NSF grant on grasshoppers awarded to SOU Ashland biologist

SOU biologist receives NSF grant for grasshopper research

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Southern Oregon University biologist Jacob Youngblood has been awarded a three-year, $422,183 grant from the National Science Foundation to study how insects respond to two aspects of climate change – rising air temperatures and declining plant nutrients – potentially improving pest management strategies and forecasts of insect-related damage nationwide.

The study will focus on migratory grasshoppers, which consume as much as 20% of available forage from U.S. rangelands each year for losses estimated at about $393 million.

“This project will investigate how temperature and nutrition jointly affect the most damaging rangeland pest in the United States,” said an abstract of the NSF grant. ”By combining fieldwork, laboratory experiments and computer simulations, the research will improve ecological forecasts and inform pest management strategies that support national food security.”

The project is also expected to provide opportunities for SOU students to participate as paid researchers. The work will be conducted partly by students enrolled in Youngblood’s courses in environmental physiology and biogeography. The NSF-funded project – “How temperature-nutrient interactions affect the physiology and ecology of an insect herbivore” – is scheduled to begin Aug. 1.

“This work has the potential to significantly improve how we manage national rangelands in a changing climate,” Youngblood said. “If we can predict grasshopper outbreaks before they happen, we can act proactively to minimize damage to crops and forage.

“Just as important, the project will train SOU students – many of whom are the first in their families to attend college – in research design, data analysis and science communication, preparing our graduates to tackle scientific challenges in their careers and communities.”

The project will test competing hypotheses for how the combination of temperature conditions and nutrient availability affect the biology of grasshoppers. It will involve a combination of computer simulations, experiments in artificial laboratory environments and field experiments conducted at The Farm at SOU.

“Together, this integrative approach will advance general theory on how organisms forage in multidimensional environments and how those foraging decisions scale up to affect physiology and ecology,” the abstract of the NSF grant project said.

Youngblood, an animal physiologist and ecologist, joined the SOU Biology Department as an assistant professor in 2022. His research interests involve predicting the impacts of climate change on insect populations. He teaches courses on the principles of biology, comparative animal physiology and biogeography.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Clemson University and a doctorate in biology from Arizona State University.

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Solar energy project approved by students at SOU Ashland

SOU students step up for solar energy project

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(Ashland, Ore.) — A solar energy project approved recently by Southern Oregon University’s student government will generate both electricity and a steady flow of income for the university’s Student Food Pantry.

The Associated Students of SOU gave the go-ahead to spend $91,768 from the ASSOU Green Fund on a sustainability student’s proposal to replace an aged-out solar array on SOU’s Hannon Library with a new, higher-capacity array. An additional $7,560 provided by SOU’s Office of Facilities Management and Planning will be used to remove the pioneer panels.

Power produced by the 29.68 kW photovoltaic solar panels will be sold back to the university, and that income will be directed to the Student Food Pantry to help address food insecurity on campus.

“I’m excited to see my passion for sustainable food systems and food security come to life in a very real way as I leave SOU,” said student Sierra Garrett, who conceived the project before graduating last month. “I fully believe in leaving your environment better than how you found it, and this is no exception.

“Our SOU community deserves sustainable access to energy and nutrition, and my project brings those two together in a unique way,” said Garrett, who was worked for the past two years in the SOU Office of Sustainability and the Institute for Applied Sustainability.

The new solar panels will be purchased with money from the Green Fund, which is dedicated to sustainability projects and generated from a $14-per-term fee that SOU students have imposed on themselves. The new array will produce an estimated $2,664 per year for the Food Pantry, based on the current electricity rate of 6 cents per kilowatt hour.

The ASSOU-approved proposal came with a recommendation that the power proceeds allocated to the Food Pantry should be used on local foods, those associated with high quality or high nutritional value, and/or foods with cultural or social relevance to SOU students. Terms of the agreement are to be reviewed and voted upon again every five years by ASSOU’s Environmental Affairs Committee.

“Working with SOU students and ASSOU on sustainability is always inspiring, and collaborating with Sierra Garrett over the past few years has been especially meaningful,” said Becs Walker, SOU’s Director of Sustainability. “Her passion, creativity and drive have been central to so many projects – particularly this one.

“Seeing how students like Sierra approach challenges with innovative thinking, compassion and a commitment to building better systems gives me great hope for the future,” Walker said. “They truly are the next generation of leaders and change-makers.”

The panels that will be replaced were SOU’s first solar installation, placed on the university’s Hannon Library in 2000. That installation produced just 6kW when new – just over a fifth of what will be produced by the panels that will replace it – and was targeted for recycling because its efficiency has declined over the years.

SOU now has solar arrays on nine Ashland rooftops and one on its Medford campus, for total generating capacity of 842kW, which accounts for 11.6% of the electricity used on campus. The university already is saving almost $50,000 per year by using its own electricity, and is on pace to generate enough for all of its daytime power needs within about a decade.

SOU has been awarded $5.8 million in state and federal funding over the past three years to support energy generation and energy resilience on campus; that money has paid for new arrays on Lithia Motors Pavilion (the largest in Ashland) and The Hawk Dining Commons, and a battery storage system. It will also pay for another two rooftop arrays, one parking lot canopy array and another battery storage system.

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OLLI at SOU members on trip to Talent Maker City

Where curious minds gather: OLLI at SOU Open House

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No tests. No grades. Just the joy of learning and making connections.

That’s the spirit behind the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Southern Oregon University (OLLI at SOU), a thriving community where adults aged 50 or better explore new interests, form lasting friendships and continue discovering the world around them. OLLI at SOU – entering its 32nd year – invites the public to sample its engaging offerings at the 2025 OLLI at SOU Open House on Wednesday, August 6, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the SOU Stevenson Union.

OLLI at SOU pickleball classThe free event is a celebration of curiosity and connection. The open house is a one-stop gateway to all that OLLI offers, with approximately 150 fall course previews, demonstrations and exhibits from dozens of like-minded community organizations.

OLLI at SOU has grown into one of the Rogue Valley’s most dynamic adult learning programs. It offers more than 300 classes annually, in-person and online. OLLI covers a spectrum that ranges from AI to art history, and from geology to zentangle – all taught by volunteer instructors ranging from former teachers to passionate hobbyists.

With a low annual membership fee of $150, OLLI at SOU offers access to a full year of learning without per-course tuition (membership fee assistance is available), many programs and activities, travel opportunities, shared interest groups and social events.

“Come for the intellectual stimulation, stay for the people,” says one longtime member. “OLLI gave me purpose after retirement — and an entirely new circle of friends.”

Open House highlights include:

  • Preview fall OLLI courses and meet instructors
  • Explore SOU exhibits
  • Learn about community partner organizations
  • Enjoy free refreshments provided by local retirement communities
  • Enter drawings for valuable door prizes
  • Special prize drawing for those that register in advance for the Open House

For more information or to register for the Open House, visit sou.edu/olli/open-house or call (541) 552-6048. Stay curious, stay connected and have fun doing it!

Story by Laura Simonds, OLLI Volunteer

SOULA receives grant to create historic plastics database

SOU awarded grant to create historic plastics database

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(Ashland, Ore.) — The Southern Oregon University Laboratory of Anthropology has been awarded a Preserving Oregon Grant from Oregon Heritage, the state historic preservation office, to create a digital, archaeological database of historic plastics – from buttons to knick-knacks to kitchenware.

The $13,000 grant will help pay for new camera equipment that will be used to create a new digital database in the Southern Oregon Digital Archives at SOU’s Hannon Library. It will also be used to help bring experts to SOU to assist in building the collection, and student workers who will produce digital content for the collection – including photography, research and short videos or animations that demonstrate how to identify historic plastics.

The new website and database are expected to be used by archaeologists and historians nationwide.

“The grant provides funding to upgrade the photography system that Hannon Library has been using for the last 15 years to digitize objects for the Southern Oregon Digital Archives,” said Shana Sandor, the SOU archivist and digital projects specialist who has worked with SOULA on previous collections. “This will benefit not only the plastics collection that the grant was awarded for, but also any future digital collections, creating higher quality images to improve the research value of the collections.”

The SOU Laboratory of Anthropology (SOULA) regularly collaborates with various individuals, agencies and organizations to promote public archaeology and heritage stewardship. SOULA has previously completed three Preserving Oregon Grant projects, one other Oregon Heritage project and has worked with the SOU Hannon Library on two previous online research resources – the Jim Rock Historic Can Collection in about 2015 and the Chinese Material Culture Collection in 2018.

The Jim Rock collection had more than 80,000 views this year, and the CMCC had more than 6,000 views. Both are important resources for professional researchers in Oregon and beyond, and provide open-source scholarly content for the public.

The Historic Plastics Database will take advantage of the existing platform and audience to serve a growing interest in the study of historic plastics.

Outside experts expected to contribute to the project include Kimberly Wooten, a California-based archaeologist who teaches workshops and classes on historic plastics. Wooten said the new digital database will give researchers the opportunity to “tackle an archaeological issue in real time.”

“The interest in the history and archaeology of plastics never stops surprising me, and with each class we teach, demand only continues to grow,” Wooten said.

“Plastic really is the artifact of the modern era – people can see their own archaeological footprint in plastic artifacts – and at the same time it’s a reflection of the shape of things that have come before us. I can’t wait to share the online historic plastic database at my next workshop.”

The new archive will help archaeologists and researchers to identify and interpret plastic artifacts, to date sites more accurately and to explore more nuanced questions about how the growing commercialization of plastic items changed daily life with cheap, mass-produced consumer products.

Early celluloid, for instance, mimicked expensive natural materials. Later, when the versatility of synthetic materials was fully embraced, there was an explosion of colorful and creatively-shaped Bakelite jewelry that is now highly sought-after.

The SOULA project was awarded one of 20 grants totaling $300,000 that were announced this week by Oregon Heritage, a division of Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. Six of the grants were awarded in the “Diamonds in the Rough” category to help restore the historic character of properties. The other 14 grants were in the “Preserving Oregon” category for properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places and for archaeology projects.

More information about the grant program is available on the Oregon Heritage website.

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Older adult housing and education facility finalists come to campus

SOU considers partners for older adult housing and education facility

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Southern Oregon University is in the process of selecting an official partner to build and operate a housing and educational facility for older adults on a 4.3-acre site previously occupied by the Cascade Complex of residence halls.

“SOU is excited to continue advancing this initiative to identify a partner company that aligns with our vision and values for this new space on campus,” SOU President Rick Bailey said. “This also serves as a testament to our commitment to changing the fiscal model of our university to keep it affordable and accessible for generations of students to come.”

SOU has invited two companies to campus, where they will present their visions for a partnership during the second phase of the selection process. The companies under consideration are McCormack Baron Salazar and Pacific Retirement Services.

Representatives of both companies will engage with university leaders, the wider campus and local community during their visits to Ashland. The companies were selected in phase one as part of a national “request for proposal” bid process.

Medford-based Pacific Retirement Services, whose properties include the Rogue Valley Manor, will make its on-campus presentation from 9 to 9:50 a.m. on July 9 in the SOU Music Recital Hall, followed by St. Louis-based McCormack Baron Salazar, which will make its presentation from 1:30 to 2:20 p.m. on July 11, in the Music Recital Hall .

Members of the SOU, Ashland and Rogue Valley communities are encouraged to attend each of the moderated sessions. The meetings will feature presentations from the vendors, followed by opportunities for questions and answers.

Community members may submit questions in advance to ensure a robust discussion. SOU has established a designated website (https://sou.edu/older-adult-living-community-provider-partnership/) for those seeking additional information or to submit questions. The university’s Office of the General Counsel can also be contacted at generalcounsel@sou.edu or (541) 552-8055 for further inquiries.

Developers from around the country were invited in January to submit proposals for the project – an entrepreneurial opportunity to forge a synergy between the facility’s residents, traditional SOU students, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at SOU and the university. The project is intended to generate long-term revenue for SOU while supporting the university’s commitment to lifelong learning.

Several proposals were submitted and were narrowed to the two finalists in a review process that extended through the spring.

The university will make its final selection, then negotiate specifics for a public-private partnership to build and run the proposed SOU facility. If those negotiations fail to produce an agreement, the university will shift to the runner-up.

The university is not expected to take an ownership interest or operational role in the project, but will provide agreed-upon services and amenities for the facility and its residents.

Older adult communities are a rare but growing feature on university campuses across the U.S., and the SOU facility would be the first in Oregon – capitalizing on southern Oregon’s reputation as a retirement mecca with a blend of educational, cultural and recreational opportunities.

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About Southern Oregon University
 Southern Oregon University is a medium-sized campus that provides comprehensive educational opportunities with a strong focus on student success and intellectual creativity. Located in vibrant Ashland, Oregon, SOU remains committed to diversity and inclusion for all students on its environmentally sustainable campus. Connected learning programs taught by a host of exceptional faculty provide quality, innovative experiences for students. Visit sou.edu.