research « College of Forestry

David Hamilton is a Ph.D. student studying forest engineering and his research topic is electric logging trucks. He is beginning his third year and is an international student from Vancouver, BC, Canada. He is currently the CTO of a start up, Mauka Forestry Consulting, a forestry & GIS consulting company based out of Vancouver, Canada. This summer, he traveled to Merrit, BC, to collaborate with Edison Motors, the inventors of the first electric logging truck. This collaboration led him to write a paper on mapping electric logging truck range as a proof of concept for his tool using their truck schematics.

What is the focus of your Ph.D.?
Recent policy shifts have resulted in USA Pacific states encouraging the adoption of heavy-duty electrical vehicles (EVs). The state of California has mandated that by 2035 all heavy-duty non-freight vehicles must produce zero emissions. Similarly, Oregon has passed the Clean Trucks Rules requiring an increasing percentage of heavy-duty trucks to produce zero emissions, starting in 2024. To meet these policy requirements, automotive manufacturers have begun the mass production of EVs. This led to a 68% rise in global EV sales from 2017 to 2018. However, market penetration of heavy-duty EV trucks is still low compared to passenger EV penetration levels in the United States. Range anxiety driven by battery size limitations (capacity to weight ratio) and a lack of charging infrastructure is one factor hindering the adoption of EVs. I developed multiple tools for mapping electric log truck range across a forest landscape. The purpose of my tools are to help alleviate range anxiety amongst policy makers, truck manufacturers and buyers.

What did you work on this summer?
This summer I collaborated with OSU’s innovation team to develop a patent based on my research for the university. I was also awarded the dean’s international travel award to go to Canada and collect international educational harvest footage. While in Canada I traveled to Merrit, BC, to collaborate with Edison Motors, the inventors of the first electric logging truck. This collaboration led me to write a paper on mapping electric logging truck range as a proof of concept for my tool using their truck schematics.

What are the next steps?
This fall, John Sessions and I were awarded OSU’s $15,000 Accelerator Innovation and Development grant to improve my tool and implement it across a major forest owner’s land base. To achieve this, I will be collaborating with Edison motors and their clients in Canada and the USA. This grant will also fund a trade show booth along with Edison to promote collaboration and industry awareness. In September, Edison also deployed the first fully electric logging truck.

What do you do when you aren’t working on your Ph.D.?
My hands can rarely keep still when I’m not working on my Ph.D. I enjoy painting, playing music and games. I’m particularly fond of painting acrylic paintings and miniatures, the guitar and role-playing/strategy games. I also participate in the Corvallis Guitar Folk Society, lead the forestry grad student band, undercut, and plan various on and off campus social events. However by far my favorite activity is playing with my dog, Tango.

Assessing post-fire land management practices to improve recovery of soil health, vegetation and ecosystem services.

With the dramatic increase in wildfire activity in the western United States, post-fire land management has also increased to recoup economic value from burned forests, improve forest safety and expedite recovery and restoration of soil health, vegetation and forest and aquatic ecosystem functions.

However, limited research on post-fire land management strategies — like emergency stabilization, salvage logging or herbicide application — has led to uncertainty about the effectiveness of available management practices, particularly in relation to soil and water.

Professor Kevin Bladon is leading research to quantify the effects of wildfire and post-fire land management practices on soil physical properties, biogeochemical processes and vegetation recovery. He and his team hope to facilitate improved policy and management decisions that will reduce soil erodibility, improve soil nutrient availability and encourage vegetation regeneration in areas impacted by wildfires.

“Our research is occurring on the west side of the Oregon Cascade Mountains in collaboration with a range of landowners who have each approached post-fire land management differently,” Bladon said. “Our preliminary data has led to unexpected and conflicting results,” he added, “which indicates the need for additional research to inform the development of better decision support tools for land managers.”

A version of this story appeared in the 2021-2022 College of Forestry Biennial Report.

Forest birds with short, round wings more sensitive to habitat fragmentation
Tropical forest birds tend to have wings that are short and round relative to their body length and shape. Professor Matt Betts, the Ruth H. Spaniol chair of renewable resources, and Christopher Wolf, a postdoctoral scholar, found these birds are more sensitive to habitat fragmentation than species common in temperate forests. This study, published in “Nature Ecology and Evolution,” provides solid evidence for the idea that forest birds in the lower latitudes struggle to relocate when their habitat breaks up because they weren’t required to evolve in ways that promote movement to new areas. Birds from temperate forests, like jays, robins and migrant warblers tend to be better movers as they have long, narrow wings that are better suited to long-distance flight.

Bees flock to clearcut areas but decline as forest canopy regrows
Doctoral Student Rachel Zitomer and Associate Professor of Wildlife Ecology Jim Rivers studied 60 intensively managed Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) stands of multiple ages, including within the OSU Research Forests. They found that bee abundance and species richness declined rapidly with stand
age, decreasing by 61% and 48%, respectively, for every five years since timber harvest. This research is one of the first attempts to study how native bee communities change over time in the Oregon Coast Range. Management activities that keep the forest canopy open for a longer period during the initial stage of stand regeneration may enhance bee diversity in landscapes dominated by intensively managed conifer forests.

Temperature, more than drought, caused heat dome tree damage.
In June 2021, the Pacific Northwest had multiple days of record setting, triple-digit temperatures resulting in widespread tree scorch. A team led by Professor Christopher Still attributes the damage more to the temperature than to drought conditions, citing evidence that leaf discoloration and damage are consistent with direct exposure to solar radiation in combination with extreme air temperatures. A previous article had concluded that the trees’ problems were the result of drought and a failure in the trees’ hydraulic system. The coastal Douglas-fir and western hemlock plantation forests saw the most extensive impacts from the heat dome, and they experienced low levels of drought compared to the Willamette Valley and the western slopes of the Cascade Range, which experienced less foliar damage.

Woodpecker adapts to both burned and unburned forests
Research led by Doctoral Student Mark Kerstens and Associate Professor Jim Rivers sheds new light on the Black-backed Woodpecker. This species is known for its strong association with recently burned forests. It is also a species of conservation concern due to habitat loss stemming from post-fire management practices in those same forests. Kerstens and Rivers studied breeding Black-backed Woodpeckers in southern Oregon to evaluate whether nest survival and post-fledging survival differed between green and burned forests. The woodpeckers in green forests were equally successful at breeding as those in recently burned forest, although densities of nesting pairs in green forest were lower than those in burned forest. Certain types of green forest, particularly mature lodgepole pine, and practices that promote pyrodiversity—landscape-level spatial and temporal variability in fire effects—as well as connectivity between green and burned forest within fire-prone landscapes are likely to provide the greatest conservation benefit for this species.

Research explores how wildfire can help restore forests
Graduate Research Fellow Skye Greenler and Assistant Professor Chris Dunn studied the dry forests of Eastern Oregon, which evolved amid frequent, low-severity fires. To explore the potential for fire alone to restore these dry forests, they developed a novel method to predict the range of fire severities most likely to restore historical conditions. They found moderate severity fires can help restore resilient forest conditions, but multiple burns or treatments are required to fully restore historical conditions.

TDI continues to advance mass timber technologies
TallWood Design Institute (TDI) has received a $1 million dollar grant from the National Science Foundation to research innovations in mass timber architecture, engineering and construction in the region. The National Science Foundation awarded the grant as part of its “Regional Innovation Engines” program. Advancing Mass Timber technology promotes environmental resilience and U.S. global competitiveness through the increased use of sustainable mass timber products and their applications in
buildings, including affordable housing.

Moisture is key to soils’ ability to sequester carbon
Soil is the Earth’s second biggest carbon storage locker after the ocean, and a research collaboration has shown that moisture levels are key to locking in carbon. Previously it was thought that temperature and the mineral content of the soil would have a larger effect on how long carbon stayed in the soil. The findings are important for understanding how the global carbon cycle might change as the climate grows warmer and drier. Professor Jeff Hatten was a co-author of the study, and Doctoral Student Adrian Gallo analyzed many of the 400 soil core samples from 34 sites.

A version of this story appeared in the Fall 2023 issue of Focus on Forestry, the alumni magazine of the Oregon State University College of Forestry.

Editor’s Note: On Aug. 5, 2023, after this story went to print, the Lookout Fire was sparked by lightning in the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest. It will be some time until the full extent of the damage is determined. Meanwhile, regular updates on the fire are being posted on the HJ Andrews Forest website.

Celebrating 75 years of the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest

Some things happen in an instant. Other things take their time, gradually evolving over the years. The work on the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest Long Term Ecological Research Program is more of a take-your-time kind of thing — like 75-year kind of time.

Managed by Oregon State University in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, the Andrews, as it’s affectionately known, is a 16,000-acre ecological research site east of Eugene in Oregon’s western Cascades. First established in 1948 as a U.S. Forest Service Experimental Forest, the Andrews is committed to long-term, place-based research and celebrates its 75th anniversary this November.

“Most ecological research lasts for only two or three years,” says Matt Betts, a professor of landscape ecology and the lead principal investigator. “At the Andrews, we’ve studied tree growth and death in the same stands for 52 years, examined fish populations in the same section of stream for 37 years and measured climate and streamflow for 65 years across the forest.”

This kind of long-term research is incredibly rare and extraordinarily valuable because it’s nearly impossible to understand an ecological system on a two-to-three-year time scale. In fact, research results from short-term studies are often overturned by long-term studies.

However, this same commitment to long-term research can also be a challenge. How do you stay excited about looking at the same thing in the same place for 50 years?

Associate Professor and Co-Principal Investigator Catalina Segura says she never feels like her hydrology research at the Andrews is repetitive. “The ability to ask diverse questions in this same place keeps the excitement alive,” Segura says. “The overlapping research adds to the thrill, and on an emotional level, I have a deep love for the Andrews.”

Segura is not the only one. The love for the Andrews Forest runs deep and wide. And not just with scientists and researchers. The Andrews has a robust humanities program welcoming writers, artists, musicians and philosophers to explore the meaning of the ancient forest ecosystem.

“Though our data goes back 75 years, the legacy of the Andrews is found in its people,” says Betts. “We have a global, intergenerational alumni group and even now, have over twenty graduate students and postdoctoral fellows doing research, studying a range of topics from tree canopies and climate resilience to groundwater and streamflow to environmental psychology and social science.”

The collaborative nature of the Andrews extends its legacy goes beyond the College of Forestry. Posy Busby, a microbiologist and associate professor in the department of botany and plant pathology at the College of Agricultural Sciences and Brooke Penaluna, the lead scientist with the U.S. Forest Service, are also co-principal investigators, with a long history of research at the Andrews.

“The Andrews is a special and unique place because it makes you feel alive and curious about the world,” says Penaluna. “It’s also particularly special because of the people that make up its partnership, including Pacific Northwest Research Station, the Willamette National Forest, and the College of Forestry.”

A version of this story appeared in the Fall 2023 issue of Focus on Forestry, the alumni magazine of the Oregon State University College of Forestry.

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.

Our transformational, collaborative research is carried out by faculty, staff and students and happens in classrooms, labs, on public and private lands across the state, including the H.J. Andrews Long Term Ecological Research Forest, in the College’s own 15,000 acres of Research Forests and in our 11 research cooperatives.

The College of Forestry received over $25 million in research grants and contracts for FY 2023. The awards support College of Forestry research that advances scientific knowledge critical to the health of forests, people and communities.

Here are some examples of the new awards:

The Economic Development Administration awarded $8 million for three projects titled:
“Smart Forestry: Paving the Way from Forest Restoration to Mass Timber”
“Prototyping and Testing of Mass Timber Housing Systems” and
Construction of an “Oregon Fire Testing Facility”.
Business Oregon provided $1.9 million in matching funds for the project. Principal Investigators: Iain Macdonald and Woodam Chung

“Protecting water security from wildfire threats in the Western US”
Sponsor: US Forest Service for $1.6 million
Principal Investigator: Kevin Bladon

The USDI Bureau of Land Management awarded over $1.5 million for two projects titled:
“BLM Pacific Northwest Tribal Conservation Corps Project for Seeds of Success”
“The Fort Belknap Indian Community Seeds of Success Native Seed and Grassland Restoration Project”
Principal Investigator: Cristina Eisenberg

“Optimal individual tree management for climate smart forestry using process-based modeling”
Sponsor: USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture for $650K
Principal Investigator: Bogdan Strimbu

“Developing a Professional Fire Management Education, Training, and Experiential Learning Program”
Sponsor: USDI Bureau of Land Management for $800K
Principal Investigator: John Punches

“Forest Operations Training Partnership (LARI 202)”
Sponsor: US Forest Service for $267K
Principal Investigator: Francisca Belart

Predicting near real-time post-fire debris flows along ODOT corridors.

Landslides can have major environmental, societal and economic impacts — and they often occur in conjunction with extreme events, like heavy precipitation, wildfires and earthquakes.

In mountainous, forested terrain across the West, like in Oregon, shallow landslides are a persistent hazard that can impact aquatic ecosystems and the structure of a forest. But despite the prevalence of this hazard, much remains unknown about the interplay between a landslide, the forest structure, and events like heavy rainfall and wildfires.

Richardson Chair in Forest Engineering, Resources and Management, Ben Leshchinsky is leading a team to learn more about landslides in forested environments — which will help provide new insights into how the dynamics of a forest and its vegetation affect the size and rate of landslides. This group is developing models to predict the susceptibility of future slides in mountainous, forested regions and evaluate the importance of forest vegetation on landslide size and rate. These efforts will provide insights into how vegetation may influence shallow landslides, particularly following wildfire.

The team is using climate monitoring stations, remote sensing and field testing of burned and live roots across the Cascades to better understand how factors like slope vegetation influence the likelihood of landslides and debris flows, as well as the timing at which these hazards are critical. Understanding more about slope stability and susceptibility will also provide valuable insights into how extreme events like heavy rainfall might initiate slope failure — especially how forests and their associated root strength may control post-wildfire mass movements.

Oregon State University researchers are collaborating with many agencies on this project including the Oregon Department of Forestry, the United States Forest Service, the United States Geological Survey, Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, and Oregon Department of Transportation.

A version of this story appeared in the 2021-2022 College of Forestry Biennial Report.

Nearly a century of data provides knowledge for the future.

Since 1926, Oregon State University has conducted hundreds of studies across the College of Forestry’s 15,000 acres of research forests. These studies have contributed impactful solutions to the everyday and real-world challenges of sustainably managing forests for many uses.

Cat Carlisle who is pursuing a graduate degree in the Forest Engineering and Resource Management department, is adding her own study to the mix, examining the potential for Oregon’s forests to contribute to carbon storage and sequestration. Carlisle is analyzing the inventory of carbon stock in the McDonald and Dunn Forests — and projecting how different forest management strategies might shift carbon levels in the forests over the next 150 years.

“The hope is to find ways to use forest management to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and sequester it in biomass, to contribute to climate change mitigation. I hope this project sheds light on how to manage a sustainable working forest in a way that considers ecological factors like carbon stock, especially as the climate changes,” Carlisle explained.

Because Carlisle is conducting this work in the research forests, she was able to immediately jump in and access a wealth of existing data.

Edmund Hayes Professor in Silviculture Alternatives, Klaus Puettmann, manages a long-term research study in the McDonald-Dunn and facilitates opportunities for students to learn in the forests. His study investigates alternatives to clearcutting and examines whether features of mature and old-growth Douglas-fir forests could be retained through a variety of types of timber harvests. He is a staunch advocate for the research forests and their value as a long-term resource.

“The research forests offer examples of a wide range of forest conditions and hold great value for researchers and teachers who want to consider a multitude of forestry approaches,” Puettmann says, “We don’t have many examples of different silviculture treatments that are this close to campus
and accessible to students.”

Puettman says one of the greatest benefits of performing his research project on the McDonald and Dunn research forests is the wealth of long-term data available. “Researchers and educators investigating various studies can potentially launch their project with the help of decades of data,” he said.

Learn more about past and present research in Oregon State University Research and Demonstration Forests.

A version of this story appeared in the 2021-2022 College of Forestry Biennial Report.

Trevor Denning is on a mission to make the outdoors more accessible for people with physical disabilities. And he’s starting with Peavy Arboretum, in the Oregon State University College of Forestry Research Forests.

Denning, who graduated in 2022 from the College of Forestry with his bachelor’s degree in tourism, recreation and adventure leadership, with a double minor in natural resources and leadership, has been in a wheelchair since 2011, after a spinal injury when he was 15. With the guidance of his major professor Ashley D’Antonio, he focused his final capstone project on ways to make Peavy Arboretum more accessible to those with physical disabilities. That project launched him into a short-term position with the research forests.

“I believe there needs to be more people who are disabled making decisions about accessibility because we are the ones with the real-world experience and know what needs to change,” said Denning. “On many occasions, I have visited a local, state or national park that is deemed ‘accessible,’ when in fact, it is not.”

Accessibility, according to Denning, is “not a one-shoe-fits-all type of problem to address.”

“One of the greatest barriers or obstacles to accessibility is the lack of knowledge about the vast amounts of disabilities that exist,” said Denning.

His work in the research forests will include providing trail information to people with disabilities so they can be empowered to make the best and most informed decision for themselves about whether they can navigate the trail. Information like trail length, width, travel surface, grade, elevation gain, location of the steepest pitch, as well as trail conditions, will be posted on the research forest website.

As the research forest team and volunteers perform trail maintenance and work on new trails, Denning will provide input and guidance and review processes like entrance and gate accessibility.

“Most people don’t think of the research forest as a place for people with physical disabilities. But it needs to be,” said Stephen Fitzgerald, director of the Oregon State University Research Forests. “Peavy Arboretum has shorter trails with less elevational pitch that have the potential to be modified easily. Trevor had a plan, ideas, expertise and the lived experience to help us begin to make these changes.”

“Navigating a nondisabled world is tough,” said Denning. “Restaurants, grocery stores, bookstores, classrooms and housing are some of the many things that need to be made more accessible. The first step is having people who are disabled in a position to make these changes. For the longest time, I have wanted to be one of those people.”

And now he is. After his work in the research forests, Denning hopes to work for a federal agency such as the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service or the Army Corps of Engineers, helping give people with physical disabilities greater access to the outdoors.

A version of this story appeared in the 2021-2022 College of Forestry Biennial Report.

OSU Extension quickly mobilizes to respond to emerald ash borer discovery.

In late June 2022, the dreaded emerald ash borer, which has decimated hundreds of millions of ash trees east of the Rocky Mountains, was discovered in Oregon. Oregon State University Extension Service, working with Oregon Department of Agriculture, Oregon Department of Forestry and other partners, responded immediately.

After ODA confirmed and announced the identification of the invasive insect in Forest Grove in Washington County, OSU Extension stepped in to curate and disseminate essential information about the devastating pest and assist with initial monitoring efforts to determine how far and fast the insect is spreading in Oregon.

“For emerald ash borer, and other known and emerging issues, OSU Extension has become a valued and trusted partner because of our ability to quickly bring relevant expertise to the table and effectively share research-backed information through our statewide network,” said Alex Gorman, OSU Extension forester. “With this foundation and our established connections with agency partners, we were poised not only to contribute to the immediate response, but also to longer-term actions.”

Gorman had only recently started in his new position serving Washington, Columbia and Yamhill counties. His first reaction, he said, was a sense of dread followed by sadness. Gorman knew what to expect from his exposure to EAB while a graduate student at the University of Minnesota.

Guided by Oregon’s existing emerald ash borer readiness and response plan,he knew how to quickly contribute that expertise. OSU Extension’s role is to conduct and share results of relevant research, which includes coordinating Oregon Forest Pest Detector training programs and providing information through its established channels and programs, including Master Gardeners, Master Woodland Managers, Master Naturalists and other volunteer networks.

The same day the detection was announced, OSU Extension activated an interdisciplinary team that includes faculty and staff with expertise in forestry, pest management, invasive species, horticulture and communications. The OSU team quickly organized essential information on their online EAB resources webpage and shared it through social media, announcements on county webpages and newsletters. The page includes information on how to identify ash trees, how to identify the insect and recognize look-alikes, how to monitor for EAB and report sightings and recommendations for tree protection.

An existing publication, Oregon Forest Pest Detector Pest Watch — Emerald Ash Borer, was rapidly updated online and a pocket guide was reprinted. Copies immediately went to ODF and all OSU Extension offices around the state for distribution. The guide includes insect identification, host plants, signs and symptoms and what to do if you suspect an insect you’ve seen is EAB.

“We have infrastructure, expertise and capacity to disseminate information in a way that makes sense and is helpful and productive and informative,” said Chris Hedstrom, communications and outreach coordinator for the Oregon IPM Center in OSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences. “Extension does a great job moving quickly. We have the ability to publish quickly and to house all the information in one place.”

OSU Extension’s EAB resource page includes several publications, articles, a video and a podcast episode. Extension foresters have distributed information through educational workshops, webinars, community events and social media posts through OSU Extension’s Master Gardener program.

Temesgen Hailemariam plays a key role in improving the productivity, health, and sustainability of intensively managed, planted forests in the Pacific Northwest

Temesgen Hailemariam has accomplished a lot in his 20 years at OSU’s College of Forestry – and he’s not done yet. In 2022, Temesgen was named the Giustina Professor of Forest Management and appointed as the director of the Center for Intensive Planted-forest Silviculture (CIPS), two prestigious roles that reflect his wealth of experience and expertise.

His new leadership position with CIPS will position him to play a key part in shaping the silviculture activities and research at OSU – and beyond. Their core mission is to improve the economic and environmental performance of the Pacific Northwest forests and to enhance the regional and global competitiveness of the Pacific Northwest producers in the forest products industry.

“As a land-grant university, we have a responsibility to Oregonians and to the public,” he said. “And we also have a responsibility to promote economic and environmental sustainability in the Pacific Northwest. The Center for Intensive Planted-forest Silviculture brings all of those objectives together and I’m honored to be able to contribute to sustainable forestry management, conservation, and economics through this role.”

He says it’s an especially critical time for this work, with both climate change and economic stressors impacting the forest industry. His goal will be to increase the profitability of the forest industry while also finding ways to mitigate climate change through forest management. He’ll be collaborating with stakeholders to implement sustainable forest management and restoration, provide opportunities for youth, and advance the forestry sector into the 21st century.

Temesgen first joined the College of Forestry faculty in 2003, as an assistant professor in forest biometrics and measurements. Since then, he’s taught hundreds of students, published more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, secured more than $4 million in research funding, and conducted work in Vietnam, Ethiopia, Canada, Germany, the United States, Chile, and South Korea. One of his greatest joys as a faculty member is mentoring students and he says he’s honored to have trained 5 postdoctoral scholars, 7 doctoral and 15 master’s degree students while at OSU.

His research highlights include developing a method to estimate the amount of carbon sequestered by a tree or by a forest, developing biomass and carbon equations, integrating airborne LiDAR and ground data to estimate status, change, and trends within a forest, and using advanced statistics to estimate the productivity of a forest.

It was not a direct path that led Temesgen to Corvallis. He studied and conducted research on three different continents before he made his way to Oregon. He was born and raised in Ethiopia, where he first developed an interest in the natural environment and forestry and decided he wanted to study biometrics and pursue work in forestry statistics. He got his first degree in Ethiopia and then headed to Ontario for his master’s degree before hopping across Canada to finish his Ph.D. at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. He also did a stint in Germany as a visiting scientist at the Institute of Forest Management and Yield studies at the University of Göttingen.

He brought all of this global experience and perspective to OSU, where he’s now happily settled with his family. One of his sons is attending OSU and the other is a high school senior.

“Our challenges are global, and our views should be as well. My journey to OSU has shaped my views and prepared me to tackle future challenges,” he said.

College of Forestry

At Oregon State University

Category Archives: research

What I did this summer: David Hamilton

Post-fire: recovery

Research updates – Fall 2023

A lasting legacy

FY 2023 Research Awards

Post-fire: debris flows

A living lab

Improving Access

Preparing for invaders

Temesgen Hailemariam: a leader in sustainable forestry

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