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OSU Extension expands access to forest education

Peter Matzka, forestry outreach coordinator in the Oregon State University Extension Service Forestry and Natural Resources Program, expanded community forestry education at Hopkins Demonstration Forest through direct teaching, digital interpretation and partnership development.

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Discovering change: how the Discovery Tree in the H.J. Andrews experimental forest is helping researchers understand the shifting climate

After a record-setting heatwave in 2021 scorched more than 1,000 square miles of upper tree canopy in the Pacific Northwest region, researchers from the College of Forestry set out to better understand how extreme heat impacts forest ecosystems. That’s when one particular tree in the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest became the star of the show. Towering over 200 feet in the air and equipped with an array of sensors, an impressive old-growth Douglas-fir called the Discovery Tree stands at the center of this research.

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OSU Extension Fire Program helps build Oregon wildfire training model

OSU Extension Service worked with state partners to design a training model tailored to Oregon

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Oregon State launches online graduate degree and certificates in mass timber and timber circular economy

Designed for working professionals ready to move into leadership roles in advanced wood construction, manufacturing and sustainable materials systems, the Professional Science Master’s degree in Wood Innovation for Sustainability (WINS) provides flexible pathways for people working in architecture, engineering, construction, forestry, manufacturing and sustainability to build expertise in mass timber and the timber circular economy. Coursework includes a foundation in wood science and spans mass timber design, advanced wood manufacturing, sustainable construction and carbon analysis, with additional certificate options focused on mass timber building systems and the timber circular economy.

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A planner’s path: how one alum used TRAL skills to shape forests and communities

When Jorge Rios ’07 graduated with a degree in Recreation Resources and Management — known today as Tourism, Recreation and Adventure Leadership (TRAL) — he expected to follow a straightforward path into recreation management or the park service. Instead, his journey took a series of unexpected turns that ultimately revealed how well his College of Forestry education had prepared him to shape forests and communities.

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What We’ve Learned from Decades of Long-Term Forest Research

Long-term forest research sites function as essential “living laboratories,” shaping our understanding of ecological change and informing how we relate to the natural world. Drawing on decades of work at the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, Mount St. Helens and across the U.S. Long-Term Ecological Research network, Dr. Fred Swanson reflects on the major accomplishments of these programs and how mission, culture, place and chance influence scientific discovery and impacts on management and policy— and why long-term inquiry remains vital to forest science, education and stewardship.

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OSU Extension partners offer Southwest Oregon natural history field course

The Oregon State University Extension Service and community partners are offering the 2026 Southwest Oregon Field Experience, a multi-session field course exploring the ecology, landscapes and natural history of the Umpqua Basin and Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains.

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How will the emerald ash borer impact riparian ecosystems?

Emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis), or EAB, is an invasive beetle that infests and kills ash trees. EAB has killed hundreds of millions of ash trees in the eastern United States since its first detection in 2002. In 2022, EAB was confirmed in Oregon. EAB threatens habitat types that are dominated by Oregon ash, including sensitive riparian zones. Take a look at potential impacts of EAB on Oregon's riparian ecosystems and the wildlife that call them home.

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OSU builds forest biodiversity data through community science

By training forest visitors and community members to contribute usable observations usable for science, OSU Extension helps expand monitoring capacity while strengthening public trust and shared responsibility for managing working and research forests.

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Logging sports competition returns to Oregon State University

On the morning of Feb. 27, 2026, a crowd gathered at Cronemiller Lake in Peavy Arboretum near Corvallis to watch students from four universities scamper up an elevated pole of wood and saw the end off with a chainsaw. The event was called “Obstacle Pole,” and it was part of the Spring Thaw, a series of competitive logging sports events hosted by the College of Forestry Logging Sports team.

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Volunteers collect Oregon ash seeds to fight EAB

Oregon ash (Fraxinus latifolia) is an ecologically important West Coast tree that may disappear from much of its range — from British Columbia to California — as emerald ash borer, an invasive insect, spreads in North America.

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George W. Peavy and the roots of OSU’s research forest network

When George W. Peavy arrived in Corvallis in 1910 to head the newly created Department of Forestry at Oregon Agricultural College, he brought with him a belief that would define forestry education at the school: students needed forests to learn in, not just classrooms to learn from. At the time, forestry was still an emerging discipline. Peavy became the first dean of the School of Forestry in 1913 and would serve in that role until his retirement in 1940. From the outset, he pushed for an approach grounded in hands-on, field-based learning. He believed forestry education should unfold over decades, shaped by real forests that could be studied, managed and observed over time.

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International Women's Day celebration

The College of Forestry is honoring International Women's Day with a special coffee hour on March 9 from 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. in the PFSC Atrium. Join us to share perspectives and network with women-led organizations within the college and beyond!

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A closer look into the Wildfire and Water Security Research Project

Clean drinking water is a vital resource that every person depends on, but it is increasingly at risk in many Pacific Northwest communities that rely on forested watersheds for their supply. After large wildfires, water quality can be threatened, and availability can shift for downstream communities for decades after the flames are out. To address this challenge, a federally-funded, transdisciplinary research initiative led by Oregon State University’s College of Forestry is working to arm forest and water managers — and the communities they serve — with the knowledge and tools needed to strengthen watershed resilience and safeguard drinking water systems.

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OSU study shows wildfire risk challenges long-term forest planning

Wildfire risk is rising across the Pacific Northwest at the same time timber prices remain volatile. For timberland owners, that combination can make long harvest rotations harder to justify and can reduce the value of forestland — with ripple effects for rural economies, carbon storage and the long-term supply of high-quality wood.

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Co-created wildfire guide helps Spanish-speaking renters prepare

Wildfire risk continues to increase across Oregon, but access to preparedness education is not evenly distributed. Spanish-speaking renters, farmworkers and forest workers often face barriers that limit their ability to prepare for, respond to and recover from wildfire.

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2025 Dean's Awards and Retiree Recognition

College of Forestry retirees and Dean’s Award recipients were recently celebrated with a ceremony and reception.

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Course correction needed quickly to avoid pathway to ‘hothouse Earth’ scenario, scientists say

Scientists say multiple Earth system components appear closer to destabilization than previously believed, putting the planet at increased risk of a “hothouse” trajectory driven by feedback loops that can amplify the consequences of global warming. Published in the journal One Earth, “The risk of a hothouse Earth trajectory” is an analysis by an international collaboration led by Oregon State University’s William Ripple that synthesizes scientific findings on climate feedback loops and 16 tipping elements – Earth subsystems that may undergo loss of stability if critical temperature thresholds are passed.

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OSU EXTENSION IN ACTION: Forestry education with Scappoose High School

Last month, Oregon State University Extension Forester Jake Barker practiced being a high school teacher for two days

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McDonald Forest: A Century of Dynamic Landscapes

Join Historian Bill Robbins in this video as he traces the story of Peavy Arboretum and the McDonald Forest from their pre-OSU land uses to their roles today as living laboratories for research, teaching and community engagement. Drawing on archival history and long-term ecological perspectives, Robbins highlights how early management, evolving scientific priorities and shifting public values have shaped these dynamic forests — and why they remain essential to understanding and stewarding our regional landscapes. This presentation was the first lecture in the 2026 Starker Lecture Series.

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Mary McDonald and the forest that endures

Beginning in the mid-1920s, Mary McDonald donated land in southern Oregon, which the college sold to help finance forest acquisitions near Corvallis, and provided direct financial support and scholarships for forestry students. By the time of her death in 1935, roughly 3,000 acres had been acquired for what would become the McDonald Forest. In her will, she left all her Oregon property to Oregon Agricultural College.

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Where fires used to be frequent, old forests now face high risk of devastating blazes

A new analysis shows that the Pacific Northwest’s mature and old-growth forests are most at risk of severe wildfire in areas that historically burned frequently at lower severity. The study by scientists at Oregon State University and USDA Forest Service Research & Development is important because those forests are culturally, economically and ecologically significant, supporting biodiversity while storing vast amounts of carbon, and they are under increasing threat of stand-replacing wildfire.

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Heat dome canopy damage mapped to inform Northwest forest decisions

The study found that western redcedar, western hemlock and Sitka spruce were disproportionately prone to heat damage, including in old growth stands where they dominate the canopy.

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Welcome visiting scholar Rosilvam Sousa

Rosilvam Sousa is a forestry engineer from Brazil specializing in silviculture

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Take care of the forest, and it will take care of you: how Matt Mattioda found his purpose in forestry

Inspired by the regenerative cycle of the forest and a desire to care for the land, alumnus Matt Mattioda ’95 has worked in forestry and construction since graduating from Oregon State University. He now leads a career focused on communication, collaboration and long-term forest stewardship at Miller Timber Services.