FALL 2024 THE OPTIMISM ISSUE • OSU MARCHING BAND SMILE! THE OPTIMISM ISSUE Five Oregon Staters tackling some of the toughest issues of our times share how they keep hope alive. FALL 2024 BEHIND THE MARCHING BAND SEEING TREES ANEW WITH SUZANNE SIMARD
CREDIT TK During his career, Dale Greenley, ’69, developed a microbial check valve to ensure astronauts have safe drinking water — an innovative technology now used in developing countries, too. In retirement, he chose a giving vehicle that helps generosity flow: a charitable gift annuity that creates a reliable stream of guaranteed, fixed income payments for life. Greenley put himself through OSU by working summers in a sawmill. “Kids can’t do that anymore; you have to be rich to go to college, or come out with excessive debt,” he says. Creating a gift annuity supporting scholarships and the microbiology department “was a simple process from my standpoint. They take care of the paperwork. I just wait for the money to come in.” A life income gift provides a reassuring stream of income for you and your loved ones now, then supports OSU in the future. Contact me to learn more. Jennifer Milburn Office of Gift Planning | 541-231-7247 Gift.Planning@osufoundation.org The STEM leaders of tomorrow cultivate their passions here. Angelica Rivera is earning a bachelor’s degree in biohealth science with a chemistry minor. She plans on pursuing a career in pharmacy and reproductive health. A first generation college student, she says she is very grateful for the scholarships that have helped her attend Oregon State and follow her dreams.
Fall 2024 1 C ON t E N t S In Every Issue On the Cover F E A T U R E S The magazine of the Oregon State University Alumni Association 2 PHOTO ESSAY 5 EDITOR’S LETTER 7 PUBLISHER’S LETTER 8 LETTERS 58 IN MEMORIAM 64 BACKSTORY THE QUAD VOICES P.12 President Jayathi Murthy talks about leadership and optimism; four perspectives on staying hopeful about a shifting climate. NEWS P. 15 OSU student athletes picked in the first round for three pro sports; the new Beaver license plate debuts; PRAx’s next season of arts announced. RESEARCH P. 21 Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the way we track an elusive endangered bird; take a breath with OSU’s new meditation robot. CuLtuRE P. 25 Liberal arts based marine studies degree gives students new opportunities to pursue their passions. SpORtS P. 29 What’s happening with your favorite sports in the first year of the Pac 2; Jade Carey makes OSU proud at the Summer Olympics. OUR COMMUNITY ALuMNI NEWS P. 47 How alumna Suzanne Simard changed the way we understand the forest; celebrating Beavers honored by this year’s Black and Orange Awards; updates from alumni . ڿ Aerial photo by Dave Killen, taken in 2020 for TheOregonian. Read the hill’s story on p. 64. PHOTO BY BLAKE BROWN 32 How to Keep Hope Alive Advice from Oregon State faculty and alumni tackling some of the thorniest problems of our times. By Cathleen Hockman-Wert 40 Behind the Band For 140 years, OSU’s marching band has given Beaver spirit its steady drumbeat. By Mike McInally FALL 2024
2 ForOregonState.org/Stater MOME N T S Professor Lorenzo Ciannelli’s father was a fisherman. Growing up in Italy, Ciannelli would accompany his dad and wonder about the lives of the fish they pulled on board: What kind of habitat did they live in? What did they eat? Why did he and his father sometimes catch a mountain of fish and sometimes none at all? As an oceanographer in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, he asks the same questions. His current project seeks to learn about fish and other animals in understudied TRAWLING FOR ANSWERS
Fall 2024 3 PHOTO ESSAY PHOTOS BY ALEX RIVEST nated by a marine terminating glacier and the fresh, cold water it delivers to the fjord and the salty ocean beyond. Using bongo nets and trawls, they plied the waters, coun ting and measuring the species they caught. So far, they’ve been surprised by the differences between populations found in water influ enced by fresh meltwater versus the richoceanic waters near the conti nental shelf. Next summer, the team travels to Greenland’s Inglefield Fjord to compare results. fjords in Greenland, where Arctic set tlements depend on fishing for their livelihoods, but warming seas are bringing change. In 2023, he and grad uate student Haley Carlton traveled with a team to Sermilik Fjord in southeast Greenland, an area domi
CREDIT TK Drive on, Beaver Nation! Introducing the official Oregon State University license plate. Show your pride for the Beaver State every time you hit the road. The new Oregon State University license plate will be available at DMV offices beginning this winter. For more information, visit beav.es/license-plate.
Fall 2024 5 FROM THE EDITOR Fall 2024, Vol. 109, No. 3 PUBLISHERS John Valva, executive director OSUAA; vice president of alumni relations, OSU Foundation Dan Jarman, ’88, chair, OSUAA Board of Directors EDI TOR Scholle McFarland DIGITAL & PRODUCTION MANAGER Travis Stanford GRADUATE ASSISTANT Katherine Cusumano, MFA ’24 DESIGN CONSULTANTS Pentagram Austin, DJ Stout, Davian-Lynn Hopkins DES I GNER Teresa Hall, ’06 COPY EDITOR Charles Purdy ADDRESS CHANGES ForOregonState.org/Address LETTERS AND QUESTIONS stater@osualum.com 877-678-2837 Oregon Stater 204 CH2M HILL Alumni Center Corvallis, OR 97331 ADVERTISING Travis Stanford advertise@osualum.com 541-737-2786 ADVISORY COUNCIL Nicole “Nikki” Brown, ’04, Tillamook Vicki Guinn, ’85, Portland Tyler Hansen, Tucson, Arizona Colin Huber, ’10, Albany Chris Johns, ’74, Missoula, Montana Jennifer Milburn, ’96, Albany Elena Passarello, Corvallis Mike Rich, ’81, Beaverton Lori Rush, ’78, Dallas Roger Werth, ’80, Kalama, Washington Oregon Stater (ISSN 0885-3258) is published three times a year by the Oregon State University Alumni Association in collaboration with the Oregon State University Foundation and Oregon State University. Content may be reprinted only by permission of the editor. ILLUSTRATION BY JOÃO FAZENDA The end of summer in Corvallis brings a familiar sound — the rat-a-tat-tat of OSU’s drumline as band camp begins. If I press my face against the window, I can see them lined up in the shadow of Reser Stadium, their elbows all sharp angles, sticks flying over the faces of their drums. Anyone in earshot knows how hard they work, laboring hour after hour on a single beat. (So much so that coworkers joke about whether we can expense ear plugs and ibuprofen.) Thinking about them brings me back to this Stater, dubbed “The Optimism Issue.” We settled on this focus as a partial antidote to what could be some pretty rough months ahead. From a contentious election season, to wars abroad, to (closer to home) our first year in the Pac-2, I can feel myself steeling for the worst. So we turned to our community for advice. In our cover story, “How to Keep Hope Alive” (see page 32), writer Cathleen Hockman-Wert asked Beavers immersed in finding solutions to some of the most intractable issues of our times what keeps them going. I talked with President Murthy about the role optimism plays in leadership. She surprised me by pointing out something I hadn’t considered before: Optimism is, in part, a conviction that you have some control over your future. “All problem solvers,” she said, “have to be optimists.” The exclamation point to that idea came with this issue’s Perspectives column (see page 13) when I asked four people how they stay hopeful that they can make a difference with climate change. In a first for the column, they all said the same thing: They do something. Or as Professor Bill Ripple put it: “The antidote to despair is action.” The key, I realized, is seeing the value in what one person can do, because despair begins when we disparage that as too little. Which brings us to the campus group that epitomizes optimism. Whether they’re drenched in rain or sweat, whether the Beavs are killing it or taking a drubbing, the nearly 300 members of the marching band keep the steady drumbeat of OSU spirit. We spent a day with them to learn how the magic happens (see page 40). And don’t miss our first companion video story — a chat with Associate Director of Bands Olin Hannum, MAT ’12. (See bit.ly/OSU-band.) Because when it’s all said and done, the students practicing outside my window can’t control the football game, college conferences or the weather, but they can do everything in their power to be prepared to play their part. At optimism’s heart is this simple belief: You can do something, and it does matter.The sound of one drum carries. Scholle McFarland Editor, Oregon Stater BE LIKE THE BAND
CREDIT TK Corporate and Workforce Education Upskill employees. Strengthen loyalty. Upgrade your team. When employers invest in their workers’ education, good things happen. And recent reports* highlight just how much employer tuition benefits can positively impact employees’ actions. * Bright Horizon Education Index — 2022 and 2023 The message is clear: Now more than ever, workers want an employer that supports their career and educational goals. And Oregon State University can help your organization meet the demand. More than 100 organizations worldwide rely on Oregon State’s innovative corporate and workforce education solutions to upskill their employees, retain their best workers and recruit future leaders. We deliver high-quality online and in-person learning opportunities, from full degree programs to three-course microcredentials. Let’s work together to explore how OSU’s customized tuition benefit programs can prime your team for success. 79% would choose a job due to tuition benefits 81% would be more loyal due to tuition benefits 77% want to gain new skills via education Engage with us: educationalventures.oregonstate.edu/workforce
Fall 2024 7 FROM THE PUBLISHER ILLUSTRATION BY JOÃO FAZENDA Forgive me if this column sets aside Oregon State’s usual inclination toward modesty. Many of you have told me you wish we bragged more, like a nearby university known for flaunting its duck feathers. So allow me to do just that. Let’s start with the magazine in your hands. This summer, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) recognized the Oregon Stater with four distinguished awards. Our redesign, which debuted this time last year, was named the best of the best — “a standout from cover to cover.” The winter issue’s shark adventure, “Fear in the Water,” by Cathleen Hockman-Wert, merited a gold award for feature writing.We also received two awards for opinion writing — a silver for “The Jaws Effect” by editor Scholle McFarland and a bronze for “When Beavers Unite” by yours truly. I’m also proud to share that the OSU Alumni Association was honored by Insight Into Diversity magazine for our progress in, and commitment to, encouraging a culture of belonging and connection for our alumni. National honors are nice to receive. They position OSU as a destination for talent and best practices, and they help reward hard work and ingenuity — work that builds our community of Beavers. As I see it, each of these acknowledgements is a manifestation of momentum occurring throughout this great university. Let’s brag about that, too. In the last few years, OSU has successfully completed a state-ofthe-art football stadium renovation, as well as capital projects for gymnastics, softball, baseball and track and field. Along the way, our awe- inspiring student-athletes have won on and off each playing surface. Jade Carey has just earned two medals in gymnastics — her second gold and a bronze — at the Summer Olympics, and OSU is the only school this year with first-round draft picks in baseball, football and soccer. In 2024 alone, we elevated the unversity’s arts and sciences, opening the Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts and breaking ground for OSU’s ambitious venture into next-generation technologies, the Jen-Hsun Huang and Lori Mills Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex. Then there’s you. This past year, more alumni and friends than ever participated in OSU events and volunteered to benefit students and university pursuits. And more donors are providing more dollars than ever before. This Oregon Stater reflects the importance of optimism. These are just a few of the reasons to feel optimistic about this wonderful university. Keep on bragging, Beaver Nation. We are DAM PROUD! John Valva Publisher, Oregon Stater YOUR BEAVER BRAGGING RIGHTS OFF I CERS Chair, Dan Jarman, ’88, Lake Oswego Vice Chair, Jonathan Riley, ’09, Portland Treasurer, Bob Bluhm, ’82, Portland MEMBERS Derek Abbey, ’99, Bend Casey Anderson, ’14, Portland Jay Boatwright, ’78, Sacramento, California Sharada Bose, ’84, M.S. ’88, Milpitas, California Eric Feldhusen, ’02, Salt Lake City, Utah Colin Huber, ’10, Albany Conrad Hurdle, ’96, MAT ’97, Portland Kelley Kaiser, ’93, MPH ’99, Corvallis Doug Kutella, ’98, Lake Oswego Julie Lambert, ’85, Aptos, California Keith Leavitt, ’88, Portland Holly McKinney, ’91, Bend Lee Miller, ’80, Blodgett Jayathi Murthy, OSU president, ex officio Victoria Thanh Nguyen, ’95, MAIS ’06, Gresham Candace Pierson-Charlton, ’73, Ed.M. ’02, Corvallis Mary Power, ’90, Thousand Oaks, California Denver Pugh, ’97, Shedd Michele Rossolo, ’01, Portland Shawn Scoville, OSU Foundation president and CEO, ex officio Dorian Smith, ’09, MAIS ’17, Albany Syesha Holliman Thomas, ’02, Seattle, Washington Marcia Torres, ’01, Clackamas Michael Whitten, ’12, Portland ADDRESS 204 CH2M HILL Alumni Center Corvallis, OR 97331 541 737 2351 osualum@osualum.com ForOregonState.org SOCIAL MEDIA Facebook: facebook.com/ oregonstatealum X/Twitter: @oregonstatealum Instagram: @oregonstatealumni Sign up for the Beaver Lodge newsletter at ForOregonState.org/BeaverLodge
8 ForOregonState.org/Stater L E t t E R S COVER: ZOHAR LAZAR; INVITE: COURTESY OF SHARA HOWARD SHARING THE LOVE Though a few readers felt that campus dating was not an appropriate topic for the magazine of a great research university, most found no conflict between life-changing learning and life-changing love. Many wrote in to share their own stories.An engaged couple asked for an extra copy of the spring issue so they could frame it, and another sent the magazine an invitation to their wedding. We were also excited when our publisher received a kind note from Kathy Kohner-Zuckerman,’62,the Beaver who was the inspiration for Gidget, the iconic, in-love-withlove surfer girl of book and movie fame. ↓ Newlyweds Shara Howard, ’17, and Taylor Burton, ’21, sent us an invite to their summer wedding with a note saying they met at OSU: “We loved the Oregon Stater love stories edition!” The story on romance in the current Oregon Stater was inspired. It contained so many great moments. It is also an excellent cultural history of the university. —STEPHEN A. FORRESTER I enjoyed the recent edition of the Stater magazine, with its focus on alumni who met their future spouses through OSU connections. Alumna Zelma Reed Long,’65,well known wine maker, introduced me to Tom McCoy. He and Zelma attended the same high school, and I was a good friend of hers at OSU. Since he went to college at Harvard, it was unlikely we’d ever meet. I’m grateful for the OSU connection that led to a marriage in 1967. Thanks for publishing a magazine I read from cover to cover. —NANCY AUSTIN MCCOY, ’65 I read with interest “OSU, a Love Story” and was inspired to share our story with you. Oct. 12, 1962. Columbus Day. I was living at the Theta Chi fraternity house. It was a Friday afternoon. I was having my very first date with this wonderful person I had met in analytical chemistry class. She and I spent nine hours together in lab each week. We were going to have dinner at the fraternity house and then go to the Sophomore Cotillion and hear the Four Preps. The wind started blowing late in the afternoon and got stronger and stronger. I stood on the front lawn of the fraternity house and watched a chimney topple over on a house across the street. All the electricity went out. The Sophomore Cotillion was canceled, but because we had a gas stove in the house, our amazing cook was able to put together a meal. We all were dressed up and had dinner by candlelight. Then, instead of going out, we had a quiet evening dancing to music from a transistor radio in the basement of the fraternity house. The next day, we walked all over campus and were amazed at the devastation, particularly on the
Fall 2024 9 COURTESY OF SALLY GOODMAN “WE HAD A QUIET EVENING DANCING TO MUSIC FROM A TRANSISTOR RADIO.” A BOUNTY OF BEAVERS Sally Goodman, ’70, sent us this photo of three generations of Beavers gathered at Commencement this June. The family was celebrating their newest grad, Wyatt Holliday, ’24, as well as a $1.4 million gift to the OSU Foundation from the estate of their relative Carol (Hansen) Isbell, ’55, Ed.M. ’67. Pictured from left: Brooke (Carlson) Goodman, ’99; Sally (Bay) Goodman; Geoff Goodman, ’99; Gary Goodman, ’70; Wyatt Holliday, ’24; and Emily (Goodman) Holliday, ’00. Sally and Gary are holding a picture of Carol. Quad, where most of the century- old trees had been toppled. My date, Judy Thompson, and I got married shortly after her graduation.Years later they decided to make Columbus Day come on a Monday, but Judy and I always remember our first real Columbus Day together, 59 years ago, Oct. 12, 1962. —JIM MUTCH, ’66, AND JUDY THOMPSON MUTCH, ’65 I read with great interest the OSU alumni love stories in the Oregon Stater. I too met my husband, Eric Stone [M.F. ’69], at the Memorial Union back in 1968. I can’t remember if the MU has two separate stairways, but it was that way on April 5 of 1968. I kidded that my future husband came down one stairway, asked me to dance and walked up the other with his wife. He was in the forestry master’s program, having transferred from the University of Connecticut just a couple of weeks before. We were pinned on April 18, 1968, engaged on May 18 and married a year later on June 7, 1969, after he graduated. We are extremely happy almost 55 years later, raising two sons. I did not graduate from OSU — U of O was the only university offering a bachelor’s in nursing — but did meet the love of my life at OSU. —TERESA STONE The Orange and ... MasBlue? With a new Pac-XX on the horizon, and as a proud alumnus and embracer of change, I was thinking maybe it’s time to shake things up with our school colors, with the addition of the OSU-discovered MasBlue. While black and orange will always have a special place in Beavers’ hearts, the addition could bring a bit of excitement. It would also serve as a tip of the cap to our sea-, space-, sun- and land-grant designations and heritage, as well as the great work our scientists do. Should we get other Beavers’ thoughts? —DAVID AKERSON, ’83 Kudos for Students A recent SFGate article contrasted the sorry state a Shasta Lake campground was left in by UC Davis and UO students versus how it was cared for by a group of Oregon State students who had visited just a few weeks before. [Read the article at bit. ly/lake-cleanup.] I was very proud of the student body and the lessons they learned at OSU! — RON RUSAY, PH.D. ’77 Mountain Memories I now think back about my time at Oregon State, from 1959 to 1963, and realize what a wonderful experience it was. One of my strongest memories is my first climb with the Oregon State Mountain Club. The faculty leader was Willi Unsoeld. I, of course, had no idea of the stature he would achieve in the world of mountaineering. [Unsoeld was part of the first American expedition to summit Mt. Everest.] Our destination was Coburg Caves on the way to Eugene. Professor Unsoeld drove us, singing Alpine mountaineering songs all the way. We learned belaying, a safety technique involving a rope attached to a climber. In our case, the end of the rope was wrapped around the waist of a person who was located
10 ForOregonState.org/Stater L E t t E R S HOW - t O ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOE MCKENDRY JIM HOSMER ONE SUPERLATIVE SPREAD INSPIRED BY THE SCHOOL THAT SAVED THE HAZELNUT. By Siobhan Murray F O O D INSTRUCTIONS above the climber and secured with a safety rope. Belaying was especially critical when rappelling, a technique in which one lowers oneself on a rope. The first time I rappelled, Willi Unsoeld belayed me. Had I known more about him, I would have been more relaxed. As I backed up to the edge of a 100-foot-high cliff, Willi, with a huge grin, asked if I really wanted to do this. I sort of joked, “Do I have a choice?” He laughed and said, “Not really.” So down I jerkily went.When I reached the bottom, I looked up and waved, and he waved back. The next thing I knew, he followed me, but he rappelled to the bottom upside down in one smooth continuous motion. —RICHARD “DICK” DEMERS, ’63 Send letters and comments by email to stater@osualum.com or by mail to Oregon Stater, OSU Alumni Association, 204 CH2M HILL Alumni Center, Corvallis, OR 97331. We edit for clarity, brevity and factual accuracy. Please limit letters to 225 words or less. ↑ Willi Unsoeld, ’51, helped establish the OSC Mountain Club. In 1963, he was part of the first U.S. expedition to summit Mt. Everest. 1. Roast the hazelnuts for 12-13 minutes at 350 F. 3. Add peeled hazelnuts to a food processor or highspeed blender. Blend until a liquid butter is formed, about 8-10 minutes. 5. Melt the chocolate by either heating it gently over a double boiler or carefully microwaving it in 30- second intervals. 2. Transfer the nuts to a large cloth towel. Sandwich them between layers of cloth and then use your hands to roll the nuts in the towel, removing most of the skins. 4. Add the vanilla and salt and blend well. 6. Add the melted chocolate a little at a time to the hazelnut mixture and blend until incorporated. Great on toast, bananas, pancakes, sandwiches, ice cream and more. Beavers love food, as evidenc ed by the letters we continue to receive about the spring 2023 Food Issue more than a year later. So, when we heard the recent news about the makers of Nutella supporting the university’s ongoing hazel nut research —the science that saved the nut from blight in the 2000s — we wondered if there might be a way to put our own spin on the silkysoft hazelnut spread. This vegan (or allergy ) friendly version can be made with out dairy if you opt for dark chocolate chips. And since 99% of domestic hazelnuts are grown in Oregon, it’s not difficult to source them locally. We plan to include recipes connected to OSU research, history and people on an occasional basis. If you have a suggestion, write us at stater@osualum.com. BENNY’S HOMEMADE HAZELNUT SPREAD MAKES 2 ½ CUPS TOTAL TIME: 30 MINUTES 3 cups raw Oregon- grown hazelnuts 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ½ teaspoon salt
Fall 2024 11 T H E QUAD PHOTO BY HALEY NELSON A summer sunset illuminates the mountains’ silhouette at OSU-Cascades in Bend. INSIDE VOICES P. 12 NEWS P. 15 RESEARCH P. 21 CULTURE P. 25 SPORTS P. 29
12 ForOregonState.org/Stater VO I C E S MAIA INSINGA ↑ President Murthy at this June’s commencement with keynote speaker Steven Jackson, ’20. Follow her on X at @OregonStatePres. LEADING WITH OPTIMISM PRESIDENT JAYATHI MURTHY ON THE POWER OF HOPE AND FINDING IT IN OSU’S STUDENTS. As told to Scholle McFarland As a university president, does optimism play a part in your work? The future belongs to the hopeful — the future be- longs to the optimists — because they’re the only ones who can think and plan and make things happen. I don’t think you can ever inspire anybody unless you bring hope and energy. And so, there is no successful leader who is not an optimist. When faced with challenging times, is there something from your past that you draw on to help you stay motivated? I come from a family of pessimists. I’m joking, of course, but not entirely. The reason was that growing up in India at that time, a lot wasn’t in your control. The U.S. is a country of optimists, a country of open frontiers. Not so everywhere, and not so particularly in societies where that forward arc of progress is not always evident. The people I grew up with, the adults I grew up with, were constantly planning for things to go bust. You had to secure yourself against the possibility of things falling apart because they could. The way they dealt with everyday setbacks and uncertainties was with a certain kind of dark humor. I, too, deal with a lot of everyday stuff through humor. Without, it would just become too much. It does seem essentially optimistic to go to a different country. I agree. I think if you didn’t have hope and you didn’t have ambition, there would be no reason to take such a huge risk. Of course, I was young and didn’t understand some of the risks, which was also helpful. But for me, optimism really came when I arrived in this country and suddenly realized, oh my gosh, there’s a different way of thinking. I’ve always been a dreamer and wanted to do things, and suddenly I found a place that had that kind of orientation. That’s what optimism brings — this control over your future. It’s interesting just how many people in our community are tackling problems that might seem unsolvable. I was just thinking the other day that doers have to be optimists. Why would you be looking for solutions if you weren’t? Our community’s orientation is toward workable, translatable solutions. If you weren’t an optimist, none of that would be possible.All problem solvers have to be optimists. We’re headed into a contentious election season. What role do you think OSU has in fostering democracy? I’ve been thinking about this a lot, particularly with respect to the Israel- Hamas war protests that have been going on. Our university is full of passionate and idealistic young people, and that is a good thing. They want OSU to make statements in support of the things they believe in. I get that, too. But we’ve declined
Fall 2024 13 PRESIDENT Q + A PERSPECTIVES BILL RIPPLE, PH.D. ’84 Distinguished professor, College of Forestry Hope with passive waiting is not enough. The antidote to despair is action. In my case, that includes conducting climaterelated research, engaging in local and global climate initiatives and working toward policy change. We made The Scientist’s Warning (bit. ly/scientistswarning) — produced by OSU — to advocate for turning scientific knowledge into action. Connecting with like minded individuals and participating in collective climate efforts can empower individuals to create a hopeful mindset for the future. JEREMY HOFFMAN, PH.D. ’16 Director of Climate Justice and Impact at Groundwork USA I ask myself: Where can I act on climate change in my own backyard, in my neighborhood and in my larger community? I can grow native plants on my balcony and reduce the amount that I drive. I can work with my neighbors to build pocket parks and advocate for better transportation options. And I can push for our city council to invest in climate solutions in frontline neighborhoods. HANNAH GOSNELL Professor, College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences What transforms my anxiety about the future into equanimity is the concept of Active Hope, which is something we do rather than have. It involves being clear about what we hope for and the role we can play in realizing it. As ecophilosopher Joanna Macy counsels, acting for the healing of the world makes the mess we’re in easier to face, and our lives become more meaningful and satisfying. FAISAL OSMAN, ’24 Recent graduate in public policy I stay hopeful about making a difference with climate change by taking meaningful action, no matter how small — such as carpooling with my friends or utilizing Corvallis’ free bus system. Everyone’s effort, combined with global movements and policy changes, contributes to a sustainable and just future. We have the opportunity to build a more equitable, resilient community. By working together, we can target inequities as part of ensuring a healthier planet for everyone in the future. OSMAN: TAYAA ETZELL/BEAVER’S DIGEST; GOSNELL: JONATHAN ROBINSON; RIPPLE: COURTESY OF WILLIAM RIPPLE; HOFFMAN: GROUNDWORK USA THE ANTIDOTE TO DESPAIR Q: HOW DO YOU — AND HOW CAN WE — STAY HOPEFUL ABOUT MAKING A DIFFERENCE WITH A SHIFTING CLIMATE? to do that, and for very good reasons. Universities have a very particular role that no other institution has in our society.We want the collision of ideas, we want uncomfortable conversations — and from these collisions, for new ideas and approaches to emerge. If you don’t allow that to happen, then I think the university isn’t fulfilling its mission. As a land-grant university, we are a big mixture of urban and rural, and that brings together very different political viewpoints, cultural values and histories — all valid because they come out of the lived experiences of human beings. It’s a particularly rich mixture of ideas, and it is ripe for productive collisions. If those can be managed carefully, if we allow ourselves to speak and to listen, then what can come out of it can be truly valuable. That’s the thing that we’re trying to preserve. I think what our alumni should know is that we enter into these debates, into this time of contention, with a framing that reaffirms our principles as a university. We’ve been thinking deeply in terms of how we should respond to huge world events, huge events happening in our own country. We must reaffirm our most fundamental principles, which are to be a beacon of free speech, academic freedom and free expression, and to leave the arena of debate open so that everyone can speak and be heard. What makes you hopeful? It’s commencement season now, and if there’s anything that makes me hopeful, it’s got to be commencement. I mean, just the idea that a young person comes into this institution at 18 years old and then leaves knowing things, having achieved adulthood, achieved competency, achieved maturity. They go out into the world and become creative builders of the future. If there’s no hope in that, then there’s no hope anywhere. THIS INTERVIEW HAS BEEN EDITED FOR CLARITY AND LENGTH.
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Fall 2024 15 News PHOTO BY KARL MAASDAM, ’93 PLAYING AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL OSU only school in nation with first-round picks in pro baseball, football and soccer. By Kip Carlson The news reached the Omaha Room overlooking Goss Stadium at Coleman Field on July 14: the Cleveland Guardians had made Oregon State second baseman Travis Bazzana the No. 1 overall pick of the Major League Baseball draft. His family, teammates and friends erupted in celebration. “The moment was kind of crazy,” Bazzana told reporters. “As soon as it hit, it was like something exploded. Everyone kind of jumped up around continued
16 ForOregonState.org/Stater N EWS KARL MAASDAM/OSU ATHLETICS S P O R T S BEAVER BRAGS 10 26% $10 467,777 TOP MILLION MEALS in the country is where Vogue ranked OSU in its list of the nation’s best fashion schools, noting its strengths in activewear and sustainability. of all degrees awarded last spring went to Beavers studying online through the university’s Ecampus. was awarded to OSU’s Global Hemp Innovation Center for work with 13 Native American tribes to spur economic development by developing manufacturing for products made from hemp. were donated by the OSU community during this year’s statewide food drive — three times the amount of all other state entities combined. The equivalent of me. … It’s just one of those moments — such a crazy moment — that you can’t really put into words because it would kind of understate it. It was amazing.” It was a big week for Beaver baseball: days later, Adley Rutschman, ’20, and Steven Kwan — both members of OSU’s 2018 national championship team — started for the American League in the MLB AllStar Game. Bazzana’s selection gave Oregon State a notable distinction as the only school with first-round draft picks this year by Major League Baseball, National Football League and Major League Soccer teams. Offensive lineman Taliese Fuaga was the 14th overall pick by the NFL’s New Orleans Saints, and forward Logan Farrington was the third overall pick by FC Dallas of MLS. “Oregon State has been, and always will be, a place where student- athletes can learn, grow and develop in their respective sports,” Oregon State Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Scott Barnes said. “Logan Farrington, Taliese Fuaga and Travis Bazzana are perfect examples of individuals who put in the work to have the opportunity to play professionally at the highest level. “We also have five former Beaver student-athletes, one current coach and current gymnast Jade Carey participating at the Olympics this summer,” he continued, “proving that Oregon State has excellent coaching, facilities and resources to compete with the very best in the world.” Bazzana was a consensus firstteam All-American in 2024, batting .407 with a school-record 28 home runs and setting Beaver career records in numerous categories, including hits, home runs, runs scored and stolen bases. Bazzana’s selection made OSU one of only four schools in the nation with at least two No. 1 overall selections in the MLB draft. Rutschman was the top pick in 2019. Fuaga was the first-ever OSU offensive lineman selected in the NFL’s first round. He was named to multiple All-America first teams in 2023 and was a two-time All-Pac-12 selection. Farrington was the third Beaver men’s soccer player ever taken among the top three picks in the MLS SuperDraft. He scored 15 goals in 2023, earning All-America honors and helping Oregon State into the national semifinals. continued ڿ Previous page: Travis Bazzana (center) at the moment he became MLB’s No. 1 draft pick. ↓ Taliese Fuaga (left) and Logan Farrington (right) were first-round draft picks for the NFL and MLS.
Fall 2024 17 UNIVERSITY RELATIONS AND MARKETING B R I E F S MEMORABILIA QUOTE, UNQUOTE RIDE WITH SCHOOL PRIDE SHARE YOUR SPIRIT AND SUPPORT THE UNIVERSITY WITH A NEW BEAVER LICENSE PLATE. By Sean Nealon If you’re on the road in Oregon this winter, be on the lookout for a new Ore- gon State University license plate. The black, orange and white plates proudly sport the words “The Beaver State,” in reference to the univer- sity’s mascot, the state’s nickname and the state flag. Tree rings in the background serve as a visual nod to the standard Oregon license plate with a Douglas fir, the state tree. Before the Oregon Department of Motor Vehic- les would begin production, the university had to prove there was a market by selling 3,000 vouchers for the plate. That landmark was accom- plished this summer, so it’s now ex- pected to go on sale — and start ap- pearing on vehicles — in early 2025. The license plate costs $40, about $35 of which will go to the university to support athletics and strategic univer- sity marketing initiatives. Be one of the first to know when it’s available by filling out the form at beav.es/ license-plate. “ The people around us are everything. I truly believe that our purpose lies not only in ourselves but in what we do and how we are to the people around us. Sometimes that involves sacrifice, some ‑ times that means persisting through pain; virtually every time it’s worth it.” Steven Jackson, ’20, former Beavers football player, philanthropist and star NFL running back, speaking at commencement. Watch his address at bit.ly/stevenjackson ENERGY- EFFICIENT AI Projections show artificial intelligence accounting for half a percent of global energy consumption by 2027 — as much energy annually as the entire country of the Netherlands. OSU College of Engineering researcher Sieun Chae has helped develop a new artificial intelligence chip that could improve energy efficiency six times over the current industry standard. Based on a novel material platform, it allows for both computation and data storage, mimicking the way biological neural networks handle information storage and processing. NEWPORT HOUSING IN THE WORKS Construction is underway on a 77-unit housing project that will support students, staff, visiting scientists and others working and learning at OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport. The $16.5 million, 34,000- square-foot housing project is being built about three-quarters of a mile from the Hatfield campus, outside the tsunami inundation zone, and will open as early as fall 2025. UP YOUR GARDENING SKILLS Home gardens are not only a great way to relieve stress; they can also be an important part of strengthening food security. OSU Extension’s Master Gardener program has a series of webinars to help gardeners level up their skills. See recordings at beav.es/growing-2024. For people looking to preserve the summer’s bounty, the OSU Extension Food Safe- ty and Preservation hotline is open through Oct. 11 for all your canning freezing and fermenting questions. Call 800-354-7319.
18 ForOregonState.org/Stater SPALDING: HOLLY ANDRES; CAREY: KARL MAASDAM; HAGSTROM: U.S. ROWING; ROSES: KATTERLEA MACGREGOR INSTAWORTHY N ews @beaverathletics Jade Carey shared high fives and smiles with fans who gathered on July 14 to see her off to the Paris Olympics. @beaverwrowing Seven Beavers competed or coached at the Olympics, including Alina Hagstrom, ’19, an alternate in women’s rowing. @oregonstate Summer roses filled the Corvallis campus with color. A YEAR FOR THE ARTS GET READY FOR PRAX’S 2024-25 SEASON. By Molly Rosbach Tickets are on sale now for the 2024-2025 season at the Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts (PRAx). Built around the theme “Water and Watersheds,” the lineup includes performances by PRAx’s inaugural artist-in-residence, jazz luminary and five-time Grammy Award winner Esperanza Spalding. To launch the season, PRAx partners with the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences to present Rising, a performance combining music, dance and spoken word to reflect on rising temperatures, sea levels and humanity’s increasing awareness of how changing oceans affect us. The exhibition How to Carry Water will be on display in the Stirek Gallery from Sept. 20 to Dec. 21, with artists from multiple disciplines exploring alternative methods for witnessing the human relationship with water. As part of the partnership with Spalding, a cohort of OSU students from various artistic disciplines will ۄ PRAx’s first artistin-residence will be the incomparable jazz musician Esperanza Spalding.
Fall 2024 19 IN PRINT THE ARTS work with the Portland-based artist on a yearlong collaborative installation. “What’s so cool about Esperanza Spalding is that she’s this big, iconic figure, one of the greatest jazz musicians of this generation; she has a giant global stage and iconicity, but her work is deeply rooted in community,” said Peter Betjemann, Patricia Valian Reser executive director of PRAx. She created her most recent album, Songwrights Apothecary Lab, after spending several months in three communities in the U.S. , collaborating with musicians, researchers and health care practitioners. Spalding’s OSU residency will be focused on a similar project, and she will give two public performances with her dance company, Off Brand G, April 17-18, 2025, in Detrick Hall. PRAx stands for Patricia Reser Arts, with the “x” signifying the center’s intersections between the arts and other academic disciplines. The center is named for Patricia Valian Reser, OSU alumna and volunteer leader, who has given $36 million to the OSU Foundation for the arts, including $25 million for PRAx. See the full season lineup of dance, music, theater and more at prax.oregonstate.edu. “WHAT’S SO COOL ABOUT ESPERANZA SPALDING IS THAT SHE’S THIS BIG, ICONIC FIGURE … BUT HER WORK IS DEEPLY ROOTED IN COMMUNITY.” 1. Weave Me a Crooked Basket By Charles Goodrich, MFA ’02 Set in a college town much like Corvallis, Weave Me a Crooked Basket tells the story of a botanist who returns home still reeling from the breakup of a bad marriage to care for her ailing father and ends up in a last ditch effort to save a way of life on the family farm. Goodrich, the former director of Oregon State’s Spring Creek Project, is a poet and co editor of two anthologies. Learn more: bit.ly/crooked-basket. 2. Echoes of the Arcane By Cody D. Campbell, ’18 Explore ancient worlds of magic and distant dystopian futures in Campbell’s debut publication, a collection of short works of science fiction, fantasy, general fiction and poetry. Learn more: bit.ly/echoes-arcane. 3. The Collagist By Karen Holmberg, associate professor, School of Writing, Literature, and Film In this young adult novel, a girl must convince her father to reveal his greatest secret, as well as that of the Being that exists in the world beyond. Holmberg won the 2021 Acheven Book Prize. Learn more: bit.ly/the-collagist. 4. No Perfect Mothers By Karen Spears Zacharias, ’79 In devastating detail, this work of historical fiction explores the infamous Buck v. Bell U.S. Supreme court case of 1927 as the story of one 17 year old girl sterilized against her will. Learn more: bit.ly/no-perfect. 1 2 4 3 BOOKS BY BEAVERS
20 ForOregonState.org/Stater Your support directly contributes to: > Student success > Career enrichment > Community-building > Pride in the university > Celebrating success stories GIVE TO THE OSU ALUMNI ASSOCIATION. UPLIFT OSU STUDENTS AND ALUMNI. Make a difference today: ForOregonState.org/SupportOSUAA Kernutt Stokes has been helping Oregonians, many of them OSU grads, reach their business goals for more than 75 years. We are certified public accountants specializing in privately-held and family-owned companies in construction, manufacturing, agribusiness, transportation, professional services, and more. If you’re seeking accounting services, give us a call. We look forward to hearing from you. Proud to serve our fellow OSU alumni. Firm partners and OSU alums Shelly Sorem, CPA and Jonathan Powell, CPA lead Kernutt Stokes’ Corvallis office. Bend | Corvallis | Eugene | Lake Oswego 2273 NW Professional Dr., Suite 200 (541) 752-4556 | kernuttstokes.com
Fall 2024 21 MIND OVER MOTHERBOARD Robot guides meditation sessions. A robot might not be an obvious choice to lead a meditation session — after all, what could an artificial “mind” know about mindfulness? — but take a moment to visualize this: Warm light filters through the windows of OSU’s Marigold Center, the home of the Contemplative Studies Initiative. At the room’s center is Heather Knight, assistant professor of computer science, and her robot Theora — four feet tall, sleek white, 65 pounds, mindfulness guru. “Turn your attention to the night sky,” Theora says, “envisioning the moon as a powerful motherboard radiating cosmic energy.” Knight, along with an interdisciplinary team of graduate students, has programmed Theora to use large- language models to guide and respond to human meditation practices. (Knight’s work often pairs performing arts with robotics; she also runs a bot theater company called Marilyn Monrobot.) This workshop, in June 2024, was the last in a series of six designed to coincide with each month’s new moon. Next up? A robot meditation retreat (for humans). —Katherine Cusumano, MFA ’24 Research PHOTO BY KARL MAASDAM, ’93
22 ForOregonState.org/Stater R E S E AR C H PHOTO BY KARL MAASDAM, ’93 ↑ Matt Betts checks one of the acoustic devices used to record the forest’s sounds. A high-pitched call pierces the milky morning haze. Hun- dreds of feet up, a dark shape hurtles across a dim sky. It swoops into the tree canopy and disappears. For almost 200 years after scientists first described the marbled murrelet, it eluded us. They saw the bird foraging on the open sea but had no clue where it roosted. Then, in 1974, a California tree trimmer discovered the first murrelet nest in the upper reaches of an ancient tree. Scientists now knew it was a bird of two worlds: a tree-nesting seabird that travels up to 47 miles inland to nest in old-growth forests. Going straight from sea to branch, it may go its entire life without its webbed feet touching the earth. The murrelet’s dependence on both ocean and forest made the homely bird — which some call a “baked potato with a beak” — unique- ly vulnerable to climate change. It also put it in the crosshairs of controversy. The murrelet served as a rallying cry, alongside the northern spotted owl and salmon, for enIN SEARCH OF THE MARBLED MURRELET Researchers are using artificial intelligence to find the Pacific Northwest’s most secretive bird. BY > SIOBHAN MURRAY
Fall 2024 23 BRETT LOVELACE B I R D S “HOW DO YOU FIND A NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK, OR IN THIS CASE A MURRELET IN A 2,000-MILE STRIP OF DENSELY FORESTED PACIFIC COAST?” ↑ The unassuming marbled murrelet was a major driver of the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan. vironmentalists during the 1990s “Timber Wars,” the battle over wheth- er to log or preserve the last of the Pacific Northwest’s old-growth trees. Now artificial intelligence developed by Oregon State and the U.S. Forest Service is making it possible to find the bird — and potentially other elusive species such as the Roosevelt elk and red-tailed hawk — more efficiently than ever before. Why does that matter? Until now, there hasn’t been enough information to guide conservation and forest plans. Since finding that a murrelet is nesting in, or occupying, a stand of trees determines whether the trees are protected or can be cut, timber managers often must venture into a forest 20 times over multiple years for pre-logging surveys to confirm that murrelets aren’t present. This new method opens the way to more-informed decisions that could determine whether the murrelet — and the forests on which it depends — survive or disappear. Listening to the Forest How do you find a needle in a haystack, or in this case a murrelet in a 2,000-mile strip of densely forested Pacific coast? Previously, researchers navigated swells on inflatable boats, plucked the birds one by one from the open sea to radio tag them, circled above the forest in roaring planes to pick up their signals and then bushwhacked through thick forests before sunrise to spot their nesting trees. But a team of scientists from OSU and the U.S. Forest Service had a different idea: What you can’t see you might be able to hear. Researchers set up acoustic recording devices to listen to coastal forests. Then they developed a machine learning algorithm to mine the recordings for the murrelet’s most audible call. “Our current work suggests that we have uncovered a survey technique that is not only cheaper, safer for field crews and less invasive to the species, but also increases our ability to detect this iconic bird in forests,” said Adam Duarte of the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, lead author of the study. Perhaps surprisingly, the team’s artificial intelligence tool —which is a convolutional neural network, or CNN — analyzes pictures rather than sound. Audio is converted into spectrograms, visualizations that show what pitches are being heard and how loud they are over time. The murrelet’s distinctive “keer” call, when mapped this way, curves like a question mark. The scientists taught the CNN to recognize this shape by showing it verified spectrograms of keer calls. It now identifies murrelet calls correctly more than 90% of the time, making it a highly accurate tool for murrelet monitoring. High-Tech Sleuthing The OSU and U.S. Forest Service team is among the first to develop artificial intelligence tools for monitoring wildlife on a broad scale.The program was originally deployed to monitor spotted owls, and it helped researchers make a population estimate, something that had never been done before. College of Forestry doctoral student Matthew Weldy is now finishing an algorithm that can identify almost 150 additional species. “We’re within striking distance of having the full suite of monitoring services for vocal wildlife species from the Canadian border through the Cascade Mountains and Coast Range of Oregon and Washington to the redwoods of California,” said Damon Lesmeister of the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, who led the bioacoustics effort for the study. “It’s hard to get your head around 25 million acres, which is the scale at which we’re working.” Just last year, the team collected 2 million hours of sound from 4,000 acoustic recorders in federally managed forests in the Oregon Coast Range and Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. These data are stored in two supercomputers at OSU’s Center for Quantitative Life Sciences. “If a person were to sit there and work 24/7 listening to those recordings and trying to identify murrelet calls, it would take them 640 years,” said Lesmeister. “It’s totally unfeasible for a human to listen and watch for the birds for that long.” “A lot of people think computers are going to take over biology, but I don’t see it that way,” said co-author Matt Betts, Ruth H. Spaniol Chair of Renewable Resources in the College of Forestry. “In my life, I’ve probably done 6,000 point counts: I have stood in one place for ten minutes 6,000 times to record what birds I hear. These new advancements free me up to do much more interesting and detailed work like catching birds, banding them, getting their survival rates and finding nests. That makes me happy.”
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Fall 2024 25 cultuRe PHOTO BY BLAKE BROWN SHINING TOGETHER Hundreds gather for Native American flute circle. A record 696 Oregon State community members came together for the annual Native American flute circle this May. Present and past students of Music 108 — one of the most popular baccalaureate core courses at OSU — played the flute while nearly 200 others kept time with egg shakers. They performed three songs, from a traditional Tribal melody to Elton John’s “Can You Feel the Love Tonight.” Senior Instructor Jan Michael Looking Wolf Reibach, who teaches Music 108, started the tradition in 2015. “We play our flutes in a circle to honor the beauty of our diversity and shared connection to Mother Earth,” Reibach, a Kalapuya Tribal Elder of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, told The Daily Barometer. “I am so proud of how bright our students shine together.” See last year’s performance at bit.ly/flute-circle. —Scholle McFarland
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