Skip to main content
Amelia Noall standing at the top of Torc Mountain in Ireland, overlooking a vast field.
Students

French, microbes and the microbiology senior who speaks both

Lice: creepy, crawly, but to a young Amelia Noall, fascinating. “There was an outbreak at my school, and of course I got it. But I started looking at the bugs through my microscope and thinking, ‘Wow, these are so interesting!’” she recalled. As she followed her curiosity, picking leaves from the ground and examining their hidden structures through the microscope lens, she unknowingly paved the way toward her time as a microbiology major — and now senior — at Oregon State.

A diver looks under clear blue water at corals.
Marine Science

Esteemed coral scientist to help identify sites for restoration in South Pacific

Sometimes knowing where not to deploy conservation efforts is the most valuable information. Oregon State Pernot Distinguished Professor of Microbiology Rebecca Vega Thurber and her team have received a half million-dollar grant to help grass roots conservation groups in French Polynesia identify ideal sites for coral restoration.

A background of brown soil with a white outline of earth.
Events

Saving soil: Inaugural Berg Lecture features prominent microbiologist

Internationally acclaimed microbiologist Jo Handelsman, who served as the science advisor to U.S. President Barack  Obama as the Associate Director for Science at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, will give the inaugural Berg Lecture on Thursday, April 27 at 5 p.m.

OSU stock image of oyster
Marine Science

OSU research discovers probiotic combination drastically improves oyster larvae survival

Oyster larvae survival rates were significantly boosted by treating them with specific combinations of probiotics, Oregon State University researchers found in a recent study.

Stephen Giovannoni and Sarah Wolf working together in Giovannonis lab.
Research

Grant Awarded to Study Low Oxygen Environments in Oregon Coastal Waters

Drs. Stephen Giovannoni and Francis Chan were awarded a SciRIS Phase II grant for their proposal, “Hypoxic Barrier: Oxygenase Enzyme Kinetics and Ocean Health”.  They are excited about receiving College of Science support to extend their research, which started with a SciRIS Phase I proposal. 

Photo of water full of algae blooms
OSU Press Releases

Microbiology research clarifies hazards posed by harmful algal blooms

Research by Oregon State University has shed new light on the hazards associated with harmful algal blooms such as one four years ago that fouled drinking water in Oregon’s capital city of Salem.

Gut microbiome close-in
Research

Research innovation and entrepreneurship combine to address critical global challenges

Path-breaking innovations from the College of Science at Oregon State University hold answers to critical problems in the environment, energy and healthcare. 

Ocean waves on a dimly lit day with the sun peering through the clouds.
News

Gas-passing plankton illuminate another piece of the carbon cycle puzzle

A new study shows that the ocean’s most abundant life form, a type of bacteria, consumes acetone and other climate-active gases.

A closeup of two hands holding and inspecting phytoplankton in a petri dish.
Microbiology

Oregon State microbiology research furthers understanding of ocean’s role in carbon cycling

Researchers from the Department of Microbiology have shed new 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.

Underwater coral reef landscape background in the blue sea with fish and marine life.
Research

Innovation grants to build model reef at OSU, catalyze biological and materials research

College of Science Research and Innovation Seed (SciRIS) awards fund projects based on collaborative research within the College of Science community and beyond.