We engage the Portland, Oregon scientific and technical community to enhance the health of the scientific research enterprise, provide opportunities for the next generation of scientists and engineers, and promote the public's understanding of science and technology. We are comprised of faculty and students from several colleges and universities in the Portland area, as well as colleagues in local business, industry, federal and state agencies, and medical centers. We focus many of our programs on enhancing the experiences of students at all levels. Many of our members are retired scientists and engineers who have relocated to the Portland area and find a community of interests through the activities of the chapter.
Sigma Xi events
8 May 2024, 4:30 pm PDT, Parsons Gallery, CUPA 212, Portland State University: Fred H. Smith speaks to the Association of Anthropology Students: Visiting the Ancestors – Archaic Africans, Neandertals and the Beginnings of People Like Us (see below).
9 May 2024, 7:00 pm PDT, location TBA: Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecture by Fred H. Smith: A Night Out with the Neandertals (see below).
17-20 Jun 2024: AAAS Pacific Division / Sigma Xi Northwest Region annual conference, at University of San Diego. AAASPD welcomes abstracts from across the natural, physical, social, and health sciences as well as engineering and artistic/humanistic analysis of science. Abstracts are encouraged from individuals from all walks of the scientific endeavor – high schools, community colleges, universities, and professionals from industry or government. Deadline for abstracts of posters and oral presentations: 20 May 2024.
Other science/engineering events
8 May 2024: PSU Student Research Symposium.
A Night Out with the Neandertals
Fred H. Smith,
Illinois State University
Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer
Thursday 09 March 2024, 7:00 pm PDT
[location TBA]
Portland State University
Abstract: Neandertals have long been considered the epitome of the dumb cave man. Early ideas emphasized not only their physical, but also their perceived behavioral and intellectual, inferiority compared to modern humans. Among the differences emphasized were those relating to language, symbolic behavior, technology and morphology. Recent discoveries find no evidence to assume inferiority in intelligence on the part of Neandertals. We now know that Neandertal morphology reflects adaptation to the harsh, cold environs of western Eurasia during the Pleistocene rather than primitive inferiority. Both the Neandertals’ morphology and behavior provide insight into why these well-adapted people were ultimately replaced by early modern humans.
Fred H. Smith is a paleoanthropologist who has studied Neandertals, other archaic people, and the origins of modern humans for more than 50 years. Trained in zoology, anthropology and German as an undergraduate at the University of Tennessee, he received his Ph.D. in biological anthropology from the University of Michigan in 1976. Currently, he is University Professor of Anthropology and Biological Sciences Emeritus at Illinois State University and an Adjunct Professor of Anthropology at the University of Colorado at Boulder. His primary research has focused on Central Europe, where he began work when much of this area was behind the “Iron Curtain.” However, he also has carried out extensive research on fossil humans from other areas of Europe, West Asia and Africa.
The author of some 300 scholarly articles, chapters, books and monographs, Smith is an AAAS, Alexander von Humboldt, and Fulbright Fellow and has received awards for his work from several institutions in the U.S. as well as in Croatia, Germany, and Ireland. He has taught at the University of Tennessee, Northern Illinois University, Loyola University Chicago, ISU, and internationally at the Universities of Hamburg, Tübingen and Zagreb.
Dr. Smith will also present Visiting the Ancestors – Archaic Africans, Neandertals and the Beginnings of People Like Us, on Wednesday 08 May, at 4:30 pm, Parsons Gallery, CUPA 212, Portland State University, hosted by the Association of Anthropology Students.
Abstract: Genetic and genomic data show conclusively that modern humans first emerged in Africa and then radiated out into Eurasia and ultimately the Americas. While the genetic evidence generally takes center stage, the fact is that morphological studies of fossil human (hominin) and archaeological material demonstrated this pattern first and remains a robust indicator of the pattern of modern human origins and migrations. We will review this evidence, particularly the fossil human record, and discuss the contributions this non-genetic data make to the understanding of human evolution. Although the fossils clearly show the African origin of modern people, they also demonstrate that Eurasian archaic humans, like the Neandertals, contributed to early modern humans in Eurasia. The genetic/genomic data subsequently supported the morphological evidence. So while modern humans are primarily derived from an African ancestry, Neandertals are our ancestors, too!
What can we learn from hangry worms? Intestinal to neuronal signaling alters animal behaviors
Dr. Molly Matty
Assistant Professor of Biology,
University of Portland
Thursday, 29 Feb 2024, 7:00 pm
Brian Doyle Auditorium
Dundon-Berchtold Hall 004
University of Portland
The lecture is free and open to the public. Campus map.
For those unable to attend, the lecture will also be remotely accessible.
Have you ever been hangry? You know, a little hungry and therefore a little angry. Maybe when you’re hangry, you are more likely to lash out at a friend, eat copious amounts of junk food, continue to not eat, or make other poor decisions. This phenomenon is not unique to humans and can be observed in the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans. In this seminar, we will discuss how a simple cellular and molecular cascade encodes a hunger-induced change in decision-making in our worm model system, C. elegans. We will then explore how these behavioral changes may not be solely dependent on hunger status, but also the composition of the gut microbiome, or the bacteria that live inside all living things. Finally, I will share the awesome work being done by undergraduate students at the University of Portland to uncover and define the specific bacterial species that modulate decision-making in populations of C. elegans. Come hungry to learn!
2023 Chapter Annual Meeting
President's 2023 Annual Report to Chapter - Stephanie Sundborg
As part of Women’s History Month, Sigma Xi announced the establishment of the Linda H. Mantel Next Generation Women's Leadership Award. The award includes a $2,500 honorarium and is awarded biennially to an early-career STEM leader who identifies as a woman. The award reflects Dr. Mantel’s legacy of service, generosity, and leadership within Sigma Xi and the research enterprise.
Linda H. Mantel has been a Sigma Xi member since 1964. She spent 25 years at City College of the City University of New York, as a faculty member, chair of the Department of Biology, and assistant provost for Research and Graduate Studies. During this time she was a research associate in the Department of Invertebrates at the American Museum of Natural History. She has served as dean of the faculty and professor of biology at Reed College, as interim vice-president for Academic Administration at Willamette University, as assistant vice-president for Technology Services at the University of Portland, and as associate research professor at Portland State University.
Following her official retirement in 2002, Mantel joined the board of the multi-institutional Columbia-Willamette Chapter of Sigma Xi, where she served as secretary from 2004-2008, and completed 10 years as president. The chapter has won three awards for Excellence and Programs in the last eight years. Mantel joined the Sigma Xi Board as a member of the Diversity Committee in 2003, and was active as a chapter delegate to both the Northwest Region and the Multi-institutional (MI) Constituency. In 2009, Mantel was elected director of the Northwest Region and served two terms, until 2015.
In 2022, in recognition of her distinguished service to our chapter and to the larger organization, Dr. Mantel was designated a Sigma Xi Fellow.
Sigma Xi Chapter of Excellence Award
Chapter of Excellence Awards are bestowed by Sigma Xi annually for "exceptional chapter activity, innovative programming, and true community leadership." In 2021, the Columbia-Willamette Chapter earned the first-place award; in the past 8 years, the chapter has won 3 awards for excellence or for its programs.
Sigma Xi holds a worldwide competition for research grants to students in March and October every year. The next deadline to apply for a grant is 15 Oct 2024. New funding focuses on more grants to women and under-represented minority students.
The following local students recently earned GIARs for their projects. Each of them also receives a modest supplemental grant from our chapter.
Sky Button, Cell biology: Using aquatic eDNA to inform the conservation of a rare and secretive terrestrial amphibian. Mentor: Jonah Piovia-Scott, Washington State University Vancouver.
Geoff Szafranski, Ecology: Contaminant analysis of coastal mangrove ecosystems across different environmental conditions in Hawaii and Florida. Mentor: Catherine de Rivera, Portland State University.
James Frye, Physics and Astronomy: Applications of EBSD Techniques to Constrain Thermal Parameters of Ureilites During Catastrophic Collision. Mentor: Alex Ruzicka, Portland State University.
Malcolm Peavy, Systematics / Evolutionary Biology: Vitamin D exploration of the mTOR pathway in Austrofundulus Limnaeus. Mentor: Jason Podrabsky, Portland State University.
Robyn Dove, Ecology: The root-nodule microbiome: Implications for invasive legume management. Mentor: Daniel Ballhorn, Portland State University.
Rebecca Talbot, Hydrology / Geomorphology: Spatial and seasonal variations of microplastic concentrations in Oregon’s freshwater. Mentor: Heejun Chang, Portland State University.
Amy Ehrhart, Ecology: Effects of Exposure to Coastal Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluent on Pacific Oyster Health and Survival. Mentor: Elise Granek, Portland State University.
Lara Jansen, Ecology: The Effects of Temperature, Nutrients and Non-native Fish on Harmful Algal Blooms in Mountain Lakes. Mentor: Angela Strecker, Portland State University.
Colin Wakeham, Cell biology / biochemistry: Trophoblast glycoprotein: A novel PKCα-dependent phosphoprotein in retinal rod bipolar cells. Mentor: Catherine W Morgans, Oregon Health & Science University.
The Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid of Research (GIAR) program has funded research by undergraduate and graduate students since 1922. Of the 810 proposals received by the 1 Oct 2018 deadline, grants were earned by 97 applicants from 6 countries, including 17 undergraduate students, 24 master’s students, and 56 doctoral candidates. Collectively, the students received $87,696.
Previous GIARs have been earned by students at Portland State University, University of Portland, Washington State University Vancouver, Willamette University, and Oregon Health & Science University. We encourage students at all academic institutions in the Portland area to apply. Membership in Sigma Xi isn't required, but 75% of the grants are reserved for student members and advisees of faculty who are members.
Leroy Sibanda with research poster at Madison
Megan and Nacho with poster at Sigma Xi Stem + Art & Film Festival
November 2019: Sigma Xi Columbia-Willamette provided partial travel support to students Vusumuzi Leroy Sibanda, Megan Hanley, and Dr. Ignacio (Nacho) de la Higuera, enabling them to attend Sigma Xi's Annual Meeting and Student Research Conference in Madison, Wisconsin. In the Conference, Leroy won the first prize, in Chemistry-Graduate Students, for his poster, A mechanistic investigation of peptide S-nitrosation by nitric oxide moieties: implications for biological function. He also represented our chapter as delegate to the Annual Meeting, and later on the same trip, he presented his work at the NOBCChE meeting in St. Louis, Missouri.
Nacho presented his poster Crucifiction: an evolutionary story at the interface between DNA and RNA viruses. Inspired by that research, Megan and Nacho collaborated on a poster and a video at the meeting's STEM + Art & Film Festival.
June 2019: Sigma Xi Columbia-Willamette was pleased to help sponsor Leroy Sibanda's attendance at the AAAS Pacific Division/Sigma Xi joint meeting in Ashland on 19 June 2019. Leroy is a Ph.D. candidate in the Simoyi research group in Portland State University's Chemistry Department, and he won the top student award in Chemistry and Biochemistry for his poster, Vasoactive hormones identified as efficient Nitric Oxide donors: implications for enhanced opioid induced antinociception. Linda Mantel wrote, "As a physiologist myself, I found the poster most enlightening and greatly appreciated Leroy's thorough explanation of the work."
Leroy received this support from SX CW because he won a graduate first place award at our 15th Annual Student Research Symposium in November 2018.
June 2018: the Chapter provided partial travel support for three students to present their research at the Sigma Xi NW/SW + AAAS Pacific Division Student Research Conference, at Cal State Pomona. Brie Tripp won first prize in the Pacific Division's Education Section; Tetiana Korzun won an honorable mention in the Cell and Molecular Biology Section; and Emmanuel Abdul found the Conference "very enriching and a tremendous opportunity to learn what other people are doing. It certainly was an eye-opener and a great learning experience for me as I gained insight into possible applications of my work on Vertically aligned polymer nanostructures functionalized by magnetron sputtering. Sigma Xi made the experience and professional networking with fellow growing scientists possible for me and for this, I am very grateful."
Brie Tripp lecturing at AAASPD/SX meeting
Tetiana Korzun with poster at AAASPD/SX meeting
Similar awards earned earlier by local students at regional and national Sigma Xi meetings are listed in Student Travel Awards.
