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Elliot Laurence

By Ellie Webb-Bowen, CLA Student Writer - December 11, 2024

Elliot Laurence is currently one of four second-year students in the School of Writing, Literature, and Film’s M.F.A. program. Focusing on fiction, Laurence has stories to tell from his upbringing in St. Louis, Missouri, and time spent in the Air Force.

"I've always wanted to be a writer," Laurence said. "My niche is what I like to call ‘poverty fiction,’ which is fiction about people who are struggling financially."

Growing up as one of five in a low-income household, Laurence struggled with learning disabilities, but was always a big reader. They worked long hours to help feed their family, which hurt their grades and prevented them from participating in extracurricular activities. College wasn’t necessarily on the table for Laurence and they weren't looking to stick around in St. Louis after high school, which led them to joining the Air Force at age 17 as a way to get out. After their high school graduation, Laurence went straight into basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, then technical school for medical logistics training.

“During my time in the Air Force, I met a lot of people who were in similar situations as I was,” explained Laurence.
“They didn't join because they wanted to, they joined because they had a challenging family situation back home, or wanted consistency in their life, or needed to get rid of debt. These people joined the Air Force to eventually have a better life.”

During year three of his six years in the Air Force, Laurence began transitioning, which, as Laurence explains, Air Force administration was unsure how to handle, treating the transitioning processes as though Laurence was injured. Officially classifying Laurence’s transition as a “medical defect,” the duties Laurence was allowed to perform during his time in service were limited.

“They treated me as if I had developed asthma or something,” said Laurence. “And despite my transition occurring during the Trump Administration, it was a celebratory time with friends and family. I was very lucky to be surrounded by people who were very supportive of me, including my unit commander. Honestly, the worst part about it was the administrative paperwork.”

Laurence completed Airman Leadership School and was honorably discharged as a staff sergeant after 6 years of service. While in the Air Force, they were also enrolled at Webster University in St. Louis as an English major and creative writing minor. After graduating, Laurence received the Young Alumni Award from Webster for their transgender activism, as well as a guest on Donnybrook, a St. Louis PBS debate program, to talk about transgender rights.

In 2022, Ruminate Magazine published a fictional story by Laurence titled, “Warehouse Song,” about a single mom who works at a clothing packaging warehouse, while living in her car and raising her daughter.

“The story is fictional,” explained Laurence, “but there certainly are themes in there that I took from my own upbringing. I like to write personal stories, whereby at the end of the day, we’re all just trying to survive, typically for love; love for love’s sake.”

While working as Editor of Communication at the St. Louis University School of Law, Laurence began to look at continuing his writing career. OSU’s Master’s of Fine Arts program at the School of Writing, Literature, and Film (SWLF) caught Laurence’s attention, due in part to the small cohort size, non-competitive environment, in addition to being in transgender-friendly state. They were admitted and joined the program in Fall 2023.

While at OSU, Laurence has been elected twice SWLF's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, received the Thurgood Marshall Fellowship, served as an organizer for the M.F.A. Reading Series, and volunteers with the Coalition of Graduate Employees, who strive to ensure fair treatment and wages for graduate employees.

His writing still focuses on themes of “poverty fiction,” Laurence looks to tell stories about those who are under-represented or unheard.

“There’s so much to uniquely explore in the field of American poverty,” said Laurence. “Money dictates so much about how we live, including my own. In my writing, the character is constantly worrying about money, but it doesn’t mean they don’t get stuff done, or have positive relationships, or become involved in a murder mystery.”

For his thesis, Laurence is working on a novel, tentatively titled No One Has a Dollar. The narrator is a 23-year-old transgender man with a side job as a food delivery driver. The story surrounds a recent mysterious murder of another driver. The main character gets a front row seat to the development of the case when he joins an activist group led by an infectiously charming man named Every.

After completing the M.F.A. program this spring, Laurence looks to enter into teaching and continue writing fiction about what it means to be poor and marginalized in America.

“I hope my writing will make readers feel seen,” Laurence said. “Even though somebody might be struggling financially, it doesn't mean that they don't have a rich life.”

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Cooper Dart

By Quinn Keller, CLA Student Writer - January 8, 2025

After growing up in the outdoor paradise of Hailey, Idaho, Cooper Dart spent his undergraduate studies on the East Coast at Bowdoin College, in Brunswick, Maine, where he graduated with bachelor’s degrees in environmental studies and anthropology. Today, Dart continues to take what he learned at Bowdoin and apply that to his nonfiction writing about rural America as an M.F.A. student in the School of Writing, Literature, and Film (SWLF).

“In the rural west, it’s everything all the time,” said Dart. “It’s how you and the people around you are responding to environments and landscapes, and how landscapes and environments are responding to communities, and the feedback loop that happens.” More specifically, Dart is interested in the mythology and mythos of these landscapes and communities.

What drew Dart to environmental studies and anthropology was the intent to learn more about how communities and societies interact with their environment. It was a creative nonfiction course he took during his junior year that lent the possibility of exploring these communities through storytelling.

Dart credits his nonfiction journey to Alex Marzano-Lesnevich, a writing professor at Bowdoin. “Every writer has that moment where they are made to feel like a writer, and it's really important,” Dart said. “I had this brilliant professor who spent a lot of intentional time with me in reviewing my writing, which made me feel like a ‘writer.’ It made me so excited to keep going.” The same writing professor at Bowdoin connected Dart with SWLF Associate Professor Elena Passarello years later when Dart was considering an M.F.A. program.

Much of Dart’s current writing focused on the rural American West was informed by not only his upbringing in Idaho, but also the various seasonal outdoor-related jobs he’s held, including a search and rescuer in Brunswick, a backcountry guide in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, a ski coach in Portland, Maine, an instructor at an outdoor school in North Carolina, and a few more.

“Everyone is searching for something,” Dart said. “Those experiences were very formative for me and leaked into my writing. I’m trying to connect these concepts and experiences because everything about it is interlinked.”

Dart’s exploration of nonfiction is rooted in the intersectionality of the humanities and environment, an area that OSU excels in probing. His self-described “experimental” writing about individuals, communities, and shared myths helps him organize his own thoughts and perspectives. One of Dart’s literary essays explores Idaho’s nuclear history through modern folklore, including the 1961 nuclear reactor accident near Hailey that is shrouded in myth.

“I write about how individuals and communities search through myths and stories about the place they live for some sort of answer to the modern moment.” said Dart. “It’s this more dispersed, symbolic idea of searching and looking for things. It's good to talk about because rural landscapes are such a contested space in the modern American psyche.”

For Dart’s graduate thesis, he is working on a book-length essay about Korean artist Nam June Paik. Paik is famous for being the first person to create art with television screens in the 1950’s and 1960’s. “I feel like it's a great time to challenge and push myself to write a big, sustained piece,” Dart said. His interest in Paik stems from his own interest in togetherness and connection. “He's this very international artist. It makes me wonder ‘what does it mean to be together?’ and ‘how messy does togetherness inherently have to be?’” Dart plans to connect these questions to rural landscapes in America, exploring themes of how small towns are connected with a shared history.

Dart has one more year until he finishes the M.F.A. program and his thesis. He explained that he’d like to explore teaching if things go smoothly, however, he is currently enjoying his writing not being associated with anything professional yet.

“I came into this M.F.A. program with no tangible professional goals,” elaborated Dart. “I wanted this time to be spent devoted to writing in a collaborative community. I’m greatly enjoying living and writing with intention in this moment.”

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Kate Carter-Cram

By Taylor Pedersen, CLA Student Writer - January 1, 2025

Kate Carter-Cram, a second-year Ph.D. student in public policy with a focus on economics, has devoted herself to researching feminist economics and financial literacy in sub-Saharan and Middle Eastern countries, fields she is deeply passionate about. Her choice to study these areas is driven by a desire to conduct research that is not only academically rigorous, but also socially conscious.

"Feminist economics can range from applying a feminist lens to economic data analysis to addressing issues that are traditionally considered feminist, such as gender-related topics and healthcare," Carter-Cram elaborated. "I am acutely aware of how I use data and my positionality in my research, especially when studying sensitive regions like the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa.”

Growing up in Boise, Idaho, Carter-Cram's educational trajectory began at an international baccalaureate high school, where she built a foundation for her interdisciplinary approach to academia and research. She then attended Boise State University to earn her bachelor’s degree in global studies and Cornell University to complete her master's degree in applied economics. Despite the valuable experiences on the East Coast, she felt a strong pull to return to the Pacific Northwest, ultimately choosing OSU for her Ph.D. studies. The interdisciplinary nature of the College of Liberal Arts’ public policy program, which integrates multiple disciplines, was a significant factor in her decision.

Despite being in the early stages of her Ph.D., Carter-Cram is already contemplating the broader impacts of her work. Her original interest in sub-Saharan Africa was partially influenced by her proficiency in French, which is widely spoken in the region. Additionally, she recognized a gap in research focused on countries in the Middle East, compared to other regions like South or East Asia. She hopes her future research will contribute meaningfully to existing literature and showcase the potential for economics to evolve beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries.

"These countries tend to rank low on metrics like gender equality and economic development, making them crucial areas for research,” said Carter-Cram. "I want to demonstrate that economics can be a true social science, incorporating feminist theory, hard science principles, and mixed methods.”

When considering how academic institutions can better support research in areas like feminist economics and financial literacy, Carter-Cram emphasizes the importance of awareness and mainstream acceptance. "A lot of people aren’t aware of what feminist economics is, even within economics," she noted. Carter-Cram believes that by making these fields more visible, accessible, and integrated, institutions can create a more inclusive and comprehensive academic environment that pushes research boundaries.

For her Ph.D. dissertation, Carter-Cram is looking to explore the determinants of financial inclusion and how women engage with financial empowerment services, including expanded access to banking and employment opportunities, lines of credit, and personal loans.

Looking ahead, Carter-Cram is aiming for a research-oriented career after graduating, ideally working with a non-governmental organization or nonprofit on policy evaluation and implementation. In addition to her academic pursuits, she serves on the university’s Board of Trustees, making her the first graduate student trustee at OSU. Although her term began recently, she is enthusiastic about her role in shared governance, a commitment she has maintained across multiple institutions.

Carter-Cram’s experiences exemplify a blend of personal passion, interdisciplinary scholarship, and a commitment to social impact. Her advice to aspiring public policy or economics students is to stay true to their research interests and learning styles, even in the face of predominant academic voices. "It's important to stick to your ideas and market yourself, even if your research combines seemingly disparate fields.” As she continues her research and academic endeavors, she aims to contribute to a more inclusive, innovative, and socially conscious field of economics and public policy.

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Ashley Hay

By Taylor Pedersen, CLA Student Writer - January 8, 2025

Hay’s, ‘20, journey began in the School of Psychological Science, where her initial fascination with human behavior led her to speech communication at the School of Communication, where she was able to combine her interest in behavior with an emphasis on media and rhetorical analysis.

Hay loved the versatility and diversity of the degree program, enabling her to explore specific areas of communications, including rhetorical criticism, science rhetoric, and ancient rhetorical theory, which all laid a foundation for Hay’s graduate studies.

Her master's thesis at Syracuse University centered around how certain terms like “aftercare” are understood and transformed across TikTok’s many user communities. (“Aftercare” refers to the period of caring for your partner's physical & emotional needs after sexual activity.) In BDSM and queer communities, “aftercare” is often described as a series of optional, open-ended steps designed to alleviate intense emotions and provide space for individuals' (re)connection and (re)negotiation of boundaries.. However, as Hay observed, as this concept filters into broader educational contexts, it can become oversimplified, reducing it to a prescriptive list of steps. This shift is demonstrative of the broader societal tendency toward a neoliberal “good sexual citizen” framework, where the focus is often on self-optimization.

“This neoliberal view creates a rigid good-versus-bad sexual paradigm, where any deviation from the idealized script is seen as a failure,” she explained. Hay's work highlights how broader societal expectations often press people into narrowly defined roles, even in their personal lives.

Today, Hay’s research is focused on how a/sexual identity and sexual education content moves through social media platforms. TikTok specifically poses unique challenges and opportunities for those seeking information about sexuality. “There’s a meshing of people who want information and creators who claim to have that information,” she explained, adding,

“The platform itself mediates all of this, with algorithms typically designed to limit or flag sexual content. They push you in certain directions—often monetizable ones,” Hay said, discussing how TikTok’s content restrictions and lack of formal expertise among creators can sometimes exacerbate misinformation.

Despite its limitations, TikTok remains a powerful resource for community-led conversations on topics many traditional educational settings neglect. This, Hay noted, is crucial for fostering a more holistic approach to sexual education. Looking to the future, she envisions social media complementing formal education rather than serving as a last resort. She argues that a critical overhaul of U.S. educational policy is overdue, alongside integration of content from organizations like the World Health Organization, which could offer a more comprehensive understanding of sexuality.

For students and educators alike, Hay’s advice is to remain skeptical of any single source of information. “There’s nothing about sex that should be taken at face value,” she advised, emphasizing the importance of seeking diverse perspectives and credible resources. “TikTok is a great place to access new ideas about sex and sexuality, but for a more complete and thorough understanding of new terms and ideas, viewers should go off-app for more accurate information.”

She believes it’s essential for educators, especially those working in sexual education, to thoroughly research the origins of concepts they teach and to respect the cultural frameworks they come from. By exploring how social media can either reinforce or challenge existing paradigms around sexuality, Hay is contributing to an evolving conversation about what sexual education can look like in the digital age. For Hay, TikTok represents both the potential and the pitfalls of modern sexual education, underscoring a need for change that is just as complex as the algorithms shaping our digital lives.

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Sky Krakos

By Quinn Keller, CLA Student Writer - January 8, 2025

During Sky Krakos’ time as an undergraduate student at Webster University in St. Louis, they had the unique opportunity to study alongside Indigenous scholars examining coffee production and environmental activism in Costa Rica and Ecuador. Although they only spent a handful of weeks abroad, this experience turned out to be a formative part of Krakos’ education, where they were introduced to eco-feminism and gender philosophy in connection with environmental labor. Coupled with their undergraduate degree in philosophy and human rights, focused on genocide, forced migration, and education, the Environmental Arts and Humanities program at OSU’s College of Liberal Arts was a perfect fit for Krakos.

“One thing I believe to be fully true about the humanities is that it’s foundational to a fulfilled life,” Krakos said. “The sciences are crucial, yet so are the humanities. I see myself as a fusion scholar trying to combine these disciplines together that have been so long kept in their separate corners.”

The field of environmental humanities presented itself to Krakos when they began working at the YMCA of the Seven Council Fires in the Cheyenne River Nation, in South Dakota. After initially spending time as a camper through the YMCA Youth Exchange Program, they became a counselor, liaison, and collaborator for the YMCA chapter with native groups in South Dakota. Krakos has worked with the YMCA of the Seven Council Fires for over a decade and continues to work for the same YMCA chapter, remotely during the academic year and then traveling to South Dakota every summer.

“Thinking about the intersection of social justice and human rights within environmental justice is what I’mreally passionately engaged with,” said Krakos. “And I feel that there's not a more just cause, right now, than environmental justice.”

Currently, Krakos has finished their first year of their master’s program and is a graduate instructor in the crop and soil science department. “Teaching and working with students is one of my favorite things about OSU,” they said. “Interacting with students of different disciplines that are all engaged in sustainability is like this utopia idea that I love to engage with every week. Having business students and economists, psychologists, philosophers, and biologists all working together in one room toward sustainability seems to be, for me, the only route forward for all of us.” Krakos is also Union Steward for the Coalition of Graduate Employees for the department of history, philosophy, and religious studies.

Complementing Krakos’ academic work, they are also working with humanities scholars and artists from across the country to create an exhibit at PRAx, titled How To Carry Water: Memory in Three Questions. The exhibition, debuting in September in the Stirek Gallery, will bring 15 different artists focused on human engagement with water. This includes everything from LIDAR scans of rivers, to performance art pieces, to film, all meant to encourage thought about how society interacts with water, and the “human experience” behind it.

“I think one of the messiest things that humans have to learn at this point is to coexist with one another. Community seems to be the one thing that we have struggled to nail down. I think the humanities starts to grapple with these concepts,” Krakos said. “How can we create community, learn from our past, and try to shape a better future and live alongside the environment while doing it?”

Now, Krakos’ research agenda has taken a specific focus on how nuclear warhead testing has impacted long term radiation of Indigenous and marginalized communities, specifically the Minuteman Nuclear Missile Silos in North and South Dakota from 1962-1991.

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Celine Castillo

By Taylor Pedersen, CLA Student Writer - December 4, 2024

Growing up in the predominantly Latino community of Santa Ana, California, Celine Castillo’s love for the environment blossomed early. "My parents took me camping at least once a year," she recalled. "Every Memorial Day weekend, we’d be out camping, sitting around the fireplace." These impressionable experiences instilled in her an appreciation for the outdoors and encouraged a lifelong commitment to environmental advocacy.

Castillo’s educational journey began with a focus on environmental studies during her undergraduate years at the University of California, Davis. Initially attracted to the scientific aspects of the field, she soon found herself drawn more to the social justice elements. “I went into my undergrad focusing on environmental studies, but it was a lot of science. I wanted to turn more towards social justice and community work," she explained. This shift led her to American Studies, a field that integrates environmental justice with social impacts and personal identities.

Her diverse professional experiences, working with the City of Hillsboro, Portland's Parks & Recreation Department, and the U.S. Forest Service, provided Castillo with a well-rounded perspective on environmental maintenance and conservation. "The highlight is just being outdoors, learning about different tools, and dealing with various environments," she said. 

Her cultural background and personal experiences deeply influence Castillo’s dedication to environmental justice. Witnessing communities often facing environmental injustices, she saw firsthand the disparities in access to green spaces and environmental education. This realization fueled her passion to make environmental education and conservation efforts more inclusive and accessible to all communities.

These experiences fed into her decision to further her Environmental Arts and Humanities education at the School of History, Philosophy, and Religion at the College of Liberal Arts. "Environmental arts and humanities offer so many different perspectives,” she said. "I was already getting a lot of social justice and hands-on conservation work. Humanities goes more into the philosophy and arts perspective on the environment." Oregon State University’s (OSU) extensive program offerings in natural resources, forestry, and environmental sciences made it the perfect fit for her continued studies.

During her time at OSU, Castillo engaged in various projects that combined her interests in environmental justice and community outreach. She worked on initiatives aimed at restoring local parks and natural habitats while also educating the community about the importance of these spaces. These projects not only strengthened her skills, but also reinforced her belief in the power of community involvement.

Castillo is particularly passionate about issues of access to education regarding environmental issues. Looking ahead, she envisions working with different networks and outdoor environmental organizations, focusing on roles that blend restoration and conservation with community accessibility. "I want to ensure that parks are healthy and accessible to all.”

Castillo’s commitment to environmental justice also led her to emphasize the importance of policy changes at the local level. She envisions a collaborative effort with local governments and community groups to push for policies that protect natural resources and ensure equitable access to green spaces. These advocacy efforts bring about positive changes in the OSU community, making environmental justice a more prominent issue.

To students and young professionals aspiring to follow a similar path, Castillo offers this advice: "There’s a lot of interdisciplinarity in this field, so follow your passion." She believes that community engagement is crucial in addressing environmental issues and promoting justice. "It’s pretty important. It’s what we all have in common."

Castillo’s holistic approach to environmental advocacy also places emphasis on mental health. She believes that access to nature and green spaces plays a vital role in improving mental well-being. Spending time outdoors has always been a way for her to relax and recharge. Her work aims to create environments where people can connect with nature and improve their overall well-being.

Looking to the future, Castillo hopes to leave a legacy that emphasizes sustainable practices and prepares future generations to continue this vital work. Castillo’s journey from Santa Ana to OSU demonstrates an ongoing commitment to environmental advocacy and social justice. Her efforts to integrate cultural awareness, community engagement, and policy advocacy into her work highlight the multifaceted approach needed to tackle environmental challenges effectively. Through her dedication and passion, Castillo continues to inspire others to take action and make a difference in their communities.

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By Colin Bowyer, Communications Manager - November 27, 2024

The purpose of technical writing is to convey complex information in a clear, concise, and accessible manner. A trained technical writer is traditionally more concerned about structure and accuracy to enhance understanding. The use of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) large language models (LLMs) has increased in both professional and classroom technical writing settings, requiring instructors and administrators to address how much or little GAI should appropriately be utilized by students. Two starkly different approaches from college administrators, prohibitive and critical, have arisen across collegiate writing classrooms leading to varying results, as well as dynamic shifts in instructors' relationships with students.

From a new interdisciplinary collaboration, associate professors Ehren Helmut Pflugfelder of the School of Writing, Literature, and Film and Joshua Reeves of the School of Communication have proposed a novel, nuanced approach to address the use of GAI by students in technical writing. The “CARE” framework: critical, authorial, rhetorical, and educational, emphasizes ethical and contextual AI use, while avoiding a one-size-fits-all prohibitive restriction on using AI in the technical writing classroom. Their article, titled “Surveillance Work in (and Teaching) Technical Writing with AI,” appeared in a special issue of the Journal of Technical Writing and Communication.

In the last few years, the use of GAI LLM chatbots has proliferated, impacting instructors, administrators, and students at all levels of education. Responding to this rapid, widespread use, many colleges and universities sought tools, e.g. Turnitin, to address what was seen as a widespread plagiarism concern. Unfortunately, GAI detection tools have not proven to be especially reliable.

For instructors and administrators, a common approach to academic dishonesty is to increase the surveillance of student conduct,  including visual student supervision, standardized testing, audiovisual classroom monitoring, and online test proctoring. 

“Surveillance and incorporating plagiarism detection may be the best way to identify where student writers are utilizing generative AI,” said Reeves, “but the bigger and more interesting question is, ‘what does that mean for writing instructors? How does that change the dynamic between instructors and students?’”

Instead of becoming a “surveillance agent” and taking a prohibitive approach, Pflugfelder and Reeves encourage instructors to integrate GAI LLMs in the technical writing classroom, while also encouraging critical reflection on the roles that automated text generation and prompt engineering may play in their future careers.

“These new technologies can either be banned outright,” explained Pflugfelder, “which requires instructors to police any trace of their use, or these new platforms can be embraced as part of a pragmatic strategy to turn students into ethical and responsible users of the technology.”

The “CARE” framework, critical, authorial, rhetorical, and educational, provides general principles upon which instructors can reflect in order to determine a suitable path. CARE emphasizes the promise of GAI while cautioning instructors against allowing the technology to redefine their relationships to students.

“GAI has the potential to significantly change technical writing instruction and work,” said Pflugfelder. “That does not necessarily mean, however, that we have to let it change our work in such a way that plagiarism anxiety and surveillance work comprise even more of our labor. We want students to be successful in every writing situation and to think critically about using GAI to their advantage.

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David Bernell

By Emily Willis, CLA Student Writer - November 27, 2023

Our planet is in need of important changes for the climate and global warming, and there are actions being taken here at Oregon State to help educate students and improve our efforts at going green. David Bernell is a professor who specializes in teaching students about renewable energy policies, and how these policies  incorporate changes into the daily routines of people and businesses all over the country.

Before becoming a professor, Bernell served as an appointee for the Clinton Administration in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), as well as the Department of the Interior.  At OMB, Bernell’s job involved preparation of the President’s annual budget proposal to Congress, on behalf of all the federal agencies that dealt with energy and natural resources.

Bernell now leads OSU’s Energy Policy Ecampus program, an online graduate certificate for those looking to learn more about U.S. energy policy and how it affects the nation and their own local communities. This includes professionals in the energy sector, current graduate students, and people in a variety of jobs – reporters, property managers, engineers – who want to know more about how energy policy impacts their own work.

“A major question the program tries to address is how the U.S. government and its institutions are going to use the country’s resources more sustainably and not cause future problems or make existing problems worse, whether it’s energy policy’s impact on climate change or national security.” Bernell continued, “People from all over the country with different personal and professional backgrounds are interested in answering questions like these. They all bring their unique perspectives to the program, and it makes working with all these students incredibly rewarding. 

Mitchell Dehmer, a graduate student in the program and an environmental scientist in the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said, “Energy policy is a niche and often overlooked topic, however the Ecampus program intentionally focuses on how the U.S. government crafts  policy surrounding renewable and clean energy.”

“Policy is the first place where you can actually make a change,” said Dehmer. “As a policy maker, you are the first line bureaucrat in making change. The world is changing rapidly, and there’s a need for young professionals with the knowledge of how to craft effective energy policy in our government.”

Dehmer went on to elaborate on how Bernell’s teaching style enhances the material. “Dr. Bernell’s class is by far the best class I’ve taken so far,” Mitchell mentions. “I’ve learned the most information by being in his class; Dr. Bernell truly seems to care about his students and makes sure to let them know they’re heard and seen.”

Rachel Mooney, another student in the Energy Policy Program and a senior associate at Climate Action Reserve, a global offset registry for global carbon markets, also talked about the importance of learning about renewable energy policy and Bernell’s individualized mentorship. Dr. Bernell’s  U.S. energy policy class informed much of the framework for how I was writing my thesis. It really helped give context to what I was talking about, like why natural gas is so instrumental in our energy use as a country, and for the transition in the long-term.”

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Jax Richards

By Luke Brockman, Events and Communications Intern - June 22, 2022

In a world more socially connected than at any other moment in history, the importance of collaborative, diverse and interdisciplinary approaches to solving problems has become increasingly valued. Jax Richards is a student at Oregon State University who recognized that very early.

OSU’s campus culture inherently encourages students in the College of Liberal Arts, the second most populated college on campus, to communicate and make connections with students from other seemingly distant fields.

“I very much view having a STEM association or being able to understand STEM as a liberal arts student is critical,” said Richards, who’s a quintuple major, four of which are liberal arts areas: public policy, communication, political science and economics. The fifth, sustainability.

“That interdisciplinary kind of conversation and connection is absolutely vital to almost anything that you would meaningfully want to engage in, in liberal arts,” said Richards.

Richards takes an innovative and big picture approach to being an undergraduate student – the kind of approach that is poised to set him up with the knowledge, connections and confidence to move forward and contribute meaningful work to the world. One of the more insidious problems Richards sees with the current state of society lies in a lack of clear communication by academics across disciplines and to the public in general. Hence his decision to revolve his academic pursuits around the pillar of communication.

One way he’s managed to do this is through activism and advocacy. In 2019, the same year Richards graduated from high school, he started a 501c3 nonprofit called “Safeguard Youth,” with a mission to enact long-term and meaningful change in Oregon’s child welfare system.

“I really want to be the kind of person I needed when I was younger,” he explained. Richards grew up in Beaverton, Oregon, during a period of rapid gentrification and is one of 18 million youth in the United States who was raised in a single parent household. That’s more than 23 percent of all U.S. children, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Both despite and because of these kinds of odds, Richards has managed to stand out among the crowd of young academics at OSU and in the global community. As if quadruple-majoring wasn’t hard enough, he’s worked with U.S. representative Peter DeFazio, with numerous nonprofits including Amnesty International, and had the chance to represent OSU at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (aka COP26) late last year.

“He’s not afraid to keep himself busy,” explained Shaurya Gaur, a friend and colleague of Richards’ who studies computer science, and who worked alongside him to help organize TEDx Corvallis—a project that came very near completion before the pandemic cut it short.

“(Jax) not only gives the most energy he can to everything he’s working on—what he does he genuinely just cares about—and he’s also just a good friend,” said Gaur. “It’s nice to have somebody who’s not only a good communicator, but who’s going to bring his best to the work.”

Not everyone wants as busy a schedule as Richards, but to him, that kind of fullness is what keeps his scale balanced.

Between managing knowledge flowing from five adjacently related areas of study, navigating a workload of commitments outside of mere coursework, and planning his approach to a future reforming child education, Richards says that a balanced life comes from within the task management itself.

“This is gonna sound really odd, but for me [balance] is about thinking ahead about your future care. For me, it’s always been really hard to take time for myself,” said Richards.

“Taking time for yourself is super critical. And, you know, that manifests in different ways for different people.”

At OSU, Jax has surrounded himself with a social sphere representing a variety of disciplines on campus. According to Jax, social life and community are a huge part of what broadens his learning experience.

“I get a lot of my energy from socialization. Regardless of how busy my day is, I always try to take half an hour, an hour, two hours to just, like, hang out with friends. Even if we’re all just reading silently, it’s the energy of having people I care about and people that care about me kind of just taking a minute.”

Richards has created a meaningful involvement with his community in the College of Liberal Arts and further beyond, by surrounding himself with friends and colleagues who come from all over STEM and liberal arts fields. For Jax, finding a way to encourage that interdisciplinary conversation just might be the key to solving the problems facing his world.