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CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State University was ranked fourth in the nation in the number of papers published in professional journals related to ecology or the environment, a recent survey shows.

The analysis was done by Thomson Reuters, and it showed that 1,069 papers were published between 2005-09 by OSU researchers, almost 1 percent of the national total. Only scientists from the University of California at Davis, University of California at Berkeley, and University of Florida exceeded this total.

OSU has a wide range of experts working in these fields from several of its colleges, especially the College of Science, College of Forestry, College of Agricultural Sciences, College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, and College of Engineering.

University researchers have made pioneering findings about global climate change, "dead zones" in marine waters off the Pacific Northwest, the effect of changing conditions on forest health, new techniques to monitor the marine, atmospheric and terrestrial environments, declining snowpacks, impacts of "PAH" pollutants, mapping the ocean seafloor, communication of marine mammals and many other topics.

OSU scientists are also developing innovative techniques and products to help address some of these concerns, ranging from composite wood products that can eliminate toxic emissions of formaldehyde, to one of the world's newest concepts in sustainable energy, the power of ocean waves. OSU engineers are even developing ways to produce energy from sewage at the same time the process cleans waste water.

The prolific amount of research at OSU is partly a reflection of major increases in scientific grants and contracts, officials say - $275 million in 2009-10 and double the amount it was only 10 years ago.