Phil Sollins Oral History Interview

Phil Sollins received early exposure to ecological research through summer experiences working at Luquillo Experimental Forest in Puerto Rico, which eventually became an LTER site, during summers of his early years. Then he worked in the Eastern Deciduous Biome based in Oakridge, TN, before moving west to join the IBP Coniferous Forest Biome project in 1973. He then moved back and forth between the two main sites based in Seattle and OSU, before settling in Corvallis and OSU in 1975. His initial IBP duties were modeling nutrient cycling and from there he moved on to studies of soils, soil water biogeochemistry, and the DIRT experiment (Detrital Input and Redistribution Treatments), a long-term, multi-site experiment involving manipulations of forest litter delivery to soil to elucidate soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics.