Rory O'Connor | College of Agricultural Sciences

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Research Ecologist (USDA-ARS)
rory.oconnor [at] oregonstate.edu

Office: 541-573-8943

Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center - Burns

EOARC-Burns Experiment Station 67826-A Hwy 205

EOARC-Burns Experiment Station

67826-A Hwy 205

Burns, OR 97720-9394

Grassland and shrubland ecology
Rangeland plant ecophysiology
Restoration of woody encroached or invaded rangelands
Evaluating fire, herbivory and climate effects on plant communities
Rangeland carbon dynamics

Email: rory.o'[email protected]

Google Scholar page

At OSU

Affiliated with:

Animal & Rnglnd Sciences

Career Links:

Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center, USDA-ARS Rangeland Ecologist

Professional Accomplishments

Education:

2019: PhD of Biology Kansas State University

2014: MSc of Biology Brigham Young University

2009: BSc of Ecology, Wildlife, and Fisheries at Brigham Young University - Idaho

My Publications

2026

Journal Article

E. P. Hamerlynck and O'Connor, R., “Direct and Indirect Effects of Floral Defoliation on Photochemical and Non‐Photochemical Chlorophyll Fluorescence Dynamics of a Semiarid Bunchgrass”, Plant-Environment Interactions, vol. 7, no. 1, 2026.

Report

D. W. Bohnert, Ranches, J., Johnson, D. D., O'Connor, R., Harris, T., and Endress, B. A., “Oregon Beef Council Report 2026 Edition”, Oregon State University, 2026.

2025

Conference Proceedings

R. O'Connor, Sannerud, D., Hamerlynck, E. P., Ranches, J., Bohnert, D. W., and Huber, D. P., “Wyoming Sagebrush Rangeland Soils are a Weak Methane Sink”, 12th International Rangeland Congress . Australia, 2025.

Journal Article

J. D. Bates, Davies, K. W., Copeland, S. M., O'Connor, R., Svejcar, L. N., and Clenet, D. R., “Effects of Long-Term Grazing at Different Intensities on Herbaceous Biomass in Southeast Oregon Sagebrush Steppe”, Rangeland Ecology & Management, vol. 103, pp. 307 - 317, 2025.

E. A. French, Beck, M. R., Kalscheur, K. F., Jaramillo, D. M., Derner, J. D., Moffet, C. A., Neville, B. W., Soder, K. J., O'Connor, R., Koziel, J. A., Vadas, P., Moeller, S., and Gunter, S. A., “Experimental and experiential recommendations for using the GreenFeed systems to measure gas flux in grazing and confined cattle”, MethodsX, vol. 15, 2025.

J. D. Bates, Davies, K. W., O'Connor, R., and Copeland, S. M., “Initial Divergent Postfire Recovery Converges Over the Long-term: A Case Study in Juniper-Encroached Sagebrush Steppe”, Rangeland Ecology & Management, vol. 103, pp. 377 - 387, 2025.

2024

Journal Article

T. Harris, Johnson, D. D., and O'Connor, R., “A brief history of sagebrush management in the Great Basin: From removal to reduction and beyond”, Rangelands, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 63 - 71, 2024.

V. Schroeder, Johnson, D. D., Davies, K. W., Boyd, C. S., and O'Connor, R., “Effects of Dormant Season and Contemporary Spring-Summer Grazing on Plant Community Composition in the Sagebrush Ecosystem”, Rangeland Ecology & Management, 2024.

M. D. Smith, Wilkins, K. D., Holdrege, M. C., Wilfahrt, P., O'Connor, R., Larson, J. E., and Munson, S. M., “Extreme Drought Impacts have been Underestimated in Grasslands and Shrublands Globally”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 121, no. 4, 2024.

R. O'Connor, Fox, V. G., and Hamerlynck, E. P., “Photosynthetic Resilience of Elymus elymoides and Pseudoroegneria spicata Seedlings Following Acute Water Stress”, Rangeland Ecology & Management, vol. 94, pp. 195 - 198, 2024.

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My Media

My Video Gallery:

Ecological Drought and...

Ecological Drought and Resistance and Resilience (OConnor SRM 2022)

Ecological Drought and Resistance and Resilience (OConnor SRM 2022)

Great Basin Rangeland...

Great Basin Rangeland Carbon SRM2021

Great Basin Rangeland Carbon SRM2021

Virtual Fence Applicat...

Virtual Fence Application Riparian Exclusion

Virtual Fence Application Riparian Exclusion

My News Articles:

Surf and Turf: Oregon State researchers to study feeding seaweed to cattle

Cattle on Rangeland. Photo: OSU

Oregon State University researchers have received a $1 million grant to study the impact of adding seaweed to the diets of beef cattle as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Photochemical Performance of Bunchgrass Reproductive Structures

Sequence of photographs showing preparations to sample dark adapted chlorophyll florescence measurements of bunchgrasses under a multi-layered space blanket. Image credit: Hamerlynck and O’Connor.

How does drought influence the photochemical performance of reproductive structures of native and exotic bunchgrasses of the Great Basin?

Intra-clonal differences in leaf physiology after fire in Cornus drummondii

Cornus drummondii scattered across the hilly landscape of the Konza Prairie Biological Station just south of Manhattan, KS, USA. Image credit: Wedel et al.

Do we need to account for intra-clonal differences in response to disturbance to accurately parameterize models of clonal shrub encroachment?