Oregon State researchers are making sure our landscapes stay healthy for future generations. Assistant professor at Oregon State Meg Krawchuk, along with research associate Ana M.G. Barros, use OSU-developed software to ENVISION a future coexisting with fire.
Want to know more? Click here to access their entire publication.
The College of Forestry’s world-class students and faculty conduct ground-breaking research within the subjects of forestry, natural resources, tourism and wood science and engineering. Our research happens in labs and outdoors– on public and private lands across the state and in the College’s own 15,000 acres of College Research Forests as well as around the nation and the world.
Contributing to Oregon State University’s second-best year ever in competitive grants and contracts for research, the College of Forestry received $11.04 million in new grants and awards. As Oregon’s largest comprehensive public research university, OSU earned a total of $382 million in the fiscal year ending June 30.
Industry and agency partnerships thrived via the college’s 10 research cooperatives, with more than 100 private industry and government agency members providing an additional $2.18 million to support collaborative research.
Here are some examples of newly funded research out of a portfolio of 40 new projects.
The Role of Managed Forests in Promoting Pollinator Biodiversity, Health, and Pollination Services to Wild Plants and Agricultural Crops
Jim Rivers
Awarded by: USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Amount: $1,000,000
This project will provide new information on how managed forests support healthy pollinators including bees, flies, butterflies, beetles and hummingbirds. Other objectives of the project include determining how pollinator health is influenced by forest management intensity, evaluating whether management changes to pollinator communities alters pollination of wild plants and testing whether forests serve as source habitats for pollinator populations within agricultural landscapes.
CRISPR/Cas9 Mutagenesis for Genetic Containment of Forest Trees
Steve Strauss
Awarded by: USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Amount: $500,000
The goal of this project is to develop and test systems to edit floral genes of poplar and eucalyptus trees. The edited, non-functional genes should prevent the release of pollen or seeds of these species because their genetically engineered forms are considered undesirable. These trees are often propagated from cuttings, making fertile flowers unnecessary for commercial use. These tools are expected to simplify regulatory decisions, promote public acceptance, and avoid unintended effects from exotic or genetically engineered trees in wild or feral environments.
Automated Landslide “Hot Spot” Identification Tool for Optimized Climate Change and Seismic Resiliency
Ben Leshchinsky
Awarded by: Oregon Dept of Transportation
Amount: $425,090
Landslides are increasingly frequent hazards that affect the operation, maintenance, and construction of Oregon highways, resulting in negative economic, environmental and social impacts for Oregon communities. This project will develop approaches towards creating enhanced means of assessing landslide risk considering topography, rainfall, and seismicity, primarily through the creation of mapping tools. Through these endeavors, planners will be able to maintain the safest and most efficient transportation system possible.
Inventoried landslides used for future projections of landslide hazard.
Monitoring Recreation Use in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Troy Hall
Awarded by: USDI National Park Service
Amount: $344,078
This project is developing protocols to monitor recreation use across 21 units of Golden Gate National Recreation Area, the most heavily used National Park in the US.
Multiscale Investigation of Perennial Flow and Thermal Influence of Headwater Streams into Fish Bearing Systems
Catalina Segura
Awarded by: California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
Amount: $221,271
The impacts of timber harvesting and other land uses on water quality have been an environmental concern for many years. This project will assess the effectiveness of the rules currently applied in California. These rules are aimed at identifying headwater streams that require special protection given their likelihood to influence stream temperature in downstream watercourses. This project will assess the vulnerability to temperature increases after timber harvesting of fish-bearing streams draining different geologic units.
SusChEM: Naturally Produced Fungal Compounds for Sustainable (Opto)Electronics
Seri Robinson – Co-Principal Investigator
Awarded by: National Science Foundation
Amount: $190,580
The project will explore fungi-derived pigments as a sustainable optoelectronic material for organic photovoltaics. Wood stained fungi native to the Pacific Northwest will be explored for potential incorporation into solar cells. Fungi-derived pigments are abundant and represent a largely unexplored resource for organic electronics and renewable electricity generation. The project is in conjunction with principal investigator Oksana Ostroverkhova in the College of Science.
Lidar- and Phodar- based modeling of stand structure attributes, biomass, and fuels
Temesgen Hailemariam
Awarded by: USDA Forest Service
Amount: $ 164,000
This project will support the growing need for land managers to fully utilize Lidar products to obtain timely and accurate information. The project integrates traditional measures of fuels with remotely-sensed point cloud data to provide estimates of pre- and post-fire fuel mass, volume, or density in physical measurement units and in 3D within the same domain as physics-based fire models, and to scale up observations from fine-scale inputs to physics-based models to coarse scale fuels characterization required by smoke models. Hierarchical sampling across a range of spatial scales will also provide an important sensitivity analysis at varying scales.
Multi-scale analysis and planning to support Forest Service fire management policy
Meg Krawchuk
Awarded by: USDA Forest Service
Amount: $146,511
The purpose of this research is to investigate management policies to address wildfire impacts to human and ecological values. Current suppression policies are not financially sustainable and not desirable from an ecological standpoint.
Towards Resilient Mass Timber Systems: Understanding Durability of Cross-Laminated Timber Connections
Arijit Sinha
Awarded by: USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Amount: $489,793.00
This project will test moisture intrusion and biological decay in cross-laminated timber connection systems to help architects, contractors and product supplies understand how connections in wood buildings will fair over time.
Northwest Hardwoods, Inc. (NWH), the leading manufacturer of high quality hardwood lumber in North America, donated $25,000 worth of lumber to the new Oregon Forest Science Complex. The lumber donation of alder wood will be used as cladding for the outside of the new building.
“The Oregon State University College of Forestry is an internationally-recognized leader in education, research and policy for managing and sustaining working forest ecosystems,” says Don Barton, vice president of sales and marketing for Northwest Hardwoods. “It’s a natural fit for us to be a part of the next metamorphosis of forestry management and sustainability.”
Oregon State University and the College of Forestry officially launched a $79.5 million initiative in January 2015 to build the Oregon Forest Science Complex. Once completed, the state-of-the-art facility will provide current and future students with a transformative educational experience across a full range of forestry and natural resources degree programs.
“Northwest Hardwoods’ gift and in-kind donation will enable us to build a new, engineered wood facility that will inspire students and create a beautiful, inviting and healthy space for them to learn,” says Acting Dean Anthony S. Davis. “Grown and made in Oregon, the facility will reinforce our status as a place where students go to find innovative solutions to complex challenges, so they can improve our forest landscapes, ecosystems, and communities.”
Cameron Salvitelli discovered wood science during his second year at Oregon State. He’s proud that despite the time it took for him to find his path, he will graduate in four years.
“Renewable materials sounded so different and unique to me but it also sounded very versatile. There are four unique, customizable options, and I like to have options,” Salvitelli says. “It was easy for me to connect with the teachers and the people around me because we all had a passion for the outdoors and then it stemmed a little more specifically into wood specifically.”
Salvitelli’s favorite part of the program is the hands-on learning.
“You learn a lot of different options, and then you learn about the whole industry and finally you get down to the mechanics of wood and the science behind it and how it works,” he says.
Salvitelli says his senior year is challenging.
“We think about how we feed the industry and how we manufacture, and these are the opportunities on the business side of things. I feel confident in my options for the future,” he says. “Anybody can make money their own way in business but for me it was about finding a passion that I could pursue which matched those business interests.”
Students nervously pace the second-floor knuckle of Richardson Hall on a cool, spring day. Some flit to the walls to make sure their posters are perfectly secured and their models are ready to shine. Others nervously nibble on chips and watermelon.
It’s final exam time, and for students in assistant professor Mariapaola Riggio’s class, that means making a presentation in front of their classmates, other faculty members and industry professionals.
The class, Timber Tectonics in the Digital Age, examines how the design and construction of timber structural systems benefit from digital techniques. Architecture students from the University of Oregon’s School of Design are invited to enroll alongside Oregon State students studying renewable materials, wood science, civil engineering and construction engineering management. All students work collaboratively, as part of a small team, thinking critically about how digital tools might be able to change the wood construction sector.
For their final project, the students were tasked with creating a ‘wood products pavilion’ that might represent the TallWood Design Institute at the International Mass Timber Conference in Portland in 2019. The institute is one of the nation’s top research collaboratives focusing exclusively on the advancement of advanced wood products. The students used parametric techniques to design adjustable forms, and then refined them according to structural analysis information. The final challenge has been to plan the construction process appropriate materials and detailing.
“We’ve had a great partnership,” says Nancy Yen-Wen Cheng, Architecture Department head at the University of Oregon. “And it has been a privilege to co-teach with [Riggio]. She brings knowledge of the latest advances in timber structures and has been insightful about how to employ my digital design specialization.”
Brent Stuntzner of CB Two Architects in Salem agrees. He served as one of the judges of the students’ final projects.
“I’m always really excited to go in and ask the students questions,” Stuntzner says.
Despite their nervousness, the students prevailed and presented thorough and exciting final projects.
“They are full of creative ideas,” says Stuntzner. “And after this class they are prepared to go into a variety of different environments within the construction and wood products industries.”
Congratulations to our 2018 College of Forestry graduates. We believe these graduating students will go on to be extraordinary citizens of the world continuing our legacy of proactively managing our forest resources, protecting our vital ecosystems and keeping our communities safe and healthy. They join the almost 10,000 other alumni who have earned degrees during the 112-year history of the college.
Our two commencement speakers are Alyssa B. Forest and Benjamin Victor Post.
Alyssa B. Forest of Sacramento, California, graduates Oregon State this year with a degree in natural resources with an option in natural resource policy and management. Her childhood adventures throughout northern California inspired her love of natural resources. Forest served as a College of Forestry ambassador, representing the college at a variety of events and programs. Forest says she hopes to “be a bridge between science and policy, so the decisions of our leaders reflect the best possible future.”
Benjamin Victor Post of Portland graduates from Oregon State this year with a degree in forestry with a forest management focus. Post also earned a GIS certificate and Spanish minor. He spent summers as a wild land firefighter and forest naturalist with the Oregon Department of Forestry and completed an internship with the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. During his Oregon State career, Post also served as an officer of the Society of American Foresters OSU student chapter and studied abroad in Chile.
Junior Tourism, Recreation and Adventure Leadership student Chris Galbreath has a passion for the outdoors, but wasn’t sure what he wanted to do when he landed at Oregon State. When he learned about the recreation management field in an introductory course, he felt a spark.
“I could see myself in a position like that, and decide that’s what I wanted to do,” Galbreath said.
To further explore his potential field, during spring term 2017, Galbreath participated in the job shadow program, facilitated by the College of Forestry’s Office of Student Resources and Engagement. Job shadows are usually short, one-day experiences during which students follow professionals in their chosen field to learn more about what they do.
“The office helped me explore what kind of job shadow opportunities were available, and I decide to job shadow an interpreter at the Yaquina Head Interpretive Center.”
From there, Galbreath communicated with the professionals there, who invited him out for a day to learn more about their positions and the work done at the lighthouse’s protected area.
“The day I went, there was a school group coming in, so I got to see how they deal with those as opposed to the general public,” Galbreath says.
He also explored tide pools and hiking trails.
“Before I went to do the job shadow, I didn’t have an idea of what they do, but while I was there I got to see how they manage people and how they run the business. It gives you a good insight into what this particular section of the job world looks like, and then you can reflect on that,” Galbreath says.
Galbreath enjoyed the field of interpretation so much that he spent the summer interning with the Oregon Department of Forestry as interpreter at the Tillamook Forest Center.
“My job there was to learn material about the forest and pass that on to the public so they understand it and can go have a great time out in the forest as well,” he says.
Galbreath was the first student to participate in the job shadow program, and there are many opportunities available.
Brooke Harrington in the Office of Student Resources and Engagement says the job shadow program is a great way to explore future employment opportunities.
“These opportunities are a way to start exploring different career paths, make important industry connections and see how classroom work can create success in the work place,” Harrington says. “The goal of this program is to connect students with short-term opportunities that can help them make important career and academic decisions.”
During stints in the military and his 20-year career as an emergency room nurse, forest management student Christian Vedder spent all of his free time in the woods climbing mountains or rolling over trails on his mountain bike. When the stress began to get to him, his wife suggested he look for a career that would allow him to work outside.
The Portland native began to look into the idea of studying Forestry at Oregon State.
“I was always fascinated by the subject of forestry,” says Vedder. “I attended logging sports competitions as a spectator when I was a kid, and my book shelves are filled with books about Northwest logging history.”
He reached out to Professor John Sessions, who invited him to Corvallis to visit the College of Forestry and learn more about the program. After that, he was hooked and decided to take a leap of faith, quit his stressful job in the ER and pursue his new dream.
Once enrolled at Oregon State, Vedder jumped into opportunities like the Forestry Club and Student Logging Training Program, which provides an opportunity for students to experience real-world logging applications on the McDonald-Dunn College Forest. Through the process, the student crew becomes proficient at using modern technology and equipment to aid the logging process.
Vedder knew it was important to get involved and connected even though he was learning and working side by side with people half his age.
“I was intimidated at first,” Vedder admits. “And I think other students maybe felt uncomfortable with me, but now that we’ve taken some classes together, we get along and they joking call me ‘the old man.’”
Vedder doesn’t feel old. He works part-time as an arborist and enjoys the physical aspects of working in the forest.
“When you’re logging, you have to be very safety conscious,” Vedder says. “You have to have your head up all the time and use common sense and be aware of your surroundings. I love to be hyper focused, and I think a lot of loggers thrive on that aspect of the job.”
Vedder says the hands-on learning of the Student Logging Program combined with strong theoretical learning in the classroom is a perfect combination.
“When you’re in a classroom learning about forestry, you don’t always understand all the variables at play,” he says. “In the field, you have to decide which trees to utilize and which are easiest to extract. It’s not always cut and dry.”
This summer, Vedder stayed in Corvallis to attend class, but he still found time to get outside recreationally.
“There will always be mountains to climb,” he says.
Vedder plans to begin studying for his master’s degree in forest management soon. In the future, he is interested in consulting with property owners on land management issues and helping to shape management policy, and he wants to encourage others to chase their dreams and persue their career goals.
“These days, we all get caught in ruts in our lives, and we get too complacent,” Vedder says. “People stay in jobs they hate because they have bills to pay and mouths to feed and it’s difficult to break out of their routine, but I’ve learned that money is never going to buy you any kind of fulfillment. You need to love what you’re doing, and the money doesn’t matter.”
Scott Leavengood, director of the Oregon Wood Innovation Center, began his career at Oregon State twenty three years ago as a Klamath County extension agent. Back then, he answered many phone calls from county residents asking what they could do with their western juniper trees.
The wood is strong and durable, and extremely common in Eastern Oregon.
Due to changes in land management practices, wildfire suppression in particular, western juniper acreage in the western United States has increased dramatically in the past 100 years. Thinning juniper stands helps restore rangelands and habitats for animals like the sage grouse, but until recently, there’s been no practical application for the use of this resilient and durable wood species.
“A lot of people were interested in using western juniper in building projects, but for use in structural applications, engineering design values have to be published,” Leavengood says.
Throughout the years, inquiries about western juniper continued, but there were no funds to study juniper-based materials and their market potential until 2015.
USDA Rural Development, the Oregon Department of Transportation and Business Oregon provided funding for juniper testing. Sustainable Northwest managed the project and graduate student Byrne Miyamoto stepped in to do the legwork for the project including small-scale bending, compression and shear tests.
“I spent the entire first summer of the project in the wood shop just cutting samples and making sure there were no defects,” Miyamoto says.
Juniper is a species often riddled with knots and imperfections, making the work difficult, but Miyamoto and Leavengood prevailed and testing was conducted in the summer of 2016. A few durability tests will continue in years to come.
“I have some posts set up in Yaquina Bay in Newport, so we’ll see how well it holds up there and if shipworms attack it,” Miyamoto says. “We examine the samples one a year, and so far we have not seen any attack.”
The results of the western juniper certification project will be published in the National Design Specification in 2018.
“Many key market opportunities couldn’t exist for juniper without published values,” Leavengood explains. “We think that the ability for engineers to use juniper for things like sign posts and guardrail posts will have implications for everything from land management to job creation.”
Miyamoto is focusing on finalizing the focus for his Ph.D. research at Oregon State this fall, and he looks forward to seeing western juniper in use someday soon.
“I’ve spent two years of my life coming up with five values that engineers will be able to use to decide if juniper can be helpful in their projects,” he says. “I’ve spent a lot of time with my juniper samples in the lab, but soon I hope I’ll be able to see the values we produced in use and say, ‘that was me.’”
Graduate student Jaclyn Rushing is studying the constraints that people face when visiting urban parks in Portland to find out how that affects their feelings about parks and recreation.