Ross Mersereau and Ted Dyrness Oral History Interview - Part 2

Ross Mersereau was a Marine and lost a lung during the battle of Iwo Jima, but still managed a career as a watershed technician on Andrews Forest working with Al Levno, Dick Fredriksen, Jack Rothacher, and others. An exceptionally reliable worker, he credits Levno with high standards for producing high-quality data. For many years, he and his large family resided in a house on the Blue River Ranger District headquarters compound, so he had ready access to the field sites.

After completing his graduate training in soils at OSU, Ted Dyrness began soil survey and slope stability work as a Forest Service scientist at various locations in western Oregon, but quickly began to focus soil survey and erosion studies in the Andrews Forest. He collaborated with Jerry Franklin on many projects, including publication of Natural Vegetation of Oregon and Washington, which is still the go-to source book on the topic. In 1974 he joined the Forest Service research group at University of Alaska-Fairbanks and helped them begin an ecosystem science program much like the IBP teamwork he experienced at Andrews Forest. That effort spurred establishment of the Bonanza Creek LTER program. In 1990 he retired, returned to Corvallis, and continued to contribute to the Andrews Forest program.