One of the central experiences of the Honors College at Oregon State University is the opportunity to engage in undergraduate research through a thesis. This in-depth project gives students the chance to explore topics they’re passionate about with the support of a faculty mentor, gaining valuable academic and professional skills along the way. For Cassidy Ochoa, a fourth-year honors student majoring in climate science with a minor in writing, the thesis has been a way to merge her interdisciplinary interests — understanding the science behind the Earth’s weather and her passion for creative writing.
Cassidy grew up in Beaverton, Oregon and developed a fascination with the weather at a young age. A heavy snowstorm in the Portland area left a lasting impression, eventually leading her to study climate science at Oregon State University after graduating from Beaverton High School. She distinctly recalls a moment on the bus back home from elementary school during a blizzard. “I remember being terrified of the bus almost crashing. The storm was so powerful that it caused our bus to swerve in the parking lot. I was like, what makes the weather so powerful that it can do something like that?” Her abiding curiosity in this question is one of the key reasons she chose to study climate science in college, along with her love of nature, which she developed through family stargazing trips to rural Oregon and Nevada. “These moments made me realize how big the world was,” she says.
Cassidy felt drawn to the Honors College at Oregon State University because “it offered new opportunities than I could not get elsewhere.” Within the honors track, she felt the thesis would give her the motivation to find a project she would want to commit to. “Due to my passion for creative writing and poetry, in addition to climate and weather, I knew that I wanted to work on something that had an intersection between art and science,” she says. Finding a project that blended these interests became a main focus for Cassidy. During her third year, she discovered an opportunity to make it a reality through the PRAx Student Fellowship.
Over the course of a year, PRAx fellows work with faculty mentors to develop a creative or journalistic project informed by active engagement with scientific research at OSU aligned with one of four tracks: Art+Science, Art+Engineering, Humanities+Science or Film+Science. Cassidy discovered the application on a social media post the same week it was due. She recalls the “hectic process of finding two faculty mentors,” one in science and another in art. “It was like a race against the clock,” she says.” Ultimately, she connected with Associate Professor Andrea Jenney from the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences and Associate Professor Karen Holmberg from the School of Writing, Literature & Film.
With support from the Honors College, Cassidy was able to integrate her fellowship project into her honors thesis. Her research uses data analysis of geoengineering interventions, specifically how solar radiation management — the process of artificially regulating the amount of sunlight that enters the atmosphere — would affect global weather patterns. She examines a scenario where humanity deploys orbital sunshades and asks questions like, what would happen to cyclones? How would that impact their formation rates and intensity around the planet?
As a creative extension of her research, Cassidy wrote a science fiction short story titled “Weathermakers,” set in a city facing a severe global water crisis. In this world, society turns to weather manipulation to survive, mirroring real-world discussions on climate intervention. Rooted in her dataset, “Weathermakers” explores the potential consequences of climate change while imagining innovative, if precarious, solutions.
In addition to her research, Cassidy is active in student leadership. She currently serves as the president of OSU’s Residence Hall Association (RHA), an organization that advocates for students living on campus and hosts events throughout the year. Cassidy got involved in RHA during her first year at OSU, attending a meeting with a friend “without knowing much about the organization,” she says. She became more engaged soon after, organizing events such as making salsa with West Dining and eventually took on a leadership role. Now as president, Cassidy helps coordinate campus-wide programming and advocates for student residents.
For students looking to make the most of their college experience, Cassidy’s advice is simple: “Stay curious and keep your eyes open for opportunities. Talk with friends, classmates and professors about everything, and make sure to take in all the opportunities that are around you.”
By Shion Britten, Honors College student writer