Professor Ben Leshchinsky and his team install a sensor in the McDonald-Dunn Research Forest
A groundbreaking study supported by the Cascadia Region Earthquake Science Center (CRESCENT) is underway to answer a fascinating question: Why did the last Cascadia earthquake appear to trigger few landslides? Researchers hypothesize that forest structure may play a role in damping seismic waves, reducing their impact on hillslopes in particular settings. This study explores whether certain types of forests act as natural shock absorbers during earthquakes, making ground shaking less severe compared to areas with different vegetation structure and/or land use.
SmartSolo 3C seismic sensor
To test this idea, the research team is using advanced SmartSolo 3C seismic sensors, which are compact, all-in-one devices capable of recording ground motions. These sensors were installed in the McDonald-Dunn Research Forest in two distinct landscapes: mature forests and adjacent clearings. By capturing both normal ground movements and vibrations from nearby quarry blasts that mimic earthquake activity, the team aims to compare how the ground responds in each environment.
The findings could provide insights into whether forests reduce seismic wave intensity. Additionally, the study aims to determine if different types of forests influence ground motion during earthquakes and to better understand how forests and landscapes interact during major seismic events.
The implications of this study extend far beyond its scientific curiosity. Understanding the role of forests in stabilizing landscapes could shed light on the history of large earthquakes and inspire innovative strategies to enhance landscape resilience to seismic waves.
This study is a collaboration between OSU and several university partners, including:
Will Struble, University of Houston, PI Valerie Sahakian, University of Oregon, co-PI Jill Marshall, Portland State University, co-PI Josh Roering, University of Oregon, co-PI Ben Leshchinsky, Oregon State University, co-PI
Glenn Jones (left), a graduate student in the COF’s Forest Engineering, Resources & Management (FERM) department, is collaborating with Chris Dunn to reconstruct historical and cultural fire regimes on the east slope of the Central Oregon Coast Range. Supported by the Bureau of Land Management’s Seeds of Success grant, Jones’ work involves a partnership with the BLM and the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians (CTCLUSI).
Blending Indigenous knowledge with Western science, the project addresses knowledge gaps in the Coast Range about fire return intervals and aims to revive traditional burning practices for CTCLUSI. A Hoopa Valley Tribal member, Jones brings personal experience with cultural burning to his work—an approach that supports habitats, maintains ecologically significant species, and sustains traditional resources. He’s also training to become a federally recognized Burn Boss, expanding his impact in helping Oregon Tribes increase cultural burns.
“This research is not only meaningful to me personally, its impactful to our next seven generations as we face an uncertain future with climate change and contemporary wildfires,” Jones shares. “Co-stewardship of the landscape with Tribes, agencies, and stakeholders is essential in informing management of forest ecosystems of the future.”
Phase one of the project—establishing plots, stem mapping, and tree coring—is complete. Phase two begins this winter with fire scar cutting and tree ring analysis.
Oregon State University’s College of Forestry is hosting two Ukrainian forest scientists as part of the BridgeUSA Ukrainian Academic Fellows Program. This initiative aims to foster lasting connections between Ukrainian and U.S. academics, strengthening Ukraine’s capacity in fields crucial for its future rebuilding.
Left to Right: Dr. Glenn Howe, Dr. Ihor Neyko, Dr. Oleksandr Soshenskyi, Dr. John Bailey
Dr. Oleksandr Soshenskyi, from the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine in Kyiv, focuses on silviculture and wildfire management while Dr. Ihor Neyko, from Vinnytsia National Agrarian University, specializes in forest genetics and sustainable forest management. Two OSU faculty, Dr. Glenn Howe and Dr. John Bailey, led the effort to welcome and collaborate with the Ukrainian scholars.
BridgeUSA Ukrainian Academic Fellows Program The BridgeUSA Ukrainian Academic Fellows Program is administered by the American Councils for International Education in Washington, DC. The BridgeUSA program focuses on developing expertise in areas essential for Ukraine’s future, including forestry, post-war recovery studies, information technology, and pedagogy. The BridgeUSA program provides an invaluable opportunity to exchange knowledge and build international partnerships in forestry research and education.
An active month of visits included meetings with College of Forestry administration, the International Programs office, faculty, staff, and graduate students. The visiting scholars also attended lectures and field labs, and visited experimental forests and research sites. The scholars also visited a variety of OSU’s partner organizations, such as USFS Dorena Genetic Resource Center, Roseburg Forest Products, Lebanon Forest Regeneration Center, USFS Pacific Northwest Research Station, Starker Forests, and others.
Thomas H. DeLuca, Dean of the College of Forestry, says, “The College of Forestry is honored to host Ukrainian fellows Dr. O. Soshenskyi and Dr. I. Neyko so they can contribute to the important work of rebuilding and strengthening Ukraine’s academic and research capacities. This collaboration aligns with OSU’s commitment to global engagement and addressing critical challenges in forestry and environmental sciences.”
Dean Tom H. DeLuca with Dr. I. Neyko and Dr. O. Soshenskyi
The scholars shared their experiences and perspectives on forestry practices in Ukraine, enriching the learning environment for OSU students and faculty. While they were here, they presented two seminars, “Ukraine in Wartime: forests and forestry science” and “Digital Tools for Data Collection, Silviculture Sharing, and Remote Learning in Forestry.”
Key Learning and Observations The scholars were exposed to cutting-edge research in forest biotechnology, including genetically modified poplar plantations and advanced laboratory facilities. Visits to various forest sites provided insights into sustainable management techniques, including seed orchard management and prescribed burning. The scholars learned about the use of digital tools and satellite data for forest monitoring and management. The scholars participated in various classes and the OSU Forestry Extension Tree School Field Day. Their visit fostered connections between Ukrainian and U.S. academics, aligning with the BridgeUSA program’s goal of strengthening Ukraine’s capacity in essential fields.
Conclusion The month-long visit of Dr. Oleksandr Soshenskyi and Dr. Ihor Neyko to OSU’s College of Forestry provided comprehensive exposure to advanced forestry research, education, and management practices in the United States. This experience is expected to contribute significantly to the development of forestry practices and education in Ukraine, fostering long-term international collaboration in the field.
Artificial intelligence enhances monitoring of threatened marbled murrelet
Photo: Brett Lovelace/Oregon State University
Artificial intelligence analysis of data gathered by acoustic recording devices is a promising new tool for monitoring the marbled murrelet and other secretive, hard-to-study species, research by Oregon State University and the U.S. Forest Service has shown.
The threatened marbled murrelet is an iconic and elusive Pacific Northwest seabird that relies on the sea for food but raises its young as far as 60 miles inland in mature and old-growth forests.
“There are very few species like it,” said co-author Matt Betts of the OSU College of Forestry. “And there’s no other bird that feeds in the ocean and travels such long distances to inland nest sites. This behavior is super unusual, and it makes studying this bird really challenging.”
A research team led by Adam Duarte of the U.S. Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Research Station used data from acoustic recorders, originally placed to assist in monitoring northern spotted owl populations, at thousands of locations in federally managed forests in the Oregon Coast Range and Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. Researchers then developed a machine learning algorithm known as a convolutional neural network to mine the recordings for murrelet calls.
Findings, published in Ecological Indicators, were tested against known murrelet population data and determined to be correct at a rate exceeding 90%, meaning the recorders and AI are able to provide an accurate look at how much murrelets are calling in a given area.
“Our results offer considerable promise for species distribution modeling and long-term population monitoring for rare species,” Duarte said. “Monitoring that’s far less labor intensive than nest searching via telemetry, ground-based nest searches or traditional audio/visual techniques.”
College of Forestry graduate student Matthew Weldy joined Betts and Duarte in the study, along with Zachary Ruff of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Jonathon Valente, a former Oregon State postdoctoral researcher now at the U.S. Geological Survey, and Damon Lesmeister and Julianna Jenkins of the Forest Service.
Indigenous Knowledge and western science braided into recommendations for land managers
Two College of Forestry faculty are among the lead authors of a report that combines Indigenous Knowledge and western science for the purpose of informing future climate-adapted land management decisions across the United States. The authors say their recommendations include “practical and cultural management interventions that could help avert the loss of thousands of acres of old-growth forest.”
The report, co-led by Cristina Eisenberg and Michael Paul Nelson of OSU and fire ecologists Susan Prichard of the University of Washington and Paul Hessburg of the U.S. Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Research Station, urges that Tribal stewardship practices such as thinning and burning be considered in future land management decisions by the U.S. Forest Service. The Forest Service had expressed interest in gaining a better understanding of the connection between Indigenous Knowledge and western science in land management planning.
“Our forests are in grave danger in the face of climate change,” said Eisenberg, the College of Forestry’s associate dean of inclusive excellence. “By braiding together Indigenous Knowledge with western science, we can view the problems with what is known as Two Eyed Seeing, to develop a path forward that makes our forests more resilient to the threats they are facing. That is what this report is working to accomplish.”
Eisenberg, who is Native American, is the associate dean of inclusive excellence and the Maybelle Clark Macdonald Director of Tribal Initiatives for the college and Nelson is a professor of environmental philosophy and ethics.
“Our report is deeper than changes in policy and management—it proposes a fundamental change in the worldview guiding our current practices,” Nelson said. “Our writing team’s cultural, geographic and disciplinary diversity allows for guidance on a shift in paradigms around how we approach forest stewardship in the face of climate change.”
Represented on the core writing team are Tribal members and Forest Service personnel as well as faculty from North Carolina State University, the University of Missouri, the University of Idaho, the University of Minnesota, the University of Arizona, the University of California and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
A version of this story appeared in the Fall 2024 issue of Focus on Forestry, the alumni magazine of the Oregon State University College of Forestry.
Tree Ring Lab studies fire history through dendrochronology
Andrew Merschel inspects fire scarring on a ponderosa pine in Central Oregon
The College of Forestry’s Tree Ring Lab takes a deep dive into learning from tree rings—through the science of dendrochronology. By analyzing tree rings, lead scientist Andrew Merschel, Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) postdoctoral scholar with the U.S. Forest Service and Oregon State University, is uncovering important new information about fire history, forest stand development and Indigenous burning that informs our understanding of forest ecosystems, the complexity of old-growth development and how we might better steward the diverse forests of the Pacific Northwest.
Merschel works with a large team of management collaborators, science partners and students to collect, process and interpret the stories trees tell through their rings and wood. Associate Professor Meg Krawchuk and Amanda Brackett co-direct the lab and all three work together to support the research, training and teaching opportunities the lab provides.
“This research allows us to travel back in time and provide evidence of historical fire regimes that created the mature and old-growth forests we value so much today,” said Merschel. “There’s a surprising amount of fire in our forests documented by tree rings—it’s the basic ecology work that I wish we would’ve been doing decades ago to inform management of our forest ecosystems today.”
Graduate students in the Tree Ring Lab are applying this research in various ways. Ph.D. student Jennifer Bailey Guerrero is studying the development of marbled murrelet nesting habitat in relationship to fire. Sven Rodne’s master’s degree research involves historical stand and fire reconstructions in southwest Oregon. Charles Drake, who is also pursuing his master’s degree, is looking at historical fire throughout the McDonald and Dunn Research Forests. A team of undergraduate students and field technicians are critical to collecting and processing samples, and are aspiring tree ring scientists, ecologists and practitioners of the future.
“Tree rings provide a shared understanding of the history of forests, people, fire, climate, wind, water, management—it’s all there,” said Krawchuk. “When you walk into a room with a cross section of tree rings and their stories, it opens up a rare opportunity to talk through ideas and worldviews about trees and forests that draws people in and brings them together in an astonishing way.”
Reconstructing historical, cultural fire regime in Oregon’s Coast Range
Glenn Jones, a master’s student in the department of forest engineering, resources and management, is an Oglala Lakota descendent, an enrolled member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe of rural Northern California, and an active prescribed fire/cultural fire practitioner. Jones is working with Assistant Professor Chris Dunn to reconstruct a historical, cultural fire regime in the east slope of the Central Oregon Coast Range. Through a cultural lens, Jones sees the past seven generations (approx. 150 years) of land management as the crux of contemporary forest conditions. By better understanding forest conditions of our ancestral past, through Indigenous Knowledge and fire history, it informs our future seven generations’ land management strategies in forests that are threatened by contemporary wildfires, climate change and contain critical habitat for culturally and ecologically important species. Funded by the Seeds of Success Bureau of Land Management grant, Jones will be working in conjunction with the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians of Oregon and BLM lands to carry out his research.
New dual degree to focus on wildland-urban interface issues
Assistant Professor Chris Dunn is working on a new dual degree program with Erica Fischer, an associate professor in the College of Engineering, to train the next generation of wildland-urban interface researchers. It aims to bridge the gap between modeling and mitigating wildfire in natural landscapes and the built environment as more fires intrude upon communities. He is also part of a collaborative spatial fire planning process across the Pacific Coast states that bring partners, stakeholders and Tribes together to pre-plan wildfire response to be more proactive instead of reactive. A third project takes a critical look at using prescribed and cultural fire in recently burned areas to maintain the reduced risk, while protecting recovering areas from a reburn fire.
Assessing post-fire regeneration after the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire
John Bailey, professor of silviculture and fire management, is evaluating post-fire regeneration and recovery four years after the Holiday Farm Fire near Eugene, Oregon, including the potential to use drones to assess forest recovery. He’s also examining the fuel hazard implications of operational silviculture on Humboldt and Mendocino Redwood Companies’ lands in Northern California, and how it can be used to address wildland fire risk. His newly released book “A Walk with Wildland Fire” covers these two topics as well as the dozens of other complex issues surrounding society’s challenging relationship with wildland fire—before, during and after it occurs.
Expanded courses update “fire and restoration” curricular option
Led by Associate Professor John Punches, Guard School is a wildland firefighting course with field sessions on campus and in the OSU McDonald and Dunn Research Forests. Available in credit and non-credit versions, undergraduate and graduate options, and open to OSU students and employees, Guard School utilizes National Wildfire Coordinating Group and Federal Emergency Management Agency curricula and certifies participants as entry level wildland firefighters. Punches also leads the prescribed fire practicum, which teaches students how to use prescribed fire to achieve ecological and fuel reduction objectives, with an emphasis on private land efforts. The course includes student led prescribed fire implementation. Additionally, Associate Professor Daniel Leavell, in collaboration with Professor Mark Hoffman from the College of Health, has created a new Wildland Firefighter Health and Safety course, and work is underway on a Dealing with Stress in Wildland Fire Ecampus course. Funding for these new courses has been provided through a grant from the Bureau of Land Management.
A version of this story appeared in the Fall 2024 issue of Focus on Forestry, the alumni magazine of the Oregon State University College of Forestry.
Extension Fire Program fosters place-based partnerships
As a land grant university, Oregon State University takes research and innovation out of the labs and puts them into practice in the communities and landscapes around the state through Extension programs. While OSU’s influence extends globally, our success is also measured by our ability to equip and support every Oregonian—both rural and urban.
Oregon faces increasing challenges and opportunities related to wildland fire. In response, Oregon State created a dedicated Extension Fire Program in 2020 to help foster fire-adapted communities and resilient ecosystems through place-based partnerships. Six regional fire specialists provide wildland fire outreach, education and engagement. Two outreach program coordinators lead special initiatives focused on fire science application and workforce equity. A manager and director support their work and provide overall program direction.
This team helps build “place-based partnerships,” meaning they live and work in each of their service areas and have deep regional fire history and ecology knowledge. They also collaborate with communities and partners on shared visions for fire adaptation that fit the local geographical and social context. This place-based work is guided by the program’s Theory of Change, which is an approach that supports strong and equitable processes for living with fire at all scales.
The work of the Extension Fire Program is diverse, and includes community fire preparedness like wildfire protection planning and tools for evaluation and adaptation; and efforts to increase landscape resiliency, such as prescribed fire education, training and capacity building. The team emphasizes partnerships with communities facing disproportionate wildfire risk and those with less access to mitigation and recovery resources.
Emily Jane “EJ” Davis, an associate professor in the College of Forestry and social scientist, is the director of the Extension Fire Program.
“Research shows that community-based approaches to living with wildfire that engage local people are the most effective. The Extension Fire Program leads by those principles, and seeks to bring together all the agencies and organizations in wildland fire so that we can do more collectively,” explained Davis.
Nice to meet you!
Across Oregon, our Extension Fire Team is there for the many different communities, climates and ecosystems of the state. Serving over 4.2 million Oregonians, six agents, two coordinators, a program manager and director work hard to ensure communities are wildfire ready and wildfire safe. Meet the team and learn more about the regions they serve:
EMILY JANE “EJ” DAVIS Fire Program Director I love supporting and learning from our diverse team. We each have different backgrounds, experiences and values, which come together to make our program multifaceted and interesting. As a social scientist, I am interested in understanding how diverse people and organizations can work together to support more fire-adapted communities and resilient landscapes.
CARRIE BERGER Fire Program Manager As the manager of the program, I love the diversity of people I get to meet and developing a connection with them. These relationships allow us to find common ground to work on (wildfire) solutions for the benefit of Oregon’s communities and landscapes.
MANUEL MACHADO Outreach Program Coordinator My favorite part about this role is that it aligns with my personal values and does not place limitations on what can be done to empower our communities and change systems of inequity. Here in the Rogue Valley, I feel fortunate to work alongside and learn from a community so full of passion and grit.
AUTUMN ELLISON Outreach Program Coordinator I find it really energizing when I can connect people with each other for information, resources or to help answer questions. Watching new partnerships grow from these efforts is inspiring!
AARON GROTH Regional Fire Specialist, Northwest Coastal Wildland fire has played a key role across the Coast Range and the loss of cultural or Indigenous fire has led, with other factors, to the loss of over 90% of Oregon’s coastal grasslands and decline in oak habitat in the eastern foothills. As highlighted by the Echo Mountain Fire Complex, even relatively small fires can have devastating impacts on homes, recreation, timber, habitat and water.
KAYLA BORDELON Regional Fire Specialist, Willamette Valley & Cascades The counties I serve are home to half the population of the state, including the urban core of Oregon and many small, rural communities. This diversity means that I support community and landscape resilience in a variety of ways—from crafting resources for smoke and wildfire preparedness for outdoor workers in the heart of the Willamette Valley, to working with partners to prioritize landscape treatments across large rural landscapes. No matter where I am in my region, momentum is strong to develop pathways to fire resilience that are community-driven and locally-relevant.
MICAH SCHMIDT Regional Fire Specialist, Northeast A unique thing about my region is that northeast Oregon is filled with small communities in which the people take care of each other. I enjoy my position because I can help these communities prepare for and interact with fire in a positive way.
KATHERINE WOLLSTEIN Regional Fire Specialist, Southeast While I help individuals, organizations and communities apply rangeland and fire science, one of the more meaningful aspects of my job is helping these groups find ways to effectively organize and work together toward fire adaptation. In my region dominated by public land and where ecological, social, and political dynamics and resource-dependent livelihoods all intersect, this work is endlessly interesting.
ARIEL COWAN Regional Fire Specialist, Central The rural and urban communities of the Central Region have deep connections with the outdoors, including our fire-adapted ecosystems. As the region grows quickly, I enjoy demystifying fire for people of all ages and backgrounds through experiential learning of local fire ecology and empowering readiness for wildfire seasons.
CHRISTOPHER ADLAM Regional Fire Specialist, Southwest Southwest Oregon landscapes and communities are incredibly varied but all of them have a fire story. It’s a privilege to work across the region to help write the next chapter!
A version of this story appeared in the Fall 2024 issue of Focus on Forestry, the alumni magazine of the Oregon State University College of Forestry.
Using science to inform policy for a wildfire adapted Oregon
Photo: Emily Jane “EJ” Davis
In response to longer and more severe wildfire seasons, a growing population living in the wildland-urban interface and the extensive impacts of the 2020 Labor Day fires, the Oregon Legislature passed Senate Bill 762 in 2021, laying the groundwork for statewide wildfire community adaptation efforts in a rapidly changing wildfire environment.
As part of this broader statewide effort, SB 762 directed Oregon State University, in collaboration with Oregon Department of Forestry, to create a map identifying where wildfires pose the most hazard to structures and other human developments. OSU was also directed to map the wildland-urban interface, or WUI, to be used in tandem with the wildfire hazard map to guide new defensible space and fire hardening building code standards in high-risk areas, bolstering community protection across Oregon. Additionally, SB 762 called upon OSU to map social vulnerability to help decision makers further allocate limited resources to those most in need.
The College of Forestry led an interdisciplinary team from across OSU. Their diverse expertise included wildfire risk science, rural economic development and social vulnerability, community combustion and impacts and communications and outreach. This team worked directly with a 26-member rulemaking advisory committee, county commissioners and planners, and engaged the public to co-produce maps that used the best available science, grounded in local knowledge of landscapes and communities.
“The hazard map was designed to give the state agencies implementing those codes a science-based foundation for deciding where to prioritize implementation,” said Andy McEvoy, a College of Forestry wildfire risk scientist involved in the maps’ development. “The state of Oregon wants to invest resources, people power, dollars, education and outreach into the communities where they can most positively affect risk reduction.”
Informed by science and practice
When the initial maps were released in the summer of 2022 according to the legislatively mandated timeline, they sparked many questions and concerns from people across Oregon. The pushback was strong enough that ODF rescinded the first maps less than two months after they were released.
Since then, the OSU science team working on the maps have been reviewing public feedback, coordinating with local professionals and planners, and incorporating changes into draft maps that address the primary concerns expressed about the first maps. Two significant changes reflect how fuels are less likely to burn on agricultural lands that are either irrigated or managed as hay and pasture. OSU researchers relied on input from fire modeling specialists, fire and fuel professionals and ranchers to develop the specific changes.
Public feedback in 2022 also caused the legislature to pass Senate Bill 80 during the 2023 session. SB 80 clarified that the map reflects environmental hazard rather than risk, an important distinction that more accurately captures the science behind the map and how to interpret it.
The OSU team, along with five other state agencies and groups, also embarked on a comprehensive public engagement effort to provide information about the draft maps and how they’ll be used by state agencies, and to address concerns about how community wildfire disasters across the West are affecting Oregon’s insurance market.
Looking to the Future
As a dynamic tool, Oregon’s wildfire hazard map will continue to be updated every five years based on current data, best available science and policy direction to support statewide strategic community wildfire programs. By engaging with policymakers and the public, OSU scientists gained firsthand scientific knowledge, learned from practitioners’ experience, and found gaps in public outreach and engagement processes fostering new and nontraditional partnerships and collaborations to address some of Oregon’s most pressing needs.
“Our efforts here in Oregon have demonstrated the challenge, but also the importance of leveraging science to inform policy decisions,” said Chris Dunn, a College of Forestry assistant professor of wildfire risk science. “It will be a big help in Oregon as well as other Western states grappling with increasing community wildfire risk.”
How was wildfire hazard calculated? To create the wildfire hazard map, OSU researchers combined two primary datasets: (1) burn probability, the average annual likelihood a location will experience wildfire, and (2) fire intensity, measured in flame length. Both were modeled across Oregon using the best available science with the help of state and local fire professionals using four criteria: climate, weather, topography and vegetation.
Who was involved? Led by the College of Forestry, the OSU research team included experts in: –Wildfire risk science: Assistant Professor Christopher Dunn and Andy McEvoy –Rural economic development and social vulnerability: Associate Professor Mindy Crandall and Caitlyn Reilley –Community combustion and impacts: Professor Erica Fischer –Communication, project coordination and public interface: Shannon Murray and Myrica McCune
As the #1 forestry college in the nation, the Oregon State University College of Forestry is a recognized leader in sustainable forestry, land management solutions, climate-friendly forest products, green building, and smart recreation and urban planning. We provide students with exceptional learning, research and development opportunities and are committed to building an inclusive culture at the College that identifies and removes barriers to learning and access. We prepare students to be agents of change, ready to create and contribute equitable solutions to present and future challenges concerning sustainability and global change.
The College of Forestry received over $20 million in research grants and contracts for FY 2024. The awards support College of Forestry research that advances scientific knowledge critical to the health of forests, people and communities.
“DNA Methylation Control for Site-Specific Recombinases: Biosafety and Efficacy” Sponsor: USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture for $649,916 Investigators: Steven Strauss, Kelly Vining and Greg Goralogia
“The Northwest Fire Science Consortium” Sponsor: USDI Bureau of Land Management for $509,997 Investigators: Emily Jane Davis and Holly Ober
“Real-time Surface Monitoring for Improved Safety, Response, and Repair” Sponsor: Oregon Dept of Transportation for $468,000 Investigators: Ben Leshchinsky and Michael Olsen
“Assessing the Impact of Invasive Annual Grasses and Wildfire on Native Pollinators Within the Sagebrush Steppe Biome” Sponsor: USDI Fish and Wildlife Service for $335,750 Investigators: Jim Rivers and Jonathan Dinkins
“Developing Next Generation Leaders in Forest Resource Optimization and Economics: Mass Timber Products” Sponsor: USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture for $262,500 Investigators: Arijit Sinha, Eric Hansen
Recent developments have thrust forest degradation into the global conservation spotlight. This is following on major policies like the European Union’s recent ban on imports from degraded forests, and the COP28 resolution to halt degradation. Yet amidst these policy advances, the question remains: what is “forest degradation”?
The European Union preliminarily defined forest degradation as conversion from primary forest into tree plantations. In an article published recently in Nature Ecology and Evolution, an international team of forest scientists argue that much more will be required to reduce forest degradation.
“Even forests that aren’t old growth can have tremendous benefits for biodiversity and carbon storage” says Matt Betts, a professor in the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society at Oregon State University. “In major wood producing parts of the world, clearcut harvesting that leaves little time for regeneration between cuts can have severe negative effects on forest ecosystems” he said.
Clearcut harvest in New Brunswick, Canada (photo credit: Matthew Betts)
According to the article, measuring forest degradation needs long-term data across whole regions to detect if biodiversity and carbon have been harmed. But satellites have been collecting data from space that can be used for this purpose since the 1980s the authors point out. For instance, Zhiqiang Yang, a scientist with the US Forest Service and co-author on the paper, uses satellite data and Google Earth Engine to measure long-term carbon and biodiversity changes.
“This study is ground-breaking in assigning a science-based process for tracking the degradation of forest integrity for all the world’s forests that at least in some regions like North America exceed deforestation losses,” said Dominick A. DellaSala, Chief Scientist, Wild Heritage, who was not involved in the study but supports a moratorium on primary forest logging internationally and mature forest logging in the US.
Forests house 80% of the world’s biodiversity and nearly half of the world’s 4 billion hectares of forests are managed for timber production. The paper notes that addressing forest degradation in the European Union policy and COP28 agreement has the potential to be a substantial step toward ameliorating the dual climate and biodiversity crises. “But we need to get the measurement part right” Betts said.
FY2023: a record year for research Bolstered by a big jump in funding from U.S. government agencies, Oregon State University’s research awards in the last fiscal year surged to $480 million, a university record. The College of Forestry also closed out its best-ever year with $25 million in research grants and contracts for FY 2023.
Left: Faculty research assistant and master’s student Ashley Russell and Associate Dean Cristina Eisenberg. Russell is working with Eisenberg in the Indigenous Natural Resource Office and is a Miluk Coos and Pamunkey descendent, an enrolled citizen of the Confederated Tribes of Coos Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians and assistant director of culture and natural resources for the Tribes. Photo: Karl Maasdam
Cristina Eisenberg named a Beaver Research Champion Cristina Eisenberg, the associate dean for inclusive excellence and Maybelle Clark Macdonald director of Tribal initiatives in natural resources, was named an Oregon State Beaver Research Champion. Eisenberg leads the Indigenous Natural Resource Office, and within it, the Traditional Ecological Knowledge Lab. In partnership with five Sovereign Tribes in Oregon, her team is weaving together Indigenous Knowledge with western science to help the Bureau of Land Management adapt its forests in Oregon to be more resilient to climate change. Eisenberg and Dean Tom DeLuca recently received a $1M grant to work with leaders from the U.S. Forest Service and Tribal Nations to convene a series of Tribal roundtables around the Pacific Northwest. This work is in direct response to President Biden’s Executive Order 14072, which calls for conserving and safeguarding mature and old-growth forests.
Pacific Northwest’s semiconductor and sustainable timber industries to be strengthened by two tech hubs The White House, through the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration, announced the designation of 31 Tech Hubs. Oregon State is the only university to lead two. The Pacific Northwest Mass Timber Tech Hub, led by TallWood Design Institute, a collaboration between Oregon State’s College of Forestry, College of Engineering and the University of Oregon, aims to be a global leader in mass timber design and manufacturing manufacturing, with a goal of reducing the construction industry’s carbon footprint and improving housing affordability.
Revision of Pacific Northwest bee ID key to support identification of native pollinators Associate Professor Jim Rivers, in collaboration with OSU Extension, Oregon Department of Agriculture and Mt. Pisgah Arboretum, developed several bee ID keys to support native bee identification in the Pacific Northwest. The last version of the bee key was published in 1969. Given the growing interest in native pollinator conservation, the new bee ID keys will have a strong impact on bee research in the region.
Forest modeling shows which harvest rotations lead to maximum carbon sequestration Forest modeling completed on the McDonald-Dunn Research Forest by College of Forestry graduate student Catherine Carlisle and professors Temesgen Hailemariam and Stephen Fitzgerald, shows that a site’s productivity — an indicator of how fast trees grow and how much biomass they accumulate — is the main factor that determines which time period between timber harvests allows for maximum above-ground carbon sequestration. Over a 240- year projection timeframe, scientists found that for highly productive stands, 60-year rotations with low-intensity thinning at 40 years led to the greatest carbon storage (in the standing trees plus what was removed from the thinning). For stands on less productive sites, they found carbon storage was maximized by rotation periods of 80 years or 120 years.
Update from the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest On August 5, 2023, a lightning strike ignited a wildfire within the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest and Long-term Ecological Research site in Oregon’s Cascade mountains, ultimately burning across 70% of the forest. The fire, dubbed the Lookout Fire because the ignition point was on Lookout Mountain, burned 25,000 acres, incinerating long-term, decades-old research plots and altering study sites.
2023 also marked 75 years of ecological data collection, and 42 years of Long-term Ecological Research (LTER) inquiry. The Andrews, as it’s affectionately known, also celebrated a successful midterm review by the National Science Foundation.
Throughout the challenges and celebrations, the H.J. Andrews community continues to make discoveries about the forest and engage with forest managers, teachers, students of all levels, artists, writers, musicians and many other groups.
Bridging gaps between forestry and engineering to better understand community resilience to wildfire Wildfire researchers from Oregon State University, including College of Forestry Assistant Professor Chris Dunn, have received $750,000 for multiple projects to advance the science of wildfire risk and resilience. The strategies include embedding a doctoral student in Ashland, Oregon, the site of the largest primarily urban blaze in Oregon history that occurred in 2020; planning a global center for transdisciplinary wildfire research on community resilience; and creating a wildfire risk and resilience graduate program jointly advised by faculty in OSU’s colleges of engineering and forestry.
