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Elijah Foster

By Halle Sheppard, CLA Student Writer - August 27, 2025

You never know when one day, one moment, can change the trajectory of your whole life. For Elijah Foster, ‘25, that day came unexpectedly, and in the pouring Oregon rain. On a road trip along the Oregon coast, Foster decided to stop by Thor’s Well, a popular sea cave near Yachats, and explore the attraction on foot. That is, until the rain started. As Foster was sprinting back to his rental car to escape the downpour, he was stopped by an Oregon State Park volunteer with the Whale Watching Spoken Here program, asking him if he had seen the whale.

Raised in the suburbs of Chicago and at the time living in Arizona, his first reaction was shock. “There are whales here?” Foster remembers asking excitedly. As he turned back to face the ocean, he saw it.

“It was so teeny and so far away, but that was the first wild whale I ever saw. It was so exciting for me. I  asked this poor volunteer every question I could think of, and once I got back to my car, I cried.”

In a blink and you miss it moment, Foster had seen the tiny blow of a gray whale, miles off shore as it traveled south on its long migration towards breeding grounds in Baja California Sur, barely visible through the haze. But, it was enough.

“That whale changed my life,” Foster explained and, with the volunteer’s encouragement, he began to pursue his interest in whales.

Now a graduate of the College of Liberal Arts’ marine studies program, Foster’s journey was anything but straightforward. “I was one of those people who thought I’d never go back to college,” he explained. Fresh out of high school and wanting to flee the freezing Chicago winters, he enrolled at Arizona State University to study supply chain management. By his second semester though, he had dropped out. “I just didn’t care. I knew that it wasn’t the right fit for me,” he explained.

He stuck around Phoenix, Arizona, working in architecture for several years, when he eventually had the opportunity to visit Oregon. That’s when he saw the gray whale in the distance.

After that moment of inspiration and slowly getting involved with whale related volunteer work, Foster soon began hoping for a career working with the charismatic megafauna. It was only after the discovery of the marine studies program, though, that he finally decided to return to school. Afraid of going into a “hard” science program with rigorous math and science requirements, the marine studies program provided a humanities and social sciences-based curriculum. “I don’t have to do math or chemistry, just a lot of writing intensive courses? Sign me up, I can do this.”

“Almost everyone I talked to in marine studies had the same story,” explained Foster. “They loved everything about the ocean and coastal environments, but didn’t want to spend their time studying organic chemistry. I don’t think I would have done college again if not for the marine studies program.”

After Foster enrolled, everything changed from there. A childhood obsession with killer whales grew into a determination to dedicate his life to understanding and protecting them.

Foster expressed his love for the degree, as he could forge his own path and play to his strengths. “It’s the best program for people who want to connect with the ocean.” While challenging, he expressed how this career path is “what I want to do more than anything.”

Enrolling in the marine studies program also proved a point of personal growth. It made him realize that he could push himself and do scary things that he would have never dreamed of doing before.

Foster gained confidence in his own unique strengths, including overcoming his own social anxieties. “Myself 10 years ago would be like, you want a job with people? No!” Through the marine studies program though, he has grown immensely, even quitting his previous comfortable yet isolated remote job to share his love of whales with people.

Ocean11, a marine science club at OSU, hosted an Oregon State Parks employee who suggested Foster volunteer on the coast during the annual Whale Watch Week event in the spring. “That gave me the first steps into talking to people about whales.” Alongside his studies in Corvallis and at the Hatfield campus in Newport, Foster volunteered by manning the Depoe Bay Whale Watch Center, just north of Newport, to look for migrating gray whales up and down the Oregon coast. 

His past experiences also aided his work at Hatfield. Before deciding to go to Arizona State University, Foster played the euphonium and was originally supposed to go into professional music, though he hated performing. At Hatfield, he became involved in a study cataloguing the songs of bowhead whales. “My music training really helped me with that,” he explained, as he was able to draw from his own musical talents and training to analyze whale songs.

All of this passion and volunteering has led him to an internship at the Orca Behavior Institute located on Washington’s San Juan Islands. As an intern, Foster joins researchers out on the water almost daily, taking behavioral observations of killer whales who frequent the area. Foster is learning a great deal about whale tracking and Washington’s fantastic infrastructure for identification, but desires to return to Oregon soon.

“There’s work to be done in Oregon, I miss my Oregon whales, and my Oregon people.” Foster’s plan for his return is to bring this infrastructure back to Oregon and continue to build it up and continue researching these amazing creatures.

“Teaching people how to see whales” is his goal, and he expressed that “what brings me the greatest joy is helping people see whales for the first time.” Foster hopes to inspire more people to care about whales, and why they must be conserved.

For Foster, though the road was windy and took years to get to, he is finally where he belongs: working to understand and protect whales so that future generations may still observe these incredible giants.

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Katie Livermore

By Taylor Pedersen, CLA Student Writer - September 9, 2025

Katie Livermore has worn many hats during her time at Oregon State University—student, reporter, editor, intern, international studies scholar, and soon, a researcher and student abroad. But at the heart of it all is one guiding force: her desire to tell human stories that might otherwise go unheard.

Livermore, a senior double majoring in international studies and creative writing with a minor in applied journalism, is spending her final term this fall in Spain, where she’ll complete her international studies degree. She’ll graduate in December, but her impact is already resonating beyond campus borders, especially through her ambitious thesis project on the human toll of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“When the war started," Livermore said, "I was in a Shakespeare class. I remember seeing the news and just being overwhelmed. I started watching and reading the news every day. I felt a connection to the Ukrainians I saw on the screen. That’s when I knew I wanted to report on it.”

"I'm a fifth generation Ukrainian," continued Livermore. "My mom, aunt, and uncle have kept Ukrainian culture alive and in my family over the years, through decorations, food, and love. I am grateful for their work in keeping tradition alive and hopes to do the same."

Her reporting journey began earlier, when she joined The Daily Barometer in her sophomore year. She quickly became the campus editor and later editor in chief, diving into a wide array of stories from protest coverage to deep-dive features. “I took on anything I could,” she said. “I wanted to explore every kind of story, every voice. That curiosity never left me.”

But her reporting turned more personal after she came across a postcard left on her newsroom desk. One from Corvallis’s Sister City Association, which partners with the Ukrainian town of Uzhhorod. The sender’s name? Alice. The same as Livermore’s grandmother, who was born into a Canadian-Ukrainian community in Lamont, Alberta. She took it as a sign.

“I called the number on the card and ended up at the home of Alice and Mark Rampton, who introduced me to an entire network of Ukrainian community members, activists, and refugees,” Livermore recalled. “From there, there was a network of people, each inspiring story leading to another.”

Those early conversations became the foundation of her thesis, a long-form journalistic work guided by none other than Chris Johns, ‘74, former editor in chief of National Geographic and renowned photographer. Their partnership began with a spontaneous email from Livermore. 

“I told him I admired his work and wanted to document Ukrainian voices. He replied within an hour,” she said, still amazed. “Since then, we’ve met weekly on Zoom. He’s been an incredible mentor.”

For nearly two years, Livermore has been interviewing dozens of people impacted by the war: Ukrainians, Russians, internally displaced persons, immigrants, and aid workers. Some through translated Facebook calls and messages, others via community connections in Corvallis and Portland. One woman’s story became the centerpiece of her thesis, the kind of narrative she believes can bring distant suffering closer to home.

“I try to ask questions that really put readers in the moment,” Livermore said. “What were you wearing that day? What did the dinner you were making smell like? How many people were there? That kind of sensory detail helps people empathize–even if they’ve never experienced war.”

That empathy-driven approach defines all her reporting, from her internship at The Bulletin in Bend to her work with The Immigrant Story, a Portland-based nonprofit where she profiles displaced individuals from around the world. It also shapes how she engages with sources; carefully building trust, checking in long after interviews end, and being vulnerable herself.

“There have been times when I’ve cried with someone during an interview,” she said. “It’s just what happens when you create a space where people feel safe to share what’s often the most painful part of their lives.”

This past summer, Livermore traveled to Lamont to document her grandmother’s past life, tracing back to her Ukrainian roots. She visited the farm her great-grandparents first moved into when they arrived in Ukraine and photograph locations her grandmother wrote about in her diary entries. 

"I had the opportunity to walk in the same places my grandma once did in her Ukrainian community. It was the most incredible trip, and I feel more connected to her and my culture."

Studying abroad in Spain this fall will be more than a capstone to her degree; it’s a continuation of her commitment to cross-cultural storytelling. After reporting in Spanish last summer on a GED program for migrant farmworkers in Madras, Oregon, she’s excited to deepen her language skills and explore immigration law and policy from an alternate perspective.

“I’ve studied Spanish since middle school, and I’d love to be able to report in Spanish more fluently,” she said. “Especially in Oregon, Spanish-speaking communities are often underrepresented in journalism.”

Livermore’s academic path, an unusual mix of initially zoology, then creative writing, and international studies, has finally found its focus. “I originally wanted to be a science writer,” she said with a laugh. “But I kept being drawn back to human stories, especially global ones. Now I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

Looking ahead, she envisions a future in both local and international journalism, maybe starting with a community paper, or maybe law school down the road. New York is calling. So is Ukraine. She’s currently volunteering for a Ukrainian organization in Portland and hopes to one day publish her thesis project as a book. 

“I want people to feel something when they read these stories,” she said. “Maybe they’ll donate. Maybe they’ll volunteer. Or maybe they’ll just better understand what it means to lose your home, your country, and still fight for hope.”

Even if the world sometimes feels too big to change, Livermore remains undeterred.

“Even if it’s just one piece of journalism,” she said. “But if enough of us keep telling these stories—truthfully, empathetically, it can get pretty loud.” And Livermore has never been afraid to raise her voice.

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Ash Estevan | Credit: Robin Weis 

By Ellie Webb-Bowen, CLA Student Writer - August 27, 2025

Ashley “Ash” Estevan, ‘24, started her higher education journey at South Texas College (STC), in McAllen, where she acquired an associate of arts in graphic design. After two years, she then transferred to Oregon State University, where she initially was undeclared before deciding on a major in creative writing with an applied journalism minor. 

Estevan's childhood was spent growing up in Pharr, Texas, a strong Latino community in the Rio Grande Valley a mere five miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. Estevan would cross it “near daily” to visit friends and family. Estevan’s parents immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico, and Texas’s Rio Grande Valley has a 90 percent Latino population, leaving Estevan to grow up “very immersed” in the culture.

Estevan didn’t have any plans to go to college, but her parents spoke highly of earning a degree. After immigrating, Estevan’s father attended OSU via the EOP program and graduated in 1997 with a geography degree before settling down in South Texas.

“I wanted to go into a creative field,” explained Estevan, “but I was worried about the job prospects after graduating. I also felt guilty about going into something like writing, while my parents sacrificed so much as immigrants.”

Estevan transferred to OSU in fall 2020, after receiving her A.A. from STC, in part motivated to return to Corvallis, where she spent a few years as a toddler while her father was in school and her mother worked in multicultural affairs.

Upon moving to Corvallis, Estevan remarked that she “never felt more in a foreign place.” Living on her own for the first time outside of South Texas, the environmental, cultural, and societal unfamiliarities made for a challenging transition, in addition to being a transfer student. Furthermore, the COVID-19 Pandemic was just beginning, which meant that Estevan would be isolated in her room taking classes entirely online. 

The pandemic was both a blessing and a curse for Estevan. She was able to adapt to her new surroundings at her own pace thanks to the online format of her studies, “in hindsight, it was a good buffer,” she said. Her love of writing was what helped her want to jump into the newness headfirst. Estevan’s excitement towards journalism is what allowed her to overcome the hardships that COVID-19 had brought. “I was thrilled to be able to utilize my skills in a focused field of study."

Growing up on the U.S.-Mexico border, Estevan was immersed in narratives about immigration policy and border safety.  She recognized recurring themes in mainstream news outlets: the spread of misinformation and disinformation about the border and about the communities and types of people coming in. “I took charge and wanted to be a voice of truth and wisdom, which really motivated my pursuit of journalism to help others.” 

With the completion of her undergraduate degree in creative writing, with a minor in applied journalism, Estevan transitioned to the School of Communication’s master's program, with a focus on new media. Estevan’s research looks at how misinformation spreads extensively throughout media outlets and to the public today. Therefore, artificial intelligence will become a big component of her study. 

While at OSU, Estevan is a reporter for The Daily Barometer and the George P. Griffis Publishing Intern at OSU Press, where she is the assistant to the acquisitions editor. Estevan helps with proofreading, manuscript formatting, design, and marketing for the publication house. 

“Working at OSU Press has been an amazing experience,” said Estevan. “Being part of the process and seeing how books go from initial pitches to published pieces has been enlightening.”

Estevan has aspirations to pursue her Ph.D., as well as to go straight into investigative journalism. “To be in the industry is a dream, and to continue my academic pursuits is top of my list.” 

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Sydney Wisner

By Colin Bowyer, Communications Manager - August 13, 2025

Where did you grow up and when did you begin to realize that you had a knack for graphic design?

I was born and raised in Portland, OR. My mom was a stay-at-home mom and my dad was a scientist at Oregon Health and Science University. I was always an artsy kid–finger painting, doodling on any surface I could, going to art museums. However, because of my dad’s science background, I did a lot of science extracurriculars in high school, like Science Olympiad, where I built cars powered by mousetraps. It was a whole thing. Everyone thought I would become a scientist like my dad, or go into engineering. But my senior year of high school I took a graphic design class as an elective and realized I could turn my love of art into a career. When I was younger I always thought being an artist would be so amazing, but as I got older I started to worry if I would be able to make money doing that. I’m a Virgo, I need stability. So this class showed me that I could really have the best of both worlds with graphic design. I went all in after that, starting to think about which colleges have the best or most interesting programs.

What made you choose OSU and the graphic design program?

What I liked about the OSU graphic design program was that it was a small cohort. Everyone in a design program (graphic, interior, fashion, etc) all took core classes together their first year and then we went off into our own majors spring term to apply for pro school. Only 30 people were admitted to the professional program. It felt elite, but also nurturing. I liked that for my whole degree I’d be with the same 29 other people, really learning each other’s style and how to take critique, as well as getting more individualized attention from professors. I liked that I had to earn my spot. Applying and getting into pro school helped prove to myself that I was making the right decision for my future.

What were some of your favorite classes or instructors from the program?

Oregon State really has some of the best design professors out there. I could be biased, but wow are they awesome. I remember sophomore year during Prof. Jun Bum Shin’s typography class when we all turned in our first project of the term, he went through and showed our work to the class one by one, pointing out what he did and didn’t like. For each student he ended his critique with, “Good try”. At the time, it felt like a slap in the face. Good try? What do you mean good try, this is the final design for this project. But what we came to learn from Jun was that “good try” just means there is always room for improvement, no matter how good your design is. And I carry that lesson with me daily–literally, some of us in the cohort got “Good try” tattoos for graduation. 

Outside of the graphic design program, I was pursuing a minor in photography and finished that minor having only taken different classes from Evan Baden. One of my favorite classes was his photo book class, where we put together a photo project, then turned it into a book. This class allowed me to not only explore creatively with my photography, but then use graphic design to make it all come to life. I made a book called “Home”, where I took portraits of people up close and then in their personal spaces. A person’s space says a lot about who they are as a person without any words needing to be exchanged. Evan Baden’s book class has now totally exploded into something creatively spectacular. The class has evolved into its own print press shop, Composit. When I took this class we did everything by hand: printing, folding, binding. Now he’s got machines and a student army making multiple iterations of books in a sitting. I wish I could go back and take this class again today. 

How and when did you become involved with KBVR and Chi Theta Phi?

During my first week on campus as a First-year, the College of Business was hosting a back to school event in the courtyard outside Austin Hall and KBVR was DJing. My mom was involved in campus radio when she went to the University of Texas, so I knew I was interested in exploring that at Oregon State. I walked up to the booth and introduced myself to DJ Harriett Potter, who was playing some alternative rock I’d never heard before, but was really into. From there, I got my email on a list to learn about new DJ orientation, and became the host of The Kitchen Sink a few weeks later. I hosted a show on the airwaves once a week all four years at Oregon State, and my senior year I was assistant station manager. As assistant station manager, I managed the station’s social media accounts, kept our roster of DJs organized, and hosted bands live on air. Being a part of KBVR was an incredibly rewarding experience and taught me a lot about having confidence in myself.

I joined Chi Theta Phi in the spring of my first year. I wasn’t sure Greek Life was for me, but when I heard about this academic based sorority for those who are in the art programs at OSU, I thought, “This seems like a good way to network to get into pro school”. At the time, the graphic design pro school was only admitting 30 students out of the 100 who were applying. I had confidence in my skill, but was very nervous–it felt like the rest of my life and my career was all depending on getting into pro school. If I didn’t get in, I might as well try to find something else. I wouldn’t be able to afford a fifth year of college to try again next year. In Chi Theta Phi, I was able to be mentored by those who were already in the pro school, having them review my portfolio and critique my work while I was applying. Once I got into the graphic design program, Chi Theta Phi continued to help me further my design career on campus because my sisters had internships on campus and they were able to refer me when I applied myself.

My junior and senior year I worked at the Memorial Union Studio, designing for OSU Housing and Dining, ASOSU, Greek Life, and a plethora of other on-campus organizations. My junior year I also had a design internship at the Valley Library. These on-campus internships really helped set me apart from other recent grads when it came to applying for jobs after graduation. It only took me one month post-grad to land my first agency job: Amplified by Design, where I was a junior designer, working on projects for Intel, JoinPDX, Travel Portland, and GM. 

Did you have any other internships on or off campus?

I did have one off-campus internship the summer before my senior year. I was a product design intern at a tech company, New Relic. That summer I was their first ever product design intern and I learned so many skills outside of the traditional OSU design curriculum. Since this is tech, it was a lot more, well, technical than I was used to. Things needed to be pixel perfect. I needed to be able to communicate my design choices not just to other designers, but to engineers. It really taught me to know the why behind my designs, not just “Oh, well this looks good.” At the end of the summer I had a job offer with the company, but I decided finishing my degree was most important. However, I did get a few freelance projects from New Relic during the school year.

Can you walk me through some of your post-graduation work experience? What was your first job and the arc of your graphic design career?

My first job post-grad was at a boutique studio in downtown Portland called Amplified by Design. I was a junior designer, working on projects for Intel, JoinPDX, Travel Portland, and GM. I utilized my OSU graphic design graduate network and connected with another alum who had just wrapped up her tenure at Amplified, so a designer role was open. She passed along my info to the hiring manager and the rest is history. After about a year and a half there, I decided I wanted to move out of Oregon. My dad had taken a job at Texas A&M the summer before my senior year at OSU, so my family had moved to Texas. I wanted to be closer to them, so I searched for roles in Austin and ended up as the in-house graphic designer for the Texas Parent Teacher Association (Texas PTA) and entered the non-profit world. There, I designed mostly for social media, but also gained experience in print design with our in-house printer who I worked closely with on event collateral and things that got distributed in schools across the state. 

After the Texas PTA, I landed my job where I am currently, Bond Brand Loyalty. I started in September of 2021, when it was called Drumroll, an Austin-based advertising agency. The company was acquired in January of 2022 by a Canadian loyalty company, Bond Brand Loyalty, and the former Drumroll agency has morphed into BondX, the creative branch of Bond, where I get to work on amazing clients like Microsoft, Indeed, and Gap. While agency life can be stressful, it’s also super rewarding to get to be so creative every day for a variety of clients in a variety of mediums. As a Senior Designer at BondX, I’ve gotten to take ownership of projects like TikTok ads for Indeed and emails for Microsoft Store, and get to mentor other designers on the beginning of their creative journeys. 

How did the graphic design program prepare you for your career?

The OSU graphic design program did an excellent job preparing me for my career. The close-knit cohort created a safe space to learn interpersonal skills, like how to give and receive critique without taking it to heart. It allowed for more one-on-one time with professors to pick their brains and get personalized guidance. There were a variety of different kinds of projects from typography, to web, to working for a client, that created a well-rounded set of skills to enter the workforce with. 

The OSU design program is also very well connected. It’s so important to maintain a network with your old classmates or on-campus coworkers or professors to keep in touch. You never know who might have an opportunity waiting for you, and there’s nothing better than having “Go Beavs!” as your icebreaker.

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Alison Johnston

By Jessica Florescu, CLA Student Writer - August 13, 2025

Alison Johnston, professor of political science, is a prominent scholar in the fields of political economy, labor markets, and public finance. Her research agenda is characterized by a deep engagement with the institutional and political underpinnings of economic governance in advanced democracies, particularly within the European Union. Through a prolific body of work, Johnston explores how political institutions, market actors, and international economic structures interact to shape policy outcomes and economic performance.

Johnson has taught at OSU since 2011, after graduating from the London School of Economics with a M.Sc. and Ph.D. in European political economy. Her research journey is propelled by the question: How do countries' political and policy choices affect the credit ratings they receive? This lies at the heart of her 2023 book, Rating Politics: Sovereign Credit Ratings and Democratic Choice in Prosperous Developed Countries, co-authored with Zsófia Barta, assistant professor at Sciences Po in Paris, France, Johnston explores how sovereign credit ratings act as powerful constraints on democratic governments. She calls this the “golden straitjacket,” a metaphor that captures the tension between fiscal discipline and democratic choice. Her research shows that even in wealthy democracies, credit rating agencies can penalize governments for expansive welfare policies, subtly steering public policy away from redistribution and toward austerity.

But Johnston’s concern with structural constraints on democracy didn’t begin with credit ratings. Her earlier work focused on the European Monetary Union (EMU), where she uncovered another kind of monetary straitjacket. In her 2016 book, From Convergence to Crisis: Labor Markets and the Instability of the Euro, Johnston argued that the EMU’s one-size-fits-all monetary policy exacerbated economic divergence among member states. Countries with different labor market institutions were forced into the same monetary mold, leading to instability and crisis. 

As Europe grappled with the fallout of the Eurozone crisis, Johnston turned her attention to political populism. In her 2024 article “So right it’s wrong? Right governments, far right populism, and investment risk”, she examined how far-right populist governments influence investment risk, revealing that markets are not ideologically neutral. Investors, she found, react strongly to political ideology, especially when it threatens institutional norms. Her 2025 co-authored article, “Bent into Submission? Domestic investors and populist governments”, took this further, showing how domestic investors can act as a check on populist governments, subtly disciplining them through capital flight or investment hesitation. 

Yet Johnston’s research is not confined to the macro-level. She has also delved into housing and household debt, exploring how financial liberalization and labor market dynamics have fueled inequality. In collaboration with similar scholars, she published influential articles such as “It takes two to tango: mortgage markets, labor markets and rising household debt in Europe” and “Housing prices and wealth inequality in Western Europe.” These works reveal how rising mortgage debt and housing prices have reshaped class structures and widened the gap between asset-rich and asset-poor households.

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From left to right: Kelsey Emard, Lorena Cardenas, Kenna Bernardin, Cramer, and Carlos Rodarte

By Colin Bowyer, Communications Manager - August 13, 2025

In order to complete his Spanish degree, Nicholas Cramer, ‘25, needed one more credit during spring term 2025. Already succeeding in taking every Spanish offering that fit his packed geospatial science class schedule, Cramer considered an independent study project that would combine his interests in geography, Spanish, and linguistics. 

Coincidentally, Cramer’s long-standing mentor Kelsey Emard, assistant professor of geography, was leading a group of students from the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences to Lima, Peru, for a student-organized international geography colloquium at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. Cramer seized the opportunity and worked with Associate Professor Adam Schwartz in the School of Language, Culture, and Society, to find a way to develop an independent study project.

“In my pitch to Adam, I wanted to look at how culture and language interacts with geography in Lima,” explained Cramer. “I came to the conclusion that creating a story map was the best way to convey a linguistic, geographic, and socio-political narrative.”

“In my experience, it’s rare that students seek the opportunity to bridge two fields of study in an independent project,” said Schwartz. “Nick didn’t want to silo his academic pursuits and what he created was an accessible, highly original inquiry into linguistic landscape.” 

While the focus was attending the colloquium, in which Cramer presented his own research entirely in Spanish, the trip quickly expanded into something much deeper: an immersive crash course in culture, language, infrastructure, history, food, and environmental justice. The result of Cramer’s independent study: an interactive map hosted by ArcsGIS software that detailed the week-long journey in Lima, where Cramer chronologically shares how and where geography, gastronomy, language, socioeconomics, and infrastructure collide. 

“As a geographer,” Cramer said, “I learned to see Lima as a layered, complex landscape, and witness firsthand how urban infrastructure, environmental risk, and food systems reflect broader questions about equity, planning, and resilience. As a Spanish student, I was able to engage with people as collaborators, friends, and fellow learners. Together, through these two lenses, it helped me understand Lima as a living, breathing place full of contradictions, history, and potential.”

At the Coloquio Internacional de Estudiantes de Geografía y Medio Ambiente (International Colloquium of Students of Geography and Environment), research was presented on everything from Indigenous land rights to AI and satellite remote sensing. Cramer gave his own presentation, entirely in Spanish, summarizing his Honors College thesis published this spring term. Using Oregon state highway maps, Cramer created a storyboard analysis of how cartography has changed over time and how artificial intelligence will impact future mapmaking.

“AI is transforming the way we do almost everything, including cartography,” said Emard. “What was most valuable about Nick's thesis was how he contextualized historical shifts in mapmaking, and the technical and ethical questions mapmakers have faced during each historical moment, placing this historical perspective into conversation with questions of accountability and ethics that are emerging as we use AI in mapmaking.”

Cramer said he felt prepared and confident for his Spanish-only presentation and Q&A session at the conference. Having taken four years of continuous Spanish classes, as well as studying abroad in Spain during his junior year, the biggest challenge was learning and incorporating the niche vocabulary of cartography and geography into his presentation. 

“Ultimately, throughout my years at OSU majoring in both fields, I found more and more ways where both Spanish and geography connected with each other,” Cramer explained. “Traveling to Lima and documenting my interdisciplinary trip was a great conclusion to my time at OSU.”

As for his final project, Schwartz and Cramer hope that it inspires more students to look closer at the relationship between geography and language and that idea that our lived worlds are means by which we live language.

“This Story Map,” Cramer writes on his webpage, “is more than a travelogue. It’s an invitation: to study abroad, to take intellectual risks, and to embrace an education that crosses borders. For me, that meant stepping into a Peruvian university auditorium to present in Spanish about GIS ethics. For someone else, it might mean following a curiosity in environmental science, policy, art, or history. The key is to let your disciplines speak to each other, and to let yourself grow in the space between them.”

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Riley Wolf

By Ellie Webb-Bowen, CLA Student Writer - August 6, 2025

Growing up in the blue-collar, small-town community of Dallas, Oregon, Riley Wolf, ‘18, was the artist in her family of Beaver fans. Throughout her childhood, Wolf and her dad would frequently make the short trip south to Corvallis to attend football games in the fall and baseball games in the spring. Wolf never considered college an option and Oregon State was a long shot, but it wasn’t until after turning in her high school photography capstone project when a counselor encouraged Wolf to explore OSU’s School of Visual, Performing, and Design Arts. 

While earning her B.F.A. in graphic design at the School of Visual, Performing, and Design Arts (SVPDA), Wolf attributes the innovative faculty to her success in initially getting started in this new field, including Associate Professor Jun Bum Shin and Senior Instructor Christine Gallagher. 

“From the start, Christine ingrained in students that graphic design isn’t just about making things pretty,” said Wolf. “There’s so much more process and problem solving that goes into it. During my first class with Christine, she said two things that I still harken back to regularly: ‘design with intent.’

There was another aspect of SVPDA’s curriculum that stayed with Wolf: constructive critique. Though sometimes awkward having to verbalize artistic design to instructors and peers in a classroom setting, Wolf attributed the learning experience to a growing confidence in her own work and understanding how to better explain her decision making.

“It wasn’t until junior or senior year that I finally got into the groove of accepting feedback,” said Wolf. “Becoming closer with my cohort really helped me split my peers' feedback from the person. Your work is not always a reflection of who you are.”

While at OSU, Wolf was also highly involved in design-focused organizations and opportunities on campus. She was a member of American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) and Chi Theta Phi, OSU’s sorority for creatives, as well as worked as a graphic designer for Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) and the Memorial Union’s Creative Studio. 

Though Wolf stayed busy during undergrad, it was just the beginning; she was eager to get into the field and start gaining real-world experience. While turning in her senior year capstone project, Wolf received a job offer at a small branding and packaging agency in Portland. As lead designer, Wolf primarily worked on packaging design for cannabis clients.

“To have a full-time job offer right out of school, I got very, very lucky,” said Wolf. “But there was some serious culture shock. I was dealing with ‘real’ clients for the first time where the designs I created had an impact.”

After a few years, Wolf was looking for something new, somewhere new. She moved to Austin, Texas, for a role at Bumble, leading their social media design for global accounts, but, after a year, was laid off during the company’s financial downturn in 2022.

“That hit me really hard,” said Wolf. “I moved across the country for this job, leaving friends and family behind. I was doing great work and was (still) early in my career. That was hard to stomach.”

Unfortunately, it would be a few years before Wolf would land in another stable role. She was hired as a designer at a financial technology startup in Austin, but was laid off again due to slow growth. She took on further temporary contract work with local businesses.

“I was starting to have a bit of a reality check,” remembered Wolf. “Was this something I still wanted to continue doing? I tried not to take it personally and see these experiences as an opportunity to grow. I didn’t want to bask in the darkness of it.” 

Wolf decided she needed a change of pace and to be closer to Oregon, where a majority of her friends and family still resided. “I more or less threw a dart on the map of the West Coast and it landed on San Diego.”

Wolf was sending out resumes and portfolios furiously while packing up her Austin apartment. On the way to San Diego from Texas, she accepted her role at Momentum Worldwide while sitting in a McDonald’s parking lot off Interstate 10 in New Mexico.

As senior graphic designer at Momentum, now associate design director, Wolf builds experiential spaces for her sole client, Coca-Cola. Specially, she works on in-person, pop-up experiences, where Wolf helps lead all graphic design production and placement. These brand experiences can occur anywhere from music festivals to sporting events.

“My background is definitely more in digital art, so this is my first gig in the experimental realm. I love it,” Wolf exclaimed, “It’s so rewarding to see people directly interact with what I’ve produced. I love watching fans enjoying their time and taking pictures of it. As a social media designer before, you can measure your success with likes and shares, but there was no physical engagement like there is now.”

Now happy and thriving in San Diego, Wolf’s advice for individuals starting their design careers is to find serenity in realizing that there is always a fresh opportunity waiting for you on the other side, even if you don't land the one you originally applied for.

“‘Design with intent’ is something I learned in my early days in Fairbanks Hall. There’s a purpose to every design I create now.”

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Salvatore Petruzzella

By Taylor Pedersen, CLA Student Writer - August 5, 2025

When Salvatore Petruzzella stood in front of his fourth-grade science fair project, he likely had no idea it would one day serve as a cornerstone of his graduate research. “It was on affectionate communication,” he recalled. “I asked my friends and their parents about tickling,like which spots were the most ticklish. It was cute. I was just a kid.” But the seeds were planted early: a fascination with how humans show affection, and why it matters so much.

Now a master’s student at Oregon State University’s School of Communication, Petruzzella has turned that childhood curiosity into a scholarly pursuit. “In college, it just felt right,” he said of research on interpersonal relationships,specifically, how and why people express affection in everyday life.

“It’s always mattered,” Petruzzella said when asked why affectionate communication is so important. “From an attachment standpoint, even as babies, the connection between child and adult is crucial to forming a healthy self-concept. That need doesn’t go away—it just changes form.” His master’s thesis at OSU examined how individual traits influence expressions of affection, based on a survey of 368 participants. The study focused on how people perceive, give, and receive affection, testing long-held communication theories through real-world data.

One of the most striking findings? The motivation for belongingness was the strongest predictor of how people express affection. “It’s a relatively stable trait,” Petruzzella explained. “People who have a strong need for belonging—who really crave close, positive interactions—are more likely to express affection. Curiosity was another trait that showed strong connection. It’s like people who are interested in exploring others emotionally are also more affectionate.”

While conducting this research, Petruzzella also spent time doing something else he loves: teaching. He taught multiple sections of Public Speaking, one of OSU’s most popular communication classes. His enthusiasm for the role is palpable.

“I love the journey of each semester—learning what inspires my students, what motivates them,” he said. “Every student brings a different perspective, and I get to be their first audience.” Whether it's a persuasive speech or a heartfelt toast, he relishes hearing students find their voices. But more than that, he takes pride in creating a classroom environment built on respect and responsiveness. “I take it seriously. I answer emails fast. I stay present. I want students to feel they belong.”

Petruzzella was drawn to OSU not only for its strong communication program, but also for the work of Dr. Colin Hesse, a leading scholar in affectionate communication. “His writing just works,” he said. “It flows, it’s rigorous, it’s brilliant. He really understands the psychological nature of communication. I wanted to study with someone who could push me to think deeper—and he did.”

This fall, Petruzzella will continue that academic journey at the University of Delaware, where he’ll begin a Ph.D. in communication. He’s eager to build on his current research, diving deeper into how communication in close relationships meets (or fails to meet) human needs. “I’m interested in how we become resources for the people we love,” he says. “How we show regard for others through communication—how we support them, and how that support is perceived.”

Despite growing up across Arizona and now heading to the East Coast, Petruzzella sees a universal thread in every place he’s lived. “Everywhere, people have hope. They use communication to try to build a brighter future,” he says. “That need doesn’t change.”

What does the ideal future look like for Petruzzella? It’s not just about research papers or publications. “All of it,” he said with a smile. “Teaching, mentoring, writing—absolutely.” His passion lies in the classroom, where he hopes to inspire others the way his mentors have inspired him.

As he heads into the next chapter, Petruzzella remains grounded in the belief that affectionate communication isn’t just a research topic;it’s a fundamental part of being human. “We can try to prove it scientifically, but even without the data, we feel it,” he said. “Affection shapes who we are. And it tells the people around us who we care about most.”