J.S. Barrett has won a 2012 Roy G. Post Foundation Scholarship which will be presented at the WM2012 Conference in Phoenix, AZ on 28 February, 2012.  Mr. Barrett will also get an all expenses paid trip to Phoenix to claim his award.

 

As you know, the Research Office recently implemented a new web-based solution for proposal preparation and routing, Cayuse 424, that seeks to replace the paper-based transmittal form with an electronic process.  Your new faculty colleagues have had an introduction to the system through both the College of Science New Faculty Mentoring Luncheon and the Research Office New Faculty Orientation.  They also are being provided with two special training opportunities (for new faculty only, registration required) through the RO on Nov. 29 and 30.

We have arranged for additional Cayuse 424 training opportunities for all College of Science faculty and staff who engage in grant writing and submission activities as well.  These will take place on Wednesday 14 December from 9-10:30am, and Friday 20 January from 9-10:30am (early in the Winter term).  The location for these sessions will be MU 211.  If demand dictates, we will schedule an additional training session in mid-February.

Please forward this message to your colleagues and encourage them to plan to attend a session.  More details and location confirmation will follow in a separate e-mail.

Many thanks to Pat Hawk, Lin Reilly and their colleagues for making this opportunity available to us.

 

We are gearing up for our spring awards celebration on April 27^th, and are looking to you for nominations. The OSU Alumni Association presents several awards to outstanding Oregon Staters throughout the year. We need your help nominating Oregon Staters who have excelled in their field of study, been dedicated to serving Oregon State University or have served their community.

This spring we will be awarding the E.B. Lemon Distinguished Alumni Award, the Jean and “Scram” Graham Leadership Award and the Honorary Alumni Award.

Please see the details below to learn more about each award or to nominate a deserving Oregon Stater.

E.B. Lemon Distinguished Alumni Award:

Established by the Oregon State University Alumni Association in 1981, the E.B. Lemon Distinguished Alumni Award is a tribute to this remarkable man’s devotion and contributions to OSU and the state of Oregon. The award recognizes and honors former OSU students who have significantly contributed to society and whose accomplishments and careers have brought credit to the University.

To find out more about the E.B. Lemon Distinguished Alumni Award please click here.

Jean and “Scram” Graham Leadership Award:

Every outstanding university depends greatly upon the loyal service of its alumni and friends. Jean and Scram’s abiding love for Oregon State University, their strong commitment to maintaining OSU traditions and ideals, and their loyal and tireless support of the University deserve special recognition. In their honor this award is given.

To find out more about the Jean and Scram Graham Leadership Award please click here.

Honorary Alumni Award:

Established by the Oregon State University Alumni Association in 2005, the Honorary Alumni Award recognizes those who have contributed greatly to OSU and the Alumni Association yet have not received a degree from Oregon State University. These individuals have tirelessly given of their time and resources to Oregon State University.

To find out more about the Honorary Alumni Award please click here.

We look forward to receiving your nominations for these prestigious awards by February 10, 2012. Please note that the nominations forms online list a deadline of February 3, 2012. Please disregard this deadline.

Thanks so much. We look forward to hearing from you!

 

Dr. Mas Subramanian, Milton Harris Professor of Materials Science at the Department of Chemistry, Oregon State University, is being honored with the 2012 Chemical Research Society of India (CRSI) Medal.   This medal is awarded exclusively to outstanding chemists of Indian origin who work outside of India.  The medal will be presented to him during the 2012 CRSI 14th National Symposium in Chemistry to be held in early February in Trivandrum, India.

Mas Subramanian, an internationally recognized expert on designing inorganic solid state functional materials, also Signature Faculty Fellow in the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnology Institute.

Before joining OSU in 2006, Subramanian was a scientist at DuPont Central Research and Development.  He has published nearly 300 papers in professional journals, which in turn received over 12,000 citations. His work yielded 54 patents that are in place or pending.  In recognizing his outstanding contributions to science and various technologies, DuPont Company awarded him with prestigious Charles Pedersen Medal (named after Chemistry Nobel Laureate from DuPont) in 2004.

An expert in such fields as high temperature superconductivity, thermoelectrics, magnetoresistive materials, catalysis and solid-state dielectrics, Subramanian is continuing his work in the discovery and development of new materials.   Recently Subramanian’s group discovery of new intense color pigments at OSU received worldwide attention and is featured in popular press all over the world including New York Times.

Subramanian received a doctoral degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India in 1982 and master’s and bachelor’s degree with honors at the University of Madras in India in 1977 and 1975 respectively.

 

To the OSU Community:

Dr Sherm Bloomer has been appointed as Director of Budget and Fiscal Planning at OSU, effective February 1, 2012. As Director, Sherm will report to the Vice President for Finance and Administration.

We have recognized that the University has a critical need for strong leadership in this position, and many of you will not be surprised that we thought of Sherm for this role. He has a great deal of skill and ability in the budget and fiscal planning area, and we are delighted that he has accepted our invitation to make this transition and serve the University in this way.

President Ray and we are most appreciative of Sherm’s leadership and service as Dean of Science. Sherm served as Dean for over twelve years. Under his leadership, the College’s administrative team, faculty and staff have achieved tremendous growth and success in every discipline. Sherm has worked tirelessly on behalf of the College. He imparted a culture of transparency and fiscal responsibility, leading to an increased participation in shared governance. His deep commitment to student success has resulted in numerous initiatives to increase student retention, graduation rates and course access. Concern for, and mentorship of, his faculty, advisors and staff have been important priorities for Sherm, and have been reflected in the open door policy and easy access that he is known for.

A strong and vibrant College of Science is critical to the success of the University’s goals as outlined in our Strategic Plan. To support those goals, the University has worked with the College to make critical investments in new faculty, advisors, facilities, instrumentation and access to key undergraduate courses. The College will continue to be an essential part of the University’s research, teaching and service missions, and lead the University’s efforts in scholarship and education in basic science and mathematics.

We will immediately initiate an internal search for an Interim Dean and a national search for a permanent Dean, and will provide details to you as soon as possible. Sherm will remain engaged with the College’s interim leadership through Winter term in order to assist with critical issues and to complete the organizational changes that the College has initiated

We will have an opportunity to celebrate Sherm’s leadership and service as Dean during the coming months. In the meantime, please join us in offering our sincere gratitude and congratulations to him.

Best wishes to you as you for a productive Winter term.

 

Sabah Randhawa

Provost and Executive Vice President

Mark McCambridge

Vice President for Finance and Administration

~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Colleagues:

I wanted to follow up the Provost’s announcement with a note to thank you all for the opportunity to have served as Dean of the College of Science.  This has been the most rewarding phase of my career and it has been a constant source of pride to be able to represent the wonderful work that all of the faculty, staff, and students in the College do.

The opportunity for this change in position came up suddenly, but it seemed a change that was timely for me and for the College.  We have accomplished a tremendous amount together.   The College is in a strong financial position, has raised nearly $80M in the Campaign for OSU, has made major investments in new facilities and instrumentation, has created innovative education programs while keeping pace with huge student growth, and has begun (with the Linus Pauling Science Center) to dramatically improve our facilities for research and teaching.   Most importantly, we have had tremendous success hiring talented young colleagues into the College and have a strong and dedicated leadership team in place.  The organizational change we went through has allowed the College to focus on our core disciplines and bring 9 new tenure-track faculty in life sciences, 7 in Mathematics, 7 in Chemistry, 3 in Physics and 3 in Statistics by the end of this year.   A chance to lead a College with such success and such promise will draw some very talented applicants to serve as the next Dean.

While the transition will be rapid, I will remain working with the College leadership to ensure that progress continues on important issues.  I will complete the promotion and tenure reviews for the College this year and will review with your chairs any critical issues that need to be noted for attention by me or by the new leadership of the College.  The Provost has asked me, in particular, to continue to work with the College to complete the proposals for changes to form the School of Life Sciences and associated curricular changes and to finalize a proposal to develop connections in the statistics community on campus.  Much of this work is well advanced and I am sure we will be able to move it forward quickly.

Finally, I note that the Provost has been clear in his commitment to a strong and vibrant College of Science.  This commitment is manifest in the new positions we have seen in the last two years;  the investments that have been made in equipment, advisors, and facilities; and in the commitment for a national search for a permanent Dean.  I know that the future for the College is very promising.

Thank you again for the opportunity to work with you and to learn from you.  It has been a tremendous pleasure and honor.

 

Best regards,

Sherm

 

The Center for Teaching and Learning is now accepting applications for the L.L. Stewart Faculty Development Fund.

The cut-off date of January 31, 2012 is extended until Friday, February 10, 2012.

The L.L. Stewart Faculty Development Fund provides individual faculty members with funds up to $2,200 for professional development activities that have a clear connection to the enhancement of teaching and student learning at OSU.  In addition, the Center may consider applications up to $4,400 (two awards of $2,200) for exceptionally compelling and well-written proposals.

Applications and guidelines are available at: http://oregonstate.edu/ctl/grants.

Applications are evaluated jointly by the Advancement of Teaching committee of the Faculty Senate and the Center for Teaching and Learning.

If you have any questions, contact Jeanna Towns at jeanna.towns@oregonstate.edu.

 

The Research Office is pleased to announce the awards for the Undergraduate Research, Innovation, Scholarship and Creativity (URISC) Winter/Spring 2011-12 solicitation.

There were a total of 40 submissions. Based on the recommendation of the URISC Advisory Panel, the Vice President for Research awarded 11 proposals totaling $12,474.

The following proposals have been selected for funding:

Averett, Joshua [Major: Rangeland Ecology and Management] (Faculty Project Advisor: Ryan Limb, Dept. of Rangeland Ecology and Management, College of Agricultural Sciences): “Yellow Sweet Clover Soil Nutrient Study”

Bostwick, Keiko [Major: Psychology] (Faculty Project Advisor: Kathy Becker-Blease, Dept. of Psychology, College of Liberal Arts): “Perceptions of Financial Aid and College Success”

Glaus, Matt [Major: General Science] (Faculty Project Advisor: Daniel Myles, Dept. of Chemistry, College of Science): “Rational Synthetic Routes to Dioxadiazinyl Radicals”

Holley, Courtney [Major: Ecological Engineering] (Faculty Project Advisor: Mark Dolan, School of Chemical Biological and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering): “Anaerobic Decomposition of Plastics and Biodegradable Plastic Alternatives”

Petrelli, Alissa [Major: Zoology] (Faculty Project Advisor: Anna Jolles, Dept. of Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine): “Effect of Bot Fly (Cuterebridae) Infection on Immune Response in Townsend’s Chipmunks (Tamias Townsendii)”

Pihl, Nicholas [Major: Biochemistry and Biophysics; University Honors College] (Faculty Project Advisor: Jeffrey Greenwood, Dept. of Biochemistry and Biophysics, College of Science): “Regulation of Akt Activity by Calpain 2 in Gliobastoma Multiform”

Shoaf, James [Major: Biochemistry and Biophysics] (Faculty Project Advisor: Viviana Perez, Dept. of Biochemistry and Biophysics, College of Science): “Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease with Rapamycin in Model Cells”

Ta, Charlie [Major: Microbiology and BioResource Research Interdisciplinary Sciences Program] (Faculty Project Advisor: Inga Zasada, Dept. of Botany and Plant Pathology, College of Agricultural Sciences): “Linking Genetic Variability of X. americanum Populations to Virus Vectoring Ability”

Taylor, David [Major: Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences] (Faculty Project Advisor: Dana Sanchez, Dept. of Fisheries and Wildlife, College of Agricultural Sciences): “Estimating Lead Contamination Risk from Traditional Hunting Ammunition”

Taylor, Peter [Major: Geosciences] (Faculty Project Advisor: John Dilles, Dept. of Geosciences, College of Science): “A Geologic Study of the WX and C2 Zones: Mt. Polley, British Columbia”

Trejo, Elyssa [Major: BioResource Research with a Toxicology option and Chemistry minor] (Faculty Project Advisor: Peter Cheeke, Dept. of Animal Sciences, College of Agricultural Sciences): “Toxicological Interactions between Quillaja Saponins and Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids”

Congratulations and thank you for your interest and effort in applying to the URISC program.

 

The Oregon State University Superfund Research Program/EMT  will present at the seminar series at EPA Region 10 on Monday, Jan 30th 11 AM -1PM Pacific Time

We invite you to join via the webinar.

 

Title: Innovative Technologies Used to Quantify Environmental Contaminant Bioavailability and Characterize Environmental Exposure

Presented by Dr. Kim Anderson, OSU SRP Project 4 Leader – Biological Response Indicator Devices for Gauging Environmental Stressors (BRIDGES)

CLU-IN Registration at http://tinyurl.com/6sue9yx

 

Abstract:

Accurately determining a person’s exposures to environmental chemicals is a central challenge to evaluating potential health consequences of contaminants. Quantifying environmental contaminant bioavailability is one fundamental nexus for characterizing environmental exposure.  Single-time collection “grab samples” generates an impossible number of complex samples to analyzeanalytically that are also too dilute to reasonable assess biological activity. Analysis of trapped local aquatic organisms such as fish or shellfish can be used to assess persistent bioaccumulative toxicants, but suffer from many limitations: metabolism, difficulties in obtaining samples, necessary destructive sampling and inherent biological and physiological variability, nor does one know how long the organism was exposed to the toxicants.  Many similar challenges exist with the analysis of biomarkers in epidemiological studies of environment and disease.  To overcome these issues, we have further developed passive sampling devices (PSDs) for water, air, sediment and personal monitoring now used at multiple Superfund sites, in the Gulf of Mexico as part of the DeepWater Horizon oil spill, and in several western Africa countries as part of an on-going United Nations sponsored pesticide-monitoring project. Membranes in PSDs sequester thousands of bioavailable chemicals including previously unmonitored chemicals.  The micro-porous and hydrophobic nature of the membranes was chosen to mimic both chemical and physical selective processes that affect uptake by organisms.  We now seamlessly and routinely use the PSD extracts from water exposures in the embryonic zebrafish and Ames assay models. Because contaminants sequestered by such membranes are recovered for use in analytical and bioassays, we are able to combine continuous sampling with biological endpoints that will enhance our ability to assess effectiveness and mitigation of toxicity.  The design, calibration, use and comparison of PSD membrane technologies will be discussed.

Two applications of the PSD will be presented; the first will illustrate the broad utility of the PSD technique including lower analytical cost while also providing a seamless, no additional preparation,extract that can bridge relevant environmental exposure to biological response assays.  A brief comparisons with other types of PSD technologies will be presented, including an analytical comparison with SPMDs were we demonstrate an 80% reduction in solvent use, elimination of chlorinated solvents, without a reduction in effectiveness or analytical sensitivity as an example.  Finally, results from bridging relevant environmental exposures with two model biological systems, the embryonic zebrafish and Ames models, as a seamless and integrated bio-analytical tool will be presented.  Temporal increases of PAHs during active remediation will be discussed.  In the second application, PSDs were deployed in water and air at near shore locations in the Gulf of Mexico prior to and during shoreline oiling from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.  Detection limits for individual polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons ranged from 0.001 to 0.05 ng/L and are typical of the technology.  Deployments typically ranged from four to 30 days although other deployment times may be employed.  Furthermore, PSD extracts are compatible with both LC and GC screening methods such as the DRS 1,200 chemicals GCMS method.  The application of PSD as a surrogate for biota will be presented.

 

Memorial Union Program Council and the Center for Leadership Development present:

 

The 2012 Art of Leadership Conference Committee would like to officially invite students to register for this year’s conference!

Who: College students from all over Oregon
What: The Art of Leadership Conference “Our Generation Our Purpose”
When: Saturday, February 18, 2012 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Where: Oregon State University Memorial Union

We will spend the day exploring ways that our generation can develop leadership skills to carry into their lives after college. Just for attending the conference, 3 OSU students will each win a $1000 scholarship.

Topics range from finding purpose in all realms of life to spirituality, civic engagement, and developing personal strengths. We will begin the day in the Memorial Union Ballroom with keynote speaker Tim McMahon who will focus on students of this generation. This will be followed by a question and answer session with a panel of recent Oregon State graduates. This is an opportunity for the graduates to share their experiences and for the audience to ask any questions about life after college.

Students will then have the opportunity to attend breakout sessions focused on different aspects of leadership, including student activism, career leadership, service as leadership, and leadership from an international perspective. In the latter part of the program Oregon State Alumnus Alex Polvey, founder of Cloud Kick Computing, will be delivering the closing keynote. To wrap up the day there will be 3 -$1000 scholarship drawings for OSU students. Come enjoy a day with leaders from around the state and spend time focusing on your place in our generation.

The conference is FREE! Breakfast and lunch will be provided!

Register now at https://surveys.bus.oregonstate.edu/main.aspx?SurveyID=4692&cmd=survey

Fan us on facebook to stay connected to this year’s conference: www.facebook.com/artofleadership

Questions? Please contact: Don Johnson, don.johnson@oregonstate.edu

 

FY2013 RFP for Technology Resources Fund Grants

Through the University’s Technology Resources Fund (TRF), more than $7.4 million will be available for FY2013 projects that improve student learning at OSU through better access to information technology and technology services.  Past grants have ranged from $5,000 to $1.2M. Faculty, staff and sponsored student organizations are invited to submit proposals.

 

Lois Brooks, Vice Provost for Information Services, has released the Request for Proposals for the Fiscal Year 2013 (July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013) round of funding and invites the university community – students, faculty and staff – to submit proposals.

Proposals are due February 21, 2012 at 5:00 p.m.

 

In response to campus input and advice on the TRF, to better meet the needs of students and to realign the Technology Resource Fee process with the institutional strategic plan and IT governance structure, the approach to awarding and managing TRF funds has been modified.

 

Types of Grants Available

Two types of grants are now available:

1. Start-up projects – one-time projects are sought, with a special interest in new and innovative ideas.

2. Recurring programs – programs that have previously received TRF awards or anticipate requesting TRF awards in future rounds of funding

No less than 10% of the available funding will be reserved for start-up grants.

 

Use of Funds

TRF funds may be used for the following purposes:

• New applications of information technology, e.g. interactive courseware, that improve student access to learning and the tools required for learning or that improve the student learning experience, including through improved pedagogy.

• Spaces where students use computers, including, but not only, traditional facilities like classrooms and computer labs.  Or, equivalent forms of computer access through such mechanisms as virtual desktops or pools of loaned equipment that broaden access to IT resources beyond traditional labs and classrooms.

• Other supporting services, software and systems, for example: providing e-mail and minimal electronic storage space for students; workshops and courses to enhance student use of information technologies; audio-visual or multimedia support of student projects/presentations; student software licenses

 

Review of Proposals

Proposals will be reviewed by a committee of faculty, staff and students that will make advisory recommendations to the University’s Instructional IT Committee and IT Infrastructure Committees and ultimately to the Vice Provost for Information Services who will make final funding determinations.  Reviewers will consider factors such as the following: alignment with the University’s strategic directions; evidence for the quality and likely effectiveness of pedagogy or service delivery models; collaboration and cooperation among campus units; number of students affected relative to the amount requested, co-investment and/or non-financial support by project sponsors; cost-effectiveness; past successes with similar projects and sustainability of the project.

 

TRF RFP

For more information, consult the Fiscal Year 2013 TRF Request for Proposals, http://oregonstate.edu/leadership/provost/trf/request.

 

TRF Online Application:

To submit a proposal: http://oregonstate.edu/trf/submit

 

Contact Information:

David Barber,

TRF Administrator &

Senior Program Manager

Information Services

Phone: 737-2367

E-mail: David.Barber@oregonstate.edu