Image

Karissa Kyker

By Colin Bowyer, Communications Manager - May 21, 2025

A Corvallis-native, Karissa Kyker grew up in a family that had attended Oregon State for generations. Writing for the Spring 2025 issue of PRISM Magazine, OSU’s premier art and literary journal, Kyker weaves together the memories of her parents both living in Weatherford Hall and studying at OSU with her own writing journey, and finding love on campus. The through-line running through the Kyker family story is OSU’s Trysting Tree, a large gray poplar tree that once stood near Community Hall and Lover’s Lane.

“Even after our family moved away,” Kyker writes, “my connection to Corvallis lived on through the love my parents planted there. Soon, an offshoot of their roots, a love of my own, grew from a boy who drew me back home with a perfect smile and gentle spirit. That’s how I found myself at home under the shadow of Weatherford Hall.”

Kyker’s road to OSU wasn’t easy or a straight line, per se, but still, she found her place at the School of Writing, Literature, and Film (SWLF).

After spending most of her childhood in Corvallis, Kyker’s family moved to San Mateo, California. Finishing her high school years in the Bay Area exposed Kyker to a diversity of perspectives and experiences that she wouldn’t have otherwise known in Corvallis. Despite living in the heart of competitive Silicon Valley, Kyker developed a love for writing and literature, all while working at a local bakery and potentially even considering entering the culinary field after graduating high school.

During her junior year, Kyker began experiencing a range of health symptoms that would sideline her idea of entering culinary school. A year later, Kyker was diagnosed with Lupus, an autoimmune disease. Kyker spent most of her junior year and entire senior year continuing to take classes from home while struggling to receive an accurate diagnosis. 

“It was a very difficult time,” explained Kyker. “Doctors didn’t know what was going on and my teachers were sending me home because I looked ‘sickly.’ Initially, I was told my symptoms might be due to depression or that I was just overworked. Some specialists did take me seriously and genuinely wished they knew how to help, but a few brushed me off.”  

Kyker’s time at home in school transitioned into the start of the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders in early 2020. As she began considering colleges for fall 2021, it was beginning to look like at least the initial months were going to be entirely virtual as well, due to a combination of the ongoing pandemic, but also Kyker’s uneasiness of leaving home.

“What was a time of change and stress for others was actually a time of stability for me,” explained Kyker. “I was already used to doing classes online, and I got to have the support and company of my family at home more than ever before. While I was anxious about COVID because of how it could be detrimental to my health, I also felt anxious at the same time about the working-from-home period ending, because I wouldn't be with my parents, sister, and brothers all the time anymore. It was a time of rest and community for me, the opposite of what it was for most people.”

Kyker was hoping to enter into an English program, but hadn’t gotten to a point in her Lupus recovery where she could attend in person. George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon, had a strong online English program that would allow Kyker to continue to stay home during her first year, then transition to on campus for her sophomore year. 

Kyker initially enjoyed George Fox, but during her sophomore year, wanting to explore more writing than literature, she felt constrained by the English and literature-review curriculum. She saw the School of Writing, Literature, and Film had just begun offering a creative writing program, and with many friends and family still in Corvallis, transferring to OSU was an easy choice. 

“It was a smooth jump into OSU,” said Kyker. “I felt right away that my writing was developing more than it ever had. I also was able to take writing classes in a variety of fields, including writing for public relations, marketing, and film.”

Kyker also received the Goldstein Journalism Scholarship, which provides tuition support for SWLF students who contribute to journalism excellence while at OSU.

During her senior year, Kyker became a Griffis Publishing Intern at OSU Press, the university’s book publishing unit. While an intern, Kyker received a hands-on introduction to scholarly book publishing by reviewing proposals, proofreading drafts, and preparing manuscripts for production.

“Working at OSU Press has been very fulfilling,” said Kyker. “I have especially loved the variety of books and topics I get to work with. The small staff team there has also allowed me to build great relationships with them and get up close and personal with some of their work. It really is a unique and amazing experience that students here are offered and I'm still mind blown that I've gotten this opportunity over the past year! ”

Kyker is open to all opportunities, but is leaning towards working in marketing and social media. For the past year, Kyker has been helping Lyle Hatch, a.k.a. Boring Old Guy, with increasing his social media presence. Despite having over one million subscribers on YouTube, the Pacific Northwest outdoor enthusiast relies on Kyker to help promote his videos hiking, cooking, maintaining his van, and more.

“I reached out to Lyle, because I liked his videos touring around Oregon,” said Kyker “It’s been such a valuable experience working with him as he brings the outdoors to viewers.” 

For now, Kyker is wrapping up her final term at OSU and plans to cherish this summer as a SWLF graduate, in addition to being a newlywed, marrying her OSU sweetheart in March.

Image

Tihani Mitchell

By Katie Livermore, CLA Student Writer - May 28, 2025

Tihani Mitchell remembers sitting in her political science class her first year, analyzing countless statistics of different groups. None of them included Pacific Islander and Hawaiian demographics–instead, they were included in the “other” category. Even more so, she discovered many students and faculty at OSU were unfamiliar with Hawaiian history and culture.

She returned to her dorm that day in tears. Instead of giving up, Mitchell leaned into her deep connection to her Hawaiian homeland and decided to make her own change. 

That’s exactly what she did. 

Now, Mitchell is the founder of Ka ʻIkena Hawaiʻi, an Oregon State University club that focuses on preserving and practicing the Hawaiian language. She is a third-year, first-generation student double majoring in political science and ethnic studies with a minor in Indigenous studies. 

Mitchell is from Puʻuanahulu, Hawaiʻi, raised in a multigenerational household with six other siblings, her parents, her grandparents, and great grandmother. In addition to her family were her hānai siblings, a kind of adopted family she grew up with. 

“My parents raised all of me and my siblings up to be very outspoken individuals,” Mitchell said. “They always taught us to challenge authority.”

With her outspokenness, Mitchell was exposed to activism at an early age. Her uncle was dedicated to the Land Back Movement, which focuses on advocating for returning ancestral lands in Hawaiʻi. Growing up, she would tag along with her uncle as he led workshops across the island. She recalls one workshop where they performed Kui Kalo, the action of using a rock to mash up taro to make poi. 

“We would go around the island, having classes and teaching other people of our community how to reconnect with their culture and their roots,” Mitchell said. “I was always super involved.”

These memories led her to grow her Hawaiian roots for future advocacy.

She began her education at Kealakehe, a public school in her area for elementary and middle school. When she hit seventh grade, Mitchell left the Big Island to attend the Kamehameha boarding school in Oahu–with a full-ride scholarship. 

At Kamehameha, Mitchell lived in a dorm with young women from different islands and states. 

“The school I attended was founded with the goal of providing Hawaiian students with access to higher education and the support needed to succeed,” Mitchell said. “There was a lot more access to learning things about Hawaiian language, culture, history, than like a traditional school managed by the U.S. Department of Education.”

Mitchell cheered, danced Hula and Tahitian, played rugby, basketball, and ran track throughout her school career. She continued her activism journey with friends, even camping out on Mauna Kea for 10 days during the Thirty Meter Telescope Protests of July 2019. 

“I remember that was the first and probably the most intense protest that I've been to,” said Mitchell. “I was 14, and they had the National Guard and, like, the army come because there’s an army base at the base of the mountain. They lined up in front of us with guns and stuff, and they were threatening us with sound bombs, pepper spray, and Child Protective Services.”

When it came to attending college, Mitchell initially refused to go to the mainland. She felt lucky enough to be educated about Hawaiian history and its oppression, and didn’t want to be part of communities that contributed.

“I wanted to major in Hawaiian language and Hawaiian history,” Mitchell said. “My thoughts were always, ‘Okay, I'm going to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. America wasn't even in my head.” 

Instead, her parents encouraged her to pursue experiences outside of Hawaiʻi for higher education. With reluctance, she agreed, and was accepted into all the schools she applied to scattered across the United States. 

OSU was the closest to home, as well as most affordable with the most to offer. Though Mitchell planned different majors for her undergraduate degree, eventually becoming a lawyer was always the goal. She landed on political science, and though many studies are Western European centric, Mitchell tailors her work on Pacific Island and Hawaiian studies. 

“When I was focusing on those things that I was most passionate about, that's when I thrived the most, and got the most support from my professors,” Mitchell said. “Having that idea that I was always able to bring it back to having to do with my identity and my experiences as a person, especially like moving from Hawaiʻi to Oregon and experiencing a completely, totally different lens of how life can be, just made it so much easier.”

Mitchell has been on the board of the People of Color (POC) in Law and Politics Club, which her friend Summer Wong founded for marginalized groups pursuing careers in law. 

On top of this, Mitchell founded her own club called Ka ʻIkena Hawaiʻi, or the “Hawaiian Experience,” focused on educating and participating in cultural practices in the States. 

“The club was meant to encapsulate the different lived experiences of Hawaiian people, both from Hawaiʻi, living in Hawaiʻi, or those that grew up in the diaspora,” Mitchell said.

The turning point of the statistics class and being “othered” led her to create spaces of discussion. Mitchell felt this hopelessness and nearly transferred to a university in Hawaiʻi. Instead, she met Dr. Patricia Fifita, assistant professor of ethnic studies in the School of Language, Culture, and Society. Dr. Fifita helped Mitchell start the club by being her adviser.  

“I know I'm not the first person to have realized this. I'm not the only person to feel like this, either,” Mitchell said. “We did find our community, and we were able to make that community for other folks that were lacking that support. So that was super awesome.”

The club is supported by other nonprofit organizations from Hawaiʻi and the Ka ʻAha Lāhui O ʻOlekona Hawaiian Civic Club of Oregon & SW Washington (KALO). KALO helped fund their first year of club events, such as a lei making workshop, or t-shirt printing, where materials were shipped to Oregon from Hawaiʻi. All club events are free to attend, whether or not attendees are Hawaiian. 

“Our responsibility is to offer space for Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian folks to learn about Hawaiian culture,” Mitchell said. “We've been doing a lot of ‘No one is illegal on stolen land’ for the recent political movements.”

With the club in full force, Mitchell found another opportunity to work with Dr. Fifita in an ethnography research project on the island of Kauaʻi. 

The project focuses on recording oral histories through interviewing members of the community in Anahola, Kauaʻi. Originally managed by the Department of Hawaiian Homelands (DHHL), the agency turned over 432 acres of pristine coastline to a local nonprofit that’s developing a restoration plan centered on Kānaka ʻŌiwi self-determination, histories, ecological health, and healing. The goal is to re-envision what the island used to be prior to colonial impact, natural disasters, and overall devastation. 

Mitchell spent last summer on Kauaʻi interviewing community members, which she now considers her favorite summer yet. 

“The whole re-envisioning process is talking to elders to see how the community used to look back in the day,” Mitchell said. “We found there was a lot of reconstructing of waterways. So folks would come in, buy, and privatize the land, which is illegal because it's DHHL–it's supposed to be for Hawaiian people.”

Those who privatized DHHL lands disturbed the natural flow of water for personal quarries and ponds on their properties. Since they lived in the mountains, this blocked water flow from reaching communities residing below them. The lack of water access led to many worries, a main one being how to extinguish brush fires if they occurred. 

Mitchell found it interesting to discover Kauaʻi through a different lens. Though she has visited plenty, she was able to put herself in a more analytical position to view into the island’s past. 

“We've done all the research, we've done all of the interviews and ethnographies and oral histories that we can do,” Mitchell said. “Now, we’re looking at how we can take all of these notes and stories from these community members and re-envision what this place can look like in the future.”

After she graduates, Mitchell plans to apply to Richardson Law School at the University of Hawaiʻi, Mānoa, to study law with a focus on land conservation and real estate. 

###

Tihani would like to dedicate this piece to her parents, Regina and Coogan, for their hard work and commitment to their family. Thank you for your sacrifices, I hope to do you justice. Hoʻi hou I ka ʻiwikuamoʻo

Image

Artist Naya Sage recording their song "European Accent"

By Colin Bowyer, Communications Manager - May 20, 2025

The College of Liberal Arts’ experiential learning “hidden gem,” overseen by Associate Professor of Music Dr. Jason Fick, provides students across campus a realistic look at what it takes to record, mix, produce, and market an album. Now in its seventh cycle, the year-long production process pairs student artists with student producers from SVPDA’s music technology and production program (MTP), to work together to create a track for an album.

“The album project is entirely student-led at all levels,” said Fick. “Each year, the album takes on a different dynamic, not only in musical styles featured, but within the production team; with each student bringing their own tastes, skill set, and energy.”

During fall and winter terms, Fick and a student-executive committee review song submissions for the album project and narrow down typically close to 40 original songs to just a handful. With what was initially viewed as a project for strictly music majors, over half of the submissions are from students outside of SVPDA. For this year’s album, titled "Afterglow," eleven tracks were selected, including two from Ecampus students, all of which vary in style, from pop-infused EDM to reggae to folk. 

Working closely over the course of four months, each artist-musician pair work in Snell Hall’s recording studio to further develop, mix, and master their track. The producers bring their own technical expertise from MTP, as well as personal style, to the overall production process.

“I wanted this overall project to model the music industry as much as possible,” said Fick. “The collaboration and back-and-forth between musician and producer is what makes it so realistic.”

Leading production for this year’s album is Mackenie Ruff, a fifth-year senior double majoring in human development and family sciences and MTP. During Ruff’s junior year, she was picked to be an artist on the album, then, last year, she was the album’s project manager in addition to producing a song. As lead producer, Ruff collaborated with Fick on on the initial artist-producer pairing during fall term and now oversees the student collaborations as they navigate the recording and production process, stepping in, when needed, to problem solve or contribute to instrumentals and vocal harmonies.  

“It’s been valuable to me to have previously experienced both sides of the relationship, first as an artist, then a producer,” explained Ruff. “It gave me a better understanding of the artist-producer relationship and how to foster a creative and productive environment in the studio.”

Not all student submissions to the album project are fully formed and self-produced tracks; many of them are raw ideas accompanied by stripped down instruments or beats from YouTube. That’s where Ruff and the team of student producers work with each artist over the course of several months to fine-tune each track in the studio.

“Being an artist in a studio is scary,” said Ruff. “You’re putting yourself out there and opening up your original art for critique. We’ve tried our best to create a welcoming and wholly collaborative environment between artists and producers. That’s how you get the best work out of everyone.”

One of the artists on this year’s album is singer songwriter Fiona Daley, a junior double majoring in graphic design and MTP. Daley collaborated with producer James Sanchez on her track “It’s Still Early.” On “It’s Still Early,” Daley used only her mahogany steel string acoustic guitar (from Troubadour Music in downtown Corvallis) to soulfully reflect on life at age 20. From her partnership with Sanchez, the song swelled and grew into something else entirely. Daley and Sanchez worked together to add more layers to the song, including drums, violin, and a palm-muted electric guitar played with a phaser.

“The song went from being a little ‘flat’ to one with loads of energy,” said Daley. “It needed something else and I truthfully felt stuck and didn't know where to go with it. I came into this process open to anything and I’m thrilled with the final product.”

Apart from the album-project, Daley is also working with Sanchez on her own EP, due to be released later this year. 

The official release of this year’s album will be on May 21 with a public celebration at 7 p.m. in the Rehearsal Classroom Building. At the gathering, each artist will talk more about their submissions and experience working with a producer.

“All of the songs on this year’s album are very strong,” said Ruff. “I loved the variety of styles and I’m excited to hear how everyone’s individual contributions will create a flowing record that showcases the musical talent of each artist-producer pairing.” 

Starting fall term 2025, Fick and the student committee will begin to accept submissions for the eighth album project. In the meantime, the MTP program will continue to host Diffusions as well as a new late-night concert series called Chromatics, both of which are overseen by Fick, but run by MTP students.

“These experiential, hands-on, learning experiences on campus are rare,” said Fick. “The album project, and MTP program as a whole, is CLA’s hidden gem for all OSU students.”

Watch a documentary of this year's album project produced by students of the music technology and production program.

Image

Annabella Eisner

By Selene Lawrence, CLA Student Writer - May 28, 2025

As a musician from rural southern Oregon, Annabella Eisner came to Oregon State University with her eyes set on a variety of opportunities that the school and community had to offer. Eisner started out pursuing a kinesiology major, but altered her academic path after the first year of her undergraduate program to take on both a major in the contemporary music industry (CMI) and Spanish. In deciding on her dual major, Eisner became one of the first students in the CMI program. 

With an extensive musical background and experience as a pianist, guitarist, and vocalist, Eisner’s CMI major became a catalyst in her professional development and creative growth. While on campus, Eisner started to attend open mic nights; she joined a band during her first year and later formed her own: Corvallis-based prog-rock group Bluessence. Outside of her band, she also makes music as a solo artist. According to Eisner, her coursework was “foundational to her creative evolution.” Since beginning at the College of Liberal Arts, she has developed skills for self-marketing, booking performances, and managing her band. She has also entered the field of soundscape ecology. 

Eisner is a student in OSU’s Honors College; she was initially drawn to the program by the opportunity to design a thesis and conduct research as an undergraduate student. Eisner’s musical prowess, lifelong admiration of nature, and meditation practice would serve not only as the inspiration behind her thesis but also as the foundation of her PRAx Art+Science Fellowship project after being accepted into the program for the 2024-2025 school year. As a PRAx fellow, Eisner was supported in designing a creative project using process and practice-based methodology. In Fall 2024, she spent the quarter in Thailand, where she researched and immersed herself in its soundscapes and culture. “Meditation ended up becoming a really big part of my experience,” said Eisner. Prior to her fellowship, Eisner’s academic goals were fully realized under the mentorship of Dr. Dana Reason, who introduced Eisner to sound ecology and later became her mentor. “Dr. Reason’s support has been an invaluable resource in my creative journey as a whole.” Reason’s class on soundscape ecology taught Eisner the skills necessary for field recording, which would become the primary means of data collection for her fellowship project.

During her fellowship, Eisner spent four months in Surat Thani, Thailand, recording sounds inside and outside the city, as well as documenting her reflections on the different soundscapes. Eisner’s everyday audio recordings of Surat Thani contributed to her honors college thesis and PRAx composition, an experimental and immersive listening experience. Eisner describes her presentation, titled Fill Me With Now, as a “sonic time capsule” of her stay in Surat Thani. Inspired by soundscape composers Bernie Krause and Hildegard Westercamp, Fill Me With Now is an exercise in deep listening and planetary healing. The work, made up of ecological and anthropological sound recordings, contains three movements: Morning (newness), Afternoon (fear), and Night (peace). 

“I spent a lot of time alone. I made friends with the nuns and teachers at the local Buddhist university, and I would join them in spiritual exploration. Ultimately, I had some of my most insightful meditation experiences in the house I was staying at,” Eisner explained. “I felt like I could fully relax and get into a really deep meditative state with no distractions, and after exiting that state, I would have a new perspective on the listening and recording I had done that day.”

This spring, from May 15–June 15, Eisner’s audio recordings from her time in Thailand will be available for visitors to engage with at PRAx. She will also be holding a live presentation on June 12 at 4 p.m. After graduating, Eisner plans to pursue a career exploring the intersection of music and health. “I do yoga pretty frequently, and I would eventually like to do training to become a yoga teacher,” Eisner said. “I want to incorporate healing into my music practices and eventually become a practitioner of sound healing, music therapy, in combination with soundscape immersion and forest bathing.”

Image

Katie Minich

By Taylor Pedersen, CLA Student Writer - May 28, 2025

As a doula, trainer, and researcher, Katie Minich has significantly impacted her field, most notably through the launch of what is considered the most comprehensive state-approved doula training program in Oregon. But her work extends far beyond just training doulas; it’s about reshaping the systems that support them and ensuring sustainable, community-based care.

Minich’s journey into the world of doulas began when she had three children of her own at a young age (one birthed in hospital and two out of hospital with doulas and midwifery care). After a few years of working in Southern Oregon as a doula, and later a traditional health worker (THW), she began to feel that the existing doula training programs were falling short when newly-trained doulas would come to her for advice. Most doula training programs are weekend workshops, covering just the basics of birth support, but Minich and her co-founders Jess Daggett and Martha Rivera wanted something more. They wanted to create a training program that would be thorough, inclusive and prepared doulas for the full spectrum of challenges they might face in their practice.

“We didn’t just want doulas who knew how to support natural birth; we needed them to know how to support families navigating Medicaid, houselessness, postpartum depression, pregnancy loss and teen parenting, as well as provide a comprehensive history of birth and current issues around equitable birthing in Oregon.”

In developing the program, Minich and her team drew from their diverse expertise of over ten years individually. Daggett, with her background in childbirth education and experience raising six children, brought hands-on knowledge. Rivera, with her systems integration background, provided the logistical and organizational skills needed to create a scalable training structure. Minich herself brought her academic background in anthropology and sociology to the table, crafting a curriculum that emphasizes self-care, health systems analysis, and the importance of community-based care.

Their program is designed to eliminate many of the barriers that doulas, especially those working with marginalized populations, face. While training organizations often require separate certifications, hidden fees, and confusing processes, the Doula Training Center offers everything a doula needs in one transparent package. Graduates can immediately begin attending births and start their certification process to become a THW Doula in Oregon if they wish.

Minich’s work caught the attention of Dr. Melissa Cheyney, a well-respected midwife and researcher at Oregon State University. Minich first learned about Cheyney through documentaries and academic publications, and when they eventually connected, Minich was thrilled. Cheyney’s work on maternal mortality, home birth, and midwifery practice aligned with Minich’s own interests.

“I remember being a little star-struck when I first met her,” Minich shared with a laugh. “But Missy is incredibly down to earth. She’s a total badass, doing research that truly impacts women and families. I feel so lucky to be part of her research team at OSU.”

Minich is currently working under Cheyney’s guidance as part of the Uplift Lab, a group focused on improving birth outcomes and presenting her research alongside Cheyney at conferences. But it’s not just Cheyney’s academic rigor that Minich values. The support system in the lab is something she cherishes deeply.

“We’re more like a family. It’s rare to find that kind of collaborative and supportive environment in academia. It’s what makes me feel like I’m in the right place.”

Minich’s research has always focused on understanding the motivations and value of doulas. In one study, she explored why people become doulas and found that many come from backgrounds of trauma, which, while not surprising, shed light on why they feel driven to provide care for others. She also researched to understand what doulas perceive as their value in the healthcare system. While there’s a growing body of research on how doulas can improve health outcomes and reduce healthcare costs, Minich’s work looks deeper into the personal perspectives of doulas, asking them what they feel is their unique contribution.

Minich’s passion for maternal healthcare and doula work is clear, but she’s also thinking about the bigger picture: how to ensure the sustainability of the work doulas do, especially in underserved communities.

“There’s a lot that still needs to be done to create a sustainable model for doulas,” she said. “We need infrastructure—billing systems, better communication with healthcare providers, and policies that support doulas. But we also need to continue building a community-based approach where doulas can thrive, and where we’re not just serving clients but supporting one another as well.”

Her work and research have opened doors for doulas in Oregon and beyond, making the profession more accessible and sustainable. But Minich is quick to point out that this work is not hers alone. It’s a collective effort, one that involves collaboration, mentorship, and a commitment to addressing the real challenges that exist in the healthcare system.

As Minich reflected on her path and the community she has helped build, she remained grateful for the opportunity to contribute to such an important field.

“I’m just really lucky to be part of this,” she said. “It’s been such a journey, but seeing the positive impact on families and on doulas makes it all worth it.”

Image

Anna Guasco

By Katie Livermore, CLA Student Writer - October 6, 2025

Searching the ocean on a whale watching boat in the Santa Barbara Channel, Anna Guasco would always hear the story about how the gray whale went from being known as the “devil fish” to the “friendly whale”.

Back in the days of Yankee whaling, gray whales were named the “devil fish” for being particularly ferocious. 

“I heard about how these whales that we were seeing in the channel we had to stay 100 yards away from,” Guasco said. “But if you go down south, just over the border in Mexico, you can touch and pet them.”

“Fascinated by the stories people tell about wildlife, I was just standing there on the boat going, ‘I need to know where that came from–both the difference in interaction and that story of ‘devil fish’ to ‘friendly whale.’”

Guasco, now an assistant professor of marine studies at the College of Liberal Arts, ended up spinning these passions into her education. At OSU, she brings the same excitement to students in the major.

Growing up along the coast in Southern California, in Ventura, Guasco fell in love with the ocean. At age 10, she was already a junior lifeguard. 

Academically, Guasco was “all over the place”—she was interested in everything. By high school, however, she was committed to environmental science. After all, she was passionate about the planet and its conservation, particularly when it came to marine mammals. 

Guasco’s first post-high school job was at Channel Islands National Park. Guasco’s role consisted of managing volunteers for a native plant restoration program, working as an interpretive guide, and occasionally assisting with researchers’ fieldwork on the islands. 

In high school, Guasco completed a project on Steller Sea Lions, fascinated by the different explanations for why Steller Sea Lions had declined in the Gulf of Alaska. However, she realized it wasn’t the scientific questions she was passionate about—it was the human aspects. Guasco’s intrigue lay in the cultural, political, and economic reasoning behind environmental science.

Toward the end of high school, Guasco was leaning toward marine ecology.

Guasco went to college in a very different climate. In 2016, she swapped the California sun for snowy Minnesota at Carleton College. 

“I really liked the student-centric environment at Carleton,” Guasco said. “The professors were really accessible. Whether it was working with a professor on an independent study project or whatever else, it was a very friendly academic environment.”

Guasco landed on American studies as her major as a way to combine her qualitative, humanities-based approach to science. 

“American studies was just a great way to bring together a little bit of history, a little bit of cultural studies, a little bit of politics, and a little bit of English,” Guasco said. “Then I brought in the science too.” 

The American studies major ended up adding a place and environment track following Guasco’s and peers’ interests in incorporating more environmental analysis. For her senior thesis at Carleton, Guasco studied the role of gray whales in American history, focusing on the travel memoirs of people interacting with the “friendly whale” throughout the 20th and 21st Century.

Guasco didn’t participate in other internships during summer breaks. Instead, she returned to the consistent job as an interpretive guide back at Channel Islands National Park. 

During the summer between junior and senior year, Guasco also used her passion for the environment by volunteering for the late–Carmen Ramírez, who at the time was an Oxnard city councilor. 

Ramírez was working to support a community effort to oppose a new coastal power plant in Oxnard, the town next to Ventura. Guasco helped through humanities and social science-based work by combing through archives and looking at policy documents.

Working with “Carmen Ramírez was amazing,” Guasco said. “Being able to contribute a small amount to the community effort for environmental justice really made me see that you could do things other than science and have that kind of contribution.” This experience helped her begin to see a pathway in using humanities and social science research to contribute to efforts to shape more just and resilient coastlines.

After graduating from Carleton College, Guasco attended the University of Edinburgh for her master’s degree in environment, culture, and society. During her master’s studies, Guasco discovered her dissertation topic just down the street from her department at the National Museum of Scotland.

“I was really inspired by a gallery they had on extinction,” Guasco said. “It got me thinking about all these different questions about the stories we tell about extinction, and why the stories that we tell–particularly about animal extinction–matter, and how they can be told in ways that are not only more helpful for ecological purposes, but more socially just.”

After Edinburgh, Guasco went on to receive her Ph.D. at University of Cambridge. Her doctoral work was funded by the highly-regarded Gates Cambridge Scholarship. Guasco revisited her undergraduate research on gray whales for her Ph.D. research, analyzing the gray whales’ transformation from "devil fish" to "friendly whale," among other gray whale stories.

“My Ph.D. project took my original analysis of travel memoirs about gray whales and widened the scope to the entire migration range of the Eastern North Pacific gray whales, from their birthing lagoons in Baja California Sur all the way to the Alaskan Arctic and beyond,” Guasco said. “We wouldn't necessarily think of stories taking place in the lagoons of Mexico as being connected to what's happening in harbors in the central coast of California or further up in the Pacific Northwest or so on, but I’m interested in seeing how gray whales facilitate those connections, and how stories that are told about them end up playing important roles in big, broader things like conservation decision making.”

Now, Guasco is working to turn her Ph.D. dissertation into an accessible, academic book.

“A lot of people are interested in whales, and there's an appetite for new stories about whales,” Guasco said. “I'm interested in telling stories about whales that go beyond love or hate, care or exploit, kinds of binaries.” 

When Guasco happened upon a job ad to work in CLA teaching within the marine studies degree program, she thought it was the perfect match.

“It was really exciting to me that the position was at Oregon State,” Guasco said. “Oregon State is, in some ways, a hub for gray whale research from a scientific perspective. When I came out to visit, it was just very clear how wonderful a fit it was. It is a really exciting interdisciplinary opportunity.”

Currently, Guasco instructs the core courses for the marine studies major, including Humans and the Ocean (MAST 201) and Society, Culture, and the Marine Environment (MAST 300). During spring term 2025, Guasco taught a new Ecampus course, Writing for Marine Studies (MAST 444), that she had been developing the previous past year.

“For that class, I used different examples of writing that have anything to do with the marine environment, whether academic or non academic, that apply particularly well for particular topics that we'll be talking about,” Guasco said. “It's everything from environmental historians to journalists, memoirs, podcasts, zines–all sorts of things.”

Guasco’s pilot course for spring term 2026, Marine Mammals, Culture, and History on the Oregon Coast (MAST 399) received a MACO Advancement Award. This new offering will help expand opportunities for experiential learning focused on human dimensions of marine and coastal issues. 

Guasco also received the 2025 - 2026 Critical AI Literacy Fellowship from the Center for the Humanities and OSU Libraries, in which she’ll be expanding research critically analyzing efforts to speak to whales via generative AI.

So far, she’s enjoyed helping direct students with a love for marine topics toward more interdisciplinary avenues with the uniqueness of the marine studies program, which is one of only a few undergraduate humanities-focused marine studies programs in the country.

Guasco loves the enthusiasm of the marine studies students. For her, it’s a fun place to land in terms of a major, with the hunger to learn the human perspectives of marine science–where it all started for her.

Image

Charlotte Scott

By Jessica Florescu, CLA Student Writer - May 21, 2025

Charlotte Scott, M.Ed. ‘21, grew up on college campuses; her parents were part of the faculty and academic advising team at Washington State University and the University of Washington. Because of her familiarity with universities at a young age, Scott knew she not only wanted to attend college, but also pursue a career at one. After graduating from the College of Liberal Arts’ College Student Services Administration (CSSA) program, Scott now helps college students navigate their own personal and academic challenges as a case manager at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. Starting summer 2025, Scott will be moving to Bend to become a student care case manager at OSU-Cascades.

“I knew that college would be my next step for education, and I attended a high school that specifically prepared students for college,” said Scott. “My parents both went to Oregon State and encouraged higher education, but they didn’t view it as the only way to achieve success in life.” 

After considering Oregon State, the University of Washington, and other Pacific Northwest universities, Scott pursued her undergraduate education in Spanish at Whitman.  

“Looking back,” Scott explained, “some of my favorite memories were just the traditions that took place on campus. Every year, Whitman hosts a scavenger hunt for rubber ducks around campus, outdoor movies throughout the school year, and more. They were silly events, but it was such a fun way to connect with other students.” 

Despite going to a college preparatory high school, Scott still struggled with her transition to college, because she no longer had the same structured environment as before. 

She explained, “the change from attending five to six classes per day alongside extracurriculars, to having hours of unstructured time to fill was challenging for me. Although I was in good academic standing, I struggled to build a support system for myself at first, but by sophomore year, I was able to figure out how I learned best personally.”

In addition to academics, Scott played tennis for Whitman and traveled across the country for matches; however, playing for an NCAA team was very different from high school sports. 

“College was more competitive and required a greater time commitment,” Scott explained. “During the spring season, we practiced two to three hours everyday. On top of that, we also gave up entire weekends for matches and traveling, but it was a great opportunity overall, and taught me more about leadership within communities.”

Scott’s major in Spanish led her to study abroad in Spain and then, after graduating from Whitman, she moved back to Mazarrón for two years, working as an English language assistant at a public elementary school. Scott loved her time working with students in Spain, which pushed her more towards exploring higher education. 

“In Spain, I was the international visitor that had to adjust to a new educational system. The enriching personal experience that I gained through that opportunity guided me towards my current career.”

Scott spent five years working in residential life at a boarding school in the Seattle area before deciding to become a student again herself. Choosing the CSSA program at the School of Language, Culture, and Society, Scott joined a small cohort of multidisciplinary graduate students looking to learn new approaches to student development, success, and leadership. 

Scott also received a graduate assistantship and the opportunity to apply her student services skills as an advisor for World Languages and Cultures and the Outdoor School’s Juntos program, which is a college readiness program for Latinx families and students.

“Working as an advisor during the initial months and years of the pandemic were definitely challenging,” said Scott. “But to have that experience prior to re-entering the professional student services world was so crucial for me.”

Currently, Scott returned to Whitman as a non-clinical case manager. Scott’s duties include responding to student concerns and connecting them to the appropriate resources on or off campus. Many of the issues presented to Scott are related to mental health prompted by the stress of living costs, food insecurity, or other external pressures. 

“We have seen an increase in serious mental health concerns partially attributed to student stress regarding their future plans, which has also led to bouts of severe depression.” explained Scott. “However, this has come with a positive shift towards a greater utilization of mental health support resources at the same time.”

Scott also highlighted that she does interact with students that need more help than the resources offered, and it can be difficult to navigate the best approach for them. 

“One of the most difficult aspects of my current position is how to help students build a strong support network when there is a shortage of mental health resources on a national level. Sometimes it can also be hard because I wish that I could make some of their lives easier considering the difficult circumstances that they are dealing with.”

Scott highlighted her strong interest to continue serving in a type of student support role and her passion for improving student belonging through collaborative efforts. She has worked with the Summer Fly-In program at Whitman that prioritizes community building for first generation students and Pell Grant recipients, which helps to make new students feel more welcomed in an unfamiliar environment.

Scott commented, “Seeing the growth of new students that start out a little lost and find their footing by the end of the year is really special,” said Scott “I greatly appreciated having the ability to jump into Whitman, while already having that behind the curtain look at higher education from the CSSA program.”