Decline of World's Coral Reefs
Dr. Rebecca Vega-Thurber
OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
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Toxic Algal Blooms
Learning Microbiology at Sea
Blocking parasites from sensing and stinging their fish hosts
New funding to identify how nasal bacteria promote infection and transmission of Influenza viruses
A parasitic bacterium saps energy from corals
Science is Fun!
A mechanism that prevents self-sensing
Congratulations to Vaishnavi Padaki, a microbiology grad student in Dr. Kimberly Halsey's lab, who has received an Art-Sci Fellowship. Communicating complex scientific ideas through art is an effective method of broadening the impact of research to people with diverse social and educational backgrounds. Vaish's seeks to raise awareness of the environmental elements that control atmospheric gases and illustrate seasonal changes in plankton and the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) they mediate in the surface ocean and will create a glass sculpture[...]
Congratulations to Dr. Lauren Speare who has been selected as an awardee for the Life Sciences Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship funded by the Simons Foundation. Lauren's research, Determining Mechanisms of Bacterial Predation for Marine Probiotics, in Dr. Vega-Thurber's microbiology lab explores mechanisms of microbial predation of the ubiquitous yet poorly understood marine bacterium Halobacteriovorax.
Drs. Stephen Giovannoni and Francis Chan were awarded a SciRIS Phase II grant for their proposal, “Hypoxic Barrier: Oxygenase Enzyme Kinetics and Ocean Health”. (Click on photo for full story). They are excited about receiving College of Science support to extend their research, which started with a SciRIS Phase I proposal. The Phase I award allowed them to purchase gas flow controllers and other equipment that made it possible to conduct experiments in which plankton communities were maintained for months at[...]
The College of Science Research and Innovation Seed (SciRIS) Program, has funded a proposal “Accelerating Neuroactive Microbial Compounds Discovery with Gut-Brain Chip Technology” for an award of $125,000. This is a collaboration between Biochemistry & Biophysics (Dr. Kenton Hokanson), Biomedical Sciences (Drs. Kathy Magnusson, Pat Chappell), Microbiology (Dr. Maude David) and the NeuroBiome LLC.
The Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI) has selected Dr. Veronika Kivenson, postdoctoral researcher in Microbiology, as the recipient of the 2022 Tory Burch Fellowship. The fellowship supports scientists whose work involves the development of solutions to global problems while promoting gender equity in the biotech industry. Veronika received her Ph.D. in Marine Sciences from U of C, Santa Barbara and her research will focus on developing new therapeutics based on overlooked microbes in the human gut.
Congratulations to Dr. Hannah Rowe who has been selected as an awardee for the Medical Research Foundation, New Investigator Award for her research on Upper respiratory bacterial effects on Influenza virus infection and transmission. See graphic and description in slider above!
Congratulations to Dr. Martin Schuster and graduate student Parker Smith whose article: Antiactivators prevent self-sensing in Pseudomonas aeruginosa quorum sensing., Proc. of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 2022 (DOI: 10.3410/f.742191979.793593760), has been recommended in Faculty Opinions as being of special significance in its field by Faculty Member Andrew Goryachev.
Dr. Jerri Bartholomew and Dr. Stephen Atkinson have been awarded a grant from the Binational Agriculture Research and Development Fund in partnership with Dr. Tamar Lotan at the U. of Haifa, Israel to study how fish parasites sense and sting their fish hosts: using salmon and trout models in the USA and farmed tilapia in Israel. The objective is to characterize host sensing and signaling mechanisms in the hopes of preventing infection.
Drs. Theo Dreher and Ryan Mueller have identified the precise forms of toxin producing cyanobacteria from Detroit Lake, the source of drinking water for Salem, Oregon. Dreher said knowing which organisms to study will be key to learning how to prevent harmful algal blooms in the future. Once you identify the harmful organism you can study it in isolation and look at the factors that lead to its massive growth in a bloom, Dreher said. The study found two types[...]
Dr. Martin Schuster and graduate student Parker Smith have identified a mechanism that allows bacteria to wait for collective communication within groups of cells, preventing signal “short-circuiting” by individual cells. Bacterial communication relies on chemical signaling molecules that regulate gene expression in a process known as quorum sensing. Quorum sensing coordinates many different collective behaviors in bacterial populations such as infection, biofilm formation, microbial warfare, and nutrient acquisition. Publ. in the Proc. of the Natl. Acad. of Sciences June 13,[...]
Fulbright Specialist Dr. Jerri Bartholomew (Professor, Microbiology) recently returned from the Czech Republic where she spent a month working with students and researchers at the Biology Center of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Ceske Budjeovice. She presented a two day workshop on Science Communication helping students explore ways to communicate to different audiences, including using art as a comunication medium and also collaborated on fish parasitology research.
Drs. Julie Alexander and Sascha Hallett were awarded $195,564 from PacifiCorp for salmon disease research on the Klamath River prior to dam removal. The data collected will improve the understanding of host-parasite interactions and disease risks and will help management make informed decisions to help ensure continued salmon health.
Congratulations to Ruth Milston-Clements on her promotion to Senior Faculty Research Assistant II in Microbiology. Ruth has been an outstanding contributor to the successful operation of the AAHL (Aquatic Animal Health Lab) and we are delighted to have her achievements recognized with this promotion.
Please congratulate Ryan Craig on his promotion to Senior Faculty Research Assistant I in Microbiology. An FRA at OSU for a decade, he worked with PISCO (Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans) and Dr. Sally Hacker's Lab (coastal ecology) before joining the AAHL (Aquatic Animal Health Lab), where he makes vital contributions to all aspects of the facility, including continuing field research in the Klamath Basin.
Congratulations to Microbiologist Stephen Giovannoni who received $260K from the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences Inc for a project entitled "BIOS-SCOPE II - A Collaborative Program for the Study of Microbial Oceanography in the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre." Also to Microbiologist Christopher Suffridge, Dr. Giovannoni Lab, who received $35K from the Research Foundation for SUNY for a project entitled "Do lake trout eggs and free embryos acquire thiamine during development in wild populations?"
The Dept of Microbiology and the College of Science announce that Associate Professor of Microbiology, Dr. Kimberly Halsey, has been given the inaugural Excellence in Microbiology Faculty Scholar award. This new endowed position, the result of generous donations from an anonymous donor, will allow Halsey to advance excellence in her research and teaching at OSU for a term of five years. Read Full Article Here.
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Congratulations to former micro student Brandon Kieft and Dr. Ryan Mueller on their work showing specialization in the use of organic carbon resources by heterotrophic bacteria in the ocean. They have shed light on the mechanisms of carbon cycling in the ocean, using a novel approach to track which microbes are consuming different types of organic carbon produced by common phytoplankton species.
Microbiology Graduate Student, Benjamin Americus (Dr. Bartholomew Lab) has received the prestigious MacVicar Animal Health Scholar Award for his work on fisheries conservation, evolutionary biology, and on the parasites of salmon. He receives a $5500 stipend and $500 for supplies/travel. Ben will present a seminar on his research in the near future.
ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award Becca Maher, Graduate Student in Dr. Rebecca Vega-Thurber's Lab, has won the Oregon State University CGS/ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award. These dissertation awards are made annually to students who have completed dissertations representing original work that makes an unusually significant contribution to their disciplines.
May 2021: Dr. Jerri Bartholomew and group are helping to reveal the grim outlook for Klamath River salmon this year. Over the past several weeks, an outbreak of the parasite Ceratonova shasta has ripped through young salmon throughout the lower reaches of the Klamath watershed. Driven by high temperatures and low flows out of Iron Gate Dam, the disease is resulting in .... a “catastrophic” fish kill. Dead in the water: Serious fish kill consumes the Klamath River |[...]
Congrats to Becky on her promotion to full professor, which was just announced! Becky has risen to the top of the critically important field of coral biology and was appointed the Pernot Distinguished Professor ahead of her promotion to full professor, an unusual accomplishment that recognizes her outstanding performance. She continues to teach and mentor a large numbers of students while maintaining active field research programs at locations around the world. Good luck Becky on your next adventure! We are[...]
April 2021: Congratulations to Dr. Maude David on receiving Oregon State University's Breaking Barrier Award in Education. This award recognizes a member of the OSU community whose high impact in teaching and mentoring has paved the way to advance gender equity in higher education and allows all to thrive and prosper.
January 2021: Congratulations to Dr. Rebecca Vega Thurber, Microbiology, on being selected as a recipient of the 2020-21 James and Mildred Oldfield/E.R. Jackman Team Award along with other members of the The COVID Wastewater Team. This award recognizes superior and distinguished interdisciplinary team achievements through teaching, research, international, or extended education activities of faculty and staff. The CAS Faculty and Staff awards event will be held virtually on Wednesday, February 24 at 12 pm.
Research by Dr. Maude David, OSU Microbiology, indicates that children with autism may have a subtly different set of bacteria in their gut than their non-autistic siblings, according to unpublished data presented virtually on Tuesday at the 2021 Society for Neuroscience Global Connectome.
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.
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[...]
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
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
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[...]
Dr. Stephen Giovannoni
Department Head
Amy Timshel, Admin. Asst.
amy.timshel@oregonstate.edu
541-737-4441
