The Oregon Wine Research Institute (OWRI) at Oregon State University offers an annual competitive program to fund undergraduate research internships in areas related to viticulture, enology, and economics. The goal is to provide highly-motivated undergraduate students with the opportunity to learn and actively participate in research related to grape and wine production. Scholars will have the opportunity to gain a broader learning experience outside of the classroom by working directly within the lab and/or research program of an OWRI faculty mentor.
The OWRI is a collaborative research and education program located within Oregon State University and it involves partnerships with multiple organizations and works with the Oregon wine grape industry to meet their research needs. Researchers include faculty in the Horticulture, Food Science & Technology, and Applied Economics Departments at Oregon State University as well as researchers in the Horticultural Crops Research Unit of the USDA in Corvallis, OR. Students select one mentor to work with during the scholars program.
The areas of research and education within the OWRI include viticulture, enology, plant biology, plant pathology, entomology, plant physiology, molecular biology, genetics, economics, food sensory, and chemistry. Many OWRI faculty have multi-faceted positions that include duties in research, teaching, and industry education/outreach. Several OWRI faculty work directly with industry, whether growers or winemakers, to conduct research in commercial vineyards/wineries in addition to lab-based research. Learn more about our researchers here.
Qualifications:
Before applying, be sure to contact potential mentors and discuss potential projects. A full list of faculty involved in the OWRI can be found here. This is a necessary step toward determining who you’d like to work with.
To apply: Send the following items by email attachment to the faculty member with whom you would like to work. Be sure to reference the OWRI Undergraduate Scholars Program.
Questions? If you would like more information about this program, please contact the OWRI program coordinator, Denise Dewey at Denise.Dewey@oregonstate.edu
Name | Degree Program | Lab | Project Theme/title | Year |
---|---|---|---|---|
Max Brau | Microbiology | Qian | Effect of grapevine red blotch disease (GRBD) on polysaccharide in grapes and wine | 2019-2020 |
Lauren Clark | FST (Enology & Viticulture) | Tomasino | Determining the compounds that cause smoke impacts in wine | 2019-2020 |
Gabriela Griffin | Mechanical Engineering | Levin | Dendrometer for remote measurement of vine water status | 2019-2020 |
Jui-Chieh Lee | Bioengineering | Deluc | Gene editing of the microvine | 2019-2020 |
Elijah E. Shumway | Elec & Computer Engineering | Walton | Pied Piper- Behavioral device using tremology to monitor and manage insect pests in vineyards | 2019-2020 |
MacKenna Green | Horticulture | KC | Increasing the accuracy of grapevine red blotch virus detection | 2018-2019 |
Matthew Huckins | Biological and Ecological Engineering | Mahaffee | Developing automated geolocation capabilities for a weather sensor platform | 2018-2019 |
Ray Schireman | Biochemistry (SOU) | Levin | Optimizing berry phenolics assay | 2018-2019 |
Alexander Tauss | Horticulture | Deluc | Developing a trans-grafting procedure to study scion/rootstock communication in grapevines | 2018-2019 |
Karly Vial | Civil Engineering | Deluc | Developing a Protein-Protein Interaction Assay Using Grapevine Protoplasts | 2018-2019 |
Jessica Buser | Microbiology | Walton | Vector-related Epidemiology for Grapevine Red Blotch-Associated Virus | 2017-2018 |
Alexis Doyle | BS Food Science | Osborne | Impact of Nitrogen Supplementation in the Vineyard versus the Winery on the Quality of Willamette Valley Pinot noir and Chardonnay | 2017-2018 |
Rebecca Lake | Horticulture | Levin | Re-evaluating pressure chamber methods | 2017-2018 |
Justin Litwin | Hort (Viticulture & Enology) | Skinkis | Symptomology and Vine Response to Red Blotch in the Willamette Valley | 2017-2018 |
Joseph Orton | Biology | Deluc | Developing a Model System to better Understand Rootstock-Scion interactions in Grapevines | 2017-2018 |
Victor Puoci | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Deluc | Training in Plant Genetic Engineering | 2017-2018 |
Sam Hoffman | FST - Fermentation | Tomasino | Developing sensory standards for stressed vine syndrome | 2016-2017 |
Chase Jutzi | FST - Fermentation | Tomasino | Causation of fruity aromas in wine | 2016-2017 |
Keira Newell | Veterinary Science | Schreiner | AMF in Grapevines | 2015 |