DISCOVERY | CREATIVITY | INNOVATION • Spring 2017

Shining Light at the Edge of Space Stellar explosions and a solar eclipse reveal a restless universe Volume 11 Number 3 // oregonstate.edu/terra // Spring 2017 Oregon’s leading public research university

FEATURES 6 LIVING WITH FIRE Longer fire seasons and more fuel are fanning flames across the West.

14 EMISSARY FROM AN ICE-AGE BONEYARD The remains of a mammoth discovered under a Reser Stadium end zone may represent one of the last of the species’ line.

18 WAITING FOR STARLIGHT Gamma ray bursts generate more energy in seconds than our sun produces in a lifetime.

24 ROBOTS FOR THE REAL WORLD As driverless cars and walking robots team up with artificial intelligence, who’s making the rules?

30 MEDICINE AND THE STATE Historians show how government and health care have been intertwined for centuries.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

3 FIELD NOTES REPORT FROM THE RESEARCH OFFICE The Whales of Baja

4 PERSPECTIVES RESEARCH-BASED OPINION Standing Up for Science The War on Science

34 NEW TERRAIN SCIENCE ON THE HORIZON Sustainable Cemeteries Oregon State's Earth Archive Set to Double Drug Delivery System Targets Tumors Research in Brief

36 STUDENT RESEARCH PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE Star Pilot

37 ADVANTAGE FOR BUSINESS OREGON STATE PARTNERS WITH INDUSTRY The shaded bones of a mammoth skeleton were recovered during A New Way of Walking a construction project at Reser Stadium in 2016. See “Opening an Ice-Age Boneyard,” Page 14. (Illustration by Rebecca Terry)

ii TERRA » SPRING 2017 SPRING 2017 » TERRA 1 Report from the Research Office // FIELD NOTES

President Edward J. Ray Health Care Then and Now The Whales of Baja Vice President for Research Cynthia Sagers On a dark morning just after Christmas a few years ago, I headed to work Inspired science for the long haul on my bike. A freezing mist had settled on the valley, but the street looked Vice President for University Relations and Marketing BY CYNTHIA SAGERS, VICE PRESIDENT FOR RESEARCH Steven Clark fine. Then, as I rounded a corner, my front tire lost its grip. I hit the pave- Associate Vice President for University Relations ment. One look at my right leg told me I wasn’t getting up. Recently I had an unforgettable journey swam nearby. Hiking excursions on nearby islands awakened and Marketing Annie Athon Heck Fortunately, an ambulance was just a 911 call away. The crew arrived, into the world of whale research with my plant pathologist roots, inspiring more wonder of the gave me painkillers and bundled me onto a stretcher. Less than a half Bruce Mate, director of Oregon State’s natural world’s bounty. Editor Nicolas Houtman hour later, I was at the hospital where an orthopedic surgeon took a look Marine Mammal Institute, and a group of While this experience was amazing, it gave me an opportu- rain-soaked Oregonians. In the San Ignacio nity to reflect on the impact of OSU’s long-term commitment to Contributing Writers at the X-rays and scheduled an operation. That night, I was the owner of a Lagoon of Baja, California, we enjoyed the science. Over the last 50 years, Mate and his colleagues in the Michelle Klampe, Gregg Kleiner, Julia Rosen titanium rod down the middle of my tibia. Screws held it in place like the deep beauty of aquamarine waters and the institute’s Whale Telemetry Group have pioneered the develop- Art Director post on a porch. Amy Charron sheer abundance of the natural world. What I saw and learned ment of satellite-monitored radio tags to study the movements, Not so long ago, say in 1800, this would have turned out differently. I from Mate and his colleagues reinforced the global, enduring habitats and dive characteristics of whales and dolphins around Designers Amy Charron, Oliver Day, Teresa Hall, Long Lam, might have gotten some whiskey for pain, but laudanum, a mixture of impact of OSU’s $336 million research enterprise. the world. Before that, there was no effective way to understand Heather Miller alcohol and opium, was also popular. It would be decades before one of its Here we were, in a UNESCO World Heritage Site among one how these animals move from place to place. Illustrator components, morphine, would become commercially available. of the largest congregations of gray whales on the planet. Just By developing technologies and applying them to the oceans, Santiago Uceda There would have been no X-rays (discovered in 1895) and no trip to the watching them, you’d never know that the grays were almost OSU researchers gained valuable insights about endangered hunted to extinction and that their recovery is due in part to whale species and their movements. This information has helped Photography hospital. Such institutions did not exist as we know them. I would probably Chris Becerra, Derek Houtman, Karl Maasdam, Jen pioneering science by Oregon State. decision-makers to manage human activities that could other- have been carried home, where surgical treatment would have been done Pywell, Evan Schreiber The invitation came shortly after I arrived at OSU in 2015. wise jeopardize whale recovery. Production Managers in bed. Or maybe on the kitchen table. If a doctor was available, and if I Mate conducts these annual excursions to advance the insti- These achievements, and those of other Oregon State Laura Shields, Emily Smith could afford to pay. tute’s mission of conservation and marine mammal ecology. So scientists, have been made possible because researchers have Oregon State is Oregon’s leading public research In this issue of Terra (“Medicine and the State,” Page 30), Oregon State in late February, I was among 30 people who joined Bruce, his stayed the course over the long haul — and because generous university with more than $336 million in research wife Mary Lou and the Royal Polaris crew for the awe-inspiring individuals have made invaluable contributions to carry this funding in FY2016. Classified by the Carnegie University historians of science offer important perspectives on what Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in its it took to create the modern health-care system. New knowledge and chance to see the whales up close. work forward through the ups and downs of short-term funding top category (very high research activity), OSU is And a close encounter it was. We were actually able to touch cycles. This partnership between scientists and supporters fuels one of only two American universities to hold the technologies save lives, but these advances came slowly and at a cost. the whale calves who were curious about our presence and, in OSU’s Marine Studies Initiative, a university-wide program to Land-, Sea-, Sun- and Space-Grant designations. And they are still not universally accessible. OSU comprises 11 academic colleges with strengths fact, were encouraged by the adult grays to interact with us. address ocean-health issues. in Earth systems, health, entrepreneurship and the The United States has struggled with the public role in health care since arts and sciences. Whale skin feels like a wet football with its slate color blending As I marveled at the whales and at Mother Nature’s abun- colonial times. In 1917, we missed an opportunity to take a different path. into the water’s hue like a wash of matte gray paint. dance in Baja, I also reflected on Oregon State’s collaborative Terra is published by University Relations and The arguments continue. In all, we were able to observe a pod of about 250 whales research culture. We are as committed to fostering this vital Marketing. It is printed by a Forest Stewardship Council certified printer with vegetable-based I’m thankful for the advances we’ve made. My grandfather wasn’t so frolicking in the saltwater lagoon for several days. Other marine work as we are to sharing the benefits with our students, busi- inks on paper with 55% recycled content (30% mammals such as elephant and harbor seals and dolphins nesses and communities. post-consumer). lucky. He broke his leg in a bicycle accident at the same age that I was when I broke mine. No titanium rod for him. His leg was wrapped in a Send address corrections to: University Marketing plaster cast. A few days later, his pain hadn’t subsided. A blood clot had 102 Adams Hall Building Oregon State University developed. He died of a heart attack before the cast could be removed. Corvallis, OR 97331 [email protected] 541.737.3871

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Nick Houtman Follow Terra on Facebook and Twitter Editor facebook.com/terraOSU twitter.com/terraOSU On the cover Linn-Benton Community College and Or- egon State University students launched an experimental high-altitude balloon last spring in preparation for the total solar eclipse in August. (Photo: Evan Schreiber)

2 TERRA » SPRING 2017 PERSPECTIVES // Research-Based Opinion

Standing Up for Science The War on Science Scientists must communicate — and not just with each other It affects you and the people you care about

BY KATE LAJTHA, PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF CROP AND SOIL SCIENCE BY JANE LUBCHENCO, DISTINGUISHED UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR AND ADVISER IN MARINE STUDIES, U.S. SCIENCE ENVOY FOR THE OCEAN, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Those of us who have devoted our scientific A recent paper in the journal Foreign Affairs (“How America careers to the environmental sciences have Lost Faith in Expertise” by Tom Nichols) laments that the death I am a scientist. I went into science But this nascent progress and future solutions are now been watching recent political conversa- of belief in the concept of expertise is widespread in America. In because I loved it. Now I’m fighting for at great risk. Science is under attack as never before. The tions about environmental protection and part, this trend is fueled by the ability of everyone to Google and science because it is at risk but absolutely president’s proposed budget would slash science funding and scientific funding with mixed emotions, find both credible and highly deceptive information on almost central to our health, economy, security – threaten continued progress to improve weather forecasts, at best. It isn’t just that potential funding any subject. It can be hard to tell the difference. The line between indeed, our future. manage fisheries and forests, clean up our water and air, ensure sources, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, Depart- layman and expert can be blurred through what is otherwise I’ve always loved trying to figure out why things are the way food safety and make new scientific breakthroughs. The adminis- ment of Energy or National Aeronautics and Space Administra- highly beneficial access to information by anyone with an they are. I was drawn to nature and people. Hiking the Colorado tration has already begun to muzzle and intimidate scientists and tion, might be hard-hit or eliminated completely; it is that much internet connection. Rockies triggered endless questions about wildlife and provided hide scientific findings from the public. of what we have discovered and what we teach our students is Although it is tempting to blame the discord between scientific ample opportunity for camaraderie as well as solitude during our Let me be clear: These and other actions compromise our being dismissed by politicians as being untrue. consensus and political or public opinion on the internet or on ambitious one- to two-week backpacking trips. health, threaten our children’s and grandchildren’s future, erode For example, statements by the director of the EPA about the social and cultural dynamics, it is perhaps time for those of us Then, during a summer college class in Woods Hole, Massa- our nation’s competitiveness, and undermine the very basis of relationship between rising carbon-dioxide levels and global who are scientists, and consider ourselves experts, to shoulder chusetts, I fell in love – with the ocean. I discovered a new world our democracy – an informed citizenry. climate change are at odds with broad scientific consensus some of the blame and re-examine how we do business. We can of intriguing creatures and habitats that occupy an astonishing In response to this war on science, scientists are rebelling expressed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra- look to universities to increase ways in which they engage with 99 percent of the living space on our planet, provide half of the against the dismissal of facts and evidence and marshalling tion, NASA, and even his own agency. the public to help bridge the divide. Oregon State University, as oxygen we breathe, supply healthy protein for billions, regulate support for rational approaches to decision-making, continued Of immediate concern is that environmental science as a a land grant university, has well-developed Extension programs the climate, and delight us with their majesty and mystery. investments in science and citizens’ access to data. discipline is under attack and that results from decades of envi- that translate scientific advances to stakeholders who need Later as a marine biologist, I spent countless happy hours The relationship between science and society is evolving. ronmental and climate science research are in danger of being results from relevant research. unraveling some of those mysteries. However, over time, it Scientists are learning to communicate better with non-scien- ignored. Progress on environmental protection is being reversed. But we can do better. We must change our approach to and became obvious that most of the ecosystems I studied were tists, becoming more involved in their communities, collabo- It is no longer 1970, when the Clean Air Act was passed unani- involvement in science education, especially for non-science threatened by unintended consequences of human activities. I rating with others to find more solutions to complex challenges mously by the Senate under a Republican president. majors. As educators we must master language that makes sense transitioned from seeking to understand the ocean to searching and making their voices heard. But science cannot fully serve It is also concerning that scientific consensus appears to be to non-scientists, and all of us should get better at outreach and for innovative solutions to use it more sustainably. society in a climate of intimidation, alternative facts and insuf- dismissed, not just by politicians, but by much of the general science translation to the general public. We need to take a pause For over two decades, I’ve worked with fishermen, other ficient funds to implement existing and create new solutions. public as well. A recent Pew Research Center poll found that from our grant proposals and papers to write op-eds, attend ocean users, communities, business leaders, managers, politi- Make no mistake: This is not a partisan issue. Republicans and slightly less than half of Americans believe that climate is workshops on science communication and seek out invitations to cians, and scientists to find smart ways for people to use the Democrats alike have provided strong support for science in the changing and that climate change is mostly due to human speak to non-peer audiences and governmental representatives. ocean without using it up. Science is central to the task. It past. Some continue to stand up for the central role of science activity. That contrasts starkly with the well over 90 percent of The days when basic-science researchers only talk among complements the knowledge that others bring. It helps us to improve the human condition and build a better world. But in Earth system scientists who find the evidence linking human themselves are likely over — and that is a good thing. understand the likely consequences of different choices. It today’s political chaos, elected representatives across the polit- activity and climate change to be overwhelming. Moreover, far informs our thinking. ical spectrum need to hear from their constituents who value fewer Americans in the poll (39 percent) had “a lot” of trust in I’ve witnessed the powerful benefits that science and partner- science, evidence and access to information. Our legislators need information from climate scientists. Why is there so little trust in ships can bring: returning fisheries to sustainability and profit- to know we will not stand for efforts to suppress and defund results from the scientific process? ability, restoring coastal habitats to protect communities from science because it underpins our way of life and our future. storm surge, providing wildlife habitat and creating recreational We need science to continue to help us clean up our air and opportunities and jobs. Science provides hope and tangible water, protect public health and safety, create jobs, conquer ways to recover the bounty of the ocean and to use it wisely to diseases, enhance security and provide hope for millions of improve human well-being. Science points the way for people people. But, unless enough of us stand up for science, our collec- and nature to thrive together. tive future is at risk.

4 TERRA » SPRING 2017 SPRING 2017 » TERRA 5 Living with Fire New Oregon State research center focuses on fire-prone landscapes BY NICK HOUTMAN | ILLUSTRATION BY HEATHER MILLER

“In simplest terms, fire exists because the Earth holds life. Life pumped the atmosphere with oxygen. Life lathered the land with hydrocarbons. The chemistry of combustion is among life’s most elemental reactions, for it simply takes apart what photosynthesis puts together.” — Stephen J. Pyne, Tending Fire

Oregon’s most destructive wildfire fire had been surrounded, snags were scorched to varying degrees. was born like many others. In August and hot spots were still burning as The fire-fighting cost reached 2015, the eastern half of the state was night approached. Near dark, crews $31 million. in a drought emergency. More than retreated from the dangerous rocky Over the past decade, such a dozen fires were burning across terrain for their own safety, per U.S. expenses have been mounting. The Oregon and Washington. On August Forest Service policy. Forest Service alone spent $2 billion 12, a flurry of early morning light- According to a Malheur National fighting fires in 2015, more than ning strikes set parched grass and Forest report, both fires were “full double what it had spent only five trees ablaze in a dozen places in the suppression efforts,” but that aggres- years earlier. Solutions will require Malheur National Forest. sive approach — what the Forest an all-hands-on-deck shift in land Crews aggressively attacked them Service calls an Initial Attack — management. So to promote greater all, including two fires in the Blue would prove futile. On the afternoon resilience and to address questions Mountains south of John Day — at of August 13, hot dry winds fanned about fire behavior and the needs of Mason Springs just off Hwy. 395 smoldering debris and sent burning rural communities, the Oregon State and Berry Creek in the Strawberry embers as far as a quarter mile past College of Forestry has created the Mountain Wilderness. Neither posed the fire lines. Both fires roared to life. Western Fire and Drought Manage- an immediate threat to homes and Fed by an abundance of bone-dry ment Center. The goal is to coordi- other structures. On relatively flat fuel, low humidity and strong winds, nate research across academic disci- ground, Mason Springs was fully Mason Springs and Berry Creek plines from forestry and engineering contained within a day. grew relentlessly toward homes and to rangeland science. The center will Located on steep terrain, Berry ranches along Canyon Creek. When also provide science-based informa- Creek would prove more difficult. they joined forces, they became tion to communities, businesses and Firefighters had to parachute in known as the Canyon Creek Complex government agencies. or rappel to nearby areas and then Fire, a monster bingeing on accu- “We’re coordinating efforts across hike several miles. As ground crews mulated decades of growing trees, the university and partner organiza- worked their way around the fire shrubs and grasses. Full containment tions," says Anthony Davis, associate perimeter, planes and helicopters wasn’t achieved until November, dean for research in the college. dropped water and doused areas after 43 homes and nearly 100 barns “At the end of the day, we need ahead of the flames with loads of and other outbuildings had been to manage and predict wildfires bright red retardant. Although the destroyed. About 110,500 acres, an and their impacts on ecosystems area larger than the city of Portland, and communities.”

6 TERRA » SPRING 2017 SPRING 2017 » TERRA 7 The condition of western forests rapidly contained, an achievement that Reporting in two journals, Such conditions are hardly and pre-fire mitigation work, but poses a challenge, adds John Bailey, the agency describes as “an almost 97 Ecosphere and Fire Ecology, he and unique to Eastern Oregon. In the driving through the blackened land OSU forestry professor and a leader percent Initial Attack success rate.” his colleagues found that from the Fremont-Winema National Forest in on the way back to Corvallis, Olsen “We’re coordinating in the new center. “Forest fire exclu- But therein lies a problem. Most ponderosa pine groves of the rela- Klamath County, researchers have wondered what people thought sion and suppression have created of Oregon east of the Cascades and tively dry lowlands to the mixed- documented a 600-percent increase about the burned forest she was efforts across the forest types that have never existed south of Eugene, indeed much of the conifer stands of higher elevations, in the number of trees per acre over driving through. university and partner before. Some areas are three or four western United States, is what forest fire historically visited every 10 to the last century. “There’s a lot that could be done organizations. At the times denser, and others are 10 researchers conservatively call 28 years. “Fire, like herbivory, was Scientists are quick to point out to rehabilitate these massive land- times; most everywhere is higher “fire prone.” a ubiquitous and relatively uniform that forest density is not the only scapes. How does the public view end of the day, we need than they’ve ever been. All logic James Johnston, an Oregon State influence,” they wrote. ingredient in the recipe for fire. Soil that? People might wonder if there is to manage and predict and observations suggest that it’s University forest researcher, recently However, modern fire suppres- and vegetation moisture, prevailing going to be any salvage logging at all, contrary to the fire resistance and reconstructed fire histories at 13 sion policies have stretched out the winds, humidity and topography and they may not be sure of what can wildfires and their resilience that are compatible with sites on the Malheur National Forest, years between fires, allowing fuel also play a role. Nevertheless, really happen. impacts on ecosystems our needs as a society.” including one site near Canyon Creek. to build up. “Fire was very frequent growing fuel loads have contributed “What I’ve learned in my inter- By analyzing old fire scars and coring for hundreds of years and then was to a spate of large fires across the views with land managers is that and communities.” Investigations into Fire trees at each site, he was able to look abruptly excluded from the land- state in recent years — the Biscuit it’s a question of balance,” Olsen — Anthony Davis Almost 2,300 wildfires burned across back more than a century to a time scape at the end of the 19th century,” in 2002, the B&B Complex in 2003, adds. “Whatever they do, it’s coming Oregon in 2015, the most in the before modern settlement, grazing says Johnston. “Surface fuel accu- the Douglas Complex and Whiskey directly out of the money they would state’s modern history. According to practices and fire suppression policies mulation since then has a lot to do Complex in 2013. have had to reduce fire risk some- the Forest Service, all but 119 were took root. with the extreme fire behavior that Larger, more severe fires are not where else.” destroyed those 43 homes.” limited to the forests. In 2012, the In her subsequent surveys of Long Draw Fire burned more than people in communities near the 558,000 acres of grass and sagebrush B&B and the Biscuit fires, the social south of Burns. That same year, the scientist in the College of Forestry Wildfire Miller Homestead Fire spread across found that majorities of respondents another 160,000 acres. Area ranchers are generally accepting of infrequent Hazard took a hit with more than 50 cattle salvage logging in carefully selected killed (according to conservative areas. In a survey of four communi- Potential estimates), fences and buildings lost ties across the country, she found 2015 and valuable forage scorched. The that people tend to be more tolerant fires also consumed large blocks of of smoke that occurs from natural sage-grouse habitat, a focus of resto- causes than from fires that are set Almost 2,300 wildfires burned ration efforts. for management purposes. Attitudes across Oregon in 2015, the most about smoke tend to reflect worries in the state’s modern history. Burned Landscapes about personal health. In 2003, a chance to tour the still- Olsen has also found that access smoldering impacts of the B&B to information plays an important Canyon Creek Low Risk Complex Fire Complex fire on Santiam Pass gener- role in public acceptance of forest ated an aha! moment for Christine management activities. “Some Olsen, who was just starting her people want more information but Ph.D. at OSU. “The Forest Service don’t know where to find it,” she invited students and faculty to go out says. “There seems to be a discon- High Risk into the burned area to talk about nect between the information that what we’re going to do about it,” scientists and the agencies are she says. putting out there and what the Wildfire Researchers were already public is able to find.” measuring public opinion about fire

8 TERRA » SPRING 2017 SPRING 2017 » TERRA 9 The Physics of Embers Blunck knows that this highly nails. The research professor in the controlled environment hardly Department of Fisheries and Wildlife In a wind tunnel on OSU’s Corvallis compares to the blustery maelstrom of wants to understand fire’s long-term campus, engineering professor David a burning forest. But understanding impact — 20, 30 or 40 years after Blunck and his students set sticks the controlling factors — wood size, flames reset the long sweep of the on fire and measure the size and species, moisture, temperature, wind sagebrush community. The occa- velocity of the embers that fly off the speed — can help fire managers antici- sional summer lightning storm can burning wood. They fasten dowels of pate one of the most explosive features set these lands ablaze, but in contrast known species — white oak, Douglas of spreading wildfire. to upland forests, fire visits rarely, fir, ponderosa pine, white fir — into a In addition to wind tunnel maybe every 50 or 100 years. fireproof container, apply a propane studies, Blunck and his team are In lands that are mostly free of flame and turn on a fan. The air doing controlled burns in open air. invasive plants like cheatgrass and stream carries glowing chunks into a Comparing the results from such medusahead, such fires don’t go far. metal pan at the end of the tunnel. experiments allows the researchers to “Native plants can tolerate periodic Blunck is investigating one of the understand how embers are generated fire,” she says. “It’s the competition processes that sparked the Canyon at different scales. from the invasives that becomes a Creek fire: ember generation. It’s problem. Fire promotes early succes- a phenomenon familiar to anyone Fire on the Range sional and invasive species, which who has sat around a campfire and During her college years, Lisa Ells- are more flammable. In sagebrush watched sparks fly into the night. worth fought fires as the only female steppe in good condition, I think it’s However, the violent winds gener- on a Forest Service fire crew in important to allow some fire, some ated by a wildfire have been known Southern Oregon. She later studied heterogeneity — we call it punching to loft firebrands for miles, setting wildfires caused by military activities holes. It helps to prevent those huge- new spot fires and threatening Embers burn in a test chamber in the Oregon in Hawaii (the Department of Defense scale fires that are fueled by contin- State University Propulsion Lab’s wind tunnel. homes and other structures. is that state’s most frequent source of uous grass cover.” (Photos courtesy of David Blunck) “We know most embers come ignitions). But she feels right at home Big fires like the Miller Homestead from crown fires. People have looked on the rangelands of the Great Basin. and Long Draw fires in 2012 can at ember transport and ignition, “The sagebrush steppe is vast and occur when non-native plants fill but we’re looking at what controls provides habitat for so many species,” the spaces naturally left by bunch them,” says Blunck, the Welty she says. “The dryness and slow rate grasses and sagebrush. Cheatgrass, Faculty Fellow who has studied of recovery are incomprehensible to for example, grows fast in the spring combustion in gas turbine engines people who are used to forests.” and dries out by early summer. “So for the U.S. Air Force. “Knowledge of In these places where annual rain- when fire does strike, we now have the physical forces that cause embers fall barely fills a coffee cup, native a continuous fuel source. Where fire to be formed is lacking.” shrubs grow with the speed of finger- was limited historically, now we have larger fires,” Ellsworth says. On the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, the John Day Citizen Fire Academy Fossil Beds National Monument and other public lands, Ellsworth Helping landowners and communities prepare and her students and colleagues for wildfire are comparing the composition of You can learn more about the principles of fire science and steps you can take to protect your home and community. Coordinated by Oregon State University Exten- Over the last century, forests across much sion, the Citizen Fire Academy offers an online curriculum, field tours and training. of the West have become denser, fueling Sessions are planned for fall 2017 and spring 2018. If you are interested in having a more severe blazes such as the Rim Fire near CFA program in your area or want more information, contact Kara Baylog, state- Yosemite National Park in 2013. (Photo: U.S. wide coordinator, 541-766-7371, or see extension.oregonstate.edu/sorec/cfa. Forest Service)

10 TERRA » SPRING 2017 SPRING 2017 » TERRA 11 plant communities with varying fire a variety of functions for the forest a prescribed burn on one-third to histories. Fire plays a useful role in that grows from the ashes. They two-thirds of the landscape to inter- restoration, they have reported, but it may harbor insects, birds and other rupt the flow of fire, that’s the sweet “It starts with the kids... needs to be managed in coordination wildlife species. However, Kraw- spot. Treating two-thirds will have a with other efforts to restore diversity chuk cautions against applying major impact on landscape fire.” We don’t want them in sagebrush ecosystems. the term “refugia” only to intact However, current land-use policies playing with matches, but forest. Burned lands provide habitat don’t provide forest managers with we want kids out there Refuge from the Flames for species that need dead trees that kind of flexibility, even if they When Meg Krawchuk was growing and openings to thrive. “There are had the resources to conduct such burning with Smokey.” up in Toronto, visits to her grand- species that require high-severity operations. As an example, Bailey — John Bailey mother meant traveling through a fire,” she says. “For beetles, for points to the Deschutes National burned forest. It was just part of the woodpeckers, for bluebirds, that’s Forest. “Even if you turned me landscape to a young girl, but she also their refuge.” loose with a golden checkbook, all remembers that her grandmother An understanding of pyrogeog- I could treat out there now is about went there to pick blueberries. raphy can help forest managers, she 16 percent of the landscape.” The The idea that wildfire destroys and adds. “Terrain doesn’t explain all rest of the forest falls under designa- creates, both shapes the landscape the variability (in fire), but there tions that typically do not allow for and is shaped by it, has now become is some predictive power associ- mechanical treatments or prescribed a scientific calling. For the assistant ated with terrain. That can help fire: campgrounds, riparian zones, professor in the College of Forestry, give a spatial prescription or at least special botanical areas, northern living with fire means understanding provide guidelines for harvest. With spotted owl protected areas, wilder- its role in ecology, management prescribed fire, there may be patches ness and so forth. and communities. The term she and where it is more difficult to burn Moreover, he says, lightning- others use for this emerging field because they are driving to the beat caused fires in wilderness areas are is “pyrogeography.” of a different drum.” still routinely put out, even when “It’s the study of fire on Earth homes and other property are not at and brings in people as well as Interrupting Fire Flow risk. “In 2015, we extinguished about the natural world,” she says. “It John Bailey describes himself as a a hundred ignitions within the B&B has spatial layers, patterning and tinkerer. When he and other silvi- Complex perimeter. After 12 years, variability — local or regional. culturists look at a forest, they want it is primed to burn again. It would That’s what geography is all about, to know what the objectives are — be perfect to burn again. We should exploring those interactions.” produce timber, preserve old trees, be burning thousands of acres a year Every fire develops a unique foster biodiversity, offer recreational out there.” personality as it responds to the opportunities. Then they determine While the high-intensity fires vagaries of weather, topography how to meet them. of the past make the public under- and vegetation. So, using data from For Bailey, the Maybelle Clark standably wary, Bailey looks forward satellites, maps and other sources, MacDonald professor in the College to the day when attitudes toward fire Krawchuk analyzes the fingerprints of Forestry, fire plays as vital a role are more accepting. that fires leave behind, including the as soil, water and sun in achieving “It starts with the kids,” he says. mosaic of green islands that dot the those outcomes. Continually putting “We don’t want them playing with sea of blackened soil and trees. fires out and not treating the land- matches, but we want kids out there Patches of unburned forest — scape to remove the annual fuel burning with Smokey. Get the fire or places where the tree canopy build-up sets the stage for more engines out, burn an acre, look for escaped the flames — can provide tragedies like Canyon Creek. the wildflowers the next year. In the “Silviculturists focus on trees future a child coming out of a house and stands and how we put them and smelling smoke will look up and, In 2010, patches of living and regenerating together to interrupt landscape-level instead of saying ‘Oh, no!’ say, ‘oh lodgepole pine appear amid areas burned by the 2003 B&B Complex Fire. (Photo: Derek Houtman) fire,” he says. “If we can thin or do good, they’re burning today.’”

12 TERRA » SPRING 2017 SPRING 2017 » TERRA 13 When mammoths, giant beavers and their Emissary from kin roamed the Willamette Valley BY MICHELLE KLAMPE | ILLUSTRATION BY SANTIAGO UCEDA

n ancient stream channel snakes 10 feet an Ice-Age below the north end zone of Oregon State AUniversity’s Reser Stadium and under an adjoining parking lot. The sides slope gently upward in what may have been a bog or marsh. For about 12,000 years, the skeleton of a Colum- BONEYARD bian mammoth rested here, undisturbed. In 2016, the animal’s quiet repose came to an end when a construction worker digging a foundation struck bone and set off a worldwide media frenzy. The novelty of finding a 5-foot long mammoth femur in the end zone of a college football stadium drew the notice of news outlets everywhere, from ESPN and USA Today to Yahoo Japan.

14 TERRA » SPRING 2017 SPRING 2017 » TERRA 15 Additional excavation of a plot the size of a small Last of Its Line Davis and his graduate student, J.D. Lancaster, mammoth skeleton discovered in the Willamette Valley pickup truck and about 10 feet deep revealed more of the oversaw the initial excavation, when the large bones and maybe among the last to survive on the mainland of The Columbian mammoth species was the last in a line mammoth’s skeleton, including part of the mandible, were removed and huge piles of soil were pulled from the North America. that inhabited North America until its extinction around a molar and molar tooth plate, parts of the scapula, the site. Dozens of OSU faculty and students spent a rainy “That means that humans were co-existing with the end of the Pleistocene epoch, about 11,700 years ago. pelvis, a knee cap and other bones. winter day going through the mounds, searching for mammoths,” Terry said. “They were in the same places Considerably larger than a modern elephant, the animals The revelation sparked a scientific inquiry by faculty, additional bones and fragments. for about 2,500 years.” weighed about 22,000 pounds and reached as high as 13 graduate students and undergraduates from across More than 50 bones and pieces have now been feet at the shoulder. Scientists think the species arrived in the university. Together, they have been working for unearthed, and nearly all of them appear to be from a More Bones on Campus North America more than 1 million years ago and roamed more than a year to understand the significance of the single Columbian mammoth. Also found were a couple With support from the OSU throughout the northern United States and as far south as discovery. They have learned that the animal may have of toes from an ancient bison, a larger version of today’s Research Office, Davis purchased a Costa Rica. The cause of extinction remains unclear, but been among the last of its species at a pivotal transition in modern bison that also roamed the region during the ground-penetrating radar system climate change and exposure to humans are among the the ice-age landscape that would become western Oregon. Pleistocene. The researchers found no signs of humans last spring to detect objects under suspected contributors. “It’s exciting to discover that you’ve got remains of and have not seen any signs of human interaction with the surface without disturbing The discovery of the Reser skeleton challenges existing extinct animals buried right here on campus,” says Loren the mammoth. them. Researchers have used the views about the timing for the Colum- Davis, an associate professor of anthropology in OSU’s “The evidence suggests that animals may have come to equipment to follow traces of the bian mammoth’s extinction, which was College of Liberal Arts. “We’re working on a project that the stream and died there,” Davis says. ancient stream channel as it led out thought to have occurred about 13,000 years has a lot of local interest. We don’t have all the answers, of the stadium and up toward the ago. “The whole idea that this mammoth and we’re figuring these things out together.” Preserving Bones for Science parking lot. The radar indicated persisted that long makes us need to step Davis and Rebecca Terry, an assistant professor in Terry and her graduate student, Brian Tanis, led efforts to some additional large hard objects back from the argument that these large the College of Science, are leading the effort to learn inventory, identify and preserve the specimens. Under- in the bottom of the channel, animals went extinct abruptly at an earlier more about the Reser mammoth and the world graduate students in Terry’s spring 2016 paleobiology class suggesting the presence of more time,” Davis says. “It’s a compelling and inter- it roamed. carefully prepared the bones for drying and long-term animal bones. esting problem to think about.” An archaeologist whose primary research preservation. Most of the large and identifiable pieces are Davis hopes to develop a course The ancient stream channel running under interest is the early history of hunter-gatherers in an OSU storage facility for now. that would allow students to use Reser Stadium was likely formed after the Missoula in western North America, Davis typically studies sites “We have about 55 bones being supported in plaster or the equipment on campus and Floods, the cataclysmic ice-age torrents that rushed peri- where evidence of humans has been found. His expertise foam cradles. They need to dry out slowly over a period of beyond, perhaps in open fields or odically across eastern Washington, down the Columbia in stratigraphy — the study of soil layers — helps him to years,” Terry says. “We have two bones that we still can’t agricultural lands where excava- River Gorge and into what we now know as the Willa- interpret artifacts such as stone tools, spear points and identify. They might be heel bones or possibly broken tion would be possible. mette Valley. The geological conditions in the channel animal remains. parts of the pubis bone.” “It’s like being a detective,” were ideal for preservation. Terry is a paleontologist who works primarily with After two failed attempts to determine the age of the Davis says. “We have clues that there may be more The stratigraphy indicates the bones were buried as the much smaller ancient animals, such as rats and mice. bones with radiocarbon analysis, a Bothell, Washingon- mammoths to find at Oregon State, and we have lots stream channel filled with clay. The water table also rose, She uses the bones and teeth from owl pellet deposits based laboratory was able to successfully date the remains of expertise here on our campus to help us do so. That creating a persistently wet condition that helped keep the (undigested, regurgitated food) to study how prehistoric by using enamel from the tooth plate. Results indicate provides a great opportunity for us and our students to bones from drying out and crumbling. Decay slowed as climate change and human land use have affected animal that the animal lived about 12,000 years ago, the youngest make wonderful discoveries in the coming years.” oxygen levels dropped. communities over time.

16 TERRA » SPRING 2017 SPRING 2017 » TERRA 17 Winks from Across the Universe The stream of numbers on Lazzati’s monitor screeches to a halt and a terse error message appears. Something has gone wrong. It could be an obvious mistake, or a typo buried deep in the calculations. Either way, such snags are inevitable; Lazzati leans forward to start scrolling through Waiting for the lines of code in search of the culprit as the music blares away in the background. In the foreground, a constellation of dirty coffee cups encircle Lazzati’s computer. An espresso maker sits on a side table, covered in a light dusting of coffee grounds. Children’s drawings adorn the walls. Several have space- related themes, including a colorful schematic of the solar system — complete with the asteroid belt — by his 6-year- old son, Alejandro. He and his wife, Catalina Segura, a Starlight hydrologist in the OSU College of Forestry (and a collabo- Beacons rator with Lazzati on modeling water flow), also have a 9-year-old daughter, Diana. “They both love astronomy and space travel,” Lazzati says. When Lazzati was their Davide Lazzati tries to make sense of violent bursts that shine from the far reaches of the universe age, growing up in northern Italy, he wanted to be a truck of Light driver. But his parents and teachers pushed him to study BY JULIA ROSEN science, and he took an astronomy course in his final Gamma ray bursts reveal cosmic secrets year of high school. “It was so impressive that you could know so many things about something that’s so inacces- Scientists can learn a great deal about other astronomical sible,” he says. “It was mind-blowing for a geek.” He was questions using the light from GRBs. Gamma ray photons hooked, although — for the record — he still loves trucks. are energetic enough to traverse the entire universe, so “Oh, let the sun beat down upon my face Gamma ray bursts — aka GRBs — are the most energetic Lazzati had made his way to graduate school when they carry information about the farthest — and thus, And stars fill my dreams. events in the known universe. They last a few seconds gamma ray bursts captured the attention of the astro- oldest — corners of the cosmos. And that makes them to a few minutes and occur when a giant star collapses physics community. American military satellites first extremely useful for studying things like the history of I’m a traveler of both time and space into a black hole, or, researchers think, when objects discovered the cosmic explosions in the 1960s. They aren’t the stars. To be where I have been.” like neutron stars collide. In both cases, the result is an rare; if we could monitor the whole sky, scientists think Giant stars have relatively short lifetimes and produce — "Kashmir," Led Zeppelin explosion of gamma rays — the most powerful form of we could see a handful every day from Earth. Many more GRBs when they die. That allows astronomers to use GRBs electromagnetic radiation, more energetic than X-rays. A evade detection. Back then, however, scientists knew to reconstruct star formation and test different ideas about Davide Lazzati’s computer screen is a blur single GRB can release as much energy as the sun emits in very little about GRBs, including what triggered them and the early evolution of the universe, says Rosalba Perna, an whether they took place in our own galaxy or beyond it. astrophysicist at Stony Brook University who collaborates of numbers. They race across in an endless its whole life. GRBs are mysteries worthy of study in their own right, Then Italy launched a satellite called BeppoSAX in often with Lazzati. “Different dark-matter models make different predictions for when the first stars formed,” she torrent, far too fast for anyone to read. If and they can also cast light — literally — on some of the 1996. It was, in Lazzati’s words, one of his country’s says. “It actually has much broader implications.” greatest puzzles of the cosmos, from the origins of the “miracles.” BeppoSAX was an X-ray satellite that could you could, you’d be looking at the sudden Scientists also use GRBs to probe the composition of other universe to gravitational waves (see “Beacons of Light”). precisely pinpoint the location of a gamma ray burst. That galaxies. The same way shining a light through a pail of swell of a cosmic explosion. Some scientists study them using telescopes, and some allowed astronomers on the ground to study its afterglow seawater illuminates floating critters and bits of sand, GRBs scratch away at the physics that drive their super-charged with telescopes and determine how fast it was moving reveal the stuff of the cosmos. As light from a GRB passes Lazzati leans back in his chair and waits, humming along away from us. Because the universe is expanding at an jets. Lazzati’s work sits right at the intersection of obser- through a galaxy, some of it is absorbed, creating a spec- to Led Zeppelin. He likes to listen to music while he codes. increasing pace, faraway objects recede faster than close vations and theory; he wants to understand what we see, trum that reveals the chemical makeup and structure of the “It can get pretty loud,” says Lazzati, an astrophysicist at ones, providing a measure of their distance. Thanks to and why. galaxy. “At that point, you don’t even care what the source Oregon State University. He has charcoal hair that’s just BeppoSAX, astronomers discovered that GRBs are not It’s not an easy question to tackle. “We don’t build stars is — it could be anything,” Perna says. GRBs just happen to local phenomena, but explosions that wink at us from beginning to gray at the temples, and a sheepish grin that in the lab,” Lazzati says. So he and his students do the work well because they are bright and often distant. he deploys often, including now. “Sometimes I close the next best thing: They use computer models to recreate the remote galaxies. GRBs can and do happen in our own galaxy, and scien- door so I don’t bother other people,” he says. explosive deaths of stars. Then, they explore how these A few years later, the satellite made yet another big tists think one could devastate life on Earth if it exploded At the moment, he’s just making sure that his code blasts should look to astronomers here in our tiny corner discovery: It detected a GRB in the same spot as a super- nearby. However, because there are many more stars works properly. When he’s satisfied, he’ll send the code to of the universe. nova, which scientists knew signaled the death of a star. outside of our galaxy than within it, faraway explosions a supercomputer at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Cali- Of course, it’s not always that elegant, says Lazzati, This helped confirm the hypothesis that GRBs were linked are more common. fornia. These supercomputers are vastly more powerful warily eyeing the computer screen for signs of trouble. “In to the fatal collapse of massive stars. However, super- than Lazzati’s Mac Pro, but even so, it will take weeks to practice, I’m fighting with a numerical code that keeps novas and GRBs don’t always go hand in hand. GRBs are complete a simulation. That’s because the phenomena crashing on me,” he says. “And that is not poetic.” only produced by stars large enough to create a black hole Lazzati studies are far more powerful still. when they die. A GRB, Lazzati says, is “the birth cry of a black hole.”

18 TERRA » SPRING 2017 SPRING 2017 » TERRA 19 sions, says Rosalba Perna, an astrophysicist at Stony Brook University and one of Lazzati’s frequent collaborators. “It’s really addressing the very basic question of where the radiation that we see comes from.” When Black Holes Collide At long last, Lazzati is ready to send his code to the super- computer at Ames. He has teased out all the errors and run a suite of tests to confirm — as best he can — that the model is doing what it should. So Lazzati takes out his phone and taps open an app. It generates a secret pass- word that grants him access to NASA’s computers; he has just 20 seconds to login before it expires. He makes it in time and enters his code into a queue of jobs. It will be months before the simulation is finished. But even then, the wait won’t be over. That’s because the thing Lazzati is modeling hasn’t technically been Astrophysicist Davide Lazzati grew up in northern Italy and conducts observed yet. He is trying to predict what astronomers research at Oregon State. (Photo: Chris Becerra) might see if two massive objects collide, producing both a GRB and gravitational waves at the same time. “That would be extremely exciting,” Lazzati says. behind by the collision. Lazzati thinks astronomers might Researchers only recently developed the ability to be able to distinguish such a signal from other X-ray measure gravitational waves, confirming a central predic- emissions beaming across the cosmos because of its short tion of Einstein’s general theory of relativity. In 2015, duration and unique fingerprint. newly operational detectors measured subtle disturbances Lazzati also thinks the fingerprint of radiation from a in space-time when two black holes spiraled into each short GRB might contain clues about the properties of the other, sending ripples of excitement through the scientific merger that produced it. How elliptical were the orbits of community. They are now waiting for more mergers to the circling objects? How strong was the magnetic field? What happened in the final moments before the colli- Powerful jets of high-speed material are pictured in blue in this computer simulation of an exploding star that harbors a gamma-ray burst. generate new sets of waves, and scientists hope some of Davide Lazzati uses three-dimensional computer simulations to shed light on the dynamics of these energetic outflows, which stream out of their these collisions will also produce GRBs. sion? He hopes that by simulating a range of mergers progenitor star (in red and orange). The jets eventually escape from the dense and cold stellar material and convert their energy into gamma-ray Most astronomers think a GRB will occur if at least between different objects under different conditions, he radiation that can be detected with telescopes. one of the colliding objects is a neutron star, which can can give astronomers a key to interpret the radiation they provide matter to fuel the jets. (A black hole — by defini- measure. “What we provide is the framework for under- Together, the BeppoSAX discoveries launched a new “Particles cannot travel across the spaghetti,” Lazzati tion — does not give up its contents.) Researchers suspect standing what we see,” Lazzati says. era of GRB research and drew many young researchers, says. “They have to follow the spaghetti.” And in doing so, such mergers are responsible for a flavor of GRB known Scientists who study gravitational waves expect to including Lazzati, to the field. Much of Lazzati’s research they form jets of matter traveling at the speed of light. as a short gamma ray burst, which lasts less than a few detect another merger sometime in the next few years. today focuses on how the protons and electrons that get With funding from the National Aeronautics and Space seconds. At the moment, they lack “iron-clad proof,” But no one knows whether it will be the type of colli- spewed out of a dying star produce radiation. He wants Administration (NASA), Lazzati studies how these jets Perna says, but spotting a short GRB associated with sion that could produce a GRB, and whether that GRB to know why these explosions emit mostly gamma rays give off high-energy photons. His research suggests that gravitational waves would be just the kind of evidence will be aimed at Earth. “It might take us 10 to 15 years to — not X-rays or other kinds of radiation — and why they these photons are produced by particles that fly along they need. And Lazzati wants to increase the odds that get lucky,” Lazzati says. Either way, scientists will learn sometimes pulse on and off like strobe lights. Or why GRB curved magnetic field lines. The trick to testing this they don’t miss their chance. something. If researchers do spot a flash of radiation, radiation forms narrow beams instead of emanating out in idea, he says, is to marry calculations about how matter Though GRBs are tremendously bright, they are like he says, “it would tell us what is really producing short all directions. He and others suspect that magnetic fields behaves in a GRB and how radiation behaves. “We are lighthouses, sending out narrow beams in two directions. gamma ray bursts.” If they don’t, he adds, “it’s, ‘geez, we may play an important role. It all starts when a massive trying to get the whole picture out of a single calculation, So, for every GRB aimed at Earth, Lazzati says, there are were wrong,’” Then it’s back to square one. star implodes and begins to form a black hole with the rather than doing one and then doing the second part,” 100 others that we don’t see because they point away from For now, though, Lazzati just needs to let the code run mass of several suns packed into an object 10 kilometers he says. Or, put into gustatory terms, “we are cooking us (roughly 20 percent of all GRBs are short GRBs). Thus, and wait to see what the universe has to offer. All the in diameter. It’s a messy process, and it leaves behind a the cheese on the pizza instead of cooking the pizza and there’s a good chance that even if a merger does occur and time, light from ancient explosions is streaming across spinning disk of matter laced with magnetic-field lines. putting the cheese on top.” produces both gravitational waves and a GRB, we might the cosmos like the numbers on Lazzati’s screen. It’s just Think of these field lines as spaghetti, Lazzati says. (Many Getting a handle on this transformation is important not catch the latter. a matter of time before something hits Earth and gives of his analogies revolve around Italian food.) The inside of because astronomers only get to study the radiation from The code Lazzati is currently running at Ames could scientists an error message — or an answer. the disk spins faster than the outside, so the spaghetti gets a GRB; the protons and electrons never make it to our broaden astronomers’ net by giving them a sense of what Editor’s note: Julia Rosen received a Ph.D. from OSU in twisted up as if some invisible diner had wound it around detectors. Lazzati’s work helps researchers understand GRBs might look like from the side. There wouldn’t be geological sciences in 2014. Her stories have appeared a cosmic fork. what this radiation can tell us about these distant explo- any gamma rays to observe, but there could be X-rays in Nature, Science, High Country News and other publi- produced when the jet blasts through the debris left cations. Contact her on Twitter @ScienceJulia.

20 TERRA » SPRING 2017 SPRING 2017 » TERRA 21 Space Science and Ready to the Solar Eclipse Launch

OSU150 CELEBRATION OPENS WITH OREGON SPACE OSU and LBCC students will send GRANT FESTIVAL a balloon to the edge of space

Student research and educational opportunities will take BY LORI FLUGE-BRUNKER, LINN-BENTON COMMUNITY center stage August 19-21 during a weekend of events COLLEGE ADVANCEMENT OFFICE open to the public at Oregon State campuses in Corvallis and Bend in preparation for the total solar eclipse. Activi- In a small work room about the size of a walk-in closet ties will also highlight the Oregon NASA Space Grant at Linn-Benton Community College, Levi Willmeth and program, which has paved the way for Oregon students to Delphine LeBrun Colon fire up their laptop. Electrical enter the aerospace workforce for 25 years. wires, test equipment, homemade components and spare On average, about 35 students from Oregon participate parts cover the work benches. There’s little room for error. annually in NASA internships, says Jack Higginbotham, The device they are building is going for a ride to the top of Oregon NASA Space Grant director. Research experiences the atmosphere, almost 20 miles above the Earth. in robotics, satellite systems, computer science, rock- Their endeavors will pay off on August 21. Willmeth, etry and unmanned aerial systems, aka drones, propel Colon and a team of Linn-Benton and Oregon State students into careers with NASA as well as with compa- University students will launch a high-altitude balloon nies such as SpaceX. from an OSU research vessel, the Pacific Storm, about 30 At the festival in Corvallis in August, the public can miles off the coast to view the first solar eclipse to run learn more about the Space Grant program as well as from the Pacific to Atlantic since 1918. space science at OSU. Workshops will include a discus- “Our goal is to be right on the coastline to get video of sion of gamma ray bursts with Davide Lazzati and solar the shadow on the water and as it first touches down on eclipse physics with Randal Milstein, OSU instructor and land. It’s pretty exciting,” says Willmeth, who graduated astronomer-in-residence with Oregon Space Grant. from LBCC in computer science. He is now an undergrad- The public will also see high-altitude rockets designed uate in the College of Engineering at Oregon State and a and built by OSU students, a replica of OSU’s award- software developer in OSU’s Open Source Lab. winning Mars rover and “Totality,” an art exhibit Colon will enroll this fall in mechanical engineering at featuring responses to human exploration of the universe. OSU and minor in aerospace engineering. The eclipse will occur Monday morning, August 21, In addition to their work on the eclipse project, both beginning about 9:00 and ending at 11:30. The sky will go Willmeth and Colon have secured NASA internships this dark for about 2 minutes at 10:17. Since looking directly at summer. Willmeth will spend 10 weeks in Fairmont, the sun can cause severe eye damage, special glasses will West Virginia, where he’ll test software for drones and be available at the OSU event. satellites. Colon will be stationed at the Marshall Space “For many of us, a total solar eclipse is our only chance Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, working on the to ever see the incredible splendor of our sun’s corona,” space launch system RS-25 engine, which is designed for says Milstein. “This is the first total eclipse since 1776 sending astronauts on missions beyond Earth’s orbit. with its path of totality completely within the continental Students at all 17 of Oregon’s community colleges and United States.” three in Hawaii can participate in research across OSU The program opens a 15-month-long celebration of through Oregon State’s Degree Partnership Program. OSU150 events in recognition of the 150th anniversary of “Both Levi and Delphine have been key leaders for the Oregon State’s founding and designation as a land grant past three years in our Space Exploration Team,” says university. For more information and a schedule of events, Parker Swanson, LBCC computer science instructor. see OSU150.org. “As the team’s adviser, I will miss them during their 10-week internships.”

22 TERRA » SPRING 2017 SPRING 2017 » TERRA 23 ROBOTS FOR THE REAL WORLD

A new institute takes on the ethics, economics and policies of robotics BY GREGG KLEINER PHOTOS BY KARL MAASDAM

ou arrive home in your driverless car, which perfectly parallel parks itself at the curb. As you’re walking to your Yfront door, you see your solar-powered, autonomous garden assistants quietly clip- ping your lawn, weeding a flowerbed, and cleaning out the rain gutter. With impec- cable timing, your front door is opened from the inside by your personal robot (we’ll call it Benny), which recites a short poem you always find calming, then announces the latest news about your favorite college sports team (the Beavers). As you’re settling in, the robot reminds you that your self-driving car will be serviced where it’s parked out on the street in approximately 27 minutes, and that tomorrow the bouquet of orange roses for your sweetheart’s birthday will appear at precisely 7:08 a.m. outside your bedroom window (delivered by a bipedal robot devel- oped at Oregon State University). Later, after Benny has unloaded your dishwasher, it enters the den and informs you that there was an unfortunate accident during the unloading process. The cat is fine, it reassures you, however, that favorite teacup of yours … well, not so much. The good news, it quickly adds, is that the shattered mess is all cleaned up, and would you care for a cocktail?

Graf Hall on OSU’s Corvallis campus buzzes with activity in the Collaborative Robotics and Intelligence Systems (CoRIS) Institute.

SPRING 2017 » TERRA 25 Left: Austin Whitesell, Ph.D. student, works on a project to use robots and automation in the treatment of highly infectious diseases, such as Ebola. Right: Cindy Grimm, research associate professor, studies robot grasping mechanisms by evaluating the decision-making criteria that humans use.

programs in robotics and artificial OSU researchers like Smart, Tumer intelligence. The influx of robots on and Jonathan Hurst, who specializes daily life is also raising social, ethical, in bipedal locomotion, believe the legal and economic issues that touch development of robots is on par with on the potential loss of jobs, privacy, other new technologies that have personal space and more. dramatically impacted human life. Think automobiles and computers. The Birth of a Robotics Institute Today, cars are everywhere, almost An emphasis on the ethics and policy everyone carries a powerful personal choices of robotics distinguishes the computer in a purse or pocket, and college's newly launched Collab- the impact on people, and the planet, orative Robotics and Intelligence has been profound. Systems Institute from other robotics “Robotics is just starting to hit programs. Research and education the point of exponential growth,” round out its mission. says Hurst, who joined the School of “What makes our program here Mechanical, Industrial, and Manu- at Oregon State unique is that we’re facturing Engineering in 2008. not just building or deploying robots, Nobody was hiring roboticists then, but we are looking at how robots and the United States had only two will impact society in the next 10 degree-granting robotics programs, years,” says Kagan Tumer, a professor Carnegie Mellon (Hurst’s alma mater) of robotics and director of CoRIS. and Georgia Tech. “Today robotics Game-Changing Technology education related to robotics but also disabilities and robotics for use on mobiles, soft-bodied undersea explo- “Someone graduating from OSU with is at about the same stage that the ethics, policy and economic and the front lines of infectious disease ration vehicles and table-top devices a degree in robotics will not only be computers were when the first PCs Robots are poised to impact society legal issues that come with such a outbreaks like Ebola. serving as 24/7 personal assistants a specialist but will also understand came out. And people are starting to in ways as momentous and life- wide-reaching technology. Robots are no longer shiny, ficti- that are always ready to answer how robotics will impact the future.” recognize that the impact of robotics altering as the introduction of the “What’s going to slow the intro- tious Hollywood creations that beep questions, play music, turn on lights, Smart says the new robotics on society will be on a scale similar automobile or the personal computer duction of robots into our everyday and blink and whirr, á la R2-D2 or call a cab or announce sports scores. institute is about “robots for the real to the impact the computer has had.” — technologies that forced humanity lives is not the technology, because C-3PO of Star Wars fame. Nor are And a new class of “service world.” At Oregon State, he says, Hurst recently spun out Agility to adapt and changed the course of we already know a lot about how they restricted to repetitive tasks robots” are poised to provide “we don’t just build robots, we build Robotics, a start-up company in human history. to build robots,” says Bill Smart, like spot welding on assembly lines everything from home cleaning and them and put them into the real Albany that designs and manufac- As one of the nation's top four Oregon State robotics professor. “It’s inside manufacturing plants. Today, wheelchair navigation to hotel guest world: a factory floor, the forest, an tures bipedal robots developed at programs in robotics, the College of questions like who’s going to get sued robots are interacting with human deliveries and personal companion- ocean. And the real world includes Oregon State (see “A New Way of Engineering at Oregon State Univer- when a robot eats your cat, or when beings in a dizzying range of appli- ship for people living alone. policy, ethics and much more than Walking,” Page 37). sity is making major contributions one breaks down mid-task?” Under cations – from drones flying over This rapid growth of all things just the technology.” to this fledgling field. Chief among development in his lab is an autono- agricultural fields to detect wasted robotic has universities worldwide them is a new institute aimed at mous wheelchair for people with irrigation water, to self-driving auto- scrambling to launch and expand addressing not only the research and

26 TERRA » SPRING 2017 SPRING 2017 » TERRA 27 machines could be used to change “The feeling I had after inter- robot interaction that very few other soiled linens, a task that puts viewing here was that I would be in schools, if any, can match.” humans at risk of infection. on the ground floor of an exciting The new institute will enable “We’re not talking about replacing startup, and that’s very rare in Oregon State to better compete for the nurse or the doctor,” Tumer academia,” says Mengüç. “The fact research funding, private support says. “You will still have the human our students and faculty are all in and prestige. It will include more care element, but do we really need one building is also distinct. I have than 50 faculty in other units on a human being in contact with not seen a robotics group that’s so campus, from forestry and oceanog- the soiled sheets? Absolutely not, tightly integrated, which is another raphy to the social sciences. because the human element adds no competitive advantage.” value and actually limits how often Working with Industry the sheets are changed. With a robot, A Lab Without Borders OSU robotics faculty and students you could change the bedding six The OSU robotics program and the are engaged with several industry times a day, so you might actually headquarters of the new institute are partners, including ESCO Corpora- improve the care while allowing the housed in historic Graf Hall, a brick tion, a Portland foundry looking to human to do more.” building that was at one point slated use robotics to keep workers safe Tumer sees robots working along- for demolition. The open, high-bay from extreme temperatures and side humans and adding capability lab is surrounded by both faculty and heavy cast parts. HP is sponsoring instead of taking away jobs. “In this student offices and is not delin- research with OSU robotics profes- case, everything is a little cleaner eated or “owned” by individuals. sors Grimm, Mengüç and Ross because you have a robot around, so The northern wall is mostly paned Hatton as the company explores ways Will A Robot Take Your Job? everyone is a little safer.” windows, flooding the flexible space to transform deep robotics research Bring up the growth of robotics to with natural light. into solutions for business. friends and family, and chances are No. 4 in the Nation Will Allen, an HP Fellow with When HP’s Allen met with Tumer that the conversation will turn to Founded just two years ago, Oregon HP Labs in Corvallis, who is to discuss work on a highly complex the likelihood that robots will take State’s graduate program in robotics partnering with OSU on several aspect of technology related to jobs away. But the Oregon State has quickly established itself as one robotics research projects, says the robotics, Tumer was pleased to researchers say it’s too early to tell of the top four robotics programs facility in Graf Hall exemplifies the team up. how robots will impact jobs, because in the country. Other programs are program’s focus on collaboration “Dr. Tumer said they were always the issue is complex. New industries coming online, but OSU’s visionary and its startup mentality. looking for highly challenging will create jobs, some of which we leadership and emphasis on culture, “What gets me excited is when problems,” Allen says. “So we said, can scarcely imagine. community and collaboration are you stand inside that building and ‘what if we work on automating how “Robotics is going to create attracting student and faculty candi- look down and see people doing soft to get from a research stage, where entirely new industries and jobs,” dates in record numbers from all robotics in one area, and next to that you have to understand something Tumer says. “Think of plumbers over the world. is a large spider web where they are at a very deep level to operate it, to or car mechanics — those jobs This year alone, the program figuring out bio-motion, and beyond a more integratable stage, where it didn’t exist before there was indoor received more than 400 applica- that a two legged-robot is running can be implemented more quickly plumbing or automobiles.” tions for slightly more than a in place and making a lot of racket, for industry?’ Everyone agreed that Top left: Yiğit Mengüç, assistant professor, The production of robots will also dozen highly coveted master’s and and all of this is physically in the would be challenging. This epito- studies soft robotics and mechanical create manufacturing jobs as well doctoral positions. And rock-star same space, together — along with mizes Oregon State’s attitude and the systems with Callie Branyan, student in as robot technicians, Tumer adds. robotics faculty are passing up the faculty and grad student offices,” quality of their program.” Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. “You’re going to need robot repair offers at other top schools to join the Allen says. “They have created a very The university is making a signifi- Top right: Ross Hatton, left, assistant professor, develops mathematical models people and robot trainers and people Oregon State program because of its unique environment where people cant, high-level investment in for robot locomotion. who design and build the robots. So reputation as a hot spot for robotics can interact and operate together.” robotics, Allen adds. “It’s a long- Bottom left: Cassie, the first robot to walk it will not simply be a net job loss innovation and a culture that’s more This spring, Julie Adams, who position investment in people and with an animal-like gait, was developed or gain, but more of a shift of jobs, akin to a corporate startup than an specializes in human-robot interac- infrastructure and not the type at Oregon State. Bottom right: Kagan Tumer, professor of and that’s not easy to predict at this academic department. tion, joined the 11-member robotics of thing you do for two months or mechanical and industrial engineering, is point. Some sectors will lose jobs, Yiğit Mengüç, an assistant faculty. Along with Cindy Grimm a couple of years. Oregon State is co-director of the Collaborative Robotics but others will gain.” professor specializing in bio-inspired and Heather Knight, Adams brings making a big play, and because HP and Intelligence Systems (CoRIS) Institute Robots will also help humans soft robotics, says the reason he the number of women faculty in has a productive relationship with at Oregon State. avoid dangerous tasks that currently passed up job offers at other presti- the program to almost one-third. the university, good things will come result in bodily injury or disease. gious schools to join Oregon State in “That’s very unusual,” Adams says. out of this — for all of us.” Tumer cites Smart’s research on 2014 was the close-knit culture and “And Oregon State has a breadth robots to serve people who have the unusual sense that he was joining and depth in the area of human- an infectious disease. For example, a startup.

28 TERRA » SPRING 2017 SPRING 2017 » TERRA 29 Medicine and the State Historians shed light on science, illness and government

BY NICK HOUTMAN

America’s epic struggle with compulsory These often heated arguments the American Association for Labor Students and spectators line the room during serve as a prologue to more recent Legislation (AALL) followed up with an 18th century dissection of a cadaver. Such health insurance began more than 100 demonstrations were commonly used to political turmoil, but they also point a compulsory health-insurance teach anatomy at universities. years ago. As the nation was entering to the underlying forces at work in proposal to provide workers who were our medical system: the knowledge injured or sick with medical care for World War I, a proposal to require that provides a basis for effective up to six months. People who were death rates and increasing lifespans. workers, employers and the government therapy and the social and political self-employed or out of work could Physicians had started using X-rays landscapes that shape health care. participate on a voluntary basis. for diagnosis and vaccinating popula- to pay into a health-care fund stirred By delving into personal diaries, It was a radical departure from tions to prevent smallpox, rabies and discussions among legislators, physicians official documents, pamphlets and what amounted to a free-for-all in other diseases. New surgical proce- other documents archived in the health care, says Michael Osborne, dures offered treatments for cancer. and labor organizers from Massachusetts United States and Europe, Oregon OSU professor of the history of However, these services also carried to California. The concerns they raised State University historians show how science. “Science was not the gate- a price tag. For millions, many of the government and medicine have been keeper to get into medicine. We latest treatments were as accessible as would be familiar to anyone following intertwined for centuries. had what we might call scientific a month’s paid vacation. the modern debate: access to care, That relationship was at the heart physicians, but we also had all these AALL’s proposal was modeled on of the early debate about health healing sects, such as Seventh Day health-insurance systems in Germany physician-patient relationships, public insurance. In 1912, former president Adventist healers, homeopathy and and England. Despite an initially expense, regulation. Theodore Roosevelt and the Progres- an odd practice called Thomsonianism warm response from physicians, the sive Party called for “a system of (which regarded the human body as a idea would suffer from political winds social insurance” to protect Ameri- balance of earth, air, fire and water).” set in motion by World War I. “All cans from sickness, unemploy- Meanwhile, advances in science things German became bad by asso- ment and old age. Two years later, and medical practice were reducing ciation,” says Osborne.

30 TERRA » SPRING 2017 SPRING 2017 » TERRA 31 As described in Almost Persuaded Science and the Sun King writing poetry, often the same Keep in mind, he adds, that by University of Wisconsin medical people. Science is one of these new disease and illness have been a part In 17th century France, the path historian Ronald Numbers, oppo- things that people get interested in.” of governance since colonial times. to understanding structure and nents to compulsory health insurance However, she adds, hard-won “Part of the social contract between function of the human body was seized on its German pedigree. In anatomical knowledge wouldn’t the powerful and the weak included paved with the tools of dissection. California, a campaign poster asked, lead to new medical treatments for protection from the consequences of In her book, The Courtiers’ Anato- “Made in Germany. Do you want it in many decades. Although science illness. In the colonies, local govern- mists (University of Chicago Press, California?” In 1918, that state’s voters revolutionized the understanding of ments were petitioned by citizens 2015), Anita Guerrini tells a story of turned it down in a referendum by bodily parts as a mechanical system, who had fallen into poverty or debt scientists who, with royal approval more than 70 percent. diseases were still considered imbal- because they suffered from disease.” and support, pursued knowledge of Before the United States entered ances in the “humors” of blood, Relief for the sick was a costly and anatomy by meticulously dismem- the war, some state medical societies phlegm and yellow and black bile. demanding enterprise involving bering animals, both living and supported compulsory insurance, but Physicians paid close attention to churches as well as government. dead, as well as human cadavers. eventually the idea also lost favor with the color and consistency of every- Not surprisingly, officials and “Under the cover of night,” she doctors. In 1921, the American Medical thing that came out of their patients’ elected representatives tried to limit writes, “the dead of Paris made their with these and other diseases in the Medical men wore masks to avoid the flu Association declared its opposition to bodies because it was their only health-care expenses for the poor as journey from the burial grounds to French empire. At the heart of this at U.S. Army Hospital No. 4 in Fort Porter, any form of “state medicine.” insight, other than the pulse, into well as for war veterans. Even after New York, during the 1918-19 ‘Spanish’ the places of dissection. In this era story are physicians trained by the what happened in the living body. the Revolution, the federal govern- Influenza pandemic. of recurrent plagues, their numbers Royal Navy, which ran colonies and Diet, bleeding, herbs and sleep were ment tried to avoid paying former never dwindled, and for three centu- tried to maintain health on ships vital to the physician’s tool kit. soldiers for illnesses that veterans ries from the 1530s, they did not lie and in port cities from France to the ters of Zika infection such as Brazil, “They still used bleeding as a claimed were a consequence of mili- quiet in their graves.” Caribbean, West Africa and South- where termination is not an option therapy, even if they knew that tary service. The stage for these investigations east Asia. Military physicians were even if the fetus is determined to there’s only a finite amount of blood “Illness was pervasive enough to had been set by William Harvey, the often on the front lines, as both have microcephaly, that just leaps in the body,” says Guerrini. “It works become subject to legislation in a English scientist whose dissections healers, patients and victims. out at us.” because it relieves some symptoms. If variety of domains — public health led him to the momentous discovery Health care in these places As of last spring, Zika had been you have a fever, bleeding can make regulations, poor laws, the law of of how blood circulates. That finding reflected the state of science as well found in Latin America, the Carib- the fever go away, at least for a while. household governance, and provi- was a game-changer, says Guerrini, as theories of how race and culture bean, the South Pacific, Southeast But the underlying theory of medi- sions for soldiers and their families,” but it was Paris, not London, that affected immunity. “The germ Asia and the United States (Florida cine was still conservative.” writes Mutschler. became the epicenter for what she theory of disease comes online in the and south Texas). Innovative preven- Previewing today’s debate about describes as justifiably “the most 1870s and 1880s. Robert Koch and tion measures include reducing Colonial Ills immigration, local colonial councils widespread and significant scientific Pasteur were lucky enough to find mosquitoes through the release of Before germ theory and other invoked residential status in decisions activity of the seventeenth century.” anthrax bacteria,” says Osborne. one that is bioengineered to cause a discoveries of the 19th and 20th to grant or withhold health-care Dissections were performed Later, advances in parasitology and population collapse, but such steps centuries, health and illness were assistance. Mutschler adds: “Fami- privately and for educational virology put an end to debates about carry risks. Removing one species separated by an invisible veil, which lies, towns, and commonwealths purposes, but those at the King’s whether malaria and yellow fever could open opportunities for others could be pierced at any time. That were asked to care for their own, Garden were open to the public by were separate illnesses or manifesta- to replace it. reality was no different across the which led to struggles over just who the king’s decree. “People would tions of a single disease. “The fear is that we could still Atlantic in colonial America. Ben rightfully belonged to these enti- come in. There’d be music; there “The big thing is the great flu have mosquitoes carrying Zika that Mutschler calls New England a ties and what, if anything, could be were tickets,” says the Horning pandemic at the end of World War I bite during the day, and you might “province of affliction,” referring allowed the ‘stranger’ or ‘foreigner’ Professor in the Humanities who has — ‘the great teacher,’ as it’s called have another reservoir of mosquitoes both to the region and to the state of in distress within local society.” also authored histories on animal in the literature of public health,” that bite at night. In terms of human social and political relations. experimentation and the environ- adds Osborne. epidemiology, it could be much Cover from a leaflet promoting the future For an upcoming book of that title, Military Medicine National Insurance Act in the United Kingdom ment. “And people would get kind Infectious diseases still chal- worse than it is now,” says Osborne. the associate professor of history In the 18th and 19th centuries, in 1911. (Source: Publication Department of of upset, especially the students, the lenge governments and health-care “So there are these imponderables.” delved into diaries, petitions, court trade and colonialism grew in the the Liberal Party) teenage surgical apprentices, many organizations. The Zika virus, for What’s clear from these historical records and pamphlets to under- face of epidemics that killed indig- of them 14- and 15-year-old boys. example, is carried by the same examples, however, is that stand how sickness influenced daily enous people and Europeans alike. There were riots. It was an intensely mosquito (Aedes aegypti) that government and health care will life. “The social and political costs Outbreaks of yellow fever, cholera, emotional experience.” spreads yellow and dengue fevers. remain closely entwined, no matter of illness radiated outward from the malaria and smallpox decimated The practice of dissection was “Think about the (lifetime) cost how the debate about compulsory afflicted to their families and towns and reshaped communities on one of many types of forays into a of caring for the babies born with insurance unfolds. and connected them, finally, to the every continent. blossoming world of science and art. microcephaly. It’s at least $1.5 highest levels of government,” says In his book, The Emergence “Science was part of general cultural million per child,” says Osborne. Mutschler, who specializes in colo- of Tropical Medicine in France activities,” says Guerrini. “People are “When we think about the cost of nial- and revolutionary-era America. (University of Chicago Press, 2014), going to the opera, reading novels, health care, especially in epicen- Michael Osborne has traced struggles

32 TERRA » SPRING 2017 SPRING(Photo: 2017 Tim» TERRA Marshall) 33 NEW TERRAIN // Science on the Horizon Science on the Horizon // NEW TERRAIN

Oregon State’s Earth Archive Drug Delivery System Targets Set to Double Tumors Sediments record natural history of the planet Low-oxygen zones trigger conversion to anti-cancer compound One of the nation’s most important repositories of ocean sedi- ment cores will more than double in size this year when Oregon Oregon State researchers State University assumes stewardship of a collection taken from in the College of Pharmacy the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. have developed an anti- With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), cancer-drug delivery system Oregon State will receive the Antarctic and Southern Ocean with the ability to exploit National Collection of Rock and Sediment Cores, which has been oxygen-poor areas of solid housed at Florida State University since the mid-1960s. tumors, which can be resis- NSF manages the U.S. Antarctic Program, whose logistical tant to standard chemotherapy and radiation treatment. support and awards to researchers allowed many of the cores to Carcinomas that affect the breast, lung, prostate and colon be obtained. are among such solid-tumor cancers, as are malignancies in the The OSU Marine and Geology Repository will be available to lymphatic system, known as lymphomas, and the much less scientists around the world to study the sediment cores, which common sarcomas that arise in connective tissue. provide evidence of the Earth’s climate over the past millions of These solid masses often contain hypoxic regions, where the years, oceanic conditions, the history of the magnetic field, plate concentration of oxygen in the tissue is low. Hypoxic cancer cells tectonics, seismic and volcanic events, ice ages and interglacial grow slowly, and that makes them less susceptible to the drugs periods and even the origin of life. prescribed to kill or damage them. “These cores are time capsules, allowing scientists today to “One reason these cancers become very aggressive is the compare the conditions on the Earth we live in with the way development of this hypoxia,” says Adam Alani, the study’s it was eons ago,” said Thom Wilch, Earth Sciences program lead author. manager at NSF. “This collection of cores and samples is an Alani and his colleagues found a way to turn the tables on incredible resource that has yielded many important scientific those cells using a “prodrug” loaded into nanostructured plat- findings about the past. Preservation and curation by OSU forms. A prodrug is a pharmacologically inactive compound that ensures that the cores are available for future research by the the body metabolizes into an active drug, in this case the cancer national and international scientific communities.” drug vinblastine. Sustainable Cemeteries Provided with the prodrug vinblastine-N-oxide by research partners at Cascade Prodrug Inc. of Eugene, OSU scientists The ultimate back-to-the-land movement developed two different lipid-based platform formulations known as liposomes to carry the prodrug to the tumor’s hypoxic Science has a long, sometimes troubled history with cemeteries. first such programs in the country. The lab combines training on regions. There, the lack of oxygen triggers its metabolic conver- In the early days of research into human anatomy, grave robbers management with research on the cemetery environment. sion to vinblastine. would exhume freshly buried bodies in the dead of night and Among projects underway is a study of soil chemistry. “A The Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute deliver them to labs and medical schools. In modern times, the cemetery is like a research grid with plots laid out at regular supported the research. Findings were published in the Journal of use of arsenic (banned since the early 1900s), formaldehyde intervals across the landscape,” says Stephen Clarke, a Ph.D. Controlled Release. and other chemicals in embalming fluids has raised pollution student who is conducting the work. Clarke is gathering soil concerns from decomposing human remains. samples at gravesites in cemeteries from willing families to see Water leaching through burial plots can carry contaminates how the soil has changed since it was disturbed. from medical waste, clothing and caskets as well as bodies, but Better understanding of how soil nutrients change after a Research in Brief Warming Could Threaten New Long-Term Arctic such soil water, known as leachate, is not monitored. disturbance can benefit farmers and gardeners, he says, anyone Cynthia Beal and Jay Noller aim to align cemetery manage- who grows plants. Coffee Production Research Program ment with the principles of sustainability. Beal is an instructor in “Cemeteries are an important public trust,” says Beal. Caring Low Chinook Salmon Forecast Java enthusiasts may love hot coffee, Oregon State University and five other the Oregon State University Department of Crop and Soil Science for them requires knowledge of soils, hydrology, horticulture, Fisheries managers have been predicting but they may feel differently about hot universities have received a five-year, and owner of two cemeteries (Oak Hill in Eugene and Rest Lawn historic preservation and pollution mitigation, not to mention a slightly below-average run of spring coffee plants. That’s because a study $5.6 million grant from the National Memorial Park in Junction City). The Sustainable Cemeteries business. The lab will conduct studies into these and other topics Chinook salmon on the Columbia River in the Oregon State College of Forestry Science Foundation to initiate a new Studies Laboratory that she and Noller — soil scientist, artist to guide long-term cemetery management. this year, but a recent report suggests suggests that when Coffea arabica plants Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) and department head — established at OSU in 2013 is among the that it may be worse. The lack of food were subjected to short-duration heat project in the Arctic. Studies in the for the salmon in 2015 may have waves, they became unable to produce Beaufort Sea Lagoons will explore how resulted in significant mortality that will flowers and fruit. That means no coffee relationships between the land and water show up in this year’s run of Columbia beans — and no coffee to drink. C. arabica affect coastal ecosystems along the River springers. is the globe’s dominant coffee-plant northern Alaskan coast. species, accounting for 65 percent of the commercial production of the nearly 20 billion pounds of coffee consumed glob- ally each year.

34 TERRA » SPRING 2017 SPRING 2017 » TERRA 35 STUDENT RESEARCH // Preparing for the Future Oregon State Partners with Industry // ADVANTAGE FOR BUSINESS

Star Pilot THE OREGON STATE Connects business with faculty expertise, student talent Student flies drones for research and world-class facilities, and helps bring ideas to market UNIVERSITY ADVANTAGE and launch companies. In 2016, Ben Lester, an Oregon State undergraduate from Port- demonstrate the potential for sensor-equipped planes to monitor land, became one of the first drone pilots certified by the Federal and inspect structures with precision, he mapped Reser Stadium. Aviation Administration in the state. On a sunny summer morning “It was so accurate that we could even see the curved surface of at Jerry Trimble Helicopters in McMinnville, he passed what is the football field,” he says. A New Way of Walking known as the Part 107 Remote Pilot Exam. Former OSU engineering assistant professor Dan Gillins asked Since then, the junior in the School of Electrical Engineering Lester to build a fixed-wing drone for a project funded by the A machine that strides like an animal and Computer Science has trained OSU students and faculty Bonneville Power Administration. The goal, says Lester, is to lower the cost of powerline inspections, which are now done researchers to comply with federal regulations. He has provided Last February, OSU President Ed Ray shared the spotlight at the by truck or helicopter. Equipped with four different cameras, advice on technology and flown drones to gather data on struc- Oregon Convention Center with a robot. Before more than 700 Lester’s drone will be able to fly for 90 minutes and cover more tures, forests and farm fields. For next summer, he is consid- people at the State of the University speech, a machine the size than 10 miles before refueling. ering several projects, including a study of gray whales off the of a small suitcase rose up on two legs and smoothly strode – However, with all their potential, drones are a means to an end coast of British Columbia by Complier Enterprise, a Corvallis- not rolled or lurched — across the stage. For a team of Oregon for Lester. “I want to do things that significantly impact people’s based startup company. State engineers, this simple maneuver represented more than lives in a positive way,” he says. “More than half the population Lester’s interest in drones, aka unmanned aerial systems a decade of research into the mechanics and control systems of the world doesn’t have the same standard of living that we do, (UAS), grew from a teenage fascination with hobby planes. “I that define one of the most basic of animal functions: the ability and there’s a lot we can do to change that.” started building and flying planes when I was in middle school, to walk. For example, drones can help produce more food through but I got bored with just flying them,” he says. The robot named Cassie was built in the Dynamic Robotics automated agriculture, he says. Then he saw a friend put a camera on a drone and fly it over Laboratory at Oregon State. Two of the lab’s engineers, Jonathan To achieve their potential, Lester is focusing more on sensors mountainous terrain. “I knew I wanted to do that,” he adds. Hurst and Mikhail Jones, partnered with Damion Shelton, a grad- and data analysis than on flying hardware. “Data is the next Lester was attending Clark College in Vancouver, Washington, uate school colleague of Hurst’s at Carnegie Mellon University, to barrier,” he says. “We are collecting huge amounts of data. What when he met Mark Peters at a UAS industry conference. As create a company to commercialize Cassie: Agility Robotics. are we doing with it? If you have hours of powerline footage, OSU’s interim director of research integrity, Peters makes sure “My goal, since Day One, has been to understand legged loco- where do you choose to look?” researchers comply with state and federal laws. “This student motion and get it out into the world,” says Hurst. “When I was in Through his research and outreach, Lester shows the poten- came up to me and said he was transferring to OSU. He asked if graduate school, there weren’t a lot of jobs in that field. We knew tial of the Student Success Initiative announced last February by there were any opportunities for him to work on UAS at Oregon that when the technology was ready, we’d start a company.” OSU President Ed Ray. This summer, June 26-29, Oregon K-12 State,” says Peters. The only firm in the world that manufactures a biodynamically teachers and industry representatives will see the benefit as well. As an intern in the Research Office, Lester built drones and realistic two-legged robot, Agility Robotics opened its doors in Lester is organizing drone week at OSU. dove into the quickly evolving laws regulating their use. To Albany last fall. Within three months, the firm sold machines to researchers at the University of Michigan, Caltech and a lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “When we were thinking about starting a business,” says Hurst, “my years as a professor were of no help at all. I didn’t know the terminology or the first thing about it. It is very impor- tant to have people who can help us understand how to do this and provide basic advice.” The engineers found that help at the Oregon State University Advantage Accelerator. “It was important that they focus their product on what it does best,” says Mark Lieberman, director With most of its parts machined in Corvallis and Albany, the of the accelerator. “In this case, it’s about getting from here to world’s most advanced walking machine shares a Made-in- there as efficiently as possible, not about turning door knobs.” Oregon pedigree with products such as hazelnuts, Douglas-fir Agility Robotics, says Hurst, has a simple and straightforward lumber and inkjet printers. mission: to implement mobility for intelligent machines. On the By achieving an efficient and elegant solution to a basic basis of previous research results at OSU, the company received need, adds Karl Mundorff, accelerator director, Cassie will help funding from the Willamette Angel Conference, the Oregon researchers realize other benefits. “This will help people get jobs Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute (ONAMI) and a done that the market hasn’t even envisioned yet.” venture capital firm.

To discover what the Oregon State University Advantage and the Advantage Accelerator program can do for your business, contact Brian Wall, assistant vice president for research, commercialization and industry partnering, 541-737-9058, [email protected]. oregonstate.edu/advantage Photo: Jen Pywell

36 TERRA » SPRING 2017 SPRING 2017 » TERRA 37 NON-PROFIT ORG US POSTAGE PAID CORVALLIS OR Terra PERMIT NO. 200 102 Adams Hall Oregon State University Corvallis, OR 97331

In 2003, the B&B Complex Fire swept through 91,000 acres of Douglas fir, western hemlock and ponderosa and lodgepole pine forests near Santiam Pass in the Cascades. In 2010, trees killed by the fire stand in the shadow of Three Fingered Jack, an eroded volcano. See “Living with Fire,“ Page 6. (Photo: Derek Houtman)