Howe, Glenn

Position Type: 
Faculty
Job Title: 
Associate Professor; Director, Pacific Northwest Tree Improvement Research Cooperative
Department: 
Forest Ecosystems & Society
Office Location: 

334 Richardson Hall

Phone Number: 
(541) 737-9001
Education: 
B.S., 1977, The Pennsylvania State University
M.S., 1981, Michigan State University
Ph.D., 1991, Oregon State University
Research Areas: 
  • Genetics and Physiology
  • Integrated Social and Ecological Systems
Research Interests: 
  • Forest Genetics
Glenn’s research focuses on the breeding, ecological genetics, and genomics of forest trees, including understanding climate-associated patterns of genetic variation, physiological adaptations to climate, and assisted migration.

Advising

Graduate Major Advisor
Courses Taught: 
  • MNR 538
    Adapting Forests to Climate Change (ecampus)
    Climate change is expected to have profound effects on forests. Society can respond by managing in forests in ways that can help mitigate climate change or help forests adapt. Nonetheless, changes in climate and forest responses are uncertain, making management and policy decisions difficult and controversial. We will investigate the effects of climate change on forests, focusing on potential forest management and policy responses.
  • FS 521
    Natural Resources Research Planning
    This course provides graduate students with the fundamental research skills needed to successfully complete their graduate degree program and begin their professional career. In this course, you will learn how to plan, write, and critique scientific research proposals. Instruction will focus on direct, hands-on learning by writing a research proposal that could serve as your graduate thesis proposal. You will learn to pose relevant, interesting, and tractable researchable questions; design testable hypotheses; develop research goals and objectives; and apply critical thinking skills to design appropriate research methods. Students will benefit from having taken FES 520, although this is not a prerequisite for enrolling in FES 521.
Selected Publications: 
  1. Frank, Aline; Pluess, Andrea R.; Howe, Glenn T.; Sperisen, Christoph; and Heiri, Caroline. Submitted. Quantitative genetic differentiation and phenotypic plasticity of European beech in a heterogeneous landscape: indications for past climate adaptation. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics (submitted).
  2. Frank, Aline; Sperisen, Christoph; Howe, Glenn T.; Brang, Peter; Walthert, Lorenz; St.Clair, J. Bradley; and Heiri, Caroline. Submitted. Distinct genecological patterns in seedlings of Norway spruce and silver fir from a mountainous landscape. Ecology (submitted).
  3. Klocko, Amy L.; Brunner, Amy M.; Huang, Jian; Meilan, Rick; Lu, Haiwei; Ma, Cathleen; Alice Morel, Dazhong Zhao, Kori Ault, Michael Dow, Glenn Howe, Olga Shevchenko, and Steven H. Strauss. 2016. Genetic containment of forest trees by RNAi suppression of LEAFY. Nature Biotechnology (In press).
  4. Greer, Burke T.; Still, Christopher; Howe, Glenn T.; Tague, Christina; and Roberts, Dar A. 2016. Populations of aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) with different evolutionary histories differ in their climate occupancy. Ecol Evol. 6:3032-3039.
  5. Howe, Glenn T.; Horvath David P.; Dharmawardhana, Palitha; Priest, Henry D.; Mockler, Todd C.; and Strauss, S.H. 2015. Extensive transcriptome changes during natural onset and release of vegetative bud dormancy in Populus. Front. Plant Sci. http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2015.00989
  6. Kolpak, S.E., Smith, J., Albrecht, M.J., DeBell, J., Lipow, S., Cherry, M.L., and Howe, G.T. 2015. High-density miniaturized seed orchards of Douglas-fir. New Forests 46: 121-140. Published online 9 October, 2014.
  7. Urhan, O.S., Kolpak, S.E., Jayawickrama, K.J.S., and Howe, G.T. 2014. Early genetic selection for wood stiffness in juvenile Douglas-fir and western hemlock. For. Ecol. Manage. 320:104-117.