BIOLOGY - In 1924, the University of Oregon began teaching marine biology classes in a ramshackle collection of tents in a cove along the southern Oregon Coast. But what started as a couple of professors bringing some students on a summer camp has now become a permanent, year-round marine field station with a hundred years of coastal research and education.

A group of 31 University of Oregon students explored the power of diversity in science at the nation’s largest multidisciplinary and multicultural STEM diversity conference Oct. 31 through Nov. 2. The UO chapter of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) sent its second annual delegation to the National Diversity in Stem (NDiSTEM) Conference in Phoenix, where they were immersed in cutting-edge STEM technology and research.

MATHEMATICS, PHYSICS - Miles from any other humans, Katie Linnenkohl and Owen Mitchem—both undergrads majoring in physics—trudge up a darkening path toward the hemispherical structure atop Pine Mountain near Bend, where they’ll spend the night scouring the sky for signs of a world around another star. Their mission: Capture evidence of a suspected planet lurking within the constellation Cassiopeia.

EARTH SCIENCES - Is there a habitable environment beneath the Jupiter moon Europa’s icy crust? CAS Professor Carol Paty is helping NASA find out. Paty, a comparative planetologist who builds numerical 3D models, was brought on board several of the scientific teams to help determine how the Europa Clipper's instruments could best answer key questions about the subsurface ocean: How deep is it? How salty is it? How far beneath the ice does it lie?

Experiential learning prepares many people for career and advancing education—even Dean Chris Poulsen. Hear from Poulsen about how a memorable Earth sciences undergraduate field trip set him on the path to graduate school, and read about how the CAS Experiential Learning Fund helps undergrads access life-changing hands-on learning opportunities.

CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY - How do we solve big problems like the looming energy crisis? Undergraduate researcher Favour Foday seeks solutions to the work's most pressing problems—like antibiotic resistance in livestock to energy usage—using biochemistry and bioengineering.

In UO’s materials characterization labs, researchers are pushing the boundaries of what can be observed through a microscope. Equipped with some of the most powerful electron microscopes on the West Coast, CAMCOR is arguably the University of Oregon’s most comprehensive and cutting-edge core science facility. Funded by the Office of Research and Innovation, it was the first institute in North America to install a multi-ion source plasma-focused ion beam, which can analyze and mill materials at the nanometer level.

EARTH SCIENCES - Participants from a range of science and engineering organizations gathered at the University of Oregon to explore the science of tsunami resilience at a workshop hosted by the Cascadia Region Earthquake Science Center (CRESCENT) Nov. 7 and 8. The multidisciplinary workshop brought together expert speakers from academia, government agencies and industry to share their perspectives on tsunami risk assessment planning, mitigation and preparedness.

BIOLOGY - Women with a harmful mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes have a 60 percent chance of developing breast cancer at some point in their lives, and a many-fold increased risk of developing ovarian cancer. UO College of Arts and Sciences biologists have uncovered how BRCA1 gene influences fertility. “This is a breakthrough discovery that enables potential therapeutic avenues for understanding how to correct or treat fertility issues in BRCA1 patients,” said Diana Libuda, an associate professor in the Institute of Molecular Biology at the UO.

NEUROSCIENCE, PSYCHOLOGY - Neuroscience instructor Nicole Dudukovic has a unique insight into her students’ brains, at least when it comes to how they remember what they learn in class. She was recognized for her distinguished teaching with a Herman Faculty Achievement Award, which is presented to faculty who have made significant contributions to student learning at the University of Oregon.

EARTH SCIENCES - Graduate student Annika Dechert at the University of Oregon College of Arts and Sciences and a team of researchers are working on studying the eruption history of South Sister volcano in the Oregon Cascades. The results of the study will inform the way the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory draws up hazards maps for Central Oregon and help shape the way scientists think about other similar volcanoes. The research team published their latest findings in August in the journal Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems.

EARTH SCIENCES - When Clark Honors College senior Erin Morrison set out to witness the historic launch of NASA’s Europa Clipper mission in Florida in mid-October, she had no idea she’d also be facing a Category-5 hurricane. Europa Clipper was supposed to take off on Oct. 10, the same day Hurricane Milton was projected to make landfall over Kennedy Space Center.

PSYCHOLOGY - Lauren Lanning knew she wanted to study psychology when she came to the UO, but was surprised when she also developed a passion for communications during her second year. She now works for the Center of Science Communication Research on the Eugene campus, where she merges her interests to share the most recent scientific discoveries with the public.

HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY, NEUROSCIENCE - Undergrad student Matthias De Kok shares his experience as a research assistant intern with Sleep & Health Applied Research Program Lab in Portland.

EARTH SCIENCES - Carol Paty, a comparative planetologist in the College of Arts and Sciences helped develop one of the scientific instruments aboard NASA’s Europa Clipper, which blasted off Oct. 14, on the world’s first mission to conduct a detailed study of Jupiter's moon Europa. Paty, an Earth sciences professor, is a member of the research teams behind two of the nine scientific instruments the spacecraft will use to confirm and measure what scientists strongly suspect is a vast sea of salty water buried under a sheet of ice enveloping the moon’s surface.