SOU Academic Stories

At wildlife crossing site, SOU students Shawn Johnson, Emily Heller

Funding in place for wildlife crossing with key SOU role

(Ashland, Ore.) — A total of $37 million in federal and state funding has been secured to build a wildlife crossing over Interstate 5 south of Ashland, in a project that Southern Oregon University faculty and students have supported by monitoring wildlife patterns in the area. Oregon recently was awarded a federal grant of $33.2 […]

Scavenger Hunt contestants at SOU Ashland

SOU Scavenger Hunt teaches academic skills to pre-college youth

Middle and high school students from across the southern Oregon region recently competed in the annual Scavenger Hunt event held by SOU’s Office of Youth Programs. Scavenger Hunt is a three-day academic “hunt,” in which students search for answers to clues provided by the hunt’s director, Jim Impara. Answers to the dozens of questions provided […]

SOU computer scientist Bernadette Boscoe receives Sloan grant

SOU computer scientist receives Sloan grant for “tacit knowledge” research

(Ashland, Ore.) — Bernadette Boscoe, an assistant professor in the Computer Science Department at Southern Oregon University, recognizes a shared need in fields as dissimilar as astronomy, environmental science and violin acoustics, and a new grant will pay for research that may benefit those and other academic disciplines. Boscoe has received a $250,000 grant from […]

candidates forum SOU

SOU class to host candidate forum for local political races

(Ashland, Ore.) — Political Science students in Southern Oregon University’s upper division course on political campaigns will partner with SOU’s Office of Government Affairs to host a forum for candidates in all contested races for the Ashland City Council and the Jackson County Board of Commissioners. The forum, which is free and open to the […]

virtual reality biology SOU Ashland

Seminar to show benefits of a virtual reality and real-world teaching combination

(Ashland, Ore.) — Two biologists and academic administrators from Arizona State University will present a new method of teaching biology that combines immersive virtual reality with highly structured classroom activities when the Southern Oregon University Biology Department hosts this year’s inaugural Friday Science Seminar on Oct. 11. The presentation, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in […]

shanell sanchez SOU Ashland

SOU faculty member publishes book on consequences of discrimination

(Ashland, Ore.) — Shanell Sanchez, an associate professor in the Criminology and Criminal Justice Department at Southern Oregon University, is co-editor of a new book on the causes and consequences of discrimination against vulnerable populations. “Exploitation and Criminalization at the Margins: The Hidden Toll on Unvalued Lives” was published by Rowman & Littlefield, a well- […]

SOU receives grant from Ashland Community Health Foundation

SOU receives behavioral health care grant

Southern Oregon University has been awarded a $110,000 grant from the Ashland Community Health Foundation to fund a faculty position for the 2024-25 academic year in SOU’s master’s degree program in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. The SOU grant is the first undertaking by the ACHF that will be paid for with a $1 million grant […]

Sister institutions SOU and Universidad de Guanajuato renewed their collaborative relationship

SOU and Mexican sister institution establish new agreement

(Ashland, Ore.) — The leaders of Southern Oregon University and its Mexican sister institution, the Universidad de Guanajuato, officially renewed the schools’ 55-year relationship on Wednesday by pledging in a new memorandum of understanding to “strengthen institutional collaboration in the areas of teaching, research and extension.” The new agreement – which builds upon a commitment […]

SOU's Kelly Szott awarded post-doc fellowship

SOU faculty member earns research fellowship on substance abuse

(Ashland, Ore.) — Kelly Szott, an associate professor of sociology at Southern Oregon University, has been awarded a post-doctoral fellowship at New York University’s Rory Meyers College of Nursing to study drug use and addiction issues during her sabbatical year at SOU. The fellowship is funded by the National Institutes of Health. Her 12-month fellowship […]

Travis Campbell's research on family support for transgender youth

SOU economist’s research paper stresses importance of family support for trans youth

(Ashland, Ore.) — SOU economist Travis Campbell is the lead author of a research paper that highlights the critical role of family support during the “identity development” of transgender youth. The study was published in this month’s issue of JAMA Pediatrics, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Medical Association. The paper, “Mental Health of Transgender […]