Research
Curious? So are we.
We see challenges as opportunities to innovate. They make us ask how we can work together to make our community, our state and our world better.
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OSU is a Carnegie Foundation Public Research University, where cutting-edge research makes its way into the classroom.
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OSU is one of only two universities in the U.S. with Land-, Sea-, Space- and Sun-Grant designations.
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OSU is a leading research university, and receives more research funding than all of the state's comprehensive public universities.
Our faculty are teachers, mentors and world-class researchers
Innovating a path to fresh drinking water.
Around the world, sea water is plentiful. But fresh drinking water is getting scarcer. It’s a problem researcher Bahman Abbasi wants to solve. Thanks to a $2 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy, his team is reinventing technology that turns salt water to fresh water, designing it small enough to be taken where it’s needed most — to save and sustain lives.
Shannon Lipscomb thinks about our youngest students.
Shannon’s research team includes experienced investigators and undergraduate students. With a $1 million U.S. Department of Education grant, she and her team are examining ways to help our youngest children stay safe at home and thrive at school.
Conservation at 7,800 feet.
Whitebark pine trees on top of mountain peaks are critical to our water-challenged region. But increasingly, they are threatened. Instructor Seth Ganzhorn and his undergraduate researchers are working with the U.S. Forest Service to understand the genetic identity of the trees, and find differences between healthy and diseased trees.
Child welfare workers have the toughest of jobs. Why do they stay?
High turnover and burnout rates among child welfare workers are well known. Instead of looking why child welfare caseworkers leave their jobs, Brianne Kothari led a team of researchers to find out why they stay. The results can help state agencies better support their workers so that they can continue to make a difference.
Tailoring public health messaging can keep communities safer.
During a pandemic, effective public health messaging is critical. But researchers in the Laboratory for the American Conversationlearned that one-size messaging doesn’t fit all. Elizabeth Marino and Chris Wolsko’s data-driven approach will help public health leaders improve responses and protect those who are most vulnerable.
Listening for “high-flying lions of the sky.”
Spotted bats are rarely seen, but can be heard by the human ear. Researchers with the Northwestern Bat Hub lead citizen scientists to listen for their high-pitched calls at dusk to help tally their population. Turns out the species is more widespread than thought, making Central Oregon an ideal conservation site.