3 FOCUS - FALL 2024 Tom DeLuca Cheryl Ramberg-Ford and Allyn C. Ford Dean Oregon State University College of Forestry Dear College of Forestry community, Our brains are hard-wired for certainty. Certainty makes us feel safe and calm while uncertainty leaves us feeling vulnerable, threatened and on alert. When I think about all the ingredients that make up fire, uncertainty seems to be a key ingredient. When it comes to fire, we lack certainty about when we might expect a big fire year, we lack certainty around historical fire frequency, we lack certainty about long-term fire impacts with increasing fire severity, we lack certainty about the vulnerability of different forest management systems to stand-replacing fire. The list goes on and on. Our faculty and researchers are committed to helping us better understand the world around us and to generating practical solutions to complex problems we face as a society. But science itself is not certain, and how do you even find certainty in a changing world where there is no “normal” or baseline with which to ground yourself? How do scientists use their expertise when uncertainty swirls around the data, the models or even the future? But then again, uncertainty is part of what drives us as scientists to seek answers to these complex and everchanging challenges and advance concepts, practices and products that are relevant and resilient. College of Forestry scientists are looking at how to build resilience into forest management in an increasingly hot, dry (summer) climate. They are looking at shifting existing management strategies that are finetuned for economic gain, but poorly tuned for flammability, heat domes and novel insects. And they are looking at how we can look to the past and respectfully weave Indigenous Knowledge and practice into strategies that reduce uncertainty and visualize a better approach to working with fire and improving resilience to fire. We don’t have all the answers yet, but after all, that’s part of the scientific process. As you read this edition of Focus, you will see us leaning into these questions, taking steps forward when we have answers, and staying humble and curious for when we need to pivot or change course. To thrive and be resilient in 2024, and beyond, we must acknowledge that whatever got us here won’t necessarily be what takes us forward. But one thing we do know, it will take all of us, and all ways of knowing, to help build a stronger, more resilient world.
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