“All these major systems in our body have open ears and open minds for the messages that the gut microbiome has to say,” Sharpton (Biochemistry & Biophysics ‘03) said.

Sharpton leads interdisciplinary research to pick apart the microbiome’s impact. His work lays the path for future human health innovations that embrace the relationship with our microscopic roommates. He also helped build the Oregon State University Microbiome Initiative (OMBI), a campus-wide effort that connects researchers studying microbial communities in fields ranging from human health to agriculture and ocean science.

How gut microbes shape health

A major theme across Sharpton’s research is that microbes don’t just correlate with health. They determine how organisms — like us — experience their chemical environment.

“The gut microbiome mediates how we experience our diet, how we experience the drugs we consume and the environmental pollutants that we’re exposed to,” he said.

That principle guides the lab’s experiments on the gut-brain axis, neurodegenerative disease, behavior and cognition.

To test causality at scale, he established a unique partnership between his team’s computational skills and the zebrafish research community at Oregon State, particularly the Sinnhuber Aquatic Research Laboratory. Human microbiomes vary widely, and large, controlled clinical studies are expensive. Zebrafish enable high-replicate tests that isolate microbe-host-environment interactions. In collaboration with OSU colleagues, Sharpton’s group has shown that pollutants can restructure the gut microbiome and alter neurobehavioral development, and that removing the microbiome can flip a chemical’s effect.

“We studied a pollutant that drives a behavioral alteration and makes a fish hyperactive,” he said. “What happens when you take the microbiome away? All of a sudden, that pollutant makes the fish hypoactive.”

These studies reposition the microbiome as an active biochemical gatekeeper between environment and physiology. They also illuminate why two people with similar genetics and exposures can respond differently to the same diet or medication: their microbial communities and the metabolites they produce are not the same.

Sharpton’s computational work pushes the field beyond cataloging species. By integrating genomic information from gut samples and applying rigorous statistics, his lab seeks out functional signatures linked to health and disease. This shift from taxonomy to function has helped the field home in on mechanisms that are more likely to translate between species and into clinical contexts. Recently Sharpton’s team published a study titled “Modeling the zebrafish gut microbiome’s resistance and sensitivity to climate change and parasite infection” in Frontiers in Microbiomes (July 2025).

Equally important to what questions the team asks is how they answer them. The lab builds and releases open-source software and curated data resources so that others can reproduce analyses, train students and extend the findings.

“We publish everything we produce for free. It holds us accountable and helps others reproduce our results,” Sharpton said.

That openness accelerates discovery in a fast-moving field where methods evolve nearly as quickly as the microbes they study.

While zebrafish allow for fast, controlled tests, the lab’s standard of evidence requires asking whether those mechanisms translate to mammals and people. Sharpton’s group works across zebrafish, mouse and human systems (with some nonhuman primate studies) to assess findings.

“At the end of the day, we really want our research to matter to people,” he said. “We always try to swing the bat around and determine if what we’re seeing in these model systems is relevant in human systems as well.”

That translational arc is especially crucial in the lab’s gut-brain axis research. What began for Sharpton as skepticism has turned into sustained investigation. Across fish, mice, children and adults, his team and collaborators repeatedly see robust links between the microbiome and behavior or cognition. Those links raise questions for how we might treat cognitive and neurodegenerative disorders in the future.

“Do we have novel opportunities to prevent or treat these diseases that are frankly terrifying to many people?” Sharpton said. “Efforts to manage, manipulate or someday even engineer microbiomes may be a fundamental transformation in our ability to prevent, diagnose and treat chronic diseases.”

The future of microbiome science

With public interest in the microbiome surging, Sharpton is careful to separate promise from hype. “A lot of people think the microbiome is the key contributor to health, and it isn't. But it is an important component alongside other variables,” he said.

Methods are advancing, individual variation is large and proving cause and effect is challenging.

“It’s almost like you’ve got a ball of yarn that’s been tangled into a knot,” he said. “You’re having to pull apart the right pieces at the right time.”

Still, he argues, scientists have a responsibility to explain what’s known, what isn’t and why it matters. “It’s not enough for us to just publish in journals anymore. Our duty to the taxpayer is to communicate the results in a way that people can understand.”

For pioneering contributions that have advanced microbiome science from description to mechanism, Sharpton recently earned the Milton Harris Award in Basic Research and position as the Burgess and Elizabeth Jamieson Chair in Healthspan Research. These honors recognize a body of work that spans high-impact zebrafish experiments, human-relevant translation, openly shared analytical frameworks and a collaborative research ecosystem that has elevated OSU as a hub for microbiome discovery. Reflecting on the Milton Harris Award, Sharpton called it “a milestone. Validation that I’m on the right track.”

The practical stakes of his work are high. If the microbiome helps determine how we process a meal, respond to medication or endure a pollutant, then understanding and, one day, managing these microbial communities could transform treatment for chronic disease.

“What microbiome science is telling us is that we are, in effect, symbiotic organisms,” Sharpton said. “We depend on our microbiome to be healthy.”

To understand human health, we have to listen closely to our gut — and the microbes calling from within.

Learn more about how the small but mighty microscopic world is studied at Oregon State here.

F.A. Gilfillan Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Science

Davide Lazzati, from the Department of Physics, has received the F.A. Gilfillan Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Science.

Lazzati’s scholarly achievements place him among the most influential astrophysicists of his generation. With more than 190 peer-reviewed publications, over 11,000 citations and an h-index of 57, his work has shaped high-energy astrophysics and multi-messenger astronomy for more than two decades. His research spans theory, computation and observation, and many of his papers are regarded as foundational benchmarks in gamma-ray burst physics, compact-object mergers and the emerging field of gravitational-wave astronomy.

A leader in multi-messenger astrophysics, Lazzati was among the first to predict the electromagnetic signature of a binary neutron star merger — insight that proved essential to interpreting the historic 2017 GW170817 event. His modeling of structured relativistic jets and off-axis emission provided the conceptual framework that allowed scientists to connect gravitational-wave detections with their electromagnetic counterparts. His work continues to guide the field as new detectors expand the frontiers of discovery.

Lazzati’s scholarship is marked by sustained creativity and rigor, supported by a strong record of competitive NASA and NSF funding. He is also a dedicated mentor and leader. Lazzati has advised 10 graduate students, mentored postdoctoral researchers, and guided 28 undergraduate researchers, several of whom have published first-author papers. His early adoption of a formal mentoring compact, now increasingly recognized as a best practice, reflects his commitment to transparency, equity and student success. His leadership as department head further strengthened the inclusivity and effectiveness of the graduate program.

One nominator wrote, "Professor Lazzati’s record of scholarship is nothing short of extraordinary — marked by sustained excellence, transformative impact and remarkable breadth. His work often anticipates new discoveries, redefines longstanding problems and helps set the direction for future studies.”

Milton Harris Award for Basic Research

Thomas Sharpton, professor in the departments of Microbiology and Statistics and the Burgess and Elizabeth Jamieson Chair in Healthspan Research, received the Milton Harris Award for Basic Research.

Sharpton is a pioneering microbiome scientist whose work has fundamentally advanced the basic biological understanding of how host-associated microbial communities function. Since joining Oregon State University in 2013, he has built an interdisciplinary research program that integrates computational biology, statistics and molecular microbiology to uncover the mechanisms by which microbiomes influence health, development and disease. His analytical frameworks, statistical models and experimental systems have become foundational tools used across the field.

His research has produced major insights into how the gut microbiome contributes to inflammatory bowel disease, neurobiological function and parasite infection, among other complex conditions. Sharpton has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers, including in Nature, PNAS and Nature Communications, and his work has been cited over 23,000 times. He has secured more than $24 million in research funding from agencies including the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Department of Defense and the Moore Foundation, and has developed widely used open-source software and databases that have accelerated microbiome research worldwide.

Sharpton’s leadership has also strengthened OSU’s research ecosystem. As founding director of OSU Microbiome Initiative and director of the OSU Microbiome Core, he has catalyzed interdisciplinary collaborations and expanded access to cutting-edge microbiome technologies. He is a dedicated mentor and educator, having guided more than 40 trainees and co-developed influential courses in microbial bioinformatics and quantitative genomics. His commitment to equity and inclusivity is reflected in his work on NIH and USDA diversity programs and his efforts to improve departmental monitoring practices.

Nominators emphasized both his scientific impact and his collaborative leadership. As one wrote, “His innovative approaches and unwavering commitment to scientific rigor make him an exceptional scholar and an indispensable collaborator.”

Dean’s Early Career Achievement Award

Katherine McLaughlin from the Department of Statistics, received the Dean’s Early Career Achievement Award.

McLaughlin is an internationally recognized expert in developing statistical methods for studying hard-to-reach and hidden populations, including victims of human trafficking and communities at high risk for HIV. Since joining Oregon State University in 2016, she has published 19 peer-reviewed papers in top journals, delivered talks at venues including the CDC and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and helped bring approximately $3.4 million in research funding to OSU.

Her work has had a major global impact. McLaughlin developed the “Visibility SS-PSE” model, now one of the main methods used to estimate population sizes in the UNAIDS Key Population Atlas, helping guide international HIV prevention and treatment policy. She also serves as an advisor to the U.S. Department of State-funded Prevalence Reduction Innovation Forum, helping shape how human trafficking is statistically measured worldwide.

At OSU, McLaughlin played a critical role in the TRACE and PIPP pandemic response projects, designing and analyzing large-scale community COVID-19 surveys and helping integrate wastewater data into public health decision-making.

“My first reaction upon a careful read through her materials is to wonder whether Prof. McLaughlin lives within the same 24-hour day that the rest of us do,” wrote a colleague who nominated McLaughlin. They added that she is “a rare case of ‘the complete package’” whose contributions are “uncharacteristically comprehensive.”

Graduate students at the College of Science are conducting crucial research that addresses critical challenges and benefits both local communities and the broader world.

To celebrate their accomplishments, the College will be hosting the inaugural Graduate Science Research Showcase from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Friday, May 16, 2025 in the Memorial Union Horizon Room.

Click here to RSVP!

This event offers a glimpse into the future of science featuring graduate research presentations, a poster session and a keynote address from renowned alumnus Jonathan Gallion, vice president of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for OmniScience.

Gallion, recipient of the College's 2024 Early Career Award, earned dual Honors bachelor's degrees in biochemistry and biophysics, and microbiology in 2012. His career began with an internship at SIGA Technologies, where he programmed robots to screen chemical compounds for antiviral medicines. At OmniScience, Gallion and his team utilize large language models to enhance clinical trial outcomes and improve human health. Their work accelerates decision-making and transforms data analysis in biotech, medtech, pharmaceutical and preclinical innovation. Rather than replace human expertise, their AI tools are designed to compliment it.

Schedule of Events

12 p.m.

Lunch

12:20 p.m.

Welcome from Executive Associate Dean Vrushali Bokil and Dean's Remarks from College of Science Dean Eleanor Feingold.

12:30 p.m.

Keynote speech from alumnus Jonathan Gallion, V.P. of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for OmniScience.

Keynote Talk Title - Beyond Automation: Agentic AI and the New Frontier of Life Science Innovation

Abstract: Artificial intelligence in the life sciences is moving beyond automation into a new frontier defined by agentic systems—AI tools capable of reasoning, planning, and autonomous action. As these AI agents continue to evolve from tools to collaborators, life scientists will need to rethink how we generate hypotheses, design experiments, interpret data, and generate insights. This keynote will examine how agentic AI is already transforming decision-making and accelerating innovation within clinical trial development and offer a perspective on how domain experts can adapt and lead at the intersection of scientific expertise and intelligent automation through AI.

1 - 2:30 p.m.

Five minute research presentations and dessert, followed by a poster session, showcasing the diverse research conducted across the seven departments in the College of Science. The session will highlight how Science graduate students are participating and contributing to this valuable research.

Presenters include:

Oluwasen Adu (Integrative Biology)
Advisor: Michael Blouin
Talk title: Genome Wide Association Study of Biomphalaria glabrata snail and its Schistosome Parasite

Vera Alenicheva (Chemistry)
Advisor: Vincent Remcho
Talk title: A Microfluidic Paper-Based Assay for the Quantification of CBD and THC

Lucas Allan (Chemistry)
Advisor: Tim Zuehlsdorff
Talk title: FC2DES: Modeling 2D Electronic Spectroscopy for Harmonic Hamiltonians

Hallee Boyd (Chemistry)
Advisor: May Nyman
Talk title: Characterization of Trivalent Lanthanide Keggin Phosphomolybdate Sandwich Clusters

Daniel Malone Buoy (Statistics)
Advisor: Claudio Fuentes / Sarah Emerson
Talk title: Representative Sampling Methods for K-Fold Cross Validation

Olivia Burleigh (Integrative Biology)
Advisor: Virginia Weis
Talk title: Transcription Factor-targeted ChIP-Seq for Smad3-mediated TGF-β Signaling in Heat-stressed Aiptasia

Jun Cai (Integrative Biology)
Advisor: Virginia Weis
Talk title: Effect of Sphingolipid Metabolic Pathway Inhibition and Knockdown on Cnidarian-Algal Symbiosis

Giovanni Crestani (Integrative Biology, Ph.D.)
Advisor: Molly Burke
Talk title: Genomics of experimentally-evolved postponed reproduction in Drosophila melanogaster

Ushasi Datta (Chemistry)
Advisor: Marilyn Mackiewicz
Talk title: Unveiling the Hidden Properties: How Nanomaterial Surface Chemistry and Biomimetic Systems Shape Reflectance and Contrast

Konstantin Drallios (Chemistry)
Advisor: Thomas Osborn Popp
Talk title: 3D Printable Radiofrequency Coils

Rudranil Dutta (Chemistry)
Advisor: Claudia Maier
Talk title: Identification and Quantitation of Bioactive Alkaloids in Withania Somnifera

Arpa Ebrahimi (Chemistry)
Advisor: Claudia Maier
Talk title: Characterizing the Lipidomic and Proteomic Profile of the 5xFAD Alzheimer’s Disease Mouse Model: A Comparative Study Using MALDI Imaging Mass Spectrometry

Jessica Etter (Chemistry)
Advisor: Claudia Maier
Talk title: LC-QTOF and LC-TIMS-qQTOF MS Analysis of Fecal Inoculum Biotransformation Products and LC-MRM-MS Analysis of Human Withanolide Pharmacokinetics of an Ashwagandha Supplement

Caroline Hernandez (Microbiology)
Advisor: Maude David
Talk title: Whole-Cell Crosslinking Reveals Direct Lactobacillaceae and Rhizobiaceae Interactions with Host Duodenal Neuropods

Esteban Hernandez (Chemistry)
Advisor: Jennifer Field
Talk title: Experimental pKa Values of Substituted and Unsubstituted Perfluoroalkyl Sulfonamides via 19F NMR

Lucas Kolanz (Physics)
Advisor: Davide Lazzati
Talk title: Cosmic dust bunnies

Weiqi ‘Grace’ Li (Statistics)
Advisor: Yuan Jiang
Talk title: Reframing spatial transcriptomics prediction: From regression to classification

Sarah Louie (Biochemistry & Biophysics)
Advisor: Richard Cooley / Ryan Mehl
Talk title: Optimizing genetic code expansion technology to access post-translationally modified proteins

Praveeni Mathangadeera (Mathematics)
Advisor: Małgorzata Peszyńska
Talk title: Computational Modeling of the Nonlinear Heat Equation in Frozen Soil and Snow

Anshika Nagar (Chemistry)
Advisor: Marilyn Mackiewicz
Talk title: Shielded Nanoparticles: Advancing X-Ray Fluorescence Microscopy with Oxidant-Resistant Nickel and Cobalt

Luke Nearhood (Physics)
Advisor: Patti Hamerski
Talk title: Computing the Tension

Joline Nguyen (Biochemistry & Biophysics)
Advisor: Sarah Clark
Talk title: Isolation of Scarce Membrane Protein Complexes from C. elegans

Victory Chiamaka Obieke (Mathematics)
Advisor: Vrushali Bokil
Talk title: Compatible Energy Preserving Discretizations for Nonlinear Optical Wave Propagation: The Maxwell-Duffing Approach

Emily Palmer (Statistics)
Advisor: Yuan Jiang
Talk title: A Group Penalization Framework for Detecting Time-Lagged Microbiota-Host Associations

Madison Phelps (Mathematics)
Advisor: Małgorzata Peszyńska
Talk title: Nonlinear Solvers in Permafrost applications

Kevin Rice (Microbiology)
Advisor: Maude David / Kenton Hokanson
Talk title: Electrical Characterization of Primary Enteroendocrine Cells: Developing Tools to Screen Novel Microbial Neuroactive Compounds

Casey Rummelhart (Chemistry)
Advisor: Addison Desnoyer
Talk title: Frustrated Lewis Pairs Ligand for the Transformation of Carbon Dioxide to Chemical Feedstocks

Pavel Sengupta (Chemistry)
Advisor: Dipankar Koley
Talk title: Quantifying Dissolved Oxygen in Biofilms with Non-invasive Flexible Amperometric Oxygen Sensors

Michael Sieler (Microbiology)
Advisor: Thomas Sharpton
Talk title: Modeling the zebrafish gut microbiome’s resistance and sensitivity to climate change and parasite infection

Gavin Tovar (Statistics)
Advisor: Robert Trangucci / Sarah Emerson
Talk title: Sequential Approach to K-Fold Cross-validation---Computational Reduction Technique

Hao Yue (Chemistry)
Advisor: Marilyn Mackiewicz
Talk title: Targeted X-ray Imaging Agents for Visualizing Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

Sima Ziyaee (Chemistry)
Advisor: Claudia Maier
Talk title: Exploring Cellular Heterogeneity through Single-cell Proteomics

Join us to celebrate the future of science — and the graduate students who are making it happen.

Insecticide resistance in spotted-winged drosophila

Geneticist Alysia Vrailas-Mortimer's project addresses the significant agricultural threat posed by spotted-winged drosophila (SWD), an invasive pest species. The research aims to advance understanding of the genetic basis and evolution of insecticide resistance in these pest populations through experimental work, genetic techniques and mechanistic mathematical modeling. The project involves collaboration with experts from UC Davis and focuses on developing sustainable control methods. Directly connected to the needs of the Oregon agricultural community, this project is a prime example of OSU’s strong community engagement initiatives as a land grant institution. By learning more about the mechanisms of insecticide resistance in spotted-winged drosophila, growers will be better able to plan and prioritize their insecticide applications to mitigate resistance.

Oregon State Collaborators
Alysia Vrailas Mortimer, Biochemistry & Biophysics
Swati Patel, Mathematics
Serhan Mermer, Environmental and Molecular Toxicology (College of Agricultural Sciences)

Analytical Tools to Understand Ecological Communities

Statistician Yuan Jiang’s SciRIS project aims to create novel analytical tools for assessing how organisms in complex ecological communities like microbes and parasites interact and affect each other over time. The research will leverage long-term community datasets from wild vertebrate host populations with improved data techniques that allow these large complex data sets to be analyzed more efficiently and with environmental conditions factored in. In addition to improve our ecological understanding of these communities, Jiang's project seeks to extend the accessibility of these analytical tools to diverse scientific audiences through summer camps, workshops and online tutorials. The project will also involve collaboration with colleagues and students at the Universidad of San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador to build capacity in data analytics.

Oregon State Collaborators
Yuan Jiang, Statistics
Lan Xue, Statistics
Anna Jolles, Integrative Biology
Claire Couch, Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Sciences (College of Agricultural Sciences)

Unlocking the potential of seaweed

Algal physiologist James Fox’s project explores the chemical composition and potential applications of Pacific Dulse, a protein-rich seaweed native to the Pacific coastline. The team will create a special growth chamber to cultivate seaweed on land under controlled conditions. This allows researchers to maximize the production of important compounds found in Pacific Dulse, which can be used in nutrition and medicine. The project also emphasizes community outreach and inclusive excellence by engaging diverse student populations and partnering with outreach programs. Additionally, the project will investigate the impact of different processing methods on the nutritional quality of seaweed extracts.

Oregon State Collaborators
James Fox, Microbiology
Myriam Cotten, Biochemistry and Biophysics
Ford Evans, Hatfield Marine Science Center
Evan Forsythe, Integrative Biology
Scott Geddes, Chemistry Program Coordinator OSU-Cascades
Jung Jwon, Department of Food Science & Technology (College of Agricultural Sciences)
Christopher Suffridge, Microbiology

These projects highlight the innovative and impactful research being conducted by the 2025 SciRIS awardees. Each project not only advances scientific knowledge by also emphasizes collaboration, community engagement and inclusive excellence.

College of Science Inclusive Excellence Award

Hannah Stuwe, graduate student in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, received the Inclusive Excellence Award.

Department Head Elisar Barbar, who nominated Stuwe, said she has engaged in a wide-ranging set of service, outreach and training that is truly impressive. First, Stuwe conducted a GFP protein purification activity for middle and high school students from the Chemawa Indian School, Jewell High School (Seaside), and visited groups of black and Latinx students from the Portland area.

She planned, wrote and edited a handbook of science experiments geared towards middle school aged students, their parents, and teachers to fill the void of not having a BB summer camp. This handbook now serves as a free and open access resource for community members.

Stuwe is the founder of the non-profit organization Corvallis Music Collective. They have engaged in community service and activism by providing live music for events and rallies. Recent events include the Basic Needs Center Fall Welcome Party, the Disabled Students Union Disability Justice Rally and Jackson Street Youth Services National Runaway Prevention Month “Skate Park After Dark” Show.

Gladys Valley Award for Exemplary Administrative Support

Amy Timshel, assistant head to the department head in the Department of Microbiology, received the Gladys Valley Award for Exemplary Administrative Support.

Her colleagues describe her as proactive, always seeking ways to improve processes and deeply committed to making the department a better place for everyone. She is highly regarded by students, faculty and staff for her professionalism, broad knowledge and ability to get things done. In fact, Department Head Anne Dunn noted that when she polled faculty on department strengths during strategic planning exercises, Timshel's critical role in the department was consistently highlighted.

She has a deep understanding of university policies and constantly looks for ways to improve them. She listens, advocates for students and colleagues, and takes initiative to make the department more inclusive and equitable. For example, her work on the Core Values Committee led to the addition of gender-neutral restrooms in Nash Hall and improvements to scholarship and travel fund policies.

Beyond her administrative role, Timshel actively fosters a sense of community within the department. She organizes fundraisers and charity events and regularly attends student events to show her support.

Distinguished Service Award

Elaine Cozzi, assistant head and associate professor in the Department of Mathematics, received the Distinguished Service Award for her impactful service to her department, the College and the broader mathematics community.

Cozzi served as interim associate dean of academic and student affairs for the College in Spring of 2024, managing various projects, including the university’s revision of its undergraduate advising system, assessing teaching resources and addressing countless student issues. She was overwhelmingly generous with her time in responding to the many challenges and the needs of her colleagues.

Before and after serving as associate dean, Cozzi served as assistant department head for mathematics, responsible for scheduling upper-level courses and ensuring adequate staffing for the Department’s teaching mission. This affects the hiring of instructors, graduate students, and undergraduate graders.

Jon Kujawa, Department of Mathematics head and Cozzi’s nominator, noted, “It is hard to overestimate the impact of Elaine’s planning on the smooth operation of the teaching side of the department. And she readily pivots when unexpected events disrupt the plans.” Additionally, Elaine led the assessment of the Mathematics undergraduate program for several years, playing a crucial role in student success, he shared.

Cozzi also contributes significantly to the mathematics profession as Associate Editor for the American Mathematical Monthly – the most widely read mathematics journal in the world. She is also an active member of SIAM, a professional society for applied mathematics, where she helps organize meetings and contributes to administrative efforts and regularly serves as a grant evaluator for the NSF and the Simons Foundation, helping to shape the future of mathematical research.

Virginia Lesser, Department of Statistics Head, received the Champion of Science award for her significant contributions to the field of statistics and to Oregon State University throughout her distinguished career. After earning her PhD in Biostatistics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she joined OSU’s Department of Statistics in 1992.

A year later, she became Director of the Survey Research Center, a role she held until her retirement in December 2024. Lesser's expertise in probability sampling, survey design, and data collection methods ensured that the center upheld the highest standards. Under her leadership, the center became a premier institution, offering expertise in survey methodology, sampling and data analysis – supporting projects that inform policy, environmental monitoring, economic studies and public opinion research. Its work has helped agencies such as the Oregon Department of Transportation, the Oregon State Marine Board, and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife make data-driven decisions, not to mention numerous initiatives within the University.

Lesser's groundbreaking research in survey methodology, environmental statistics, applied statistics and ecological monitoring has advanced the field and influenced practice. She has authored over 55 journal articles and conference proceedings, earning national and international recognition – including being named a Fellow of the American Statistical Association and an elected member of the International Statistical Institute.

Lesser's leadership also transformed the statistics department and elevated Oregon State University’s role in the field as department head from 2011 to 2018.

Lesser has also been a dedicated mentor and advocate for students and colleagues. Over the course of her career, she guided more than 220 graduate students and fostered a welcoming, supportive community within the department. Her colleagues regard her as an exceptional mentor and an inspiring leader, someone who consistently goes above and beyond – whether leading major academic initiatives or simply making sure the department potluck had a home-cooked turkey.

Research funding propels Team Science forward

Oregon State University is focused on big discoveries that drive big solutions. Many science faculty received grants last year in support of discovery-driven science, applied and transdisciplinary research science education and innovation in OSU’s priority research areas of integrated health and biotechnology, climate science and solutions, robotics, data science and AI, and clean energy and solutions. Below are some of the highlights—not including multi-year projects started before 2023.

Faculty honors

Astrophysicist Jeff Hazboun received a $73K Faculty Early Career Development award from the National Science Foundation. This prestigious NSF early career award is highly coveted by faculty! Hazboun’s project includes curriculum development and the implementation of a summer workshop in astrophysics-themed data analysis designed to foster inspired teaching, stimulate excitement in pulsar timing array research, facilitate the learning goals of undergraduate and graduate students, and support the community college students’ transition into four-year schools.

Mathematician Christine Escher received a $50,397 award from the NSF to host the Pacific Northwest Geometry Seminar series over three years at various Pacific Northwest universities. Escher is the principal organizer of the conference. This award supports meetings of the Pacific Northwest Geometry Seminar (PNGS), a regional meeting for researchers and educators of geometry, to be held at the University of British Columbia (2025), Seattle University (2026) and Lewis & Clark College (2027).

Integrated health & biotechnology

Materials scientist Kyriakos Stylianou, along with members of the College of Pharmacy and the College of Agricultural Science, received $2 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop improved ways of preventing stored potatoes from sprouting, particularly in the organic sector. Stylianou’s team studied nearly 200 different plant essential oils for their anti-sprouting effects. Oregon, Washington and Idaho produce more than 60% of the potatoes grown in the United States, and Pacific Northwest potato cultivation is a $2.2 billion industry.

Microbiologist Maude David is part of a multi-institution research team to receive a $4.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study European foulbrood disease (EFD) in honey bees. The group is investigating the factors contributing to the high incidence of infection, and will then share their findings with local beekeepers and growers to improve mitigation efforts. Beekeepers in Oregon typically pollinate about five different crops annually. If the colonies are weakened by EFD, this results in less pollination, which is a concern for blueberry and almond growers.

Evolutionary biologist Michael Blouin was awarded $1.86M over five years ($371K per year) from the National Institutes of Health for his project entitled, “Genetic mechanisms of snail/schistosome compatibility.” Schistosomes are water-borne blood-flukes transmitted by snails, which infect over 250 million people in more than 70 countries and cause severe and chronic disability. A debilitating helminth parasitic disease of humans, vaccines are available for schistosomiasis. This project will identify new genes that make some snails naturally resistant to infection by schistosomes, revealing potential new ways to reduce parasite transmission at the snail stage.

Statistician Robert Trangucci received $164K from the University of Michigan for his project entitled, “Data driven transmission models to optimize influenza vaccination and pandemic mitigation strategies.” Selection bias is common in infectious disease datasets due to complex observational and biological processes, and bias can arise from covariate data which is missing due to analytical limitations. The research team is addressing the concern by extending existing models to accommodate risk and data gaps over time for application in vaccination and other novel datasets.

Chemist Dipankar Koley received $542K from the National Institutes of Health for his project entitled, “Microenvironmental characterization and manipulation to prevent secondary caries.” A common reason for dental replacement is a recurrence of caries around existing restorations caused by microbial activity. The project seeks development of new and innovative materials to bias this microbial environment toward improved dental health, and the researchers are investigating the use of cations of magnesium and zinc applied with specialized release platforms.

Collaborative research at the interface of robotics, computer vision and AI

Statistician Yanming Di received $249K from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for a project entitled, “DeepSeed: A computer-vision network for onsite, real-time seed analysis.” The Willamette Valley is considered the “grass seed capital of the world.” Seed testing, used for determining seed lot quality and establishing seed value, is a fundamental phase of the agricultural marketing system. With recent advances in robotics, computer vision, and AI, an opportunity presents itself for a new wave of innovations. This project utilizes AI and robotics to innovate devices and protocols for sampling grass seeds and a computer vision system for automated seed analysis. The investigators consist of experts in seed services, computer vision, statistics, and mechanical engineering.

Climate science and related solutions

Materials scientist Kyriakos Stylianou received $689K from Saudi Aramco for a project entitled “New Generation of CO2 Capture Adsorbents: Synthesis, Performance under Humid Conditions, and Scaleup.” In this project, the Stylianou group aims to discover novel adsorbents for the selective capture of CO2 from diluted sources. Successful materials will undergo scaling up and evaluation for their efficacy in removing CO2 from air.

Marine ecologist Bruce Menge received $200K from the National Science Foundation for his project entitled, “RAPID: A subtle epidemic: unique mortality of Mytilus californianus on the Oregon coast.”

The research team is investigating the major changes occurring in the Pacific Northwest marine ecosystems, with evidence these communities exhibit low resilience to climate change. For example, sessile invertebrates (mussels, barnacles, etc) become more abundant while seaweed species (kelp, etc) decline.

Evolutionary biologist Kathryn Everson received two awards for $276K from the University of Kentucky Research Foundation for a project entitled, “The role of hybridization in generating biodiversity: Insights from genomics of Madagascar’s true lemurs (Eulemur).” This project is funded by the NSF to understand how new species form in the context of complex gene flow and to expose the genomic signatures of evolutionary processes. The researchers will characterize patterns of gene flow, selection, and genome architecture for a species of lemur to gain a genomic perspective on the evolution of species boundaries. In addition, the team will construct a hybridization model using data on geographic range, diet, and social behavior for this lemur.

Clean energy and related solutions

Aerosol chemist Alison Bain received $284K from McGill University for her project entitled, “Single particle measurements.” This research aims to understand the optical properties of stratospheric aerosols. Using single particle experiments under environmentally relevant temperatures and humidities, the team will extend a wavelength-dependent refractive index model to include these conditions. They are also looking at how atmospheric aging impacts the optical properties of these materials.

Chemist Wei Kong received $110K from the American Chemical Society for her project entitled, “Superfluid helium droplets as microreactors for studies of photochemistry of fossil fuel hydrocarbons: polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and the corresponding endoperoxides.” The project will use superfluid helium droplets as microreactors to investigate the kinetics of the photooxidation process of a major component of petroleum (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PAH). Using several analytical techniques, the team will test the hypothesis that supercooling the helium droplets will stabilize an excited state of the oxygen molecule and prevent further reactions.

Collaborative partnerships to fuel a thriving world

Biochemist Ryan Mehl received $234K from the NobleReach Foundation in partnership with the National Science Foundation. The project “Ideal eukaryotic tetrazine ligations for imaging protein dynamics in live cells” was selected as one of the first set of 11 national pilot projects to receive $234K from the NobleReach Foundation.The partnership seeks to identify and accelerate the translation of NSF-funded research into biotechnologies and bio-inspired designs with commercial and societal impacts. This pilot will help inform future translational funding opportunities along with enabling Professor Mehl and the other selected principal investigators to accelerate bringing their research to the market and society.

Biochemist Patrick Reardon received $500K from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Instrumentation Program for his project entitled, “MRI: Acquisition of Helium Recovery Equipment: An integrated system for helium capture and recovery for the OSU NMR facility.” This award supports the acquisition and installation of an integrated system for helium capture and recovery for the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) facility. Helium is in high demand and is used for a wide variety of industrial and research applications, and it is a non-renewable resource which highlights the need for laboratories to capture and recycle this important gas. The NMR lab is supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health, NSF, M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, and OSU, and it is a core facility and cornerstone for groundbreaking research in interdisciplinary science and engineering, chemistry, biochemistry, and biophysics at OSU, throughout the Pacific Northwest, and beyond. The facility continually strives to enhance its state-of-the-art instrumentation for the highest levels of analytical performance.