2014-2015

2014-2015 Science Pubs

July 15, 2014 • Sunriver Homeowners Aquatic & Recreation Center, Sunriver

The Benefits of a Physically Active Lifestyle for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Megan MacDonald, Assistant Professor, School of Biological & Population Health Science, Exercise & Sports Science Program, Movement Studies in Disability, College of Public Health and Human Sciences, Oregon State University 

Living a physically active lifestyle has many benefits; in addition to the health-related benefits there are social benefits too. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have known social and communication difficulties. Participating in physical activity has the potential for far-reaching social benefits for those with ASD. This talk will focus on how adapted physical activity is one avenue to consider for social skill practice, with a specific focus on children with ASD.

Registration is closed


August 19, 2014 • Father Luke's Room, McMenamins Old St. Francis School, Bend

Genome Sequencing, Bioinformatics and Chlamydia: Decoding a Pathogen of Ill Repute

Tim Putman, OSU-Cascades alumnus, biomedical researcher and Ph.D. candidate, Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oregon State University

Putman will examine the chlamydiae, one of the most ubiquitous bacterial parasites in the world, with species that infect hosts at every animal level. Unchecked, chlamydia can have worldwide public health implications. In addition to the notorious genital tract infection, chlamydia species are the leading cause of infectious blindness worldwide, threaten koalas with extinction and even occupy a spot on the Center for Disease Control bioterrorism threat list. Come learn how OSU biomedical researchers are combining innovative laboratory science with the cutting-edge technologies of genome sequencing and bioinformatic analysis to understand how these pathogens work.

Registration is closed


 September 16, 2014 • Father Luke's Room, McMenamins Old St. Francis School, Bend

Invasion of the American Bullfrog: Why do they like Oregon waters so much?

Tiffany Sacra Garcia, Associate Professor, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University

Research on invasive species has focused on species that cause human or economic harm.  But what about invaders that don’t directly threaten us—or our pockets? American bullfrogs are almost invisible to humans, but are one of the 100 worst invasive species in the world.  They contribute to the declines of native species, particularly other amphibians, and affect the health of aquatic ecosystems, even here in Oregon.  Explore the invasion of the American bullfrog from Mississippi to Oregon and learn what a diverse team of biologists is discovering about its impact.

Registration is closed


November 18, 2014 • Father Luke's Room, McMenamins Old St. Francis School, Bend

In Hot Water: Investigations Beneath the Earth’s Surface Using Electromagnetic Methods

Adam Schultz, Professor of Geology and Geophysics, College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences

Join researcher Adam Schultz as he takes you underground, in glorious 3D, to show you what the ground beneath your feet looks like through the eyes of an electromagnetic geophysicist.  Schultz and his researchers are engaged in exciting new methods of imaging that are used in geothermal investigations and to deepen our understanding of the evolution of the North American continent. You’ll explore beneath the Cascades mountains, under cornfields in the mid-west, and beneath the Newberry Enhanced Geothermal Systems Project here in Central Oregon.

Registration is closed


December 16, 2014 • Father Luke's Room, McMenamins Old St. Francis School, Bend

Beyond Mexican Food:  Getting to know Latinos in Oregon

Susana Rivera-Mills, Executive Associate Dean, College of Liberal Arts

Oregon demographics are changing rapidly, and Latinos are the fastest growing population in our state. How familiar are you with the language, identity, culture and history of Latinos? Join Rivera-Mills to explore the connection between the Spanish language and the Latino identity, and the history of how Latinos arrived in Oregon.  Using census data and data gathered through sociolinguistic interviews, she'll explain the differences and similarities between Latinos and traditional European groups and provide a profile of Latinos in Oregon. 

Registration is closed.


January 20, 2015 • Father Luke's Room, McMenamins Old St. Francis School, Bend

Ebola and Beyond: Medical and Ethical Considerations

Patrick Iversen, Senior Research Professor, Environmental & Molecular Toxicology, College of Agricultural Sciences

As deaths from the recent Ebola outbreak mount, health care providers continue to search for effective treatments. OSU senior researcher Patrick Iversen, formerly with Sarepta Therapeutics in Corvallis, led the development of a drug that targets the genetic machinery of the Ebola virus.  Join him to understand the chronology leading up to this latest Ebola outbreak, the resulting and potential economic and social impacts, the challenges to finding treatment, and the global response. Iversen will also discuss available medical treatments and explore how the new drug works and how its approach could signal a new way to treat infectious diseases.

Registration is closed.


February 17, 2015 • Father Luke's Room, McMenamins Old St. Francis School, Bend

Volcanic Activity in the Cascades ... 35 Years after St. Helens' Big Bang!

Charles L. Rosenfeld, Professor Emeritus, Applied Physical Geography, OSU College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences

In 1975 Chuck Rosenfeld established the Cascades Surveillance Project in cooperation with OSU and the Oregon National Guard. From overhead, Rosenfeld and his team took thermal infrared and visible light photos of the Cascade volcanoes.  Learn about the heat signatures of the volcanoes, including a stunning increase in heat and steam venting from Mount Baker.  Most awe-inspiring are the changes expressed at Mount St. Helens over a period of several weeks that gave science the most complete view of a stratovolcano building toward an eruption to date.  Dr. Rosenfeld's aerial surveillance and ground investigations have been documented in several scientific publications and were the basis of his briefing to President Carter following the May 18, 1980 eruption.

Registration is closed.


 March 16, 2015 (Monday) • Father Luke's Room, McMenamins Old St. Francis School, Bend

Beneath Antarctic Ice: The Persistence of Life at the End of the Earth

Andrew Thurber, Assistant Professor and Senior Researcher, OSU College of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife

Antarctica is a land full of strange marine animals whose populations persist through incredible seasonality. Five months each of sunlight and dark provide times of plenty - and long periods of famine. However, in the High Antarctic invertebrate communities thrive. Learn how these invertebrates shift their diets in order to survive, from plankton to fascinating kinds of bacteria.  Prof. Thurber's story may be set against an Antarctic backdrop, but it provides an analog for some of the largest and most important habitats on our planet with implications for our carbon legacy and the continued functioning of our planet as a whole.

Registration is closed.


April 21, 2015 • Father Luke's Room, McMenamins Old St. Francis School, Bend

The Dharma in DNA: Intersections of Buddhism and Science

Dee Denver, Associate Professor, Integrative Biology; Director of the OSU Molecular and Cellular Biology Graduate Program

Science and Buddhism might seem to have little in common, but they share surprising similarities. As Dee Denver will explain, recent dialogue between these two traditions reveals many unexpected points of harmony. Science and Buddhism share a value in logic and reason in shaping their respective worldviews. Science uses experimentation and observation to look out at the world; Buddhist practice emphasizes meditation to achieve awareness. In science, it is common to consider the scientist as an independent, neutral observer, whereas Buddhism argues that this is, in fact, impossible.  Come understand the Buddhist view on the nature of reality as a scientific hypothesis, and test it using the famous DNA molecule as the target of analysis. The results might surprise you.

We are at capacity for this event.


 May 19, 2015 • SHARC (Sunriver Homeowners Aquatic and Recreation Center), Sunriver

Pacific Lamprey: What Our Most Ancient Fish Is Telling Us About Our Waters

Carl Schreck, Professor of Fisheries, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, OSU College of Agricultural Sciences

The Pacific lamprey, a serpentine-like creature, inhabited the ocean long before Northwest tribes harvested it for food.  Come learn the basic biology of these ancient fish, including how they share the same life cycle as our salmon. Because juvenile lamprey live in sediment at the bottom of streams and act much like earth worms, they are rarely observed as juveniles. After metamorphosing into adults they can reach lengths of nearly a meter and are parasitic, sucking body fluids from other fishes, but providing numerous ecological services within their habitat.

Registration is closed


August 18, 2015 • Father Luke's Room, McMenamins Old St. Francis School, Bend

Living Color

Sara Robinson, Assistant Professor, Wood Science & Engineering, OSU College of Forestry

Spalting is the amazing science of using fungi to transform wood into intricately colored art. In the decorative wood market, spalted wood is in high demand and is used for decorative wood bowls and other products. Bio-artist Sara Robinson is a key player in the research and development of wood spalting.  She integrates both a sense of color and design, and hard science into her work. Come learn the long history of use for fungal pigments in traditional woodcraft and how those same fungi are utilized today for expanding applications.

We are at capacity for this event. Registration is now closed.