Hypoxia, a low-oxygen condition, threatens marine life and impacts ecosystems and the economy, including tourism and seafood industries. Chan’s work over the past decade has helped crabbers avoid hypoxic dead zones. This project aims to make these sensors as common as fish finders, providing fishers with detailed, daily maps of hypoxic areas. Driving excellence in physics education Being a brilliant scientist doesn’t always translate to effective teaching. Many university physics professors need training in pedagogy, according to David A. Craig, associate department head of physics at Oregon State University. To address this, Craig and the American Physical Society (APS) created an institute dedicated to training physics faculty in teaching and leadership. The institute provides a supportive network of physicists devoted to improving physics education nationally. This initiative has positively impacted hundreds of physicist professors, promoting active engagement and collaboration in learning and teaching. Honoring a ground-breaking computational scientist Małgorzata Peszyńska, a global leader in mathematical and computational modeling, was appointed a University Distinguished Professor, OSU’s highest academic honor. Renowned for her exploration of the physical world through the prism of mathematics and computation, Peszyńska’s research has delivered profound insights and applications in environmental conservation and natural resource management. Her expertise spans complex systems such as porous media dynamics and climate change impacts. Her team specializes in the mathematical modeling and computational solution of flows through porous media and their geological applications, including the effects of global warming on methane locked in permafrost. The Joel Davis Endowed Faculty Scholar and an AAA Fellow, Peszyńska relishes the enduring value of lifelong learning and the significance of interdisciplinary collaboration — with its potential to shape the future. Expanding access to high-quality learning Lugging around an expensive textbook is no student’s dream. With the free, online “Anatomy and Physiology” textbook developed by instructors Devon Quick, Lindsay Biga and Staci Bronson, that burden has been lifted not just for 800 OSU students who save about $100K each year, but also for students from around the world. Released last year, the book has garnered 2.7 million views and rocketed to the second-most-viewed textbook on publishing platform Pressbooks. It garnered views from as far as Australia, Ghana and India, open.oregonstate.education widening access to quality educational content on a global scale. “It’s so wonderful to imagine that there are people all over the world who have increased their understanding of how their bodies work because of this,” said Quick, senior instructor II within the Department of Integrative Biology. “I never imagined a world like this, where millions of humans across the globe would be able to have authoritative, accurate information about the way the human body works …It feels like it’s helping meet the mission of the institution to serve all of Oregon – not just OSU, but all of Oregon and the world.” Małgorzata Peszyńska David Craig IMPACT FALL 2024 3
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