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Quarantine lab renovation enables critical forest pathogen research by new professor

To strengthen research on invasive pests threatening Oregon’s forests, the College of Forestry is restoring its insect pest quarantine research facility after several years out of service. Led by Professor John Riggins, a forest health and entomology specialist who joined the college in 2025, the renovated lab marks a new chapter for one of Richardson Hall’s specialized research spaces.

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Celebrating 100 years of stewardship in the McDonald Forest

In 2026, Oregon State University’s College of Forestry will celebrate 100 years of stewardship of the McDonald research forest — a living legacy that has shaped forest management, education, research and recreation across the Pacific Northwest and beyond. To mark this centennial milestone, the College of Forestry will be hosting a number of events, reflecting on the past, present and future of the forests, and investing in new signage and interpretation on the McDonald Forest.

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Master Woodland Manager Training is back in Benton, Linn, and Polk Counties!

The MWM training is a high-level course for private landowners who are interested in an intensive forest management training and sharing the knowledge gained through this training with people in their local communities.

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Tree School Lane brings wide-ranging natural resources learning

Tree School Lane, organized by Oregon State University’s Forestry and Natural Resources Extension Program, featured 32 classes designed to support the successful management of Oregon’s woodlands and to complement year-long natural resources education programs offered by Extension and its collaborators. The event brought woodland owners, forestry professionals and community members together for expert-led classes on forest management, reforestation, wildfire preparedness and tree care.

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Welcome Yago Lestido-Cardama

Welcome International Scholar Yago Lestido-Cardama

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Welcome Heather Rankin

Welcome, Heather Rankin! Manager of the Cooperative Chemical Analytical Laboratory (CCAL)

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Why wildlife need dead wood in the winter

Oregon’s forests can look quiet in winter. Leaves are gone, wildflowers have faded, and many animals are harder to spot or have left on a migration to a warmer climate. This is because winter is a demanding season for wildlife. Food is scarcer, temperatures are lower, and shelter becomes essential. Life in forests does not stop when growth slows, though. It simply shifts, unfolding quietly in cavities, under bark, and within rotting wood.

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After devastating wildfires, watersheds surprisingly thick with fish and amphibians

In the aftermath of historically severe wildfires in 2020, a study of Cascade Range watersheds found that stream vertebrates are doing surprisingly well, highlighted by flourishing fish populations. “Our work looked at the three years following megafires in western Oregon and suggests that fishes are thriving and amphibians are persisting,” said Oregon State University postdoctoral researcher Allison Swartz, who led the study.

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Growing redwood and giant sequoia in Oregon

A resource guide for small woodland owners

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College of Forestry finalizes new management plan for OSU’s McDonald-Dunn Research Forest

The Oregon State University College of Forestry has finalized a new management plan for the OSU-owned McDonald-Dunn Research Forest in the Coast Range foothills northwest of Corvallis. Last revised in 2005, the updated plan provides an adaptive framework for sustainable management in a changing climate and sets the stage for the next century of stewardship, said Holly Ober, the college’s associate dean for science outreach and the leader of the planning process.

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Branching Borders: Afifa Zahid’s Experience in the College of Forestry

Hear from Branching Borders intern Afifa Zahid as she shares about her experiences in the College of Forestry during Summer 2025!

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Andrew Birrell, master arborist, sees the world through the trees in Malaysian, Borneo

Andrew was one of the participants on the Oil Palms and Orangutans Malaysia Borneo faculty-led program in 2025.

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Yuletide kissers, smooch without guilt: Research suggests your mistletoe didn’t harm its tree host

If mistletoe’s status as a nutrient-stealing freeloader has been cooling your holiday ardor, new research led by an Oregon State University scientist may help relight the fire. A survey of urban forests in seven western Oregon cities found no observable connection between mistletoe infestation and negative health outcomes for the trees it was parasitizing. So worry not: Your yuletide kissing tradition probably does not involve a tree killer. And as you’re setting concern aside, you might want to head outside. “This is the best time of year to look for mistletoe because there are no leaves on the trees,” said College of Forestry professor emeritus Dave Shaw, an OSU Extension Service forest health specialist.

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ONREP’s statewide impact reaches 50-year milestone

ONREP is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, marking five decades of helping Oregonians engage with nature through education. The program marked the anniversary with an event in the OSU College of Forestry’s Peavy Forest Science Center, where facilitators and others involved with the program gathered to reconnect and reflect on their shared work.

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2026 Starker Lecture Series: A century of research forest discoveries

In 1926, Oregon State University acquired the first parcel of what is now a statewide network of 10 research forests. The 2026 Starker Lecture Series will explore the history of these forests and how perspectives and stewardship have shifted with new knowledge and pressures. It will also show how today’s approaches are laying the groundwork for the next generation of learning, building on a century of discoveries that continue to shape our understanding of forests in a changing world. 

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Writing a Forest Management Plan: Finding information on soils and geology

Have you ever wondered why trees on some areas of your property grow faster than in other areas? The productivity of various areas on your property will be influenced by the type of soils in those areas.

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Oregon maintains top Christmas tree producer title by adapting

It sounds like the setup for a holiday romantic comedy – Priya Rajarapu works as a Christmas tree expert for Oregon State University’s Extension Service, helping Oregon’s 300-plus Christmas tree growers produce a healthy crop each holiday season so that the state can export millions of perfect trees across the world. But this job is more science than sentiment. In her Extension role and as an assistant professor in the College of Forestry, Rajarapu, who earned her doctorate in entomology, is studying how to keep Oregon’s holiday industry thriving as the climate changes.

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Welcome visiting scholar Kuang-Tsung Chang

Kuang-Tsung Chang is a professor at the Department of Soil and Water Conservation, National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan.

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Forging her own free range — one alumna's story of becoming her own boss

Anna Yarbrough, class of 2014, owns Free Range Forestry, where she now works as a consulting forester to her clientele of small landowners.

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Alliance of Natural Resource Outreach and Service Program recognizes the Oregon Naturalist Program

The Oregon Naturalist Program received the Outstanding Team award

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Do you know the difference between a coast redwood and a giant sequoia?

Watch this short video on how to tell these two iconic species apart

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Firs for Food Security brings holiday cheer and big community impact

Get ready to sip cocoa, decorate cookies and step into a forest of festive creativity — Firs for Food Security is back, and this year’s celebration is merrier than ever!

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Reading the rings: The College of Forestry Tree Ring Lab connects Oregon’s past, present and future

In a quiet corner of the OSU College of Forestry, a growing team of researchers is using the past to inform the future. The Tree Ring Lab, one of the college’s fastest-growing research spaces, studies forest disturbance, climate and succession — using the annual records stored in trees themselves.

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Honoring Those Who Serve

This sculpture is a memorial to the courage, sacrifice and unity of the United States Armed Forces and its veterans

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Welcome visiting scholar Rosemarie Ankre

Rosemarie Ankre is a senior lecturer in human geography at Mid Sweden University