Think Out Loud

Earlier this month, Mount Rainier experienced its most powerful seismic swarm ever recorded by the U.S. Geological Survey. More than 1,000 earthquakes have been detected at the mountain since July 8 — far above the volcano’s usual activity level — and the swarm is still continuing.    However, despite the levels of seismic activity, the USGS’s Cascades Volcano Observatory say there’s no sign of magma movement or volcanic unrest. Instead, they believe the swarm was triggered by underground fluids shifting through cracks deep below the mountain.  Research geophysicist Alexandra Iezzi joins us to explain what makes Rainier a unique geological phenomenon and what scientists are watching for.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has recently leased out more than 5,000 acres of public land for geothermal energy in Malheur County. Leasing of the land is the first step in developing geothermal resources - specifically, the production of electricity from heat within the earth. But how common is geothermal energy in the U.S. and what potential is there for its widespread use  in Oregon? Adam Schultz is a geophysics professor at Oregon State University and the president of Enthalpion Energy LLC, a geothermal company. He joins us to answer these questions and more.

Multnomah County won’t renew its contract with Rockwood Community Development Corporation, a nonprofit based in Gresham, according to reporting by Willamette Week. The county stated it had stopped funding the homeless service provider after the organization double-counted costs and charged for rooms that were closed for repairs, according to Willamette Week. Rockwood CDC disputed the allegations and stated Multnomah County owed it $1.1 million in overdue payments. Anthony Effinger is a Willamette Week reporter. He’s been covering the issue and joins us with details.

Lakeridge High School senior Elaina Stuppler is no stranger to the spotlight. She performs in the Portland Youth Philharmonic, playing trombone - but she also plays tuba, piano and composes music as well. She’s regularly featured on All Classical Radio as a reporter and Artist in Residence. But the last few months have been a veritable cavalcade of honors and opportunities. Stuppler won the Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge. Her winning composition, about the life of Maria Anna Mozart, was performed  by Broadway musicians and singers in New York this summer. She was just one of five students in the U.S. chosen by the Grammy Museum for its summer screen scoring program in LA. She is also a winner of the prestigious YoungArts Award with Distinction, Stuppler joins us to share some of her compositions, and tell us about what these honors mean to her and what opportunities they may open up for her future.  

The federal government recently ended its specialized suicide prevention hotline for LGBTQ+ youth. Previously, callers could press 3 when they called the national suicide and crisis lifeline to be connected with counselors who were specifically traines to help queer youth. Now, all calls will be directed to the general 988 hotline.    Lines for Life operates several crisis hotlines in Oregon, including a dedicated YouthLine. It also answers the majority of 988 calls made in the state. Greg Borders, the organization’s chief clinical officer, joins us to talk about the suicide prevention resources still available to LGBTQ+ communities.   If you or someone you know is struggling, you can call or text 988 to reach the national suicide and crisis lifeline. Help is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  

From students using artificial intelligence for schoolwork, to others seeking chatbots for companionship, our relationship with technology continues to change. But are the ways we use AI healthy, and what long-term effects could they have on us socially? Naomi Aguiar is the associate director of research at OSU’s Ecampus and an expert on children and adult relationships with imaginary friends and AI chatbots. She joins us to answer these questions and more.

In the late 2000s, unexplained mass die-offs of oysters at Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery in Tillamook, Oregon helped scientists uncover a major threat to coastal ecosystems: ocean acidification.    Today, Oregon’s coast remains one of the areas most affected by this phenomenon. Each summer, deep ocean waters rich in carbon dioxide and low in oxygen rise to the surface — a natural process known as upwelling — creating corrosive conditions that make it harder for shellfish like oysters and crabs to form shells and survive.    Researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Oregon State University are currently on a scientific cruise to track acidification and low oxygen levels in real time along the Oregonian coast. Zachary Gold, a researcher with NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Lab joins us to share what scientists are seeing right now in Oregon’s waters.  Alan Barton, production manager at Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery, talks about what these conditions mean for local shellfish growers and how they’re working to adapt.  

Rodger Deevers knows he’s a lucky man. He’s a financial advisor in Eugene with all his basic needs met — and then some. But two years ago, after he and his wife took a vacation to the island of Curaçao off the Venezuelan coast, he wanted to bring some of the sense of community and vibrant public art back to the Eugene-Springfield area — and contribute to area nonprofits.    He says he didn’t know quite how to begin, so he just started with an idea for one mural, at nonprofit NextStep Recycling, and decided to see if people were interested in helping him paint it. Dozens of people showed up — and the nonprofit was thrilled to have a mural on a space that would otherwise have remained unadorned. Deevers calls the project Lucky Enough Social Club, and now has a system of sorts, and volunteers who show up to paint. But he does most of the legwork, outreach and designing of the mural, in collaboration with whatever nonprofit is getting painted.  He says he’s seen the transformative power of creativity in the people who show up to volunteer, and calling attention to mental health and suicide prevention is one of the biggest motivations driving him. We hear more from Deevers about the creation of the club and how he hopes to see it grow in the future.

Unlike some other counties in Oregon and across the country, Multnomah County has remained committed to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts. However, a recent audit found that the county has some work to do on its DEI initiatives.  Across the county Asian employees are less likely to be supervisors, Black or African American employees are less likely to pass the trial service period and are more likely to be fired, and LGBTQIA employees are more likely to quit. Multnomah County Auditor Jennifer McGuirk joins us to discuss the audit findings.

Isha Marla is a 14-year-old with a love for science who recently finished her last year at Tumwater Middle School in the Beaverton School District. She is also just one of 10 students in the nation, and the only one from Oregon, who made it to the finalist round of a national science competition sponsored by Discovery Education and 3M, which manufactures a vast array of products, from Post-It Notes to stethoscopes.    The 3M Young Scientist Challenge is open to middle school students who for this year’s competition submitted a short video to describe their scientific solution to a real-world problem. Marla’s entry focuses on using a material she made from seaweed and other ingredients to produce an environmentally sustainable fabric for making clothes. Her proposal aims to counter the phenomenon of fast fashion associated with brands like Shein, H&M and Uniqlo that are popular with consumers eager to buy the latest fashion trends at low prices. But chasing those trends at bargain prices can take a heavy environmental toll, with nearly two-thirds of discarded clothes ending up in a landfill, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.    Marla joins us for more details about her entry and chance to win a cash prize and the title of “America’s Top Young Scientist” this fall.