Dr. Julie Pett-Ridge has been appointed as the Assistant Dean of Graduate Education and Research for the College of Agricultural Sciences (CAS) at Oregon State University, effective July 1.
Pett-Ridge, who has been a dedicated CAS faculty member in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences since 2009, focuses her research on chemical weathering, soil formation, and biogeochemical cycling. Her recent projects include studying the impact of global aerosols on ecosystems, evaluating nutrient sustainability in managed forests, investigating controls on river concentration-discharge relationships, and characterizing CO2 emissions from the oxidation of organic carbon in sedimentary rocks. Her innovative research methods encompass fieldwork, laboratory analyses of trace elements, and radiogenic and non-traditional stable isotopes, as well as the integration of observations and modeling.
Pett-Ridge recently spent two years at the National Science Foundation, as a program manager for large interdisciplinary programs that span ecology, earth science, engineering, chemistry, and social sciences. During this time, she also worked with program managers at USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and at international science agencies on collaborative research funding efforts.
Shawn Donkin, CAS Associate Dean of Research, remarked, "We are thrilled to have Dr. Pett-Ridge join our team. Her passion for excellence in graduate education and leadership in research team building will promote a new level of excellence for research in CAS and at OSU."
Prior to joining Oregon State University, Pett-Ridge was a Natural Environment Research Council Fellow at the University of Oxford. She earned her Ph.D. in Isotope Geochemistry and Biogeochemistry from Cornell University.
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Pett-Ridge on her new role and celebrating her ongoing contributions to CAS and the field of agricultural sciences.