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Image Credit: US Agricultural Research Service

Value for Oregonians

 

Value for Oregonians

 

Image of: map of Oregon, with major cities and regions labeled.

As the state's Land Grant University, OSU was created to serve the needs of the people. Today as Oregon's only Land, Sea, Space, and Sun Grant institution, the university continues to make a positive contribution to people's lives in every region of the state. OSU helps with economic growth, social progress, and environmental sustainability.One way that OSU supports the future of our citizenry is by transforming the lives of students through an education that is excellent and affordable .

OSU's value for Oregonians is found throughout the state. Here are a few samples of applications of OSU's research and scholarship.

Extending the University's Value

The OSU Extension Service is the statewide educational outreach arm of the university, working to help Oregonians find solutions to high priority economic, environmental and social issues. Extension delivers research-based educational programs in agriculture, forestry, family and community development, marine and fresh water issues and 4-H youth development. See OSU Extension

 

Adding Value to Communities

One example of Oregon State University’s impact on local economies: OSU's Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC) in Newport had budget expenditures of some $18 million and some 120 employees in 2005.
OSU's presence at that sight has resulted in the addition of seven affiliated state and federal agency activities on the HMSC campus, representing another $18 million and 180 employees. More than 20 agency scientists have courtesy faculty appointments at HMSC, adding to OSU's education and research programs.

 

Image of: architechtural drawing of building.

Fostering Innovation and Entrepreneurship

"Innovation Campus and Innovation Places will bring new knowledge, new technology, new intellectual property, and ultimately new business. It will mean growth for the university, the local community, and the entire state."

— John M. Cassady, Vice President for Research

A comprehensive new initiative will leverage OSU's technical and entrepreneurial capacity into thriving businesses. Innovation Campus encompasses OSU centers on the Corvallis and Cascades campuses, the coast, Portland, and beyond. The venture will align OSU's existing strengths with government, educational, and corporate partners. The vision includes fostering translational learning environments for students and faculty.

Two Innovation Places are envisioned for the near future:

Innovation Place ONAMI, the OSU-led signature center for micro- and nanotechnology projects, is in partnership with Hewlett-Packard, Battelle Labs, and other Oregon universities.

Innovation Place South Campus will have state-of-the-art facilities on a 53-acre site adjacent to the main campus. It is envisioned as the foremost academic-business research complex in Oregon, and one of the best in the nation.

 

Bringing Together Leaders

The College of Engineering brings together leaders in research, education, technology development, industry, government, business, and venture capital investments to focus on development of technology for new products. It hosted the Micro Nano Breakthrough Conference in Portland.

Image of: woman sitting on mossy log in dark forest.

Watching the Forest Breathe

Throughout her career, Barbara Bond has taken a multidisciplinary approach to studying forests. In her current research, which looks at forest ecology in a new way, participants include a forest scientist, oceanographer, atmospheric scientist, and soil scientist.

Using a sophisticated array of electronic sensors in the H.J. Andrews Forest near Eugene, the researchers are literally watching the forest breathe, the plants interact with and feed the soil microbes, and rivers of air pour up and down slopes-all in ways never before understood.

 

 

Celebrating Learning

OSU helps the wider community explore science, engineering, the arts, and more at daVinci Days, a major annual festival.

See article and website

 Image of the Da Vinci Festival

 

Preserving the Ecosystem

Jane Lubchenco, OSU Distinguished professor of zoology and marine biology, is a leader in the efforts to preserve the earth's ecosystem. She served as a member of the Governor's Advisory Group on Global Warming. "Embrace Oregon's role in a world of global warming," an editorial by Lubchenco and the chief executive officer of NW Natural, is in the Oregonian.

Image of: cliff by sea, with person partway up it.

Unearthing Our History

An OSU team that includes an anthropologist, a geoarchaeologist, and a soil scientist has developed unique ways to learn about ancient coastal habitation. The researchers have been anaylzing a 10,000 year old archaeological site on the Oregon coast, and they have hopes of finding more sites.

 

 

Knowing Our Treasures

 Image of the book Trees to Know in Oregon

Did you know that lodgepole pine was first named by Lewis and Clark? Or that there are more than 1,000 varieties of pears but only a half-dozen are grown commercially?

The new expanded edition of Trees to Know in Oregon offers an entertaining mix of identification and anecdote with maps and color photographs.

OSU forestry professor Edward C. Jensen is the primary author and photographer. But he's quick to recognize the book’s original author, retired OSU Extension forestry specialist Charles R. Ross.

Read much more about Oregon's Agricultural Progress

 

Solving Environmental Problems

Oregon State University is working to identify where reductions in heat pollution in rivers could provide large benefits in the Pacific Northwest. The initiative, which could create a prosperous new Oregon industry, is receiving $287,999 from the Environmental Protection Agency. Only 10 universities, cities, and nonprofit organizations are receiving grants from an EPA program that is enabling local and regional governments to collaborate with OSU researchers on new approaches to environmental problems, as explained in the Portland Business Journal

 

Image of: Pratt and daughter, laughing, photo by Tiffany M. Brown, Gazette-Times.

photo by Tiffany M. Brown/Gazette-Times

Enhancing Life

Gerontology, human development, family sciences — Clara Pratt has been a strong leader in OSU's contributions to a better quality of life.

 

Oregon State University Strategic Initiatives

OSU has identified six strategic initiatives for investment that will enable long-range solutions to major challenges. Investment in these areas complements outstanding efforts in other priority areas, especially nanoscience, microtechnology, and entrepreneurship.

Center for Healthy Aging Research: Linking Individuals, Families and Environments (LIFE)
Sustainable Rural Communities
Water and Watersheds
Computational and Genome Biology
Ecosystem Informatics: Mathematics, Computer Science and Ecology
Subsurface Biosphere Education and Research