In a rapidly changing environment that will challenge human relationships, how can we maintain a respectful and ethical culture?
Category » Healthy Planet
February 20, 2012
State of Change
To learn how Oregon is coping with climate change, Terra magazine’s Lee Sherman and OSU Extension photographer Lynn Ketchum traveled across the state talking to stakeholders in seven sectors identified in the Oregon Climate Assessment Report. See how people from Ashland and Florence to Bend, Portland, Pendleton and Salem are using research to meet needs in public health, the environment and the economy.
February 20, 2012
State of Change: Building Our Shells
“The attitudes of Oregonians toward climate change are somewhat unknown, but small-scale surveys indicate that many residents of our state would consider it a problem worth attention by policymakers.”
– Oregon Climate Assessment Report
February 20, 2012
State of Change: A Shuffling of Species
“Resilient ecosystems on land and in the sea provide ‘stepping stones’ where species can find refuge as they shift their geographic distributions due to climate change. … Management and natural-resource policies that protect intact ecosystems are a tool for adaptation.”
– Oregon Climate Assessment Report
February 20, 2012
State of Change: A Capacity for Health
“The best means of fending off any changes for the worse due to climate change are similar to those already in place: ensuring that changes in disease patterns can be detected, investigating as needed, and mounting an appropriate public health response as soon as possible.”
–Oregon Climate Assessment Report
February 17, 2012
State of Change: Lifeblood of a Region
“Understanding the complex interactions among climate systems, terrestrial systems, and human systems is essential to predicting future changes in water resources and implementing sustainable water resource management in Oregon.”
–Oregon Climate Assessment Report
February 17, 2012
State of Change: Against the Grain
“Typically, agriculture producers are an adaptable group; however, increased heat and water stress, changes in pest and disease pressures, and weather extremes will pose adaptation challenges for many crop and livestock production systems.”
– Oregon Climate Assessment Report
February 17, 2012
State of Change: Nursery of the Sea
“The changing climate will likely have significant impacts along the coast and estuarine shorelines of Oregon. Changes associated with global climate change include rising sea levels, storminess, rising water temperatures and ocean acidification.”
– Oregon Climate Assessment Report
February 17, 2012
State of Change: Seedlings for Evergreens
“Adaptive management strategies may assist plants in adapting to future climate changes, but will be challenged by the long life-cycles of many Oregon tree species.”
– Oregon Climate Assessment Report
February 17, 2012
Communicating about climate change
Knowledge of concerns and values leads to a respectful conversation on difficult topics
I remember when I felt that the climate change workshop would go well. After a period of planning and preparation, our Oregon Sea Grant team arrived in Port Orford not knowing how the diverse community group would respond to the issue of a changing local climate when we were all actually face to face. So, [...]
February 15, 2012
Leave it to the beavers
Vanessa Petro wants to find out if these "nuisance" animals will create valuable salmon habitat
It’s on the Oregon state flag and a symbol for Oregon State University: the North American beaver (Castor canadensis). But how much do you really know about these semi-aquatic mammals? Likely, not a lot. It turns out that not even scientists have a firm grasp on beaver ecology, despite the animal’s prominence in the Northwest. [...]
February 14, 2012
Dirt, dung and discovery
As humans encroach on wildlife habitat, scientists scramble to identify critical travel corridors.
It was the dry season of 2006 in Tanzania, Africa. Across a landscape that varies from vast savannah to steep hillside to dense, wet forest, Clinton Epps and his science team trekked more than 400 miles on foot. He, Lauren Gwin and students from Tanzania’s Sokoine University battled intense heat and thieves who attempted to [...]
January 19, 2012
Surf’s Up!
Scientists help coastal communities plan for an uncertain future
If you love big surf, go to Depoe Bay on the Oregon coast during a winter storm. As swells rise and break offshore, winds whip ocean spray high into the air, but the waves move inexorably toward the harbor (the “world’s smallest navigable harbor,” reads a road sign), channel through rocks and, with a resounding [...]
January 4, 2012
Connected by climate
Fish bones and tree rings reveal ecological see-saw
Fish bones aren’t exactly the most prized portion of the catch of the day. Encountering a nearly translucent sliver in a grilled fillet is at best an annoyance and at worst a choking hazard. But for one Oregon State University researcher, certain fish bones are immensely valuable. Bryan Black, an associate professor at OSU’s Hatfield [...]
December 22, 2011
Botanist leads international fungal genome project
Joey Spatafora's goal: 1,000 fungal genomes in five years
Fungi are master recyclers, turning waste into nutrients and providing humankind with everything from penicillin to pale ale. Although fungi are members of one of the world’s most diverse kingdoms, we know relatively little about them. That is about to change. A new study headed by Joseph Spatafora, an Oregon State University professor of botany [...]
December 14, 2011
Advocate for the planet
Bill McKibben travels the Earth to save it
What we’ve come to understand in recent years is the scale of change and the pace of change that we’re now kicking off. We’re not going to be able to adapt past a certain point.
December 13, 2011
Strange bedfellows: magnetism and climate
What's magnetism got to do with it? An OSU postdoctoral scientist joins an expedition to the Atlantic to look for climate clues.
Chuang Xuan is at sea on the research vessel JOIDES Resolution studying magnetic and climate evidence in deep-sea sediment cores.
December 6, 2011
Mapmaker for the climate
OSU grad student will help Web users visualize climate data
If you love 3-D graphics, the daily TV weather maps just keep getting better. With the sweep of an arm, an announcer can set winds and weather systems in motion like the master of ceremonies in a three-ring circus. We can sit back and watch clouds, rain and snow swirl over landscapes from local to [...]
November 21, 2011
Contraceptive vaccine under study for elephants and horses
For Ursula Bechert, reducing conflicts between wild animals and people comes down to good birth control.
The first lesson the elephants taught Ursula Bechert was that they had a sense of humor.
November 16, 2011
Chasing the canine connection
When Cristina Eisenberg first heard a wolf howl, she felt comforted and curious.
[Editor's note: Ingrid Ockert is senior pursuing a liberal arts degree with a focus in the history of science ] When Cristina Eisenberg and her family moved to Montana in 1994, they received a warm welcome from their neighbors. On the first night in their new log cabin, they were greeted by the sonorous howls [...]
October 27, 2011
Rice Paddy People
In a rural village, farmers fight industrial pollution
The young Chinese laborer was desperate. Like millions of other migrant workers in China’s dash to industrialize, he had left his home and family to work in a factory in the rural interior. Now, environmental officials had closed the zinc smelter in Futian where he worked, and without a job, nearly out of money and [...]
October 26, 2011
Polar Plunge
Fur coats may not be enough for Weddell seals
With ice coverage shrinking in the Arctic and parts of the Antarctic, scientists are scrambling to predict future consequences. But one Oregon State University scientist isn’t as concerned with the ice itself as with the animals that use it to rest. Markus Horning, pinniped ecologist for the Marine Mammal Institute, will venture to the Antarctic [...]
October 12, 2011
Bug Zoo
OSU’s arthropod museum provides a window on the past and clues to our future
The other day, I found myself sharing a room with 3 million dead bugs.
September 23, 2011
Carbon Sink
Forests can absorb more U.S. carbon than previously thought
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 [...]
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 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
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 [...]
July 5, 2011
The Secret Life of Honeybees
Ramesh Sagili investigates the causes of honeybee decline
Strapped into a small holding device, the honeybee amiably wiggles its antennae. Like a toddler in a highchair, it seems to reach greedily for the dropper with sugar water that appears over its head. As its mouth opens, its tongue darts out for a taste of the sweet liquid.
June 8, 2011
Biotech Partnership
Focus on flowering genes
Research into tree biotechnology has gotten a boost through a new agreement between Dow AgroSciences LLC and Oregon State University. The wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company will make its EXZACT™ Precision Technology available to Steve Strauss, distinguished professor of forest biotechnology in the College of Forestry. EXZACT™ provides a versatile and comprehensive [...]
June 8, 2011
Free-Choice Science
Study confirms benefits of learning centers, museums
In a world confronted with greenhouse gases, emergent diseases, energy shortages, natural disasters, habitat loss, species extinctions and a thousand other urgent issues, public understanding of science is more essential than ever. Now, an OSU study reveals a powerful vehicle for enhancing science literacy in local communities: science museums. Science museums like the Oregon Museum [...]
