Environmental Health

Born from necessity, Extension wildflower videos viewed hundreds of times

Each year, Rachel Werling, an instructor in the Oregon State University Forestry and Natural Resources Extension program, leads groups on hikes in in southern Oregon’s Rogue Valley to teach them about natural history, fire ...

Jun 2020 | Impact Story

Master Woodland Manager volunteers improve Lane County forest health

Forests cover 85% of Lane County and have long been considered a major jewel in the crown of the county’s natural resources. Lane County’s family woodland owners play a vital role in forest management, providing substantial ...

Apr 2021 | Impact Story

Partnership builds forest management expertise in northeast Oregon

Forest landowners in northeast Oregon face the ramifications of nearly 100 years of fire suppression. Facing marginal timber prices, landowners require financial assistance to carry out much-needed fuels reduction and forest thinning ...

Mar 2024 | Impact Story

OSU Extension, partners inform south coast of new sudden oak death threat

Sudden oak death (SOD), caused by a non-native pathogen Phytophthora ramorum, has killed more than 1 million oak and tanoak trees in 15 coastal counties in California and thousands of tanoaks in Curry County, Oregon. The ...

May 2022 | Impact Story

Forest project focuses on planning and managing for fire at landscape scale

Federal agencies, state government, collaborative groups and businesses have been attempting to increase the pace and scale of restoration in fire-adapted forests east of the Cascades in Oregon. But achieving landscape-scale outcomes ...

Mar 2019 | Impact Story

OSU Extension provides leadership for statewide Outdoor School

Outdoor School is a transformative, immersive experience that instills environmental literacy and positive learning behaviors in students. It also encourages a belief that Oregon is a special place, with ecosystems they can enjoy and...

Mar 2024 | Impact Story

Oregon IPM Center leads the way to better pest management

Pesticides are important tools for farmers around the globe—ask anyone who has contemplated a hundred acres of cabbage aphids. However, some pesticides are significantly more hazardous than others. Broad-spectrum pesticides carry risks...

Jun 2021 | Impact Story

OSU Honey Bee Lab helps keep pollinators healthy and thriving

Honeybees are crucial pollinators for many crops, including apples, blueberries, cherries, carrots, clover, melons, almonds and broccoli. Nationwide, they pollinate an estimated $20 billion in food crops each year. But the total number...

Jun 2021 | Impact Story

OSU Sagebrush Habitat Team responds to threats to vast ecosystem

The invasion of annual grasses, an unprecedented rise in wildfire, and encroachment by conifers have substantially contributed to a 50% reduction in Oregon’s sagebrush ecosystem over the past 150 years. Such extensive habitat ...

Jun 2021 | Impact Story

OSU-invented wristband reveals pollution risks

People are exposed to a range of pollutants every day but do not often know which ones—or to what degree. Measuring a person's contact with toxins can also be difficult, requiring expensive and bulky devices that people are...

Jun 2021 | Impact Story