SOU launches research centers

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In a move to broaden "real world" research opportunities, connect with the region and attract students, Southern Oregon University is setting up a pair of research centers to handle projects for area agencies, nonprofits, governments and corporations.

The new SOU Research Center, or SOURCE, will be the point of contact for agencies seeking research help — and it will coordinate departments, teachers and students to be used in projects, said director Eva Skuratowicz, a sociology teacher.

"A lot of the work has been going to (consulting firms) in Salem and Portland but we have the expertise here," said Skuratowicz. "A lot of times, the infrastructure here hasn't been developed, but SOURCE will give faculty the support they need to work — and to serve and give back to our community."

Another new organization, the SOU Center for the Environment, will be the base of operations for a degree in environmental studies and will be able to mobilize faculty and students in a range of biological and geological areas, said its director Charles Lane, chairman of the environmental studies department.

The Center for the Environment will serve as a platform for faculty to collaborate on grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and other sources, to be used for interdisciplinary efforts that inform "real world" decisions and policies, said Lane.

"It's almost the only way to get grants now — to be involved in collaborative efforts," said Lane.

To contact SOURCE, call Eva Skuratowicz at 541-552-6278 or skuratoe@sou.edu. To contact the Center for the Environment, call Charles Lane at 541-552-6479 or lane@sou.edu.

— John Darling, for the Mail Tribune

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