Exploring Science, Impacting the World
Sept. 17, 2024
A range of science disciplines at COCC, from biology to physics to chemistry, propel students into inspiring careers
At a moment when drought conditions are affecting more lives worldwide, Kelsey Harpham
is helping harness a response. Harpham is the lead water resilience consultant for
WSP, a global engineering firm that works to integrate climate resilience into infrastructure
development. It’s a mission of modernizing water resource management. For the former
student of Central Oregon Community College (COCC), who has worked with officials
from over 20 different countries, it’s an urgent — and gratifying — career.
“I find this work fulfilling because it allows me to learn from partners all over
the world who are leading in the implementation of innovative climate adaptation approaches,
and to facilitate opportunities for shared learning,” she says. “It gives me hope
for the future.”
Harpham’s engineering path — which later included a master’s degree from Oregon State
University — traces back to inspiring labs and classes at COCC. “The faculty were
not only excellent in their fields but were amazing as teachers, something that's
not true in every higher academic setting,” she shares.
Kevin Grove, professor of physics and engineering, is striving for that impact. “In
a nutshell, they solve problems. And we’re training students to be critical thinkers,
to approach a problem in a certain structured way. We do a lot of hands-on team projects.”
There’s a range of immersive science-based educational tracks at COCC, including physics,
geology and biology, and students can earn a transfer degree with a science focus
in any of those disciplines. Transfer degrees take the form of an Associate of Science
degree or an Associate of Arts Oregon Transfer degree, an AAOT degree, both of which
readily connect credits to four-year universities. The AAOT is designed to fully conform
to state of Oregon public university guidelines, meeting all lower-division requirements.
Heaven Le Roberts, formerly of Culver, attended Oregon State University after COCC,
where she earned a bachelor’s degree in animal science and a Ph.D. in nutritional
toxicology. It was actually the instruments used to capture her research that proved
career-defining.
“I got really interested in the new instruments and technologies,” she recalls. Now,
as a Eugene-based staff scientist with Thermo Fisher Scientific, Roberts works on
a device called a flow cytometer, utilized primarily in the field of immunology to
provide single-cell analysis for things like cancer research. Collaborating in a lab
of more than 50 engineers and immunologists — “It’s a huge honor to work here, I work
with geniuses” — Roberts herself was recently touted as an expert in her field by
her Fortune 500 employer. She fondly thinks back to COCC and her classes in chemistry,
biology and math as springboards for her future. “There were a lot of great instructors.”
Most science classes at COCC are held in the Bend campus’s modern Middleton Science
Center. The glassy, multilevel space offers access to inspiring academic resources,
including advanced lab equipment, cutting-edge educational research and even a substantial
herbarium.
The college’s three other campuses — in Redmond, Madras and Prineville — offer an
ongoing rotation of science coursework. The Redmond campus, with its dedicated lab
spaces, typically features biology and chemistry classes among its regular course
listings. COCC Prineville students can take a “General Biology” class this fall term.
Through COCC Madras, “Human Anatomy and Physiology” is being offered, an essential
prerequisite class for the Nursing program that will be part of that campus’s expansion,
expected to open in winter of 2025.
For Kasey Ziegler, a unique scholarship at COCC helped turn his science fascination
into a distinct trajectory. A bachelor’s degree candidate in chemistry at the University
of Oregon, Ziegler received a scholarship from the Oregon Pathways to Industrial Research
Careers program — and will ultimately embark on a career in either polymers or pharmaceuticals.
He says that having diverse, engaging coursework at COCC was a fundamental layer to
his higher education journey.
“The class sizes are typically small, and the amount of communication and feedback
that I received from my instructors has been extremely helpful,” he says. “COCC was
a great school for me.”
By Mark Russell Johnson, Staff Writer, COCC Marketing and Public Relations
