College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences

ACADEMIC REPORT FOR 2011-2012

2011-12 CEOAS Programmatic Achievements

1. Key Initiatives and Noteworthy Outcomes

a. Student engagement and success • The college has successfully merged three graduate majors (Atmospheric Science, Oceanography, Geophysics) into one (Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences). The CEOAS graduate programs have been restructured to reflect an increased emphasis on a “systems” approach to Earth science research and education. In this new view, ocean, atmospheric, and earth science knowledge and training are all needed in interdisciplinary understanding of planetary processes and policy options. Fall 2011 marked the third year of offering interdisciplinary breadth courses (The Solid Earth, The Fluid Earth, The Biogeochemical Earth). The new courses and single major has provided context and intellectual identity (as Earth systems scientists) for incoming student cohorts. Student evaluations are positive and constructive feedback is being used to enhance and strengthen the breadth courses. • CEOAS offers three graduate level field experiences that occur prior to the start of Fall term. These courses are the Cascadia Field Trip, Field Geography, and Math on the Beach. They provide a primer to the 1st year curriculum as well as a unique student experience that builds friendships and strengthens the cohort. • One hallmark of the CEOAS research enterprise is the level of productivity and achievement of our graduate students. This is measured annually using a progress reporting process performed by students and their advisors. Information collected to measure productivity includes scholarship details, presenting material at conferences and contributing to research papers. The results indicate that students remain actively involved in presenting and publishing their research. Efforts to increase student participation through travel awards and our seminar designed to improve presentation skills are working. At present, 85% of graduate students participated in a professional conference with 42% invited to make a formal presentation. Examples of the types of journals and conferences our students are involved include: Coastal Management, Springer Journal of Climate Dynamics, Fisheries Oceanography, Progress in Oceanography, Nature, and Biogeochemistry, American Geophysical Union, American Meteorological Society, AGU Ocean Sciences, Geological Society of America, Ecological Society of America, and the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation. • A measurement of student’s perceived strengths and weaknesses was added to the assessment tool. The results will be used to identify opportunities for future student development projects. • CEOAS Student Services pays special attention to the recruitment process and working with faculty continues to ensure incoming students know whom they are working with, what they are working on and how that relates to the cost of their education. As a result, the majority of our students continue to remain funded through either research grants or targeted applied projects with agencies in the Pacific Northwest. • CEOAS is now delivering a new undergraduate Earth Science major, with options in Geology, Geography and Earth Systems. The first two are traditional fields of study, while the third emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches to planetary processes and systems, with policy and management implications and a senior year synthesis experience (thesis or internship). We hired an internship coordinator to work with students and employers to develop these opportunities. b. Research and its impact Some selected CEOAS research contributions. • New deglaciation data opens door for earlier First Americans migration. A new study of lake sediment cores from Sanak Island in the western Gulf of Alaska suggest that deglaciation there from the last Ice Age took place as much as 1,500 to 2,000 years earlier than previously thought, opening the door for earlier coastal migration models for the Americas • Volcanic history of Sumatra. The early April earthquake of magnitude 8.6 that shook Sumatra was a grim reminder of the devastating earthquakes and tsunami that killed tens of thousands of people in 2004 and 2005. Researchers from Oregon State University working with colleagues in Indonesia have now documented six major volcanic eruptions in Sumatra over the past 35,000 years – most equaling or surpassing in explosive intensity the eruption of Washington’s Mount St. Helens in 1980. • Patchiness of marine food chain. New research by MacArthur Fellow, Kelly Benoit-Bird, has shown that each step of the marine food chain is clearly controlled by the trophic level below it – and that the driving factor influencing that relationship is not the abundance of prey, but how that prey is distributed. • Impacts of climate change on stream temperature and on streamflow. A new analysis of streams in the western United States with long-term monitoring programs has found that despite a general increase in air temperatures over the past several decades, streams are not necessarily warming at the same rate. In a second study, led by Julia Jones, an analysis of 35 headwater basins in the United States and Canada found that the impact of warmer air temperatures on streamflow rates was less than expected in many locations, suggesting that some ecosystems may be resilient to certain aspects of climate change. • Ocean acidification. OSU researchers have linked an increase in ocean acidification to the collapse of oyster seed production at a commercial oyster hatchery in Oregon, where larval growth had declined to a level considered by the owners to be “non-economically viable.” The study found that elevated seawater carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, resulting in more corrosive ocean water, inhibited the larval oysters from developing their shells and growing at a pace that would make commercial production cost- effective. • CO2 and global warming. Many scientists have long suspected that rising levels of carbon dioxide and the global warming that ended the last Ice Age were somehow linked, but establishing a clear cause-and-effect relationship between CO2 and global warming from the geologic record has remained difficult. A new study published in the journal Nature, identifies this relationship and provides compelling evidence that rising CO2 caused much of the global warming. • Life on Mars. Martin Fisk led a team of scientists that collected microbes from ice within a lava tube in the Cascade Mountains and found that they thrive in cold, Mars-like conditions. Fisk, who has spent much of his recent career exploring life in volcanic rocks, has been selected as a participating scientist for the new Mars expedition that may bring scientists closer to discovering life on another planet. In another study, post-doctoral geologist Joseph Levy found that that the salty soils in the frigid McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica actually suck moisture out of the atmosphere, raising the possibility that such a process could take place on Mars or on other planets. Levy said it takes a combination of the right kinds of salts and sufficient humidity to make the process work, but those ingredients are present on Mars and in many desert areas on Earth. • Mount Hood’s non-explosive nature. Studies of the rocks around Mount Hood show that the volcano has never experienced a Plinian (highly explosive) eruption despite having similar chemical magma composition and gas contents as other volcanoes that have gone through these violent episodes. The reason is that eruptions at Mount Hood appear to be preceded by episodes of intense mixing between magmas of different temperatures. • Climate sensitivity to CO2. A new study lead by Andreas Schmittner suggests that the rate of global warming from doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide may be less than the most dire estimates of some previous studies – and, in fact, may be less severe than projected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report in 2007. • Volcanic Super-Eruptions. The “super-eruption” of a major volcanic system occurs about every 100,000 years and is considered one of the most catastrophic natural events on Earth. A new model points to a combination of temperature influence and the geometrical configuration of the magma chamber as a potential cause for these super-eruptions. • Paeloceanography. At the end of the last Ice Age, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels rose rapidly as the planet warmed; scientists have long hypothesized that the source was CO2 released from the deep ocean. But a new study led by Alan Mix, using detailed radiocarbon dating of foraminifera found in a sediment core from the Gorda Ridge off Oregon, reveals that the Northeast Pacific was not an important reservoir of carbon during glacial times. In another study, analysis of prehistoric “Heinrich events” that happened many thousands of years ago, creating mass discharges of icebergs into the North Atlantic Ocean, makes it clear that very small amounts of subsurface warming of water can trigger a rapid collapse of ice shelves. • Coastal surf zone monitoring. For 25 years, scientists have employed a network of land-based video cameras called Argus stations to monitor coastal surf zones; the data have led to revelations about beach formation, erosion, rip currents and other features. Now scientists are incorporating a new resource into the Argus system – thousands of cameras mounted above beaches around the world and used by surfers, beachcombers, weather watchers and coastal hazard specialists. c. Outreach and engagement

• CEOAS hosted the 14th annual Oregon Salmon Bowl event held on the OSU campus. Fourteen teams from Northwest high schools competed to represent the region in the National Ocean Sciences Bowl in Washington, D.C. About 100 volunteers, including faculty, staff and students helped host the event. • Ocean sciences programming for SMILE (Science and Math Investigative Learning Experience) Oceanography challenge is provided by the Cooperative Institute for Oceanographic Satellite Studies at CEOAS, with NOAA support, and by the College. The annual challenge, a day and a half long event in April on the campuses of OSU and Western Oregon University, brings student teams together to solve an open-ended, community-based problem related to oceanography, challenging them to work together to gather data and create and present a plan to address the problem. • Retirement/welcome ceremony and tours of research vessels: retiring R/V Wecoma and newly activated R/V Oceanus. • Da Vinci Days. In July, before the merger as CEOAS, both Geosciences and COAS created and staffed science discovery booths at the “Discover OSU” area. • CEOAS Day of Service, honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. Day included faculty, staff, and student participation in three volunteer efforts: Chintimini Wildlife Center clean-up and painting; Greenbelt Land Trust planting and clearing fence lines; Benton Habitat for Humanity work at a duplex site in Philomath. • OSU Discovery Days, Six volunteers presented activities to teach basic ocean concepts and information about plankton to a broad audience. • CEOAS students volunteered for the Oregon Coast Ocean Fest at Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport. • CEOAS students are participating in OSU’s Inspiration Dissemination Radio Show. • Lynette de Silva hosted the Natural Resources Leadership Academy that brought in students and professionals to explore issues of conflict management, communication, and leadership. 47 students participated, including two students from foreign countries.

d. Community and diversity

• The Art of Plankton: An exhibit of plankton-inspired art organized by CEOAS professor Angel White was on display at the Corvallis Art Center. • We continue to partner with Evergreen Aviation in informal education at the new wave park. They recently hired CEOAS Alumna, Jenna Halsey, as the Water Park Education Coordinator. This partnership will increase opportunities for faculty and students to present to the public. • We are in the third year of the Increasing Diversity in the Earth Sciences (IDES) program that featured a Student Symposium held in August. The program aims to recruit under-represented students into Earth science career paths. This program is a partnership of CEOAS with 5 Oregon community colleges and employers such as informal education centers (OMSI, Oregon Coast Aquarium), government agencies (NOAA, USGS, EPA, USFW, USFS), NGOs and the private sector. • CEOAS is a partner in developing the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program, in which OSU is one of 5 PNW cooperating institutions. This program started in late 2009 and is funded for 5 years by the National Science Foundation.

2. Brief assessment of unit’s efforts

The vision of CEOAS is: The College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences will provide, to Oregon and the world, leadership in observation and understanding of the past, present, and future Earth. The college will have nationally recognized undergraduate and graduate programs in Earth, ocean, atmospheric and environmental sciences; excellence in Earth-, ocean-, and atmospheric-science research in support of society’s natural scientists, educators, and resource managers; and leadership and outreach to the public and local, state, national and global stakeholders. The new college is well-positioned to retain its leadership role in education and research on the components of the Earth system and their interactions. We continue to hire and mentor new faculty, and our institutional postdoctoral researcher program continues to be successful. We are developing new educational programs that focus on the Earth system and also provide research and internship opportunities at the undergraduate level. We continue to make improvements in our physical infrastructure, especially in regards to laboratories and storage. We are nearing completion of the Ocean Observing Center in south Corvallis. Lastly, we retired the R/V Wecoma and reactivated its sister ship, the R/V Oceanus, which was formerly operated by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. We expect her to be in service through at least 2020, providing research and educational support.

The most significant barrier is the lack of high-quality space to accommodate our growing research and academic programs. Space in the former Nypro building as well as the fifth floor of Weniger will help alleviate this issue.

3. Faculty and student awards

Major national awards for faculty members include the following. • Mark Abbott, Dean and Professor 2011 Jim Gray eScience Award, presented by Microsoft Research The award is presented annually to a nationally recognized researcher who has made outstanding contributions to data-intensive computing.

• Ed Brook, Professor 2011 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science AAAS annually elects fellows whose “efforts on behalf of the advancement of science or its applications are scientifically or socially distinguished.” Brook is a leading international expert on the study of ice cores to look at the Earth’s climatic history.

• Ed Brook, Professor Google Climate Science Communication Fellow, 2011 The initiative focuses on improving national communication about climate change.

• Peter Clark, Professor 2012 Guggenheim Fellow in Earth Sciences The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation has awarded Fellowships to a diverse group of 181 scholars, artists, and scientists in its eighty-eighth annual competition for the United States and Canada. During his time as a Guggenheim Fellow, Peter Clark plans to further develop a recent interest in ice sheet-ocean interactions and their influence on climate and the carbon cycle.

• Robert A. Duncan, Professor and Associate Dean OSU Alumni Association Distinguished Professor Award, 2011 The OSU Alumni Association Distinguished Professor Award is given to the person who demonstrates outstanding professional achievement through teaching and scholarship, service to the university and the community, and professional leadership, nationally and internationally. • Martin Fisk, Professor Fulbright Fellowship for 2011-12 Fisk will be conducting research in the oceanic sub-surface biosphere Oceanic Sub- Surface Biosphere at the University of Bergen in Bergen, Norway. Fulbright participants are chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential, with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. • Jim Moum, Professor Fellow of the American Geophysical Union 2012 To be elected a Fellow of AGU is a special tribute for those who have made exceptional scientific contributions. Nominated Fellows must have attained acknowledged eminence in the Earth and space sciences. This designation is conferred upon not more than 0.1% of all AGU members in any given year. Moum is recognized for his work in small-scale ocean physics and mixing.

• Angelicque White, Assistant Professor 2012 Alfred P. Sloane Research Fellow Fellowships are given to early-career scientists and scholars identified as rising stars and the next generation of scientific leaders. White’s work focuses on ocean productivity and phytoplankton physiology. She is a member of the Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education (C-MORE) and has been active in a collaborative project to monitor harmful algal blooms off the Oregon coast.

• Dawn Wright, Professor 2012 Presidential Achievement Award from the Association of American Geographers The award recognizes individuals who have made long-standing and distinguished contributions to the discipline of geography. Wright is a nationally recognized expert in geographic information systems. Major national awards for students include the following.

• NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship (Alex Jonko)

• NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (Summer Praetorius, Sarah Strano)

• EPA STAR Graduate Fellowship (Brian Chaffin)

• Fulbright-CONICYT Scholarship (Gonzalo Saldias)

• NOAA Coastal Fellowship (Kelsey Giannou)

• Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship (Jenny Thompson)

• Outstanding Student Paper Award, American Geophysical Union (Julia Rosen)

• T.C. Nelson Award “Outstanding Presentation” (Elizabeth Brunner)

• Unites States Society of Dams Scholarship (Allison Danner)

4. Leveraging resources and improve administrative efficiencies

• We leverage about $10 in grants and contracts for every $1 in direct State funding. • The Forestry/Oceanic/Atmospheric Sciences Business Center (FOBC) continues to provide outstanding support for our research activities. • Private fundraising continues to increase, providing much-needed unrestricted funds.

2010-2011 Results and Outcomes

1. Performance on college-level metrics • These metrics reflect only COAS; next year, the metrics will include Geosciences. • The College continues to exceed its targets in the level of its research grants awarded and expenditures. COAS faculty brought in nearly $34M in external grants and contracts last year, with almost $32M in expenditures. Most of these awards were from the National Science Foundation. With over $450,000 in grants per faculty member, it is unlikely that this can be increased substantially. Although federal spending on discretionary programs such as science will be constrained in the coming years, NSF is well-regarded by both political parties and enjoys strong support from the Administration. • Our minority enrollment rate for students enrolling this academic year among US citizens was over 11%. Since we are dealing with small numbers, there is significant variation from year to year, but the long-term trend continues to be upwards. • Private giving continues to increase. We received over $1.3M in private giving last year, for a total of over $12M of our $15M goal for the Campaign for OSU.