Oregon State University Press

For fifty years, Oregon State University Press has been publishing exceptional books about the Pacific Northwest—its people and landscapes, its flora and fauna, its history and cultural heritage. The Press has played a vital role in the region’s literary life, providing readers with a better understanding of what it means to be an Oregonian. Today, Oregon State University Press publishes distinguished books in several academic areas from environmental history and natural resource management to indigenous studies.

Showing 141-150 of 414 items.

Where the Wind Dreams of Staying

Searching for Purpose and Place in the West

Oregon State University Press

Where the Wind Dreams of Staying is a personal memoir told through interwoven essays. Dieterle details his experiences in southeastern Washington, Utah, Nevada, Iowa, California, and Airzona. His restless search for purpose, identity, and place moves through cycles of success and failure, love and loss. He captures the emotional storms of a boy, and then a man, on a restless search for meaning in a place, or for a place with meaning.

More info

The Jewish Oregon Story, 1950-2010

Oregon State University Press

The Jewish Oregon Story traces the history of diverse Jewish Oregonians and their communities during a period of dramatic change. Drawing on archival sources, including a collection of over five hundred oral histories, the book explores how Jewish Oregonians both contributed to and were shaped by the “Oregon Story,” a political shift that fueled Oregon’s—and particularly Portland’s—emerging reputation for progressivism and sustainability.

Published in Cooperation with the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education

More info

Rivers of Oregon

Oregon State University Press


Rivers of Oregon captures the beauty and the intrinsic qualities of the state’s irresistible riverscapes like no other book has done. From the underwater view and from the refuge of riparian forests, from the seat of a canoe or raft and from distant mountain summits, readers will gain new perspectives on the extraordinary features that provide us with water, with life, and with scenes whose loss would leave us deeply impoverished.

More info

A Naturalist's Guide to the Hidden World of Pacific Northwest Dunes

Oregon State University Press

The Pacific dunes provide a unique habitat for plants, animals, and insects, and anyone who walks along the coast will want to have this illustrated reference handy. While written for the educated public, comprehensive data for biologists studying dune ecology are also included. This guide to exploring the dunes is detailed enough to be used by biologists and ecologists, accessible enough to serve as a field guide to hikers and outdoor enthusiasts. A Naturalist’s Guide to the Pacific Dunes belongs on every beach house bookshelf from California to Canada.

More info

A Week in Yellowstone's Thorofare

A Journey Through the Remotest Place

Oregon State University Press

The remotest place in the country, outside of Alaska, is a region in Yellowstone National Park ironically named the Thorofare, for its historic role as a route traversed by fur trappers. A Week in Yellowstone’s Thorofare is a history and celebration of this wild place, set within a week-long expedition that the author took with three friends in 2014.

More info

Ricky's Atlas

Mapping a Land on Fire

Oregon State University Press

On a visit to his uncle’s ranch in eastern Oregon, Ricky Zamora brings his curiosity and love of map-making to the arid landscapes east of the Cascades Mountains.  He arrives during a wild thunderstorm, and watches his family and their neighbors scramble to deal with a wildfire that grew from a spark of lightning. Joined by his friend Ellie, he sees how plants, animals, and people adjust to life with wildfires.  Designed for upper elementary kids, this sequel to the bestselling Ellie’s Log is based on actual historical, physical and ecological data about the region.

More info

Boundary Layer

Exploring the Genius Between Worlds

Oregon State University Press

In atmospheric science, a boundary layer is where the ground comes into contact with the air. In the Pacific Northwest, this boundary layer teems with lichens, mosses, ferns, fungi, and diminutive plants. It’s a universe in miniature, an unexplored territory that author Kem Luther calls the stegnon, the terrestrial equivalent of oceanic plankton. In Boundary Layer, Luther takes a voyage of discovery through the stegnon, exploring the life forms that thrive there and introducing readers to the scientists who study them.

More info

Holy Moli

Albatross and Other Ancestors

Oregon State University Press

Albatross live long. They spend the majority of their years airborne, gliding across vast oceans. In nesting season, they rack up inconceivable mileage to feed their chicks waiting on the islands of the Hawaiian archipelago. When Hob Osterlund happened upon a few courting albatross in Kauai, in 1979, she embarked on a personal journey that introduced her to the Hawaiian concept of ?aumakua— spiritual ancestors who occupy the physical forms of animals. This is the story of how the albatross – or Moli - guided Hob on her journey, back to the origin of a bargain she struck as a child.

More info

Ethnobotany of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians

Oregon State University Press

Very little has been published until now on the ethnobotany of western Oregon indigenous peoples.  Ethnobotany of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians documents the use of plants by these closely-related coastal tribes, covering a geographical area that extends roughly from Cape Perpetua on the central coast, south to the Coquille River, and from the Coast Range west to the Pacific shore, with a focus on native plants and their traditional uses.

More info

Reporting the Oregon Story

How Activists and Visionaries Transformed a State

Oregon State University Press

Oregon entered a new era in 1964 with the election of Tom McCall as Secretary of State and Bob Straub as State Treasurer.  Their political rivalry formed the backdrop for two of Oregon’s most transformative decades, as they successively fought for, lost, and won the governorship. Veteran Oregon journalist Floyd McKay had a front-row seat. As a political reporter for The Oregon Statesman in Salem, and then as news analyst for KGW-TV in Portland, McKay was known for asking tough questions and pulling no punches. His reporting and commentaries ranged from analysis of the “Tom and Bob” rivalry, to the Vietnam War’s impact on Senators Wayne Morse and Mark Hatfield and the emergence of a new generation of Portland activists in the 1970s. Covering the period from 1964 to 1986, McKay remembers the action, the players and the consequences, in this compelling and personal account.

More info
Find what you’re looking for...
Stay Informed

Receive the latest UBC Press news, including events, catalogues, and announcements.


Read past newsletters

Publishers Represented
UBC Press is the Canadian agent for several international publishers. Visit our Publishers Represented page to learn more.