62 minute read
President’s Letter
Cowboy family,
It’s an exciting time at Oklahoma State University!
In December, I announced a key initiative to develop a strategy for the OSU system, which aims to draft a comprehensive plan for OSU’s future. In January, we began a structured, system-wide process to gather feedback from the Cowboy family, our stakeholders and industry partners with a goal to construct the broadest, most accurate view for the future. From May through August, the committees will create a strategy to guide the OSU system for years to come.
We are going to set Oklahoma State on a new and bold path of achievement and success, building upon a rock-solid foundation in critical categories that address challenges in Oklahoma and around the globe.
A $50 million gift in December is indicative of the progress and forward momentum in our goal to establish OSU as a leader and find solutions to society’s most pressing challenges. The gift established the Hamm Institute for American Energy at Oklahoma State University, which will become a cornerstone of workforce development and public impact research.
This spring, OSU was set to forge new roads in the arena of alumni partnerships with the creation of the Industry Insights mentorship series. Superstar alumnus Garth Brooks and music industry professionals were scheduled to kick off the series March 11 at The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts, but a snowstorm postponed the event. When it’s rescheduled, our students will have a unique opportunity to learn from one of the most successful recording artists of all time.
The concept is the beginning of a new season for OSU. We have remarkable and innovative alumni. We want to share their knowledge and offer students more learning opportunities that they can’t get anywhere else. I welcome your ideas for future Industry Insights presentations.
With the strength and imagination of our students, faculty and staff, OSU is making positive changes in the world. There has never been a better time to be a Cowboy.
Go Pokes!
Dr. Kayse Shrum
OSU President osupres@okstate.edu
Taking Her Seat
Parkhill reflects on being named chair of the OSU Alumni Association’s Board of Directors
In July 2021, Tina Parkill, ’93 marketing, became the new chair of the Oklahoma State University Alumni Association’s Board of Directors. As she closes in on year one of her twoyear term, she sat down with STATE Magazine to introduce herself to readers and reflect on her time as chair so far.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you ended up at OSU?
I was born and raised in the small town of
Clayton, New Mexico, by a single mother who instilled in me a tremendous independent spirit.
The pressure to succeed was extremely intense because I was on my own after graduation and the first female in my family who would attend college. I evaluated a number of universities, but
OSU was at the top of the list. What were some of your favorite things about your time at OSU?
Greek Life and campus involvement were at the center of most of my activities outside the classroom. Having been a part of Kappa Delta sorority and a number of other organizations on campus, I really enjoyed the camaraderie with fellow students. I also enjoyed the opportunity to participate in leadership roles in other campus groups like Panhellenic Council, Business
Student Council and Russian Club.
What made you want to stay involved after graduation?
I have always credited my experiences at OSU as being a huge influence in my transition to adulthood. My personal development and growth can be attributed to mentorship from professors, advisors and peers. These relationships honed my leadership and life skills and empowered me to approach the world with a completely different lens. The opportunity to stay engaged with alumni and students at OSU was a given for me.
How does it feel to be the chair of the OSU Alumni Association’s Board of Directors?
Being selected as board chair for the OSU
Alumni Association is one of the most amazing experiences in my volunteer career.
I am honored and humbled to lead and serve alongside such an intelligent, talented, passionate and dedicated Board of Directors.
In your view, why should alumni be members of the Alumni Association?
The primary goal of the Alumni Association is to provide engagement opportunities to enrich the alumni experience, creating lifelong connections.
My experience at OSU was a transformative part of my life. It propelled me from being a naive young kid to preparing me for a professional career beyond college. The support I received from numerous alumni who came back to campus as mentors transformed the trajectory of my life. Being a member elevates our students’ experiences and provides opportunities to stay connected to the Cowboy family forever.
Land-grant Evangelist
Claud Evans lends voice to highlight OSU’s impact
Former Oklahoma State University regent Dr. Claud D. Evans received a rare honor last fall.
The Okemah, Oklahoma, veterinarian was asked to give the Justin Morrill Memorial Lecture to the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU).
Each year, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture joins with APLU to sponsor the acclaimed lecture series. The Morrill Act — the legislation that created the land-grant university system — is named for the former congressman and senator from Vermont.
Sharing insights about the many benefits landgrant institutions provide was nothing new to Evans. APLU members were an audience also wellversed in that regard. Evans and his wife, Elayne, realized the best insights he could share were to draw from his personal life — a journey through the years in which he, Elayne, and their family were touched time and again by the land-grant system.
“I’m very much a product of land-grant institutions, not just in terms of educational opportunities, but also in values and giving back to one’s community,” Evans said. “I was born in 1943, the final child in a family of 15 children. Growing up, I had the good fortune to get a job working for the local veterinarian, Dr. John Montgomery, who became something of a father-figure for me after my own dad died when I was 13 years old.”
Montgomery was the grandson of an enslaved person and a product of two land-grant institutions, which helped shape his own worldview. He went on to improve the lives of many in the state as a civil rights pioneer.
“He believed when you have an opportunity to make change for the better, do it,” Evans said. “We talked a lot. I was very blessed to have him as a mentor and role model. Even before I graduated from Poteau High School, I knew I wanted to be a veterinarian.”
A Cowboy alumnus, the Poteau, Oklahoma, native earned his Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural biochemistry from OSU in 1966. He then went on to earn his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Tuskegee Institute in 1970, interning at the University of California-Davis. All three are land-grant institutions.
Evans put his veterinary skills to use working with the Ralston Purina Company in St. Louis for 11 years. He and Elayne eventually decided to return to their home state to become more directly involved with their registered Angus cattle operation, along with the family farm operated by her parents, J.P. and Vivian Owens, in Okfuskee County. In 1982, Evans opened the Okfuskee County Veterinary Clinic in Okemah, serving owners of large and small animals, which is still going strong today.
“Dr. Montgomery, who served for 25 years on the Board of Regents for Oklahoma A&M Colleges, told me I needed to become known by significant leaders in Oklahoma,” Evans said. “He was instrumental in talking to the governor who appointed me to the state’s Board of Examiners of
Former OSU regent Dr. Claud Evans (left) speaks to Dr. Thomas Coon, an OSU vice president and dean of the Ferguson College of Agriculture.
DR. CLAUD D. EVANS, ON HIS MENTOR DR. JOHN MONTGOMERY
Veterinary Medicine. Then I was appointed to the University of Tulsa Board of Trustees by another governor.”
Dr. Evans was on the Board of Trustees for the University Center at Tulsa, which is the area in Greenwood District where OSU-Tulsa and Langston-Tulsa are located. The center has been disbanded and the land given to the OSU/A&M Regents.
For 16 years, Evans served on the OSU/A&M Board of Regents, including two terms as the board’s chairman.
His life’s path of service and leadership continued to unfold. Evans was appointed to two eight-year terms on the Board of Regents for Oklahoma A&M Colleges, twice serving as chairman. He served as a longtime member of the Dean’s Advisory Committee for OSU Agriculture. Then he was named to the National Council for Agricultural Research, Education and Teaching (CARET), eventually becoming the first African American to be named chair in 2012.
Evans is also a member of the OSU Hall of Fame.
“Dr. Evans has been a tremendous mentor, coach and advisor for me, both professionally and personally, for many years,” said Oklahoma Farm Bureau President Rodd Moesel, an Oklahoma City entrepreneur and CARET representative. “You won’t find a better man or more accomplished and enthusiastic advocate for the land-grant mission and rural Oklahoma in general.”
Dr. Thomas Coon, OSU Agriculture vice president and dean, agreed. He said Evans has had a positive effect on his own life.
“Dr. Evans has motivated me to push through challenges,” said Coon. “Most of all, he has a compassionate heart, a reflection of the sense of respect and mission that is a hallmark of OSU Agriculture.
“As I look to the future, I’m strengthened by reflecting on the lives of Dr. Evans and Elayne. I aspire to pursue opportunities with the same sense of purpose by which they live.”
Dr. Claud Evans accepted the Justin Smith Morrill Memorial Lecture Award last fall.
Center of Command
OSU Emergency Operations Center the key to crisis response
The OSU Emergency Operations Center serves as a permanent base of operations for responding to crises on campus, with a workspace for key leaders, connections to critical outside agencies and a recent upgrade from the Office of the Vice President for Research.
For many universities, the base of operations during an emergency is a conference room that happens to be vacant at the time. For Oklahoma State University, it’s a carefully designed basement suite with dedicated laptops, hard-wired phones, security camera access and more, in place and ready to go 24/7 since 2007.
Thanks to a $50,000 gift from the Office of the Vice President for Research, the Emergency Operations Center’s computer systems are updated and the room has wireless capability.
Vice President for Research Kenneth Sewell became intimately acquainted with the EOC when it was the base of operations for the incident management team charged with standing-up and supporting OSU’s COVID-19 human testing lab in the early days of the pandemic.
“OSU’s Emergency Operations Center is structured behind the scenes to keep the OSU and Stillwater communities safe every single day,” Dr. Sewell said. “This EOC facility and team played critical roles at the beginning of the pandemic, allowing our team to safely and securely build OSU’s SARS-CoV-2 testing capabilities. I’m delighted to help keep the EOC technology up-todate to ensure their effectiveness in future crises.”
Whether a potential emergency is sudden and extreme — like a tornado barreling through
First Cowboy Darren Shrum takes a tour of the Emergency Operations Center, a basement-level secure area specifically designed for dealing with emergencies on campus.
campus — or the space becomes the hub of operations for a coordinated effort like the creation of the COVID-19 lab, crucial operational questions are already answered because of the EOC. There are no decisions of where to go and what to take; those plans have already been made and executed.
The EOC was created after the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007. The spot was centrally located, underground and was being used for storage.
Ron Hill, now retired, was hired in 2008 as the first emergency operations manager. He previously served as chief of operations and deputy director for the State of Oklahoma Emergency Management. Hill was involved in responding to incidents such as the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah building; the May 3, 1999, tornado outbreak; the I-40 bridge collapse; and multiple natural disasters.
By the time Hill arrived, the space had been cleared and walls erected. Hill designated smaller rooms around the primary meeting space for the smooth flow of operation based on the National Incident Management System: operations, planning, logistics and finance.
Hill ordered a custom table to transform the main room. On a typical day, it functions as a conference table. In the event of an emergency, the center of the table rises, revealing phones, computers and printed resources. University leaders can show up with only the clothes on their backs and have all the tools necessary to respond to a crisis.
“The table was built and assembled in Canada, then dismantled into seven pieces, wrapped in bubble wrap and shipped to Stillwater where a crew came to assemble it. It took eight hours,” Hill said. “It was designed specifically to fit through the doorways with back-up electronics under the table and pre-wired for networking.”
One side of the main room is lined with computers — stations of operation for partners like the City of Stillwater and its police and fire departments — the wall above them lined with televisions, making it possible to watch campus security cameras, see what television news stations are reporting, communicate with Oklahoma’s Office of Emergency Management, or connect a computer to broadcast a list of needs or notes on the changing situation. The EOC is often activated during severe weather events. Emergency responders work directly with a meteorologist from the National Weather Service and can monitor the NWS as well as the university’s lightning detection system.
OSU police dispatch moved into the EOC in 2019.
“It’s much more protected in its new location,” said Mike Robinson, OSU’s director of public safety. “The EOC gives us a base from which to conduct emergency operations that’s hardened and secure. In the event we did have a catastrophic event that damaged the campus, chances are we would still be able to operate from the EOC.”
OSU Police Department Capt. Dan Ray said the usefulness of the EOC as a base of operation is enhanced by campus partnerships.
“Oklahoma State has the added benefit of a fire protection and emergency management program known around the world,” Ray said. “We rely heavily on students and faculty for their expertise in emergency management. During the operation of the COVID-19 incident management team, several members of the emergency management program stepped up to fill key roles defined by the National Incident Management System.”
OSU’s Unmanned Systems Research Institute has also become a significant emergency management partner. When floods threatened
Dr. Jason Kirksey, vice president for institutional diversity, views a monitor of security cameras during a tour of the EOC.
WATCH: To see Inside OSU’s tour of the Emergency Operations Center, go to okla.st/eoc. campus in 2019, USRI flew unmanned vehicles (more commonly known as drones) over campus to provide a real-time look at the encroaching water with images livestreamed to the EOC.
For events with large crowds like America’s Greatest Homecoming and Cowboy football games, the EOC is activated.
On game days, two dispatchers operate out of Boone Pickens Stadium with representatives from multiple OSU, Stillwater, Payne County and state emergency response departments like the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and FBI. The dispatchers in the stadium handle calls within the walls of BPS. Dispatchers in the EOC take care of calls outside the stadium. Ray and the university public information officer are also stationed in the EOC.
“When the game is over, or if there were an emergency, the transition of incident management to the EOC is seamless,” Ray said. “As individuals transition from the stadium, we can pick up the ball and have continuity of service until they all get over here.”
In 2019, a tactical communication station was added in the main room near the table of leaders.
“In an emergency situation, the key leaders want to go where the freshest information is so they can make the best informed decision possible,” Ray said. “The freshest information is with the dispatchers, but the last thing the dispatchers need is someone leaning over their shoulders. We created the tactical communication station that can hear and receive all the same information as the dispatchers and provide that in real time to the decision makers.”
The EOC is a constantly evolving little-known hub of critical operations. Updates made possible by the VPR’s office have kept the space up-to-date with technological advancements.
“Anyone who has had an opportunity to need the EOC and see what’s possible, appreciates it,” said OSU PD Chief Leon Jones. “We cannot thank VP Sewell enough for recognizing that value and investing in it. The EOC is a safety net for the university.”
OKLAHOMA'S FUTURE PHYSICIANS START HERE
The Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine has been impacting our state’s health for 50 years and counting.
What began in 1972 with an inaugural class of 36 in Tulsa is now one of the top osteopathic colleges in the nation and boasts more than 3,700 graduates, most of whom went on to practice across the state of Oklahoma. In the Tulsa area alone, 385 of our alumni are practicing today in family medicine as well as pediatrics, OB/GYN, cardiology, anesthesiology and other subspecialities.
Our mission to educate Oklahoma’s future physicians is stronger than ever. Here’s to the next 50 years.
To learn more about our mission and impact, visit okla.st/com50
medicine.okstate.edu
OSU Academic Medical District to serve veterans, improve mental health care
A couple of recently vacated buildings and parking lots sit across the street to the north of the Oklahoma State University Medical Center (OSUMC) in downtown Tulsa. It may not look like much now, but in the coming years it will become the hub of the new OSU Academic Medical District.
In October 2021, a ceremonial groundbreaking was held where two existing buildings, donated by the state and just across the street from OSUMC, will be renovated into the new Veterans Hospital in Tulsa.
Next to the VA hospital will be a new mental health hospital operated by the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.
OSU Medicine physicians and residents, as well as third- and fourthyear medical students on rotation, will treat patients at both new facilities. An estimated 100 additional residency spots will be created between the new VA and mental health hospitals, along with about 30 new clinical faculty positions.
OSU already has established itself in the southwest corner of downtown Tulsa with the OSU Medical Center as well as 10 primary care and specialty OSU Medicine clinics in the Physicians Office Building and Houston Center just steps away from the hospital.
“The mission of OSU Center for Health Sciences and the College of Osteopathic Medicine is to improve the health and wellbeing of those living in rural and underserved Oklahoma through quality health care. It’s an essential part of the land-grant mission
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Rendering of the OSU Academic Medical District | Photo: MKSK Studios
of Oklahoma State University,” said Dr. Johnny Stephens, president of OSU-CHS.
While improving rural medicine will always be a core tenant of OSU-CHS, Stephens said he saw an opportunity for OSU to help meet the health care needs of veterans and those with mental health disorders in the Tulsa area by establishing the OSU Academic Medical District.
SERVING THOSE WHO SERVED
In February 2020, the presidential budget submitted to the U.S. Congress for 2021 included a $120 million appropriation for the construction of a Veterans Hospital in Tulsa (VHiT).
It’s the first hospital built under the CHIP-IN Act — Communities Helping Invest through Property and Improvements Needed for Veterans Act of 2016.
U.S. Sens. Jim Inhofe and James Lankford — as well as U.S. Reps. Markwayne Mullin and Kevin Hern — supported the proposal to build a VA hospital in downtown Tulsa and worked to secure the appropriation along with the Eastern Oklahoma VA Health Care System, VA Rocky Mountain Network and Veterans Health Administration.
“An overwhelming majority of veterans in eastern Oklahoma live in the Tulsa metropolitan area and do not have access to hospital care at a VA facility. Having a VA hospital centrally located in Tulsa will allow eastern Oklahoma veterans greater access to care and services that are currently not available,” said Jonathan Plasencia, associate director of Eastern Oklahoma VA Health Care System.
In order to make the hospital a reality, more than just the federal appropriation was needed. The state of Oklahoma transferred ownership of the Kerr-Edmondson buildings in downtown Tulsa to OSU. Next, the city of Tulsa will construct an $8 million parking structure on the site. Tulsa County has committed $4 million from its American Rescue Plan Act allocation to go toward project infrastructure funding.
The remaining costs will be covered by philanthropic donations, led by the Anne & Henry Zarrow Foundation, which helped form the Veterans Hospital in Tulsa, LLC.
Construction and renovation work on the new VA hospital is under way and is slated to be completed in late 2023. OSU will then transfer ownership of the hospital to the VA with the aim of opening the 275,000-square-foot facility to patients in 2024.
Now OSU president, Dr. Kayse Shrum was serving as president of OSU-CHS and dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine when the VHiT project was first proposed.
“Our veterans in northeast Oklahoma deserve a much-needed, easily accessible modern medical
OSU Medical Center | 556,000 VA Hospital in Tulsa | 275,000 Mental health hospital | 150,096 NUMBER OF BEDS
OSU Medical Center | 235 VA Hospital in Tulsa | 58 Mental health hospital | 106 OSU ACADEMIC MEDICAL DISTRICT RESIDENCY SPOTS
Current | 200+ After completion of VA hospital in Tulsa and mental health hospital | 300+
center where they can receive quality, compassionate care in a timely manner,” Shrum said. “For OSU-CHS, it’s been a great privilege to be part of this visionary project. While caring for veterans is a top priority, the affiliation with the Veterans Affairs Hospital near our Tulsa campus will benefit our students and residents tremendously and further enhance our medical school nationally.”
Plasencia said the new 58-bed facility means veterans living in Tulsa and northeast Oklahoma will have access to a state-of-the-art medical and surgical hospital.
“OSU Medicine has been a tremendous partner and champion for veterans in eastern Oklahoma. They, along with the Anne & Henry Zarrow Foundation, led the charge to get the first VA hospital approved under the CHIP-IN Act,” Plasencia said. “The proximity to OSU Medical Center and the new mental health hospital will allow us to increase the complexity of our services and share resources with them. Being part of this project will allow our veterans to have better access to quality care and services not currently offered in the Tulsa area.”
Shrum said having the VA hospital as part of the expanded OSU Academic Medical District is just as beneficial to OSU physicians, residents and students.
“Many physicians in practice today benefited from training at a Veterans Affairs hospital. As we see it, making sure our veterans receive the very best care is the least we can do to honor them for their devoted service to our country,” she said.
MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH
According to state data, an estimated 17,000 adults in Tulsa will experience severe mental illness in a given year, and 16,000 youth will experience a major depressive episode.
But the existing mental health hospital in Tulsa — a 56-bed facility in midtown — isn’t enough to meet demand, said Carrie Slatton-Hodges, commissioner of the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS).
“What Tulsa and northeast Oklahoma need is a modern psychiatric hospital with expanded bed space and one that is designed to meet current and future treatment needs,” SlattonHodges said.
The location of the proposed 150,000-square-foot facility is also an improvement.
“Creating this facility to stand as part of a larger, comprehensive medical center increases quality of care, opportunities for medical integration and an understanding that mental health and addiction issues are treatable, just as any other disease,” she said.
ODMHSAS has submitted a proposal to utilize American Rescue Plan Act funds to expand the new facility to 106 beds, reducing stresses on other parts of the statewide treatment system and providing Oklahomans access to services they want and need. If approved by the legislature, work could start on the new mental health hospital by late 2022.
Roughly 66,000 people in Tulsa may experience some sort of mental health issue in a given year, according to ODMHSAS, and the new facility will mean expanded access to advanced psychiatric services, without having to leave Tulsa.
Dr. Stephens said he is proud that OSU Medicine can help meet the growing need for mental health care in Tulsa and the surrounding area.
“The new mental health hospital in the OSU Academic Medical District will offer the chance to expand care and services to these patients while at the same time growing our behavioral health staff and residency programs as well as offering medical students, residents and physicians more learning and patient care opportunities,” Stephens said.
Slatton-Hodges said it will be just as beneficial for ODMHSAS and the new hospital to be in proximity to OSU Medical Center and the VA hospital.
“It gives access to the tremendous resource that is OSU Medicine. It’s going to provide a teaching environment for the training of more Oklahoma behavioral health professionals, access to innovative care and an opportunity to engage in other areas of medicine and advanced integrated services,” she said.
Artist rendering of the future Veterans Hospital in Tulsa | Photo: GH2 Architects
“The opportunities for collaboration are incredible.”
Slatton-Hodges added that mental health care is a priority issue in Oklahoma and should be more visible.
“Being part of the OSU Academic Medical District also helps demonstrate to the public that what we are talking about is an important part of overall health and reduces misperceptions that may exist,” she said. “It’s also a statement to the community and reaffirms our commitment to the overall health and wellbeing of Oklahomans.”
To learn more about the OSU Academic Medical District, go to okla.st/chsdistrict. OSU-CHS President Johnny Stephens (left) and OSU President Kayse Shrum gather with VHiT Project Director Courtney Knoblock and the Veterans Health Administration’s Deputy to the Deputy Under Secretary for Health Steven L. Lieberman (right) at the groundbreaking for the Veterans Hospital in Tulsa. | Photo: Matt Barnard
IT ALL STARTS WITH SOIL
N. Malone Mitchell, Jr. Soils Lab To Open New Doors For OSU Agricultural Research
Malone Mitchell Jr. has spent his whole life working the land and raising livestock.
The 1963 Oklahoma State University animal science graduate is the patriarch and owner/ operator of Mitchell Ranches, which he describes as the “the biggest agricultural producer south of I-40 and east of I-35.”
The ranch has operations in both Durant, Oklahoma, and Sanderson, Texas, sprawling across hundreds of thousands of acres and spanning three generations.
The ranch produces mostly cattle and goats, which, along with sheep, have always been Mitchell’s passion. His love for those animals led him to fund an endowed scholarship to benefit animal and food sciences students in 2021.
His ranch’s success, though, is the result of Mitchell Jr.’s respect for and care of the land itself.
“Whether you call it soil, dirt, or whatever … that’s the beginning of all agriculture,” he said.
He believes the quality of soil is just as crucial to herding as it is to farming.
That belief, along with some encouragement from his son, drove the lifelong rancher to make a huge investment in the future of agriculture in Oklahoma.
The Mitchell Family contributed $1 million to OSU’s New Frontiers campaign. In recognition of the gift, the future soil research lab will bear Mitchell Jr.’s name.
“(Soil) is something that maybe through the years hasn’t been emphasized as much as it should be,” Mitchell Jr. said. “I’ve been the director of the soil and water conservation board where I live for almost 60 years now. It’s been important to me for a while.”
OSU’s soil research is vital to agricultural production in the state of Oklahoma and even on a national level.
Researchers look into a variety of properties including soil nutrients, contaminants and overall health. It also extends to include soil microbiology and soil physics.
“Without the soil science related to soil fertility, soil physics and soil conservation, it would be impossible to sustain the high quality of both animal and food production that our producers in the state have been able to provide,” said Dr. Scott Senseman, associate vice president of OSU Ag Research.
The N. Malone Mitchell, Jr. Soils Lab will offer a massive upgrade over the current soils research laboratory, which has been in use since Agricultural Hall was built in the late 1950s. At that time, computers weren’t used in scientific research and man had yet to walk on the moon.
“We’re running really old,” said Dr. Brian Arnall, OSU Extension precision nutrient management specialist. “There’s maybe once a month my eyewash station doesn’t work. We have to buy air compressors to keep in our lab to run our machines because we don’t have the air we need for our pneumatics.”
The loud hum of the first air compressors echoed throughout the floor until they were replaced with a specialty low-volume unit.
Along with equipment limitations, soil research can’t be consolidated to one space in the current setup. Necessary testing equipment is spread throughout each floor of Agricultural Hall, and some is found across the street in the Noble Research Center.
It makes collaboration more tedious and the research process not only less efficient, but also less secure.
Malone Mitchell Jr. poses for a photo with his wife, Roberta.
“To bring samples from one machine to the other, we have a lot of transporting,” Arnall said. “That could potentially bring in an opportunity for contamination.”
These limitations won’t be an issue much longer.
All soil research will soon be under one roof in a state-of-the-art laboratory on the ground floor of the New Frontiers Agricultural Hall.
“Having everything new and close by will increase our efficiency,” Arnall said. “And as much as anything else, our collaboration will be so much easier. Just being able to see what we are doing on a daily basis with our counterparts and being able to utilize each other's resources more easily is going to be a big deal.”
In addition to research benefits, the upgraded lab will make OSU even more of a premier destination for graduate students, who work alongside professors and lab technicians. They get hands-on experience using the lab and working scientific equipment.
“Getting graduate students is a competitive marketplace,” Arnall said. “It’ll help recruiting because now we have this amazing world-class facility.”
OSU agricultural research already has wideranging effects, and its potential will only increase in the new facility. And it’s all thanks to the lifechanging contributions of donors like Mitchell Jr.
The N. Malone Mitchell, Jr. Soils Lab is one of three research labs that will be included in the New Frontiers Agricultural Hall. All will create environments that encourage collaboration, teambased research and engagement among peers with diverse research interests.
Located on the second floor, the John D. Groendkye Research Lab will support multidisciplinary research and is designed to support the Department of Natural Resources Ecology and Management’s project teams. Research interests for this lab include range research, ecophysiology, hydrology, water quality, terrestrial and aquatic wildlife, and the important work of the Oklahoma Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit.
A Plant Science Research Lab is also planned for the third floor and will support the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences. Possible research interests include plant and post-harvest physiology, plant nutrition, turfgrass genetics and bio-energy in crop production.
The elevated research will extend the impact and reach of OSU’s land-grant mission.
“This project will change and modernize our research and the way we teach scientific subjects,” said Dr. Thomas G. Coon, OSU Agriculture vice president and dean of the Ferguson College of Agriculture. “Research has the promise to
The New Frontiers Agricultural Hall will be located on Monroe Street, just north of the Henry Bellmon Research Center.
Graduate students who work in the soils lab will have desk space in areas with quick access to the lab and faculty offices.
The Malone Mitchell, Jr. Soils Lab will create a collaborative environment for OSU researchers. change the way we grow food and care for the natural environment we rely on. It can transform Oklahoma’s economy, fostering innovation that will feed a growing world population.”
In addition to the third-floor Plant Sciences Research Lab, OSU Agriculture continues to look for donors to name spaces throughout the building as part of its New Frontiers campaign.
As of this writing, OSU Agriculture was less than $1.5 million away from reaching its $50 million goal, including contributions from more than 500 donors and 10 Cornerstone Donors who have given at least $1 million.
“When a donor contributes to OSU Agriculture, they are making an investment in our future,” Senseman said. “Because of the varying conditions that we have in our state that challenge our soils and cropping systems, our research findings have broad national impact. An investment in OSU Agriculture is an investment in the new discoveries for all of agriculture.”
Construction of the New Frontiers Agricultural Hall began in May 2021 with the removal of the parking lot and demolition of Agriculture North to make room for the footprint of the New Frontiers Agricultural Hall. The building is scheduled to open in fall 2024.
LEARN MORE about New Frontiers campaign and construction progress, visit OSUgiving.com/New-Frontiers.
Lenimolo Whether you call it soil, dirt, or whatever … remporerspe dellacc ullicitium di aut est ipsus that’s the beginning of all agriculture." et harum, quodit || Malone Mitchell Jr. excepro omnis
OSU alumnus receives top honor for storied career in landscape architecture
Barrett Kays
At a glance, Barrett Kays appears unassuming.
He enjoys traveling, well-placed jokes and quality time with the people he loves.
Kays has also impacted the lives of millions of people across the United States and amassed a long list of awards for his career in landscape architecture. His most recent accolade is one of the most prestigious in the industry — the LaGasse Medal.
A Stillwater native, Kays grew up with an appreciation for nature. His father, Dr. Raymond Kays, had a green thumb but bled orange and left a lasting impact at OSU. He proudly served as the head of the OSU Department of Horticulture from 1962 to 1976. In 1998, the William Raymond and Charlotte Wheatley Kays Endowed Scholarship for Horticulture and Landscape Architecture was established in recognition of the couple’s contributions to horticulture and gardening. Raymond instilled that same love for the environment in Barrett, who followed in his father’s footsteps, graduating from OSU with a horticulture degree in 1971.
Building on his time at OSU, Kays earned a graduate degree in landscape architecture from North Carolina State University and began a Ph.D. program in soil science, an area of study that would set him on a course to revitalize some of the nation’s most iconic parks and landscape features.
“I felt that an area that was not well understood by the vast majority of landscape architects was soil or landscape soils and how that plays into a construction site,” Kays said. “They understood the horticulture side in greenhouses and nurseries, but it’s very different in a construction site.”
After completing his doctorate, Kays’ soil science expertise distinguished him from colleagues, affording him incredible career opportunities. One of his most notable and complex projects was restoring the Great Lawn at Central Park in New York City.
In the early ’90s, the Great Lawn was an environmental disaster, Kays said.
Before it was converted into the Great Lawn, the area was known as the Croton Reservoir. But the reservoir was never properly drained to create the lawn. This led to areas of the lawn liquefying, creating sinkholes in the public space. When it rained, the lawn was a muddy mess. During dry seasons, it was littered with bald patches from erosion and leaked sediment into Belvedere Lake.
“It was like a site from hell,” Kays said. “It was very complex and had all these different problems.”
The Central Park Conservancy and Parks and Recreation Department in New York interviewed three firms, and Kays’ firm, Barrett Kays & Associates, P.A., stood out as the obvious hire.
“I was pretty quickly hired within a few days because I was the only one who understood how to fix the horrendous problems they had,” Kays said. “It made sense to me and our team. I was amazed that the New York City landscape architects were dumbfounded by how we did it.”
The hard work to restore the lawn commenced. Kays directed his team in the design and implementation of multiple drainage systems that were constructed to withstand both a 100-year rainstorm and a 100-year drought.
Although the construction site was full of hard work and complicated details, Kays still found ways to have fun.
THE LAGASSE MEDALS
The LaGasse Medals are named for Alfred B. LaGasse, past executive director of the American Institute of Park Executives and executive vice president of the National Recreation and Parks Association. From 1968 until 1976, he served as the executive director of the American Society of Landscape Architects. Throughout his lifetime, LaGasse was concerned with the proper management of the nation’s public lands and the judicious use of the country’s natural resources.
“I had a great group of folks I worked with,” Kays said. “They would listen to me talk and sort of tease me about my accent. Then I would tease them about the fact that they had to hire a southern boy to come up and fix their project.”
All of Kays’ hard work paid off, and the Great Lawn was completed in 1997. In 1998, the American Society of Landscape Architects awarded him the Honor Award. He also won the Best of 1998 Site and Design Award. Twenty-five years later, Kays said the Great Lawn continues to outperform all expectations.
Another opportunity to preserve a public landscape led Kays to cross paths with fellow OSU horticulture alumnus Paul Redman.
Redman, a 1990 graduate, is president of Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. The gardens provide an immersive nature experience for 1.5 million guests annually. The hope, Redman said, is that the garden inspires guests to be stewards of Earth’s natural beauty.
When the Main Fountain Garden at Longwood began to deteriorate, Redman knew the mission was threatened, and he hired West 8 New York, who tabbed Kays as the consultant to oversee the garden’s restoration.
The renovation, like most of Kays’ work, was complex, requiring all construction site soil to be removed to make way for the installation of new infrastructure, such as electrical wiring and plumbing. The soil then had to be returned to the site.
“People don’t realize that soil is just as important as electricity or plumbing,” Redman said.“It serves as the palette for us to create beauty and fulfill our mission.”
Because of Kays’ innovation and work, the now 90-year-old fountain was maintained as a beautiful form of landscape art for millions of people to enjoy, Redman said.
As Kays’ reputation grew, other colleagues from across the nation took notice, eventually nominating him for the LaGasse Medal. He was awarded the medal in 2021 for his dedication to preserving and protecting major urban parks and landmarks.
Michael Holmes, OSU undergraduate landscape architecture program director, said it’s unsurprising that Kays won the prestigious award.
“Barrett’s reputation within landscape architecture and the environmental community is that of a leading expert in soil science,” Holmes said. “He brings this scientific aspect to landscape architecture that is pretty significant.”
Kays said winning the LaGasse Medal, which he likened to a lifetime achievement award, was an honorific milestone.
“I am very fortunate to get one,” Kays said. “The medal looks at the sum of your whole career and what you’ve done. It feels great that the leaders in my society recognized me in this way.”
Kays said the roots of his success were cultivated at OSU. He said his experience in Stillwater endowed him with fundamental skills needed to flourish in his continued education and trailblazing professional career.
Justin Quetone Moss, horticulture and landscape architecture department head, said he’s proud the department has a reputation for producing some of the best landscape graduates in the world.
“OSU is so well respected in the field that employers seek out our students,” Moss said. “Graduates like Dr. Kays are one of the reasons we have this reputation.”
To prepare graduates, the department offers hands-on experiences in its greenhouses and nurseries in Stillwater. Other hands-on experiences are available through internships across the country, most of them in the offices of OSU alumni. This network of loyal and true alumni also prepares students for success, equipping them with real-world experience to complement the training they receive on campus.
Of course, Redman said, faculty members deserve major credit for setting the program apart.
“[Faculty] are caring and nurturing and really provided a safe and welcoming place for me to learn and grow professionally,” Redman said. “If it weren’t for the faculty in that program, I wouldn’t even know I could have a career working in a public garden. They opened a door for me that changed my life.”
OSU horticulture faculty members get to know students and mentor them on a personal level, helping students develop professional goals and pairing those with coursework that showcases their talents.
“As faculty members, our job is to lay a foundation,” Holmes said. “We encourage our students that they can do big things internationally, nationally, even in small communities.
“Your career is whatever you make of it, that’s what an alumnus like Barrett shows us. And he has made fantastic things out of it.”
RESUMÉ HIGHLIGHTS
• Soil scientist and landscape architectural design consultant for Gehry Partners-AECOM Joint Venture for the $125 million Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial
Park in Washington, D.C. • Soil scientist and landscape architectural design consultant for West 8 New York for the $90 million restoration of Main Fountain Garden at Longwood
Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania • Soil scientist and landscape architectural design consultant for AECOM for the $75 million restoration/ redesign of landscape at National Air and Space
Museum of Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. • Soil scientist and landscape architectural consultant for ColeJenest & Stone, project architect for East
Carolina University Football Stadium, Greenville,
North Carolina • Directed $18.4 million restoration of the Great Lawn and Belvedere Lake in Central Park for Central
Park Conservancy, Inc. and Parks and Recreation
Department, New York City • Developed sustainable landscape technologies for the nation’s first carbon neutral university building and campus for Maharishi University, Fairfield, Iowa
Uncharted Waters
As a modern-land grant university, research that makes a positive impact on the public is key to OSU’s mission. Whether it takes place in labs across campus or fields and lakes around the state and nation, OSU research shapes the future.
Through groundbreaking discoveries and new technologies, OSU is improving lives as researchers are constantly looking for the next innovation.
One area of that highly impactful research includes ensuring Oklahoma’s water supply is safe and accessible.
Ecology from Above
OSU researchers develop innovative method to battle invasive aquatic plants using unmanned aerial vehicles
With over 200 man-made lakes and 11,611 miles of shoreline — more than the non-tidal coasts of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico combined — water in Oklahoma is a big deal.
Treating, maintaining and monitoring that supply of water is vital to the health of communities across the state — but what happens when the water can’t be reached by boat?
Researchers at Oklahoma State University think the answer lies in drones. Thanks to Stillwater’s Lake Carl Blackwell, they have a testing ground.
In recent years, the lake has faced an infestation of yellow floating heart — a dense and invasive species that slowly begins to fill the reservoir. The infestation was bad news for the lake, but OSU researchers saw it as an opportunity for innovation.
“Lake Carl Blackwell sees lots of recreational uses, including: fishing, camping, boating, tubing, skiing, row team, canoeing and kayaking,” said Brian Brinker, Lake Carl Blackwell Park manager. “During times when yellow floating heart was not treated, our coves were unusable for these activities. Over time, it had the potential to decrease water quality.”
Yellow Floating Heart at Lake Carl Blackwell on July 9, 2020, before treatment.
OSU aerospace engineer Allan Burba conducts a preflight check before takeoff.
Lake Carl Blackwell is unique, though, because it has access to a Tier 1 research university in OSU to help solve these types of problems, Brinker said.
“We first became aware of the yellow floating heart in Lake Carl Blackwell because there were users of the reservoir who were having trouble navigating the coves because this plant had become so dense,” said Dr. Andy Dzialowski, associate professor in the Department of Integrative Biology.
Yellow floating heart is not native to Oklahoma, making it an invasive species, Dzialowski said. And it’s not just limited to Oklahoma — yellow floating heart is causing problems in over 30 states across the nation.
If left untreated, yellow floating heart could displace native plants as well as impact reservoir use and the physical properties of the reservoir — like how much oxygen is available in the water for plants and animals, Dzialowski added.
The team tried a handful of methods to eradicate the plant but were unsuccessful. That is, until they discovered a company making an aquatic herbicide called ProcellaCOR.
“It’s a new type of herbicide that has greatly reduced environmental impacts,” Dzialowski said. “We’re really excited about it based on its low impact on the ecology of the system, its effectiveness on target organisms and the reduced reporting requirements from the Environmental Protection Agency.”
In fact, while it was not required, the team continuously tested the water while applying this product and did not detect any excess chemicals in the environment, Dzialowski said.
After applying the herbicide using an airboat and seeing a 90 percent reduction, the team was confident the herbicide was working. However, it ran into a problem with the areas on the lake that weren’t accessible by boat.
“For example, there was one area that became flooded and there was still some dead vegetation there,” Dzialowski said. “So we started thinking about how else we can access these sites and apply the herbicide to treat the remaining vegetation that we couldn’t treat with a more traditional airboat application.”
That is where the drones flew in.
“One interesting aspect is how you deploy this herbicide, because you do not spray it directly on top of the plant like many other applications,” said Dr. Jamey Jacob, director of OSU’s Unmanned Systems Research Institute. “It needs to be applied at the root of the plant, to initiate the process of killing the invasive species.”
This meant Jacob’s team needed to develop a drone that can take off from the ground, fly to the location and land on water to deploy this herbicide at the plants’ roots. And the drone still needs to operate like a drone, which includes hovering capacity and autonomous flight.
“We want to be able to first fly over and look down with a camera and say, ‘Oh, there’s the yellow floating heart right there,’ and then we have the option of deploying the herbicide from the air, like our deployments last season, or directly through the water,” Jacob said.
The patches unreachable by boat might be small, but they serve as a source for the plant to proliferate.
“One thing that we’ve noticed and has been reported in the literature is that if pieces of this plant break off, they can float away and then they can repopulate or reestablish in other areas of the reservoir,” Dzialowski said.
Treating as much of the lake as possible is crucial to not only Lake Carl Blackwell, but also the surrounding areas.
USRI researchers are developing a fleet of autonomous vehicles to help monitor and maintain water quality.
“Unfortunately, for a lot of invasive species it is really hard to get rid of them once they’re there,” Dzialowski said. “But with yellow floating heart, we can keep chipping away at it and reduce it.”
Drones are a great way to improve the process and reduce the amount of labor intensive work, allowing the invasive species to be better handled, Jacob said, noting that OSU’s methods could be a model for ecologists battling invasive aquatic plants.
“You don’t need three people out there on the boat doing this,” Jacob said. “Now you can take the drone out and reduce the workload and time in the field.”
Jacob mentioned that the autonomous boat and drones will supplement the workers at the lake, not take their place.
“We don’t see this as being a replacement, but it is an augmentation. And in the future, if you catch it early, you can do precision application and may never have to broadly apply the treatment or deploy a manned boat, both which help the environment,” he said.
This drone technology could be used in the future to monitor other bodies of water and apply targeted herbicide treatment.
“I think it’s probably our bread and butter in terms of what we always do with stuff,” Jacob said. “We’re able to define a new application where drones haven’t been used before and say, ‘Oh, here’s a great place to make the world a better place and fulfill our Tier 1 mission for drones.
“But also, we’re using this opportunity as a teaching tool.”
One of those students benefiting from the project is Kelly Hendrix in the environmental science graduate program.
“One of the most exciting parts of this research is the collaboration we have with the mechanical and aerospace engineering department,” Hendrix said. “Being able to not only have hands-on experience with a real-world problem, but to also be part of a team assessing and developing new techniques has been really fun.”
Outside of just the environmental sciences graduate program, there are other students also working on this issue.
The mercury robotics team is already thinking about the next logical step — an unmanned boat with the drone on board.
“The autonomous boat launches, and when it gets to the point where it needs to deploy, the aerial drone can take off autonomously, complete the mission and come back and land on the boat,” Jacob said.
OSU researchers took a crucial issue at Lake Carl Blackwell and found a way to not only treat it, but also to develop innovative methods using new and emerging technology. That, Jacob said, is at the core of the land-grant mission and showcases the problem-solving power of public-impact research.
“At the end of the day, conducting research out on the water and using drones is just pretty darn cool however you look at it,” Hendrix said.
GET INVOLVED
To donate to OSU research or to learn more about how you can be part of the impact OSU is making, contact info@osugiving.com.
A Blooming Problem
With the threat of harmful algae blooms growing, OSU researchers are innovating new methods to tackle the problem
Fresh water makes up just 3 percent of the world’s water supply. Only 0.5 percent of that is available for human use, according to the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation. In lakes, ponds and rivers across the state and beyond, Harmful Algal
Blooms, or HABs, can pose a risk to animals and humans, shut down recreational bodies of water and steal nutrients from other plants. Ranging in color from green or blue to red or brown, HABs start from cyanobacteria, which can be found anywhere, said Andy Dzialowski, associate professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at Oklahoma State University. “The cyanobacteria are already in the lake. And there’s some changing condition Andy Dzialowski that promotes an increase in biovolume, and that causes a bloom,”
Dzialowski said. Researchers across campus are working on solutions to detect, prevent and even reclaim nutrients from these blooms.
A BOAT WITH NO CAPTAIN
Muwanika Jdiobe had never seen a plane up close — only the ones flying high overhead — before he boarded one bound for Oklahoma.
Jdiobe, who was born and raised in Uganda, was coming to OSU to join the aerospace engineering program.
“During the science fair at my high school, I was able to build a simple helicopter,” Jdiobe said. “It flew for maybe two seconds.”
Muwanika Jdiobe and his research team testing MANUEL.
Although it was just two seconds, that experience was enough to spark his curiosity.
“I went to Google after that to find out what those people [who work on planes] are called. And I came to learn that they’re called aerospace engineers,” Jdiobe said. “And that’s when I said, ‘OK, I am going to become an aerospace engineer.’”
Jdiobe graduated as a Senior of Significance and Outstanding Senior in 2019 with a double major in aerospace engineering and mechanical engineering. He then pursued a master’s degree program in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. That is when he got involved in researching HABs.
Dr. Jamey Jacob, head of OSU’s Unmanned Systems Research Institute, gave Jdiobe a challenge.
“He said, ‘I want you to come up with a solution of how we can monitor lakes autonomously,’” Jdiobe said. “And we have tremendous reasons why we would want to monitor lakes autonomously. It is cheap, it is safe and it is faster. It is an efficient way of doing work.”
The solution became known as MANUEL, an autonomous boat that monitors water quality including dissolved oxygen, pH, turbidity and nutrients, Jdiobe said.
“MANUEL measures water quality parameters using embedded sensor probes that are in direct contact with the water and the data collected is stored on board,” Jdiobe said. “Using digital maps and GPS, MANUEL can autonomously map an entire lake with no human intervention, even in conditions unsuitable for humans, such as high winds or storms.”
RECLAIMING LOST NUTRIENTS
Across OSU’s campus there’s another pair of researchers focusing on HABs. This research team is developing novel materials that could prevent algae growth and recycle the nutrients, creating an environmentally friendly cycle.
Learn more at okla.st/algae.
Muwanika works on MANUEL, an unmanned system used to monitor lakes.
Jdiobe hopes his research can make a difference in the state and possibly worldwide, including his home country of Uganda.
“There are some parts of the world where people don’t know the water they are taking, whether it is safe for drinking, or the levels of pollution going into the water,” Jdiobe said. “So if these technologies further develop, it could be something we can use in different parts of the world, not just Oklahoma.”
KEEPING AN EYE ON LAKES
OSU research teams are also monitoring algae in lakes across the state, such as Grand Lake in northeastern Oklahoma.
“We’ve done a lot of work in Grand Lake where they had a really large harmful algae bloom in 2011 that put Harmful Algal Blooms on the map,” Dzialowski said. “We’re using some water quality sensors, which basically can take data continuously at 15-minute intervals that we can put in the reservoir.”
The team analyzes the data, looking for cues to better understand when blooms are starting to develop.
“There’s a thought that if you look at that data and look at the variability in the data, you might be able to get an advanced warning before a bloom starts,” Dzialowski said.
Dzialowski’s team also uses satellite and drone imagery to identify and monitor blooms.
“You can take an image from a satellite and in that image there is spectral data related to what’s in the water,” Dzialowski said. “If there’s a lot of algae, then the spectral signal is much different than if there’s not a lot of algae.”
This is helpful whether it’s as an early warning indicator or whether it’s as a system to identify where surface scums exist on the reservoir, because those surface scums can have toxin concentrations that are extremely elevated relative to the rest of the reservoir, Dzialowski said.
This research helps lake managers make better decisions to keep people and animals safe, Dzialowski said.
“If there is a sign that a bloom is beginning to develop 7-10 days in advance, is there something you can do in the reservoir to try and curtail the development of that bloom? I think ideally that’d be a great question to be able to answer,” Dzialowski said.
WATCH
To see an interview detailing Jdiobe’s story go to okla.st/muwanika.
More than Books
OSU library offers patrons access to new and emerging technologies
Built in 1953, the Edmon Low Library is a building steeped in history. It’s also at the cutting edge of reimagining the modern university library.
Nowhere is that more apparent than the Edmon Low Library Creative Studios — an impressive collection of suites on the first floor’s east side, which houses a smorgasbord of technology. From 3D printers and flight simulators to professional audio-video equipment and so much more, the Creative Studios offer patrons the chance to check out their own curiosity.
“I believe that a library is more than books, and students don’t just learn through books. They learn through doing,” said Sheila Johnson, dean of libraries. “Our library is a place of scholarship and research; it’s also a place of collaboration and inspiration. The role of libraries on a campus and in a community is evolving, and the Creative Studios is an example of that.
“We wanted to create a space where students can experiment with some of the latest software and devices. We want to make these tools accessible to all OSU students, and provide opportunities for students to develop proficiency and a comfort with the kinds of technology they will need to be successful at OSU and beyond.”
Creative Studios Specialist Shannon Austin said it all began with Johnson, who had a clear vision for a creative space in the library. Implementing it became a question of what students want and need, and — of course — funding.
“In 2012, the library embarked on a multi-year program we called ‘The Library Futures’ series,” Johnson said. “We brought in speakers from libraries around the country to talk about how they were innovating spaces, operations and services. We also dedicated time for all our employees to come together to discuss what the future of our library might look like.
“One of the most important outcomes of this process was solidifying a work culture where people aren’t afraid to try new things. When we launched the Creative Studios, it was an experiment, but one we were excited to try.”
With ambitious ideas and a start-up budget from the library’s general fund, the studios first launched in 2012. The first round of purchases included simple point-and-shoot cameras patrons could check out for three days at a time. Austin said microphones were soon added and things really began to take off with the acquisition of the studios’ first GoPro cameras.
“With the realization of just how popular these devices were, it became really apparent that we had opportunities to grow this service,” Austin said.
Thankfully, the library has friends.
“The Friends of the OSU Library is a dedicated group of donors who are passionate about supporting students and the library,” Johnson said.
Creative Studios Specialist Shannon Austin guides a student using a 3D printer in the Edmon Low Creative Studios.
The Edmon Low Creative Studios features a flight simulator which allows students to practice or explore their interest in aviation.
“Our friends have stepped up again and again to expand library services and resources.”
The library team soon began to reach out to students and set up workshops. They also launched a feedback campaign called “What if the library …” that called on OSU students to submit their own creative suggestions.
“That’s actually where we got a lot of our ideas,” Austin said. “Someone said ‘What if the library checked out telescopes?’ So, we got the funding together, and now we have telescopes for people to check out. We have five different styles, everything from a Maksutov-Cassegrain to a RitcheyChrétien, which is similar to the Hubble. It’s amazing.”
Johnson said it wouldn’t have been possible without support from groups like Friends of the OSU Library and other generous donors. Johnson estimates 75 percent of Creative Studios’ budget is directly from private donations.
“Our 3D Studio was cosponsored by the School of Entrepreneurship, and our Data Visualization Studio was underwritten by the McCasland Foundation,” Johnson said. “Friends of the OSU Library board member Dr. James Wise and his wife, Liz, have funded a number of Creative Studio offerings, including our Virtual Reality Suite, the Audio Studio and equipment for 3D scanning and Tech to Go checkout.”
Similarly, Austin said the Riata Center at the Spears School of Business was instrumental in helping the library acquire its first 3D printers.
“That was probably our largest start-up cost,” Austin said. “The Riata Center offered to partner with the library, and we bought our first lot of four printers with their help.”
That led to Austin being brought in to teach 3D modeling and printing. Her role expanded as the Creative Studios grew, and now she oversees one of the coolest spots on campus. But in a way, there’s more to this collection of cool tech than meets the eye. Sure, students may have fun 3D printing Boone Pickens Stadium, but Austin says the real gift the Creative Studios provides is access.
LEARN MORE
For more information about the Creative Studios, visit okla.st/creativestudios. To learn more about supporting technology at the library, contact Courtney MacNelly, assistant director of development, at 405-332-1469 or cmacnelly@osugiving.com.
Austin keeps her ear to the ground (or eye to the internet) to monitor the latest tech trends and explore new ways that the library can offer more. Ideas for new offerings come in from library staff, faculty across campus and the student body.
“If we find the funding, we purchase the technology and implement it,” Austin said. “And it gets used pretty much immediately. On an average day, we’re assisting and providing access for at least 200 people.”
And that’s just on site. Johnson said the Creative Studios’ reach isn’t limited to Edmon Low.
“The Creative Studios are more than the studios themselves,” she said. “The Tech to Go desk is a vital component of the Creative Studios and a service that allows us to quickly respond to the needs of students. The space is also used for events, tech demonstrations, and training.”
Of course the pandemic has negatively affected library foot traffic. Austin said COVID-19 has
A student uses a keyboard in the Creative Studios to record a track.
A student explores a skeleton using virtual reality at the Creative Studios. The studios currently have four Oculus Quest VR systems available to students.
brought challenges, but it also has provided library staff with new opportunities.
“It’s changed the way we think about providing access,” she said. “During the height of the pandemic lockdown, we adapted our services to be more mobile, extending checkout periods and adding contactless pick-ups. We even mailed out over 200 laptops so students could continue to do their school work. Even some faculty members used those resources.”
Austin said the biggest challenge now is a familiar one — spreading the word. With a new crop of students coming in every year, the Creative Studios can take on the dubious moniker of “bestkept secret on campus.”
“We have to keep reminding people that our services exist,” she said. “It’s always brand new to the students — every single year.”
Austin said that during the campus tour prospective students can get a closer look at what’s on offer at Edmon Low.
“These resources are great tools for our future students. It’s important for them to understand they will have free access to technology like DSLR cameras and 3D printers and the UAV flight simulator. You want to get a 19-year old excited about coming to Oklahoma State University? Let them see what we have in store for them,” Austin said.
“Our patrons and donors seem to understand more than most that libraries are about more than just books; they’re about access. The library, as a large institution, is able to provide access to emerging technology that a normal person may not be able to afford on their own. It’s about offering that experience. Where else can you get the experience of learning 3D modeling and printing for free as a part of campus life? Where else can you get access to a telescope that you can take to the lake to watch the eclipse? I don’t know if you know anybody who owns their own telescope, but when I meet people that do and they find out that we check them out, they’re dumbfounded.”
They usually ask how, Austin said. That answer is simple — strong telescope cases. But the why is more important.
“It matters because access matters and providing access to emerging technology in an academic setting gives people a chance to experience, to play, and to test the boundaries of what they think they’re capable of,” Austin said.
BY THE NUMBERS TECH TO GO AVAILABLE FOR FREE CHECKOUT:
■ 295 laptops, including Macbooks, Microsoft
Surfaces and peripherals (mice, chargers, dongles, etc.) ■ 40 combined DSLR cameras, camcorders, 360 cameras and GoPros ■ 20 tripods ■ 3 ring-lights ■ 5 phone gimbals ■ 20 combined podcasting kits, digital recorders and lapel mics ■ 10 projectors ■ 4 Oculus Quest VR systems ■ 8 telescopes ■ 1 compound trinocular microscope ■ 1 sewing machine ■ 1 serging machine
CREATIVE STUDIOS IN HOUSE:
■ 10 3D printers including an SLS 3D scanner ■ 12 Elite computer workstations with the full
Adobe Creative Suite, Camtasia, Final Cut Pro and more ■ 6 studio suites — Audio Studio, Video
Presentation and Green Screen Recording
Studio, Data Visualization Studio, Virtual
Reality Suites, Fixed-wing Aircraft Simulator with seated chassis, yoke and pedals, DJI
Drone Pilot Training Simulator
Exploring a Collector’s Story
Zarrow Collection at OSU Library provides new way to appreciate art
Seminole artist William Haney Jr. completed “Legend of the Owl” in 1979. The small marble sculpture is on display on the first floor of the Edmon Low Library along with “Seven Faces,” another Haney piece from the Zarrow Collection. E very collection tells a story. Piece by piece, collectors carefully curate their passion over years or even decades, often leaving us with a fascinating and in-depth look into a subject.
For Jack and Maxine Zarrow, their passion led to a remarkable collection of Native American art.
The OSU Library and OSU Museum of Art now share the gift of the Maxine and Jack Zarrow Collection, which includes more than 500 works of art primarily from Oklahoma and the Southwest. The collection is composed of paintings, mixed media pieces and sculptures by Native American artists. The oldest dated work is from 1883.
This special selection of artwork provides new opportunities for research, exhibitions and interdisciplinary learning experiences. Now — through the new online portal found at zarrow.library.okstate.edu — students, researchers and art enthusiasts anywhere can tour the collection virtually and gain insight into the method behind amassing such a collection.
“Viewers of the collection will be able to appreciate the individual works of art, but they will also be able to gain insights into the breadth of Native American art styles, the evolution of trends in the market and changes over time in the work of specific artists,” said Sheila Johnson, dean of libraries.
Jack Zarrow was a native Tulsan; Maxine Foreman, originally from Texas, moved to Tulsa after the couple married in 1947. Together they founded the Maxine and Jack Zarrow Family Foundation, which is committed to transformational civic projects, especially those that seek
The Zarrow Collection portal allows visitors to browse the work of dozens of Native American artists including Fred Beaver, Harrison Begay, Woody Crumbo, Brummett Echohawk, Gina Gray, Benjamin Harjo Jr., Allan Houser, Mopope, Bill Rabbit, Ben Adair Shoemaker, Kugee Supernaw, Jerome Tiger, Dick West and Charles Banks Wilson. Thanks to detailed record keeping, visitors to the site can learn more about the artists, materials and provenance of items in the collection.
to better engage those with limited access to inspirational arts and cultural resources.
Maxine and Jack built the foundation to continue the Jewish tradition of tzedakah, or righteous behavior. The couple’s philanthropic legacy has left a lasting impact not just at OSU but throughout the state.
The goal of the Zarrow gift was to establish a teaching collection that could be widely available for classes or individual students and researchers. Library archivists realized the Zarrow materials offered an opportunity to create a dynamic online experience, not just for the OSU community but for students and scholars around the world.
Thanks to detailed record keeping, the Zarrow family provided extensive descriptions and photos of each of the works. The library’s team was able to use that information to build a virtual tour of the collection. Graduate research associate Janna Rogers worked with David Peters from the archives — as well as Juliana Nykolaiszyn, Megan Macken, and Brandon Katzir from the library’s Digital Resources and Discovery Services — to create the online experience, which is now available for the public.
“The Zarrows’ art collection was extensive and well-documented,” Johnson said. “Having this sort of detail available gives site visitors a much better understanding of how one set of art lovers built this significant collection.”
The portal is designed to engage both casual visitors and serious researchers. While visiting the website, you can browse through the full range of the works or search for a particular artist, style or format. The entire Zarrow catalog is represented so visitors have a comprehensive view of the couple’s collecting activity, although a few of the pieces displayed on the site are not in OSU holdings. Location information will be available in the portal soon.
The data associated with each work makes the collection portal a valuable tool for scholars. The descriptive information can be browsed through a word cloud visualization or downloaded as a data set so researchers can analyze collecting patterns or a particular artist’s evolution.
The Zarrow Collection portal will continue to expand. The resource’s designers plan to integrate other unique collections held by the OSU Library. For example, the “Oklahoma Native Artists Oral History Project” features over a hundred video interviews with Native American artists, including many who are highlighted in the Zarrow Collection. This complementary material will soon be cross-referenced on the portal to provide additional insight into the artists’ personal histories and creative processes.
Moving forward, the portal will also serve as a model for showcasing other art collections held by OSU such as the Charles Little Collection. This collection of Native American Art was gifted to the OSU Museum by a former OSU agriculture economics faculty member. The Little Collection spans from the 1930s to present with a focus on Plains and Southwest paintings.
