Ben Leshchinsky heads this research area. Leshchinsky is an assistant professor in geotechnical engineering. His research focuses on basic and applied soil mechanics, particularly focused towards geohazards. 

This program area focuses on logging safety on steep slopes.

The study aims to inform policy for Oregon and stakeholders by evaluating whether large-scale biochar production is technically feasible, logistically scalable, economically competitive and environmentally beneficial at the landscape scale. If the outcome suggests biochar production meets these minimum criteria, the study could potentially trigger industrial interest in supporting the development of forest-to-farm biochar markets, benefiting rural economies that are typically based on forest and agricultural commodities.

This research is interested in active sustainable management of forest, by using various remote sensing techniques to acquire relevant information for the decision making process. Once raw data is collected, we develop, improve or test existing algorithms to supply the needed data for developing management plans or forecast forest dynamics. Our focus is in modeling forest understood in a broad sense using modern techniques, such as computer vision, fractals, or abstract algebra.

The mission of the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research and Regional Analysis group (TERRA-PNW) is to quantify and understand the response of terrestrial ecosystems to natural and human-induced changes such as climate, wildfire and land management practices. Our lab has diverse interests that share a common focus: understanding the dynamics of land-based ecological communities. Our insights into climate and disturbance effects on ecological processes and global change are generated primarily by research on forest, woodland and shrubland ecosystems.

The mission of the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest is to support research on forests, streams, and watersheds, and to foster strong collaboration among ecosystem science, education, natural resource management, and the humanities. Located in the western Cascade mountains of Oregon, the 16,000-acre site is administered cooperatively by Oregon State University, the USDA Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station, and the Willamette National Forest.

The NATURE Studies Lab conducts a program of research and planning focusing on recreation, tourism, marine and terrestrial parks and protected areas, wildlife, forestry, and other natural resources. The goal of this lab’s work is to examine human elements such as use and impacts, and inform management of natural resources and policy development.

Professor Matthew Betts and his team studies the ways that landscape composition and pattern influence animal behavior, species distributions and ecosystem function. As humans are one of the primary drivers of landscape characteristics globally, much of their work is applied and focused on management and conservation. However, understanding mechanisms is key to generalization, so a central part of the research program is basic in nature and links landscape ecology to behavioral ecology, physiology, and molecular ecology.

The Forest Animal Ecology Lab is headed by Assistant Professor Jim Rivers. The research questions he pursues are grounded in both basic and applied principles, and nearly all are investigated through empirical field studies of wild populations in forested ecosystems. Some of the lab's current projects include studies that are examining bee community response to biofuel harvest, testing the demographic response of early seral birds to herbicides, and evaluating the impacts of supplemental feeding on the behavior and physiology of songbirds.

The Landscape Fire and Conservation Science Research Group focuses on landscape ecology, biogeography, pyrogeography, and conservation science. We work at scales from local to global, addressing the causes and effects of ecological disturbances, with a particular interest in landscape fire.