Visiting Scientists at HMSC
Welcome to the OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Oregon, where our mission of research, education and outreach in marine sciences through collaborative partnerships includes 
professional colleagues from a variety of disciplines. Our unique assets, including interdisciplinary, inter-agency research programs, high quality seawater facilities and access to the Pacific Ocean and coast, allow us to offer world-class facilities and collaborative opportunities to interested researchers. Visiting scientists engage in a variety of ways, from sabbatical and other long-term collaborative visits (see the Lavern Weber Visiting Scientists below), to presenting at our weekly research seminar, participating in workshops and conducting experimental research using our wet and dry labs. Please have a look around, and feel free to contact us via email or 541-867-0234 for more information.
Dr. George Boehlert, Director, OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center
Meet the Lavern Weber Visiting Scientists
HMSC's 2011 Lavern Weber Visiting Scientist Professor Fred Allendorf collaborated with HMSC genetic researchers, including Michael Banks, Scott Baker, and Kathleen O'Malley during his three-month tenure at HMSC. Professor Allendorf gave four research seminars and a public talk, and mentored and taught a number of graduate students. His collaboration with HMSC's Professor O'Malley ultimately resulted in a submitted proposal.
Professor Allendorf, who has spent his career studying conservation through the lens of evolutionary processes, brought evolution to life for the HMSC Community. In honor of Darwin's birthday, he presented a talk for the public entitled "Evolution Today: Return of the Bed Bugs", focusing on genetic approaches to the study of evolution and using the recent resurgence of bed bugs, and the genetic effects of harvesting exploited fish populations as examples. Professor Allendorf pointed out that bed bugs "have evolved over time" to develop resistance to many of the chemicals previously used to try to control them. He also talked about how preferential harvest of larger and older fish can have a harmful effect on species, such as salmon, by the process of natural selection. "If you understand genetic and evolutionary principles, you can apply them to anything," he said.
Professor Allendorf is the co-author of numerous publications including Conservation and the Genetics of Populations, which examines genetic variation in natural populations, the principles and mechanisms of evolutionary change, and how it applies to conservation issues, methods, and management. "Evolution is not just about understanding the past," notes Allendorf. "It's also about influencing our future."
For more about Professor Fred Allendorf and his research, please see his faculty web page.
Noted Arizona State University Chemistry Professor George Robert (Bob) Pettit spent a month in residence at the OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center in Fall of 2009, collaborating with researchers from various departments on the potential development of a marine drug and biodiscovery unit at Oregon State University. An accomplished scientist with dozens of books and hundreds of published papers over his 50-year career, Professor Pettit has been recognized internationally for his pioneering work in the discovery and development of anticancer drugs derived from natural sources. Nine of those drugs are now in human cancer clinical trials, including one that originated from a shell-less mollusk discovered in the Indian Ocean and is now nearing FDA approval for use in combating cancer.
Professor Pettit visited the Hatfield Center as a Distinguished Lecturer in October 2006, speaking on the topic of medicines from the sea, and OSU faculty subsequently explored the idea of establishing a marine drug and discovery unit that would tap the expertise of faculty in the College of Pharmacy, Department of Chemistry, and other departments. Professor Pettit presented a public lecture, "From marine organism constituents to human cancer clinical trials," where he traced the development of cancer-treating drugs from their natural origins in the sea to current applications in medicine.
For more information on Professor Pettit and his research, please see his faculty web page.
In July 2007, the HMSC welcomed Professor Gordon H. Kruse from the University of Alaska Fairbanks as the first visiting scientist under the newly endowed program. While at HMSC, Professor Kruse investigated the relationship between English sole larval abundance and availability of prey, and how this dynamic affects recruitment success for this important North Pacific fish species. He engaged in collaborative research with OSU, ODFW, and NOAA Fisheries researchers at HMSC and completed several manuscripts during his 6-month stay.
As a Lavern Weber Visiting Scientist, Professor Kruse also shared his extensive knowledge of fisheries biology and resource management with students in two OSU Fisheries and Wildlife courses during the fall term. He presented three guest lectures and led a computer lab in which the students conducted their very first stock assessment using the "catch-survey analysis" procedure currently used to manage some crab fisheries in Alaska. In addition to presenting scientific seminars at HMSC and on the main OSU campus in Corvallis, Professor Kruse delivered a presentation for the public addressing the question of how climate change impacts fisheries of the North Pacific.
For more about Professor Kruse and his research, please see his faculty web page.
