UPP In the News
UPP Affiliates Elise Granek (PSU) and Heejun Chang (PSU) appeared in the Oregon Public Broadcasting article, "Portland researchers track microplastic pollution in Columbia River Basin," written by Cassandra Profita. The interviews explore the work of Elise and Heejun to identify and measure sources of microplastics into the air and water of the Columbia Basin. The identification of pollution sources is critical to managing the proliferation of microplastics into seemingly every ecological system on the globe. Read the article to learn more about the issue at hand and the methodology employed. Great work Elise and Heejun, and thank you for being public leaders on this important issue.
Scott Bennet from the USGS was joined by Ashley Streig from PSU's Department of Geology on a KATU news story titled, "Research raises question whether big Mt. Hood quake triggered massive Bonneville landslide." This story explores the collaborative research Scott and Ashley have been conducting over the past few years. In particular, it summarizes their recent research which suggests that an earthquake on the Mount Hood faulty zone might have triggered the Bonneville Landslide. A legendary landslide which occurred some 575 years ago, the Bonneville Landslide was large enough to block the Columbia river, turning the valley into a lake that would subsequently send floods into the Portland-Vancouver region. This story is a follow-up to KATU's past coverage of Ashley and Scott's work in June 2021 and September 2021. You can read more about the science, histories, and myths that surround this landslide in the full article. Thank you Scott and Ashley for your work exploring our region's geology and history and showing us the possible outcomes of future earthquakes in Oregon's myriad faults.
UPP Publications
From PSU's Department of Geography, Heejun Chang joined a team of researchers to publish "A social-ecological-technological systems framework for urban ecosystem services," in the One Earth journal. Heejun and the team are interested in supporting nature-based solutions to issues of climate change within urban settings by providing suggestions for planning, management, and design needs. They derive these suggestions by exploring the interactions between the social realm, the technological realm, and the the ecological realm specifically with regard to the challenges of "multi-functionality, systemic valuation, scale mismatch of ecosystem services, and inequity and injustice." You can find the complete article here. Thank you for this contribution Heejun!
Next up we have Andrés Holz from PSU's Department of Geography appearing in a double feature. This duo begins by exploring the social and ecological impacts of wildfires in the forests of Chile and ends back here in Oregon with suggestions for the role of river management and floodplain restoration following fires.
The first article, "Fire effects on diversity patterns of the understory communities of Araucaria-Nothofagus forests," published in the Plant Ecology journal, proposes a series of hypothesis about community behavior, relocation, and mitigation practices following fires, and inquires into the impacts of these fires on biodiversity. Their results indicate that "fire triggered both a reorganization of the plant community and the establishment of species absent in the [unburned] forests," which suggests that high-severity burns and/or re-burns favor plants which respond more quickly. Ultimately this mechanism may lead to "landscape-scale losses of special less tolerant to fire." See the full article to learn more about the theories and implications discussed by Andrés and the team.
In the second article, "A possible role for river restoration enhancing biodiversity through interaction with wildfire," published in the Global Ecology and Biogeography journal, Andrés joined another team of researchers to explore shortcomings in historical post-burn river-management and to propose suggestions to improve future management. An emphasis on floodplain management and restoration practices are possible avenues to decrease the risk of floods while making the area more resilient to future burns and to climate change. To show these arguments the team explores Oregon's South Fork McKenzie River and its floodplain, an area that was undergoing wetland restoration at the time of a significant burn. Learn more about the interesting history of river management and Andrés's recommendations in the full article. Excellent work across the board Andrés, thank you for your dedication to developing resilience in communities around the globe.