Decline of World's Coral Reefs
Dr. Rebecca Vega-Thurber
OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
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Salmon parasite Henneguya salminicola
A New Leader in Microbiology
Testing probiotics for honeybees
Riddles in the cold: Antarctic endemism and microbial succession impact methane cycling in the Southern Ocean
A parasitic bacterium saps energy from corals
DDT Toxic Waste Discovered
An integrative investigation of the role of the gut-brain axis on sex differences in anxiety
Gut bacteria associated with animal-based diet may mitigate risk of cardiovascular disease: “The connection between TMAO and cardiovascular disease has tended to focus the conversation on how animal-based diets cause negative health consequences,” said Dr. Veronika Kivenson, the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral fellow in the College of Science with Microbiology. CHANNEL 8 NEWS VIDEO
Dr. Rebecca Vega Thurber, Microbiology and other scientists at Oregon State University have shown that viral infection is involved in coral bleaching -- the breakdown of the symbiotic relationship between corals and the algae they rely on for energy.
Research by OSU scientists, including Dr. Jerri Bartholomew, on the C. shasta parasite’s role in the Klamath Basin began in the early 1980s in the Williamson and Lower Sprague Rivers, where high populations of worms were detected on the riverbed and high densities of parasite spores in the water. But the disease only seemed to impact non-native rainbow trout, which had been transplanted from another system and, unlike the native trout, hadn’t developed a resistance to C. shasta.
Marine ecologist and associate professor Rebecca Vega Thurber has been appointed the Emile F. Pernot Distinguished Professor in Microbiology by the Colleges of Science and Agricultural Science at Oregon State University. The endowed professorship recognizes Vega Thurber’s distinguished contributions to several fields of microbiology that encompass coral reef ecology, virology, marine disease ecology and metagenomics. Vega Thurber’s lab investigates the microbial and viral ecology of threatened marine species and habitats.
Recent Microbiology Master’s degree recipient, Elizanette ‘Nette’ Lopez, has been awarded a fellowship from the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) to learn at the CDC biorepository in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Nette successfully defended her thesis, “Effects of elevated temperature on Mycobacterium chelonae growth and mycobacteriosis in zebrafish (Danio rerio)” in early July, 2020. Nette came to Oregon State University from Texas. Her interest in science began at a young age with a fascination in the practice of[...]
Congratulations to former Department of Microbiology faculty member Dennis Hruby, who is being honored for his pioneering discovery of a treatment for pox viruses. This is an exceptional achievement and we are all very proud of Dennis. Please check link to website for further information about this achievement and TPOXX, a drug discovered by the company SIGA, which Dr. Hruby founded while on the faculty at OSU. If you have not heard this remarkable story, I hope that some day[...]
August 1, 2020: Dr. James Fox, was awarded the 2020 Postdoctoral Excellence Award. In the two years since James joined the Halsey lab he has made significant research contributions, injected new ideas into OSU's postdoctoral association (PDA), and led creative outreach and service activities. James is a member of the NASA-sponsored EXPORTS project and his research uses remotely sensed data to understand the fate of photosynthetic energy in the global oceans.
July 6, 2020: Sarah Olson Michel, a microbiology junior recommended science books for summer reading to a national audience on the Science Friday show. READ FULL ARTICLE AND LISTEN HERE.
June 2020: This year we graduated 57 Microbiology majors and 143 BioHealth Sciences majors with Baccalaureate degrees, 3 Microbiology majors with Masters degrees and 1 with a Doctoral degree. In a first ever experience, we are congratulating our graduates remotely, by video. We encourage our graduates to share their OSU experiences and photos of how they celebrated their graduation, and what they plan to do in the coming year. We will post to our website, please send to [...]
June 12, 2020: Jacob Maynes, a senior in BioHealth Sciences will start medical school at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Erie, Pennsylvania. Working with is advisor, Alex Beck, they devised a plan where he could complete his degree after only 3 years of college.
May 21, 2020: Saving Atlantis, a feature documentary produced by OSU filmmakers tracks coral microbiologist Rebecca Vega Thurber and other OSU researchers, uncovering the causes and seeking solutions for the global decline of coral reef ecosystems, is now streaming on Hulu and Amazon Prime. Saving Atlantis. Coral reefs cover only 0.1 percent of the Earth’s surface, but they’re home to 25 percent of all marine species, and they’re being lost at an alarming rate. Pollution, overfishing and[...]
May 20, 2020: BHS student Mikayla Pivec led the Oregon State Women's basketball team to another phenomenol season while holding the highest GPA on the team and completing her degree in BioHealth Science. She has received many athletic awards as well as being a SURE Science recipient. Congratulations Mikayla! Read Full Article
Nash’s ‘Radar O’Reilly’: Longtime building manager keeps watch over labs during campus shutdown
Cindy Fisher, building manager at Nash Hall -- Years at OSU: 39 --City of residence: Corvallis: In Nash Hall, the Department of Microbiology has 30 labs spread over three floors. Decades’ worth of samples and specimens are housed in dozens of minus-80 degree C freezers throughout the building. In some cases, researchers’ entire careers depend on those frozen cultures. If a freezer suddenly malfunctioned, all would[...]
As part of the Earth Day celebrations Dr. James Fox, Microbiology, teamed up with Ivona Cetinić (NASA Goddard) to discuss the marine carbon cycle, phytoplankton, satellites and more. Dr. Fox introduced an outreach activity developed as part of his OMSI Science Communication Fellowship.
Sebastian Singleton, a first-year Ph.D. student in the Microbiology Department, has been awarded a fellowship in the OSU-PNNL Distinguished Graduate Research Program. Seb’s project, titled "Dining on plastic refuse: Uncovering mechanisms behind microbial degradation of plastics in municipal solid waste environments" aims to culture and identify plastic colonizing microbiota from terrestrial environments, and study their biochemical interactions with plastics with advanced systems biology technology that is available at PNNL. Working with OSU advisors Giovannoni and Sharpton, and co-advisor Rob Egbert from the[...]
April 1, 2020: The Department of Microbiology has donated masks, gloves, and gowns to local hospitals in need of PPE for COVID-19 protection for health care workers.
April 2, 2020: A study that included the first-ever winter sampling of phytoplankton in the North Atlantic revealed cells smaller than what scientists expected, meaning commonly used carbon sequestration models may be over-optimistic. The OSU research into the microscopic algae, part of NASA’s North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study, was published today in the International Society for Microbial Ecology Journal. The findings are significant because the spring phytoplankton bloom in the North Atlantic “is probably the largest biological[...]
April 1 2020: Dr. Andrew Thurber: An exhibit that was presented at the Hatfield Marine Science Center, "Deep Sea and Me" communicated the diversity of habitats (such as this methane seep) and societal benefits that Oregonians get from the Deep Sea. Photo courtesy of Ocean Exploraton Trust. The Deep Sea and Me: Using a Science Center Exhibit to Promote Lasting Public Literacy and Elucidate Public Perception of the Deep Sea
April 1, 2020: Grace Deitzler was awarded the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and will investigate host-environment-microbiota interactions in honey bees. She has been working with Dr. David and Dr. Sagili of the Honey Bee Lab characterizing the honey bee microbiome. She will continue that work as well as the gut-brain axis research with Dr. David. She is also involved with Seminarium to broaden connections between art and science.
February 2020: A group of researchers, including Dr. Jerri Bartholomew and Dr. Stephen Atkinson from OSU, have discovered that a common salmon parasite in the PNW has lost its mitochondrial genome and cannot use oxygen directly. READ FURTHER
February 14, 2020. The COS Awards ceremony presented Alex Beck, BHS Advisor, the 2020 Olaf Boedtker Award for Excellence in Academic Advising. There was a large field of candidates for this award and the nominations come from students so it is quite an honor to be the recipient. Congratulations Alex!
Researchers at Oregon State University have proposed a new genus of bacteria that flourishes when coral reefs become polluted, siphoning energy from the corals and making them more susceptible to disease. The NSF-funded study is published in the ISME Journal (Phylogenetic, genomic, and biogeographic characterization of a novel and ubiquitous marine invertebrate-associated Rickettsiales parasite, Candidatus Aquarickettsia rohweri, gen. nov.,sp. nov) and adds fresh insight to the fight to save the Earth's[...]
OSU microbiologist, Dr. Maude David, is part of a 1.94 million grant to look for possible connections between the human microbiome and autism spectrum disorder, a developmental disorder that affects communication and behavior. The study will include Stanford University School of Medicine and Second Genome. Additional Information
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Microbiology; Nash Hall 226
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