Park Blocks: A Science Center that Represents PSU's Diverse Campus

A science center that reflects PSU's Diverse Campus

The brutalist-style fortress that is Science Building 1 has long been a sore sight on Portland State’s campus. So much so that a group of alumni from the Class of ’69 Biology Club—among the first students to move into the then-new building—recently reunited and shared that it was as uninviting and oppressive back then as it is today. One even joked that it was brutal to its core.

Beginning this fall, the 55-year-old concrete building is set to undergo a dramatic renovation into the Vernier Science Center, a warm, welcoming, dynamic place for science teaching, learning, and collaboration, where all students feel like they belong and can see a future for themselves in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields.

“We see this as an opportunity to ensure our buildings expressly reflect our present and current values,” said Todd Rosenstiel, dean of PSU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and a biology professor.

Gone will be the dimly lit hallways and outdated classrooms and labs. In their place will be light-filled spaces featuring wood and colors inspired by nature, state-of-the-art teaching labs, study nooks with views of native plants, and perhaps most importantly, a hub of culturally informed spaces designed to support students from groups that have historically been excluded from STEM fields.

PSU is home to Oregon’s most diverse STEM student population—at least half identify as Black, Indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC)—so it was only fitting that the design process center their voices.

An advisory council made up of students of color—including those who identify as LGBTQIA+ and disabled—offered critical insights during meetings with Bora Architects and campus planners. Indigenous faculty and students advised the project team on incorporating Indigenous perspectives into the design. And, as part of a series of dialogue sessions, more than two dozen BIPOC faculty, staff, alumni, and community members shared stories and insights into how built environments and campus spaces shaped their own educational journeys and college experiences for better or worse.

The architects listened. The building design that emerged supports the need students have to see themselves and their cultures represented and supported in the space. “The most important thing is to provide ways to support and give these students an environment where they can actually thrive,” said Michael Tingley, principal at Bora Architects.

On the entry level, the building will extend outward, creating space for study areas, gathering spaces, and family lounges along the perimeter. Outside, there will be a ring of deep planters filled with native species, which will help to soften the building, connect students to nature, and provide a buffer from the gazes of passersby. The plants will also serve as a teaching resource for Indigenous Nations Studies and biology classes.

The second floor will house the STEM Equity Hub, a suite of program-specific and shared spaces that provide critical support and activities for students from historically excluded and underrepresented groups in STEM. A career center will connect students with paid internships, undergraduate research experiences, and one-on-one support with career navigators. The suite will also house an Indigenous kitchen and classroom, gathering area, and Indigenous library that supports an expanded curriculum and practice of Indigenous Traditional Ecological & Cultural Knowledge (ITECK) at PSU. To learn how you can support this project, contact the PSU Foundation at (503) 725-3526.

From wooden spools to pickathon stage

After a two-year hiatus, music once again filled the air this August at the beloved Pickathon music festival in Happy Valley, Oregon. And as in years past, PSU architecture students got the chance to hone their skills and creativity by designing and building a temporary performance venue almost entirely from repurposed materials.

The resulting Cherry Hill stage, one of eight venues at the festival, was constructed from more than 175 giant wooden cable reels borrowed from Portland General Electric work yards around the Portland metro area. A team of four graduate students from the School of Architecture artfully stacked the large spool-like shapes to form two towers rising 21 feet above the earth, with smaller structures popping up nearby. Bamboo cladding along the interior enclosures added a textile-like surface.

“We were influenced by the idea of how both bamboo and mushrooms are connected underground through a complex root system, and how they seek voids in the surface to pop up vertically from the earth,” said graduate architecture student Daniel Athay. “We’ve been thinking of these structures as echoing the behavior of mushroom clusters, organically occupying the landscape.”

The form was designed to encourage exploration, said Athay. “People are going to be able to walk under it, through it, and really engage with it, seeing it from a variety of angles.”

This year’s project continues the school’s “diversion design-build” tradition of repurposing materials from other uses to create an innovative, sustainable, zero-waste performance environment at the Pickathon festival. After the festival, materials are returned to their original purpose or given new life elsewhere.

Over the course of the three-day festival, the stage served as backdrop to 18 musical acts, including indie rockers Built to Spill and Wu-Tang founding member GZA. —KAREN O’DONNELL STEIN

On the front lines of climate change

As the effects of climate change are felt more widely and regularly, Portland State University alumni and faculty are leading research into the driving forces and future impacts of a warming planet.

Under pressure

Last year's record-breaking heatwave, recent droughts, and the 2020 Labor Day megafires that swept across Oregon and Washington share a contributing factor: atmospheric ridges, elongated regions of high pressure typically associated with warm, dry conditions. And their effects may be growing more severe. To study key drivers of atmospheric ridges and how they will be affected by a warming climate, researchers from Portland State and Washington State University Vancouver (WSUV) are teaming up, thanks to a grant from the National Science Foundation. In a recent study published in the Journal of Climate, Paul Loikith, associate professor of geography and director of PSU’s Climate Science Lab, and Deepti Singh, director of WSUV’s Climate Extremes and Societal Impacts Lab, found that while ridges that produce heat waves won’t necessarily become more common over the Pacific Northwest in the future, when ridges do occur, the weather associated with them will be warmer. The project’s findings will inform climate planning and adaptation measures. —CRISTINA ROJAS

Seasons change

Nearly 200 years ago, schools across New York set out to collect data on the state’s climate by recording temperature measurements and observations: when the robins were first seen, when the red maples bloomed, when the wheat harvest began. The data helped farmers plan for the local growing season. Two centuries later, a Portland State alum is using that same data to shed light on the effects of climate change on our seasons. Kerissa Fuccillo Battle PhD ’18 led a multidisciplinary team to compare the historical dataset with similarly collected data across New York from 2009 to 2017. The group’s findings, published in the Journal of Ecology, showed that the majority of the 36 plants analyzed flowered and leafed out earlier than in the centuries past. The effects were even more pronounced in urban areas. The accelerated timing poses risks for some species’ survival, Battle said, and can create a cascade of negative impacts for bees and organisms that rely on them. But knowing which species are more at risk can help inform conservation efforts. Interested in helping track our changing seasons? Create your own Nature's Notebook online. —CRISTINA ROJAS

Mapping a forest's recovery

Thanks to climate change, high-elevation forests in the Pacific Northwest are burning more frequently and expansively than in the recent past, leaving heavily scarred landscapes. Some experts question whether they can recover without human intervention. But according to a new study by PSU researchers, it may not always be necessary—or even wise—for humans to step in. The research, which was published in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, examined the role of “fire refugia,” green islands of living trees that remain after a forest fire, in forest regeneration following large, severe fires in the High Cascade mountains. Using a combination of satellite imaging and field work, the researchers were able to determine how different characteristics of fire refugi —including tree species, age, and local climate—affected their ability to regenerate the surrounding forestland. The results can help determine when human intervention in the form of tree replanting is warranted, where replanting efforts should be targeted, and what species should be prioritized. This is important to know since replanting can be expensive and overstocked forests, particularly those stocked with tree species that are available in nurseries, can reduce habitat quality or pose a future fire hazard. —SUMMER ALLEN

International accolades

Portland State University's alumni magazine and the PSU Foundation were recognized with three Circle of Excellence Awards in an annual competition showcasing outstanding work in educational advancement from institutions around the world. Portland State Magazine won a gold award in the long-form news writing/features category for the 75th anniversary feature “Pieces of History.” The spring 2021 cover feature took a new look at the university’s past through the stories of 21 artifacts. The magazine also received a bronze award for alumni magazines printed twice a year. The PSU Foundation won its own bronze award in the publication design category for its 2022 Campaign Impact Report, a printed report celebrating the successful completion of the university’s first-ever comprehensive campaign, which raised $300 million for students, faculty, and programs.

The peer-selected Circle of Excellence Awards are awarded by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and are the premier recognition program for educational advancement. In 2022, CASE received more than 4,500 entries from 636 institutions in nearly 30 countries. Of those, volunteer judges selected 626 exemplary entries for bronze, silver, gold, or Grand Gold recognition.

Welcoming indigenous students to PSU

Breaking down barriers to higher education is what Portland State has been known for since Day One. In recent months that effort has included creating new opportunities for Native American students, both locally and nationwide.

In May, Oregon’s Higher Education Coordinating Committee established the Oregon Tribal Grant program, which will cover college-related expenses during the 2022-23 academic year for eligible students who are enrolled members of Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes. The grant, proposed by Gov. Kate Brown and approved by the Oregon Legislature can be applied to undergraduate or graduate study at Oregon public colleges and universities.

That was great news for Portland State, which is actively developing services and support for Tribal students. And in July, PSU followed up with an announcement of its own: Beginning with the fall 2022 academic term, enrolled, degree-seeking undergraduate students who are registered members of a federally recognized tribe will qualify to pay the equivalent of in-state tuition rates. That means Native American students from anywhere in the country can attend PSU at the lower in-state rates.

“These opportunities are some of the steps needed in developing good relationships with the tribes whose ancestral territory the state of Oregon currently occupies,” said Trevino Brings Plenty, coordinator of Native American student services at Portland State. “I look forward to the incoming Indigenous scholars this program will help fund toward degree completion.”

Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes include: the Burns Paiute Tribe; Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians; Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde; Confederated Tribes of Siletz; Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation; Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Coquille Indian Tribe; Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians; and the Klamath Tribe.—CHRISTINA WILLIAMS

A better Naito is here to stay

What started as a Portland State University capstone project has turned into a new way of moving traffic along the Portland waterfront.

The Better Naito project is the brainchild of Gwen Shaw ’15, who graduated with a degree in civil engineering. At the time, she was looking for a way to create a shared space in the city for pedestrians, bikes, and cars alike. Shaw—who now works as a traffic engineer—says she was first inspired by a pedestrian space outside a local donut shop facilitated by advocacy group Better Block PDX in 2014. After consulting with the group, Shaw decided to select the Naito Parkway as her capstone project. She proposed repurposing one northbound lane of the parkway into dedicated space for bikes and pedestrians. She felt urged to take her design from concept to reality after seeing images of the Cinco de Mayo festival on the Waterfront. “The festival fence was all the way to the curb line, a mom was pushing a stroller in the bike lane, and bikes were shoved between cars in the travel lane,” she recalls. “It was crowded and unsafe.”

She and her capstone team proposed a demonstration. To her surprise, the Portland Bureau of Transportation quickly and enthusiastically responded.

Sixteen days later, Shaw and her capstone team began installing the design at 4 a.m. In the years since, the demonstration project has grown and transformed into a permanent installation. In May, the city held a formal ribbon cutting to celebrate Better Naito as it exists today. —KATY SWORDFISK

Mystery pup

A spring clean-out of the Simon Benson Alumni House uncovered a mysterious mutt (shown above) with alumni roots. Stitched together with thickfelted wool in Portland State colors, this vintage wiener dog sports a prominent “V” on each ear—likely for Vanport College—dating this particular stuffy back to the 1950s. Vanport College Extension Center was founded in 1946 and kept Vanport in its name until becoming Portland State College in 1955. The plush pup appears in a similar style to other popular college souvenirs of the era, though no one knows its exact origins. Legends say the pup held court in the Simon Benson Alumni House for years and was passed around between alumni board members as a good luck charm. If any alumni know the origins of the 70-year-old dog, or if you have any memories with it, please let our alumni team know. —REBECCA OLSON

Fiddler on the bridge

In early February, the Portland Winter Light Festival returns to the city. And this time, attendees will be treated to a magical, ephemeral experience of music in a most unexpected location. Visitors to PSU’s Urban Plaza will be able to look up from the street to see (and hear) a giant color video projection of acclaimed violinist Tomás Cotik, professor of violin at the School of Music & Theater, playing selections by Bach, Telemann, Piazzolla, and Tárrega.

The project, which runs Feb. 3-5, is titled “Ombra Musici II” (“musician’s shadow” in Italian), and is the result of a collaboration between Cotik and Dave Colangelo, a professor of digital creation and communication at Ryerson University. The team received a National Endowment for the Arts grant to produce the project, which expands on “Ombra Musici,” presented at the 2019 Portland Winter Light Festival (pictured right), where moving silhouettes of musicians were projected onto the PSU Library facade.

“Life has been radically altered by the effects of the pandemic,” says Cotik, who notes that, while arts activities in particular were halted during COVID-19, the human need for catharsis, comfort, and entertainment only grew. With this project, Cotik aims to surprise and delight viewers with a performance of classical music that can be experienced alone or in communion with other festival-goers—offering a moment of beauty and solace at the darkest time of winter. —KAREN O’DONNELL STEIN