Physics Lecture: Arduinos, ROVs and Research Opportunities at Linn-Benton Community College – Nov. 18, 2025

Nov 5, 2025 | Curry Campus, News

Students deploy ROV at the North Bend Pool

COOS BAY, OR – Southwestern Oregon Community College invites the community to join us on Tuesday, November 18, 2025, at 6:00 pm, for “Arduinos, ROVs and Research Opportunities at Linn-Benton Community College” with Dr. Greg Mulder, Professor of Physical Sciences, Linn-Benton Community College. This is a free event; all ages are welcome.

Coos County residents can join us in-person in the Umpqua Hall lecture room (room 184) on the Coos Campus, 1988 Newmark Ave., Coos Bay.

Curry County residents can join us for a watch party on the Curry Campus, 96082 Lone Ranch Parkway, Brookings.

For those not able to attend in person the lecture will be streamed live on the College’s YouTube channel at: www.youtube.com/@southwesternOR/streams.

About the Lecture:

Dr. Mulder will discuss Arduinos (Arduino is an open-source electronics platform used for building digital devices) and Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs) at Linn-Benton Community College. Over the past decade LBCC has had teams of students that have explored underwater volcanoes in Central Oregon; worked on the exploration vehicles Atlantis and Nautilus off the coast of the Pacific Northwest; put radiation detectors on high altitude balloons and rockets; looked for curvatures in spacetime during the solar eclipse in Texas; climbed mountains in Tanzania; and more. These adventures were all made possible by starting a 1-credit “for fun” class on Arduinos. Dr. Mulder will discuss how Arduinos and an undergraduate with dreams can lead to great experiences, and how he’s working with SWOCC’s Dr. Coyner to bring opportunities like these to students here at the Coos Campus.

About the Presenter:

Greg Mulder is a Professor in Physical Sciences at Linn-Benton Community College in Albany, Oregon. Greg teaches classes such as Physics with Calculus of Scientists and Engineers, Astronomy, Energy and Society and History of Science. Greg is also mentor for the LBCC Remotely Operated Vehicle team with which he has spent several summers exploring underwater volcanic formations in Oregon’s Newberry Caldera and competes annually in the Maritime Advanced Technology Education Center’s international ROV competition. Greg’s academic interests include computational physics, physics education research, and using Arduino microcontrollers in undergraduate research and design classes. For fun Greg likes to travel, to climb mountains, visit ancient astronomical observatories, and explore underwater by ROV and by SCUBA tank. Greg also enjoys playing Ultimate Frisbee in Corvallis and at pick-up games while traveling.

Greg grew up and completed high school in the coastal community of Reedsport, Oregon. After earning an undergraduate degree in Physics at Oregon State University and the University of Karlsruhe, Germany, he earned his Master’s degree in Physics at the University of California, Irvine. Greg completed his Ph.D. in Physics Education Research at Oregon State University, where he studied how physics majors combine their understanding of vector calculus with physics concepts.

For more information about the lecture series contact Dr. Aaron Coyner, Southwestern’s Associate Professor, Physics and Engineering at aaron.coyner@socc.edu or 541-888-7244. For more information on upcoming lectures contact Cassie Coyner, STEAM Pathways Coordinator, at 541-888-7416, or cassie.coyner@socc.edu .

To learn more about STEM degrees at Southwestern visit: https://www.socc.edu/programs-classes/stem/.

Southwestern offers fast-track classes during winter holiday break

Oct 21, 2025 | Curry Campus, News

COOS BAY, OR – Southwestern Oregon Community College is offering degree- or certificate-seeking students a chance to take fast-track classes during the winter holiday break. These “Intersession” classes are fully online, allowing students to work on a schedule that fits their needs.

Intersession classes start Monday, December 8, 2025, and end Monday, January 5, 2026.

Registration for Intersession opens Monday, November 3, 2025, and ends on Monday, December 8, 2025, at 5:00 pm. Last day to drop with no grade and receive a full refund is December 9, 2025, by 5:00 pm. After this date students are not eligible for a refund.

These select classes are ideal for students who need prerequisite courses or who want to accelerate their time to completion, maximize enrollment if they are part-time, or return to or maintain athletic eligibility.

“We have heard from our students that they want options to accelerate learning. Southwestern is committed to our students’ success and completion, which is why we are making these classes available. A fast-track, four-week online class is rigorous, hard work. The College is here to support students who want an extra opportunity to excel,” said Ali Mageehon, Vice President of Instruction and Student Services at Southwestern.

This special Intersession Term includes six, four-week classes:

• ANTH 221 50 – Intro to Cultural Anthropology
• BA 156 50 – Essentials of Economics
• BA 285 50 – Human Relations in Organizations
• COMM 218Z 50 – Interpersonal Communication
• FN 225 50 – Nutrition
• SOC 208 50 – Sociology of Sport

All six classes are eligible for financial aid. Students are responsible for tuition, fees, and cost of textbooks.

Register for Intersession classes via the myLakerLink portal. Search for courses under the “2025-2026 Winter Term – Intersession” drop down. When registering, take note of the begin (12/8/25) and end (1/5/26) dates of a class to be sure you are registering for the Intersession Term and not regular winter term. You can also identify Intersession courses by their section number, which will always be 50.

• NOTE: If you are currently attending another college and want to register for an Intersession course at Southwestern, please complete the Community Education and Personal Enrichment Form accessible via the myLakerLink portal. You will not need to complete an Application for Admission.

Students can also register for courses at the Laker One Stop in Dellwood Hall on the Coos Campus (1988 Newmark Ave., Coos Bay), or at the Curry Campus front desk (96082 Lone Ranch Parkway, Brookings).

For more information or for help registering call the Laker One Stop at 541-888-7352, or email onestop@socc.edu. Curry Campus students can call 541-813-1667.

Geology Lecture: The Latest Miocene Anaverde Flora, Palmdale, CA: NO SURPRISES HERE – Oct. 21, 2025

Oct 3, 2025 | Curry Campus, News

COOS BAY, OR – Southwestern Oregon Community College invites the community to join us on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, at 6:00 pm, for “The Latest Miocene Anaverde Flora, Palmdale, CA: No Surprises Here” with Jeffrey A. Myers, Ph.D., Geology Professor Emeritus, Western Oregon University. This is a free event; all ages are welcome.

Coos County residents can join us in-person in the Umpqua Hall lecture room (room 184) on the Coos Campus, 1988 Newmark Ave., Coos Bay.

Curry County residents can join us for a watch party in the Community Room on the Curry Campus, 96082 Lone Ranch Parkway, Brookings.

For those not able to attend in person the lecture will be streamed live on the College’s YouTube channel at: www.youtube.com/@southwesternOR/streams.

About the Lecture:

While building the Antelope Valley Landfill near Palmdale, CA, scientists found over 3,000 fossilized plants in rocks from about 10 million years ago (late Miocene period). These fossils come from what’s called the Anaverde Formation. Join us as Dr. Myers takes us on a journey back 10 million years to explore an ancient landscape near modern-day Palmdale, California.

Researchers identified 21 different types of plants. Many of these, like poplar, willow, sycamore, magnolia, and sedges, likely grew near rivers or streams, where it was moist.

Other plants, like oaks, manzanita, and ceanothus, probably lived on the drier hills nearby and were found less often in the fossil assemblage.

Based on where these types of plants live today, and geologic characteristics of the formation, the area back then was likely a flat coastal plain with swamps and seasonal flooding. Surrounding this flat area were steep hills covered in oak woodlands and chaparral (a kind of dry shrubland common in California).

One of the most prominent paleobotanists of the mid 1900s, Axelrod previously suggested that it once had tropical forests like those in Mexico. But the new analysis shows that many of Axelrod’s plant identifications were based on poorly preserved or incomplete fossils.

Instead, the new evidence points to a plant community that was common in California during the late Miocene, roughly 10 million years ago — not tropical, but more like a mix of plants we still see in parts of California today: The central coast and Central Valley’s oak savannahs and chaparral scrublands.

Some plant families that are common in chaparral today (like Rhamnaceae and Ericaceae) had not yet become diverse at that time, meaning they became more widespread after the late Miocene.

About the Presenter:

Dr. Jeffrey Myers earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara in Geological Sciences and Environmental Biology, a master’s degree from San Diego State University, and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1998. He has been a research associate of the University of California Berkeley Museum of Paleontology with his collaborator and co-author Dr. Diane Erwin. He has served as a geology professor and paleobotany researcher at Western Oregon University for over 25 years.

For more information about the lecture series contact Dr. Win McLaughlin, Assistant Professor, Geology at win.mclaughlin@socc.edu or 541-888-7002.

For more information on upcoming lectures contact Cassie Coyner, STEAM Pathways Coordinator, at 541-888-7416, or cassie.coyner@socc.edu.

To learn more about STEM degrees at Southwestern visit: https://www.socc.edu/programs-classes/stem/.