Forestry Sciences Laboratory (Corvallis)

Legacy 

Corvallis Forestry Sciences Laboratory dates to 1946 when Corvallis, Oregon and Olympia Washington were the primary geographic centers of the Pacific Northwest Research Station’s research activities. Early Forest Service research priorities included study plot sizes and commercial timber sizes, followed by wildlife management research. In 1948, H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest was established 100 miles east of Corvallis to study old-growth Douglas fir. Insect and disease research, plus forest genetics programs emerged in the following decade. Timber harvest, export, and replenishment remained regionally important research questions. By 1960, research fit national research themes of recreation, range, timber, water, wildlife and fish

Corvallis Forestry Sciences Lab was first built in 1962 and has supported diverse benchtop and field research over the years. In the 1980s, a pair of re-circulating, 14 foot by 17 foot artificial streams were constructed at the lab. Renovations in 2012 added a 10,500 square foot addition to the existing 2,500 square foot Forestry Sciences Lab. The recent addition serves as a demonstration site for wood building materials, exemplifying technologies like cross-laminated timber, carbon storage, and energy efficiency.

Address

3200 SW Jefferson Way   
Corvallis, OR 97331  

Voice: 541-750-7250

Science 

Corvallis is one of the Pacific Northwest Research Station’s largest labs, by number of scientists. Scientists at the lab study diverse topics influencing natural resource management and people, ranging from volcanoes and other natural hazards to watersheds and recreation. The diversity of research activity creates diverse expertise, from science done at the microscopic level using molecular techniques to science done at the landscape scale using remotely sensed data gathered by satellites and aircraft.

People 

About 69 scientists and support staff are located at the Corvallis Lab. Job titles include biologists, botanists, data services specialists, ecologists, foresters, hydrologists, geneticists, mathematical statisticians, plant physiologists, and wildlife biologists. The building is home to employees of neighboring Suislaw National Forest Supervisor's Office, plus employees from the U.S. Geological Survey's Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center(link is external). Just a short walk to numerous Oregon State University(link is external) facilities, especially in the University’s College of Agricultural Sciences(link is external), the lab is literally embedded in Oregon’s forestry and agricultural research environment. 

Teams 

Corvallis lab scientists belong to research teams including Vegetation Monitoring Science & Application team, Wildlife Ecology team, Landscape Productivity team, Aquatic Ecology and Management team, Vegetation Monitoring & Remote Sensing team, Climate Landscape Interactions team, Landscape and Ecosystem Management team, Forest Landscape and Ecosystem Processes team, Disturbance and Restoration Ecology team, Insects, Pathogens, and Stressors team, and Fire and Environment Research Applications team. 

Contribution 

Our lab supports Pacific Northwest Research Station programs including: Ecological Process and Function Program Goods, Services and Values Program Land and Watershed Management Resource Monitoring and Assessment Program Threat Characterization and Management.