Oregon State University forestry scientists have a habit of redefining the conversation about carbon and forests. Professors Beverly Law, Mark Harmon and their colleagues have demonstrated that old-growth stands on the west side of the Cascades store as much carbon or more than that held in tropical rain forests. In 2009, Law reported that forests [...]
Archive » September, 2011
September 23, 2011
On Call in Earthquake Country
Learning from devastation takes rapid response
When a severe earthquake strikes a distant community, Scott Ashford gets on a plane. He travels light but packs enough to be self-sufficient. He is, after all, going into a disaster zone where emergency personnel don’t need another mouth to feed. The head of the Oregon State University School of Civil and Construction Engineering is [...]
September 19, 2011
Water Before Anything
Crisis and Transformation — Umatilla Groundwater
Water means life in arid communities. Nowhere has that truth been more carefully cultivated than in the Umatilla River watershed of northeast Oregon. In the accompanying video, OSU graduate student Sarah Sheldrick presents the region’s water crisis and a hard-won community-based solution. See the trailer on this page and the full-length video on the Water [...]
September 15, 2011
Hydro-deja vu: 50 Years of Water Resources Research at OSU
A statewide water research program has addressed critical issues for Oregon
“The Congress has found that we have entered a period in which acute water shortages are hampering our industries, our agriculture, our recreation, and our individual health and happiness.”
September 14, 2011
Nature-Made Medicine
Linus Pauling pioneered research on micronutrients and health
“Orthomolecular medicine is the use of the right molecules or orthomolecular substances that are normally present in the human body in the amounts that lead to the best of health and the greatest decrease in disease. It is the most effective prevention in the treatment of disease.” — Linus Pauling, 1983 Linus Pauling spent [...]
September 14, 2011
Speaking of Plastic
Plastic doesn't belong in the ocean, but let's get real
You might have heard a few supposed facts about plastic in the ocean: 1) There is a massive swirling gyre of plastic, the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” between California and Japan that is twice the size of Texas; and 2) this plastic debris outweighs plankton and is growing in size. Interestingly, the scientific literature does [...]
September 14, 2011
Bright Idea
The future of solar energy could be on your desk — the inkjet printer
In the beginning, there was silicon, and it was really good. Silicon is one of the most abundant elements on Earth. It gave us golden, sandy beaches and sunlit kitchen windows. Beer mugs and home insulation. Silicon Valley in California and Silicon Forest in the Pacific Northwest. Personal computers and the Information Age. And solar [...]
September 14, 2011
Sticky Business
Incidental discovery could lead to a revolution in the adhesives industry
The OSU researchers were working toward a hot-melt adhesive made from cheap and plentiful vegetable oils that could be used in wood composites. For that purpose, they were making little progress. But at one point, Kaichang Li, an international expert in wood chemistry and composites, and his postdoctoral research associate, Anlong Li, noticed that their [...]
September 9, 2011
Growing Expectations
OSU's international research is breaking new ground
I departed Oregon State University with a deep education, fun memories and well-respected degrees. Yet, moving along in my career and across the continent, I rarely looked back.
