OSU Today

Flying with whales: Drones are remaking marine mammal research (Local News 8)

Gathering snot is one of many ways that drones are being used to study whales. In the past 10 to 15 years, drone technology has made great strides, becoming affordable and easy to use. This has been a boon for researchers. Scientists “are finding applications for drones in virtually every aspect of marine mammal research,” says Joshua Stewart, an ecologist at the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University.

Oregon State expert on warm weather impact on your plants (KEZI)

"I mean, there's both benefits and drawback to this warmer start," said Erica Chernoh with Oregon State University Lane County Extension Service. "Obviously, if you have a vegetable garden, people may still be harvesting vegetables, things like kale, lettuces, etc. Even carrots will have kind of an extended harvest season. So that can be a good thing."

Can you grow your own Christmas tree? What an expert says you should know first (Better Homes and Gardens)

It takes time and effort, but growing your own Christmas tree at home is actually doable—as long as you have the backyard space for it. We spoke with Priya Rajarapu, an Assistant Professor and Christmas Tree Extension Specialist at Oregon State University, for her thoughts, and she has plenty to share.

Virtual reality farming is set to reshape your food supply forever (BBC Science Focus)

Oregon State University’s DIVE4Ag project lets school children take virtual field trips on their smart devices, exploring dairy farms, urban gardens and aquaculture hatcheries.

Research looks at electric weed control in organic vegetables (Western Farm Progress)

An Oregon State University weed science project with potentially wide-ranging implications for vegetable production has received a nearly $1 million grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

As climate changes, the PNW could experience stronger and more frequent atmospheric rivers (OPB News)

An atmospheric river, like its name suggests, is essentially a jet stream or “river” of warm moisture in the sky bringing in widespread rain, and sometimes snow, said Larry O’Neill, state climatologist of Oregon.

Northwest researchers find 6-million-year-old ice — the oldest on Earth (OPB)

Researchers with Oregon State University’s Center for Oldest Ice Exploration (COLDEX) have been searching for old ice there since 2021. And now they’ve succeeded in finding the oldest ice ever directly dated: Six million years old.

Oregon wildlife agency warns of increasing whale entanglements (Statesman Journal)

Through the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission, the crab fishery has funded Oregon State University research into understanding whale population distribution and overlap with the fishery. And whale experts report that West Coast humpback whale populations are growing around 8% annually leading to more overlap with crab gear.

Resolving to spend less time on your smart phone? Understanding your travel habits can help, say researchers (TechXplore)

As you ponder this year's potential New Year's resolutions, understanding your habits and what reinforces them is key to helping ensure your autopilot doesn't steer you in directions that conflict with your values and goals, said Oregon State University's Morgan Quinn Ross, who led a study published in Scientific Reports.

Avoca-don’t worry about food rot (Photonics)

Researchers at Oregon State University and Florida State University posed a valuable question in the face of this dilemma: What if machine vision could predict the ripeness and internal qualities of avocados?

Mistletoe is known for killing trees - but is it really harmful? (Earth)

“This is the best time of year to look for mistletoe because no leaves remain on oak crowns,” said Dave Shaw, a professor in the College of Forestry at Oregon State University. “Also, chances are it will be found in an oak tree – most other trees do not get infested. So if you seek a kiss, keep an eye out for oaks.”

Smoke gets in your beer (Offrange)

While the 2020 fires were immediately concerning for wine grapes, there was initially less attention paid to hops. So Tom Shellhammer, professor of fermentation science at Oregon State University (OSU), set out to change that. Since 2022, Shellhammer has received around $250,000 in funding from the Hop Research Council to study how wildfire smoke affects hops — and, by extension, how it impacts the taste of beer.

What the sounds of melting glaciers can tell us (Science Friday)

Glaciologist Erin Pettit and her colleagues are listening to the sounds melting glaciers make—from the sizzling of trapped air bubbles bursting, to the deep rumbles of underwater calving of icebergs. She joins Host Flora Lichtman to share some glacial sounds, and describe the multi-stage robot tools she uses to monitor melting ice.

EPA eliminates mention of fossil fuels in website on warming’s causes. Scientists call it completely wrong (LA Times)

“It is outrageous that our government is hiding information and lying,” said former Obama National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Chief and Oregon State oceanographer Jane Lubchenco. “People have a right to know the truth about the things that affect their health and safety, and the government has a responsibility to tell the truth.” (for a PDF of this article, email [email protected])

OSU engineers develop environmentally-friendly substitute for concrete (Jefferson Public Radio)

Dr. Devin Roach is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Oregon State University and the Director of the VAMOS Lab (Versatile Advanced Manufacturing lab at Oregon State). His team of researchers have developed a 3D printed substitute for concrete. Dr. Roach joins the Exchange to discuss OSU's innovative concrete substitute and its environmental impact.

Wallowa County Fair presents Fair Lights in Enterprise (Wallowa County Chieftain)

This year visitors will see five new displays. Debi Warnock, Oregon State University extension agent, who is helping to coordinate the event, said, “be on the lookout for Snoopy and Friends,” as one new display.

The three types of Santa Claus revealed (Newsweek)

“There are pretty strong societal expectations around what Santa looks like, but we found that most anybody can be Santa if their heart desires it,” paper author and management professor Borbala Csillag of Oregon State University said in a statement.

When a humpback whale got stranded in Oregon, a Native community turned the tragedy into a revival of a traditional practice (Smithsonian)

When it became clear they could not save the whale and that the creature was suffering, veterinarians made the “very difficult decision” to euthanize it on November 17, said Jim Rice, program director of Oregon State University’s Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding Network, to Oregon Public Broadcasting’s Courtney Sherwood.

Next-gen food waste-busting tech targets household discards (Waste360)

Researchers at Oregon State University are working on a multi-pronged, high-tech approach aiming to drive the numbers down. They developed a smart compost bin that automatically measures and records what’s chucked into it. A connected artificial intelligence (AI)-powered camera will go a step further, identifying exactly what gets tossed, down to a bread crumb mixed with a heap of other scraps.

Celebrating the MacGyver spirit: Hacking, tinkering, scavenging and crowdsourcing (Eos)

This year, there are five MacGyver sessions, encompassing space weather, ocean environments, the geosphere, and crowdsourced science—the biggest program yet, said Chet Udell of Oregon State University, an electrical engineer and musical composer who is convening the geosphere session.

Oregon remains top Christmas tree producer by adapting (Farm Progress)

In her Extension role and as an assistant professor in the College of Forestry, Rajarapu, who earned her doctorate in entomology, is studying how to keep Oregon’s holiday industry thriving as the climate changes.

Map shows where Oregon kids will get $250 gift from billionaires (Oregonian)

David Rothwell, an associate professor at Oregon State University who studies poverty and inequality, said the idea that the Dells are acting upon has been talked about for the past few decades. It’s also been rolled out on much smaller scales and studied.

Oregon tribe harvests its first whale in generations (Washington Post)

Local authorities, Oregon State University scientists and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials spent two days trying to get the whale back in the ocean. Thousands watched online, hoping for the mammal’s recovery.

Climate shifts could shake Oregon’s Christmas tree crown (Axios)

Priya Rajarapu, a Christmas tree expert with Oregon State University's Extension Service, works with those growers to keep their trees healthy as extreme weather becomes more common.

Getting to know the western spotted skunk (High Country News)

Marie Tosa knows more about the western spotted skunk than almost anyone on Earth. Between 2017 and 2019, as a Ph.D. student at Oregon State University, Tosa trekked all over the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest in Oregon’s Cascade Range, capturing, collaring and following spotted skunks through dense forests and rolling valleys. In the process, she put 300,000 miles on two research trucks and got sprayed anywhere between 50 and 100 times.

Puma DNA found deep in Guatemalan rainforest. Analysis reveals the cats are eating something unexpected (Discover Wildlife)

Combining trail camera footage with DNA analysis, researchers from Oregon State University and the Wildlife Conservation Society of Guatemala were able to figure out exactly what the animals were eating.

Cutworm, cudweed emerging as threats to Eastern Oregon farmers (East Oregonian)

One such big problem that is beginning to cause issues for farmers is the winter cutworm. Jacob Powell of Oregon State University on Thursday, Dec. 4, during the Hermiston Farm Fair highlighted the risks to growers from the winter cutworm that is no bigger than a quarter in size.  

Roots of the matter (Oregon Wine Press)

At the Oregon Wine Research Institute, a partnership between Oregon State University and the wine industry, professor and viticulture extension specialist, Patricia Skinkis, Ph.D., studies soil and canopy management. She reports that while winter may look like a dormant season, it is when much of the soil renewal actually occurs.