Barbara

Lachenbruch

(formerly B. L. Gartner)

Professor,

Dept. of Wood Science & Engineering

Adjunct Professor,

Program of Forest Science

and Dept. of Forests, Ecosystems & Society

barb.lachenbruch@oregonstate.edu

phone:  (541) 737-4213

fax: (541) 737-3385

Research Interests

·        Ecophysiology of living trees

ex:  Structure/function relationships within woody plants at levels ranging from anatomical through whole-plant, and as they influence ecophysiology and demography.

Tradeoffs among mechanics, hydraulics, and other functions within trees.

Interaction of disease with wood an bark structure and function.

·        Wood quality for utilization

ex:  Effects of rapid growth on physical and mechanical properties of wood.

Wood quality in relation to silviculture, environment, and genetics.

·        Integration of why plants produce the structures they do, and how that influences the resulting log and wood qualities

ex:  Patterns and adaptive roles of changes from production of juvenile wood to mature wood; and other within-plant variability in anatomy and function.

Program Goals

My research program aims to increase our predictive capabilities of how growth conditions affect wood structure, growth form, and function of woody plants. This research is basic to understanding tree biology, but it is also valuable to wood technologists (supplying information about the wood resources and their properties), silviculturists (predicting effects of practices on quality and value), tree breeders (providing information on which tree and wood traits are interconnected with physiology), and ecosystems ecologists (helping categorize meaningful functional species groups). 

Graduate Students, Interns, Post-docs, and Visiting Scientists

Graduate education is an important part of my program. Most of the graduate students in my lab are co-advised by another professor in Wood Science and Engineering (most recently Jeff Morrell) or with Rick Meinzer in the Forest Service next door.  Students often get dual degrees in the two departments in which I am a member (meaning they do one research project and one thesis, and meet the coursework and other requirements of both departments).  The theses are varied, ranging from plant physiology to wood science. In all cases I have the goal of giving students a chance to gain and practice skills in logic, creativity, analysis, synthesis, and communication; to take some risks; and to carry through with their own ideas. 

We try to keep a lively group with a critical mass.  Rick and I run a weekly meeting throughout the academic year that we call the Alexander von Humboldt Club (“in the spirit of science and adventure,” AvH for short).  In AvH whoever is interested comes for a weekly meeting.  Some quarters we have themes in which we volunteer to lead discussions on a predetermined set of topics, and in other quarters people use their timeslots for more varied activities, such as practice talks, or leading discussion on a paper or other topic of interest.  The group usually numbers 6-10 people, depending on who is in town and which students, post-docs, interns, visiting scientists, and student workers are around at that time.  Currently, when they are in town the following people are usually active participants:  Dave Woodruff (scientist at the Forest Service), Peter Kitin (EU Curie Fellow), Kate McCulloh (post-doc and PI on an NSF grant), Dan Johnson (Forest Service post-doc), Steve Voelker (post-doc and PI on an NSF grant), David King (researcher), Dave Barnard (MS student) and Debbie Maynard (MS student).  Several other people scan the topic list and attend occasionally, but it is open to everyone.  Several interns (from France, Switzerland, and Texas) recently finished their internships but had been part of the group. 

Rick and I not only co-advise students, but we often co-sponsor others, such as interns, student workers, and visiting scientists.  The opportunities are usually money-limited. If a potential collaborator (visiting scientist, grad student, or post-doc) is really interested in being here and is willing to write a grant for support, we will try to help with the ideas and writing, and help facilitate the process.