Andreja Kutnar arrived in Oregon on September 1, 2006. The visiting Ph.D. student from Slovenia had never been to the U.S. before. She was nervous and excited, and found herself surprised at the cultural differences she encountered. Her friendly neighbor gifted her a bike to get around town; she discovered it didn’t matter that her English wasn’t perfect; and, she was able to build a vast network of friends and colleagues. During her first six-month visit she worked with Fred Kamke, JELD-WEN Chair of Wood-based Composites Science, on wood densification and bonding. Kutnar completed all of the experimentation for her dissertation.

She returned in 2009 for a post-doc before she joined the faculty of the University of Primorska in Slovenia. Soon she had funding for graduate students of her own.

“I wanted to bring an American over because I like the culture and the mentality. I like the way people communicate and how they appreciate diversity,” Kutnar says. “I wanted to stay involved with these people and the research I fell in love with at Oregon State.”

It felt natural for Kutnar to offer her Ph.D. spot to Mike Burnard, who earned his master’s degree in Wood Science at Oregon State in 2012. Eric Hansen, head of the Wood Science and Engineering Department, called Burnard a ‘superstar master’s student’, but there was no funding for his Ph.D. at Oregon State. Just before he committed to attend the University of British Columbia, Kutnar swooped in and recruited him.

“I thought I might come to Europe to do a post-doc or sometime else later in my career,” Burnard says, “But it worked out that I could actually complete my Ph.D. at the University of Primorska. This will be a more permanent solution so that’s great.”

Burnard, Hansen and Kutnar worked together toward a big success in 2017 when the European Union and the government of Slovenia awarded Kutnar 45 million euros to create the ‘InnoRenew CoE: Renewable Materials and Healthy Environments Research and Innovation Centre of Excellence’ research institute.

“The EU does this in a variety of areas,” Hansen explains, “But this was the first focused on wood products, and it’s interesting because there’s not much primary processing of wood products in Slovenia. Much of the processing is in neighboring Austria.”

Scott Leavengood, professor and director of the Oregon Wood Innovation Center, agrees.

“You would expect something like this to exist in Scandinavia or somewhere else in Alpine Europe, but instead there will soon be 60-70 scientists researching wood in various aspects on the coast of Slovenia near the border of Croatia. It’s awe-inspiring,” he says.

Kutnar continues to recruit American students from Oregon State as well as experts from throughout Europe, Brazil, India and Iran as InnoRenew CoE researches renewable materials and sustainable buildings.

Other OSU-transplants to Slovenia include Matthew Schwarzkopf and David DeVellance, who earned their Ph.D. degrees at the College of Forestry, as well as former faculty member Amy Simmons.

Kutnar says InnoRenew’s goals include building a new facility and expanding throughout the continent and the world. For now, collaboration with Oregon State continues. Hansen and Leavengood participate in collaborative research projects with Kutnar and her team in Slovenia. Mariapaola Riggio, assistant professor of wood design and architecture, serves on InnoRenew’s Council of Experts and advises on the development of strategies and scientific challenges within the organization.

“It’s an honor to serve on the Council of Experts,” Riggio says. “My role is to consult on the scientific program of the institute with the executive board and director, advise them on important areas of research and groups for projects and to suggest individual projects to be implemented by the institute and director.”

Riggio also collaborates with InnoRenew’s researchers on several projects, including investigating the perception and performance of biomaterials in architecture, researching nondestructive assessment of cross-laminated timber structures and implementing a monitoring project of InnoRenew’s new facility.

Additionally, almost a dozen Oregon State faculty, staff and graduate students have traveled to Slovenia, and Kutnar co-leads a short-term study abroad experience for students from Oregon State and European universities. There, students learn about InnoRenew up close.

“It’s fun to have the students from Oregon State come in the summer,” Burnard says. “I was able to study abroad in Scandinavia during my time at Oregon State, and it was such a great experience. It’s amazing to see students come here and be awed by the beauty of Slovenia and the differences in the wood products industry. For many of them, it’s a place they had never heard of before they signed up for the program. It opens their eyes to a whole new world of possibilities.”

A version of this story appeared in the fall 2019 issue of Focus on Forestry, the alumni magazine of the Oregon State University College of Forestry. Learn more about international programs within the College of Forestry here.

Scion in New Zealand is a beacon for international researchers in the forestry and wood products industries. More than half-a-dozen Oregon State researchers have connections to Scion, an institute that specializes in research, science and technology development for the forestry, wood product, wood-derived materials and other biomaterial sectors.

A sabbatical hotspot

“Just imagine the College of Forestry with fewer students, and even more focused on research,” says Scott Leavengood, professor and director of the Oregon Wood Innovation Center, who took a sabbatical in New Zealand and worked at Scion in 2016. “Scion has hundreds of researchers and visiting students from around the globe dedicated to forestry and forest products innovation in New Zealand.”

Associate Professor Jeff Hatten also spent his spring 2019 sabbatical there working on projects related to forest nutrition dynamics. He says one aspect of Scion’s mission is to grow trees faster and more sustainably to create better wood products and healthier forests.

“It leads to forward-thinking problem solving around those issues,” says Hatten. “It’s an area of study I haven’t focused on in my career,” Hatten says. “I’m piecing information together and learning more about what Scion has done to manage for Radiata Pine and Douglas-fir.”

Radiata Pine is the largest plantation species in New Zealand. Douglas-fir is also popular, and locals sometimes refer to it as ‘Oregon fir.’

Hatten says the two species are very different but thrive in similar soils.

“There are a lot of similarities between New Zealand and the Pacific Northwest,” Hatten says. “This means there are also similar problems in terms of how we grow and harvest trees. I’m interested in learning more about the problems and helping solve them here and back in Oregon.”

Problem-solving tree diseases

Ph.D. Student Michael Gordon hasn’t been to New Zealand – yet – but he’s working with Distinguished Professor Steve Strauss and Assistant Professor Jared LeBoldus, using gene transfer methods developed by Scion to produce a disease-resistant Douglas-fir tree. While genetically modifying trees is common in species like poplar (cottonwoods and aspens), it’s uncommon in plantation species important in Oregon, like Douglas fir.

The team is using host-induced gene silencing, widely called ‘HIGS’ by scientists, to encourage trees to successfully resist diseases like Swiss needle cast — and to do it by tweaking the natural mechanisms by which trees and their pathogens interact.

Scion scientists will insert the OSU-designed genes into Douglas-fir and send micro-propagated plants to Oregon State where they will grow in a greenhouse. When acclimated, they will be planted in a USDA-regulated field trial and monitored for growth and disease resistance. Gordon says the project is at the cutting edge, and he does not know if it will be successful. However, similar projects with crop plants have seen success, and if successful, this project could open up new and exciting ways to control Swiss needle cast and many other forest diseases.

Pressing on: more work to be done

In April 2019, Liam Gilson, a graduate student studying sustainable forest management and advised by Doug Maguire, the N.B. and Jacqueline Giustina Professor of Forest Management, presented his New Zealand-related research at the Western Forestry Graduate Research Symposium hosted by Oregon State.

Gilson’s project compares growth rates of Douglas fir in the Pacific Northwest and New Zealand’s South Island.

Douglas fir grows faster in the Southern Hemisphere, compared to its native climate in the Pacific Northwest, but little research points to why.

“My project used a group of plantings in western Oregon and the South Island of New Zealand that originated from the same seed lot,” Gilson says. “The project investigates the interplay between genetics and environmental conditions within and between these two radically different geographic locations separated by 7,400 miles. The results will help to develop strategies to minimize risks of plantation damage as our climate changes, inform the choice of genetic material for future plantings and strengthen the case for gene conservation in the context of Douglas-fi r breeding in New Zealand.”

With these and other projects and collaborations in the works, the exchange of ideas, research and people between Oregon State and Scion will likely continue, as New Zealand continues to promote the use of sustainable forestry practices and strive toward an even greener economy.

A version of this story appeared in the fall 2019 issue of Focus on Forestry, the alumni magazine of the Oregon State University College of Forestry. Learn more about international programs within the College of Forestry here.

Science asserts that agroforestry can have many benefits, including increased biodiversity, reduced erosion and healthier trees and crops. But what are people’s attitudes toward agroforestry in the developing world, and who is choosing to implement these mixed land management systems?

Ph.D. student Sonia Bruck is working hard to find answers to these questions. She’s partnered with Anthony Kimaro, Tanzania country representative for the World Forestry Centre (ICRAF) and Peter Matata, environmental scientist at the Tanzanian Ministry of Agriculture, because of their expertise on agroforestry in rural areas throughout Africa.

“I wanted to work with ICRAFbecause their headquarters are in Africa. They’re connected to the people in villages throughout the country and are there to ensure these projects continue,” Bruck says.

She takes comfort in the fact that when she completes the project the data will live with the organization for years to come. So, she set out to live in Tanzania for five months to learn more about agroforestry practices there.

Bruck began her journey by researching the history and socioeconomics of the region she is studying. Located in the northwest corner of Tanzania, the Uyui District was part of the Arab slave trade and later transitioned to a tobacco production region. To cure tobacco, local farmers cut much of the surrounding woodlands to produce charcoal, which resulted in deforestation and soil erosion.

To help combat that problem, ICRAF encouraged the practice of intercropping pigeon pea, a legume-producing woody perennial; cassava, a root vegetable and a tree called Gliricidia sepium.

ICRAF also researched and promoted the use of woodlots for fuelwood and charcoal production.

Bruck says, “Corn is a staple in the region, which requires a lot of nitrogen in the soil. People plant corn in the same place year after year, and that depletes nitrogen stores. Also, many people are undernourished or food insecure. Planting a variety of crops can help people get the nutrients they need.”

When Bruck first arrived in the area, she met with local government officials to obtain a letter explaining why she was there and what her research was.

“I had to meet with the chief and elders of the village as well,” Bruck says. “One thing that stuck with me during those meetings was how much people were interested in seeing the results of my study, so my goal is to eventually provide them with feedback and information about the data we collected.”

During her five-month stay, Bruck used a survey to understand who is adopting agroforestry in the region and the potential impacts intercropping has on food security. Together with five hired enumerators from a local agricultural college, Bruck surveyed 43 households randomly selected from village registries.

“So far, we found that many people are planting cassava. Fewer are planting the pigeon pea, and even fewer are planting Gliricidia sepium,” she says. “Many people report they’ve heard of agroforestry practices, but haven’t fully adopted them.”

She returned in July 2019 to disseminate her full questionnaire to 600 households among 12 subvillages and hold focus groups.

Before jetting off to Africa, Bruck helped plan and attended the North American Association for Temperate Agroforestry biennial conference (AFTA), hosted at Oregon State in June 2019. Bruck’s major professor, senior instructor and program director Badege Bishaw, is the current president of AFTA.

Even though the study region is not temperate, she presented her work on the project so far.

“Agroforestry professionals are interested in all kinds of climate zones, and people come to this conference from all over the world,” Bruck says. “It’s exciting to be able to collaborate with people and organizations who have the same research interests. I’m also extremely grateful for support from the College of Forestry, my advisors, committee members and collaborators in Africa.”

A version of this story appeared in the fall 2019 issue of Focus on Forestry, the alumni magazine of the Oregon State University College of Forestry. Learn more about international programs within the College of Forestry here.