IMPACT

See how OSU's Honors College gives science majors added access to research, mentorship and a tight-knit academic community.

Every summer, Oregon State’s Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) in the College of Science empowers students to turn curiosity into discovery, and in many cases, personal experiences into purpose. For Ashley Tran, it was finding a sense of belonging in a lab led by women of color.

For Jordan Indrawan, SURE meant channeling his own battle with cancer into studying the proteins linked to the disease.

Audrey Bivens combined lab work, language immersion, and cultural exploration in Spain, gaining hands-on experience in crystallography while building confidence and career skills.

Wine science changed Emily Kaneshiro’s life. From riding bikes in the Netherlands to landing a summer internship at a small, family-owned winery in France’s Loire Valley, she fell in love with fermentation science

For billions of years, all life on Earth, from tadpoles to humans, have relied on the same 20 amino acids to build proteins — the fundamental building blocks of life. But what if that list of fundamental amino acids was expanded to include any chemical ability of our choosing? What new potential could be unlocked?

Six years ago, Bereket Berhanu arrived in the United States knowing two words in English: ‘No’ and ‘Yes.’ This June, Berhanu will be graduating with a major in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, along with two minors.

Like many college students, Lexie Swisher confronted a difficult choice concerning her time: find
a job on campus to afford rent or participate in undergraduate research. Thanks to an unwavering commitment made by college leadership and generous donors, Swisher secured financial support from Launching Undergraduate Research Experiences, or LURE, a groundbreaking program that pays students while they gain invaluable research experiences during the academic year.

Being a Beaver has stretched Ebunoluwa Morakinyo to develop her passions inside and outside of the lab. A senior honors biochemistry and molecular biology student at Oregon State, her time on campus has included celebrating her culture while looking forward to a career dedicated to helping others.

Giulia Wood’s summer activities — or, in her case, winter — have included polar plunges into the Southern Ocean, listening to cracking glaciers and conducting research on Antarctic krill.