OSU soil scientist to lead southern Oregon ag research station

Richard Roseberg

Soil scientist Richard Roseberg of Oregon State University and the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station (OAES) has been named the new director of the research station in southern Oregon.

Roseberg will head the Southern Oregon Research and Extension Center (SOREC) in Central Point, one of 12 agricultural experiment stations around Oregon. The center has 34 faculty and staff and an overall budget of almost $2 million.

Roseberg will direct SOREC’s research program, which includes applied research in viticulture and enology, tree fruits, livestock, forage and integrated pest management.

Area vineyardists, orchardists and ranchers collaborate by contributing sites, labor and equipment. The center also runs an experimental farm.

In addition to the director, SOREC employs four researchers, all of whom hold appointments in OSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences.

Two key positions, a viticulturist and a plant pathologist, are vacant at the moment; international searches are near completion, Roseberg said in a statement.

Roseberg comes from a research post at the Klamath Basin Research and Extension Center (KBREC) in Klamath Falls, where he studies cereal and forage crops and soil/water relations.

He also conducts field trials of alternative crops, including Russian dandelion, a potential source of rubber, and teff, a cereal grain that grows well in semi-arid conditions. He was stationed at SOREC from 1990 to 2003 before transferring to Klamath Falls.

Roseberg will start on May 1, succeeding Philip Van Buskirk, who is retiring after 32 years.