feared, new research by Oregon State College of Science shows.

Photo of sunflower sea star
Integrative Biology

Sunflower sea stars could help save kelp forests, OSU research suggests

A research team including Oregon State University marine ecologist Sarah Gravem has undertaken a study into the feeding habits of sunflower sea stars ­­— a species that was once easily spotted in pacific coastal waters but is now listed as critically endangered following a marine epidemic that began in 2013.

Side view of a cockroach specimen suspended in Dominican amber.
OSU Press Releases

College of Science amber researcher finds new species of cockroach, first fossilized roach sperm

The cockroach, reviled around the world for its sickness-causing potential and general creepiness, now occupies an important position in the study of amber fossils thanks to research by a College of Science researcher.

Headshot of Adam Chouinard in front of a tree.
Faculty and Staff

Training the next generation of faculty in inclusive teaching practices

Adam Chouinard, a senior instructor in the Department of Integrative Biology, has received a $2.88 million grant from the National Science Foundation for a group project aimed at shifting the landscape of biology education on a national scale through graduate teaching professional development.

Molly Burke
Faculty and Staff

Evolutionary biologist wins National Institutes of Health award

Molly Burke, assistant professor in the Department of Integrative Biology, has received the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) — a unique grant that will support multiple projects focused on aging and infertility.