Terra

Remember middle school? No stress, right? Psychologist Jennifer Connor-Smith knows firsthand how difficult that transition can be. She and her students are looking at how personality helps or hinders teens’ ability to deal with the crisis of the day.

Undergraduate researchers Janelle Quest and Kathryn Cellerini have been working shoulder-to-shoulder with their professor Jennifer Connor-Smith to identify and isolate the factors that influence adolescent stress management.

Taking a vitamin E supplement? There’s more to it than just popping a pill. Maret Traber of OSU’s Linus Pauling Institute is revealing E’s secrets, including its cozy partnerships with vitamin C and fat.

Passengers on OSU’s 2006 Gray Whale Expedition to Baja came from places as far-flung as Ypsilanti, North Dakota; Oakland, Iowa; and Tucson, Arizona. Most, however, live in Oregon. Here are a few impressions from San Ignacio Lagoon.

“When we imagine that mother whales love their calves, or that juvenile sea lions just wanna have fun, maybe we’re sensing our common origins in an evolutionary past.”

“I’ve been fortunate to work with a group of cetacean scientists for five years and have seen quite a few mysteries explained, but each explanation gives instant rise to at least one new question, and usually more. That’s one of the greatest frustrations, and the greatest pleasures, of working in a scientific field.”