Conducting Research

The H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest (HJA) was established to promote research and education to improve our understanding of Pacific Northwest ecosystems and natural resource management. The HJA welcomes basic and applied research and education-related projects that do not conflict with existing programs or detract from the quality of the site. Users of the site should adhere to the following guidelines:

Submit a Research Proposal

The first step to planning research at the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest (HJA) is to submit a site use research proposal. All new project proposals go through a review to determine potential conflicts with existing research, compatibility with HJA research guidelines, and any potential impacts relevant to the National Environmental Policy Act. All research conducted at the HJA is subject to approval by the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, as well as by the Andrews Forest research group. The Andrews Forest Director will send the proposal to the appropriate reviewers. All major manipulative experiments will be discussed with the Andrews scientific community with the intent of both increasing collaboration and maximizing field site utilization. Please allow at least four weeks for approval; projects involving major manipulations or requiring an environmental analysis will take much longer to review. Availability of funding does not ensure the research project will be approved. 

Research Infrastructure

The HJ Andrews Experimental Forest and Long-Term Ecological Research site invests in facilities and field research infrastructure to support ongoing and new research. The research infrastructure is managed by staff to generate core data of use to a wide variety research projects. In some cases this infrastructure can be leveraged for the deployment of new sensors or to support new investigations.

Field Work Guidelines and Requirements

Once a research proposal is approved, all researchers are required to:

• Abide by and support our Code of Conduct and Safe and Inclusive Fieldwork Plan in all physical and virtual contexts. This pertains to all participants in the program, including lead investigators, staff, students, and any other user of headquarters facilities.
• Ensure that all field crews/helpers have first aid training, use appropriate safety equipment, and carry a first aid kit. Please refer to the HJA Handbook and Safety Manual for a full description of the HJA safety policies.
• Notify the Forest Director whenever substantive additions to or modifications of an ongoing research project are planned.
• Help us prevent spread of invasive species by washing underside and wheels of all field-going vehicles at vehicle wash station and by scrubbing boots to remove soil and weed seeds. Before entering streams for first time, please dry or freeze waders and use Virkon rinse for all gear.
• Remove flagging, PVC, instrumentation, and any other research debris after their research project is completed.
• Submit GPS locations of their research sites within the HJA to the Forest Director. A GPS unit is available for checkout at the HJA headquarters.

Acknowledge Use of Data or Site in Your Publication

If you do research on the HJA site, and/or use data from the site, you are obligated to acknowledge the program in any resulting publications. Please use the provided Acknowledgements text. If you use data, please include the citation with DOI in your references. The citation is provided on the main data abstract page for each database.

Send Us Your Publication

Send Andrews Forest related publications (an electronic PDF) to HJApubs@lists.oregonstate.edu.

Submit Data

We expect researchers to submit data and metadata generated from research at the HJA for long-term archiving in the Forest Science Data Bank (FSDB). All data will remain securely under control of the investigator according to the current data access policy and can be made available through the Andrews Forest web pages if requested.