Image
Human and Ecosystem Resilience and Sustainability Lab
Our Mission
Conduct applied science in the service of efficient, effective natural resource management. HERS delivers expertise in ecological assessment and monitoring, protected area management, and restoration to support evidence-based conservation for the 21st century.
What we do
Interagency collaboration for natural resource planning & management
Applied ecological research, coordination, and monitoring
Native plant materials supply and restoration
Student and early career professional mentoring
Geospatial analysis and mapping
Responding to the environment
We study how populations of plants and animals respond to changing environmental conditions. We contribute to the native seed and plant supply for sagebrush steppe restoration. The lab established long-term monitoring programs focused on American pika and bat species in the Pacific Northwest and collaborates with federal and state land and wildlife management agencies on studies of rare plants and at-risk communities.
Research on wildlife crossings
As the human population increases, animals need help crossing busy highways to reach their habitats. Corrinne Oedekerk and Alex Holmes, two OSU alumni and researchers here at the Lab, are studying how and when animals use the wildlife crossing structures. Check out footage from the wildlife cam and see who's been getting safely across Highway 97! And check out our Wildlife Connectivity Hub, they've been taking their expertise to new highways and putting their skills to work for new species!
Past Projects
American Pika
The HERS Lab team spent 5 years traipsing across lava fields and talus slopes to understand pika ecology and response to climate change. To learn more, check out our Publications page.