Rachel White

Research Interest

My job gives me the opportunity to learn about human interactions and how communication can help us better understand our world and each other. I am interested in communicating science in diverse ways, developing effective strategies to help programs run successfully, using plain language, and designing information products that are visually appealing and audience-appropriate. 

"Plain language" is communication your audience will understand the first time they read it. Obama signed the Plain Writing Act in 2010, requiring federal agencies to use clear prose in communication with the public. Communicating science using plain language keeps your readers from falling asleep or walking out, and it does not require dumbing research down. Einstein said, "Most of the fundamental ideas of science are essentially simple, and may, as a rule, be expressed in a language comprehensible to everyone." 

 

Education

• Portland State University, M.S., Professional writing, 2009
• Oberlin College, B.S., Biology and English, 1993

Professional Organizations

• Member,  Federal Communicators Network,  2011 - Current
  Board member. In charge of speaker recruitment.

Featured Publications

• Robert Rainville, Rachel White, Jamie tech. eds..Barbour. 2008. Assessment of timber availability from forest restoration within the Blue Mountains of Oregon.
• Rachel White, Sarah McCaffrey. 2007. Fuels planning: science synthesis and integration
• Rachel White, Randy Molina. 2006. The Pacific Northwest Research Station biodiversity initiative: scooping out the challenges in managing for biodiversity.
• Peter Nelson, Rachel White, Randy Molina. 2006. The Pacific Northwest Research Station biodiversity initiative: collaborating for biodiversity management.

Other Publications

• Rachel White, Carlos Polivka. 2023. The very prickly caterpillar: Navigating Douglas-fir tussock moth outbreaks
• Paul F. Hessburg, Susan Charnley, Kendra L. Wendel, Eric M. White, Peter H. Singleton, David W. Peterson, Jessica E. Halofsky, Andrew N. Gray, Thomas A. Spies, Rebecca L. Flitcroft, Rachel White. 2020. The 1994 Eastside Screens large-tree harvest limit: review of science relevant to forest planning 25 years later
• Rachel White, Janet Prevey, Teresa Hollingsworth, Hans Andersen. 2019. Warming in the Cold North
• Rachel White, Morris Johnson, Nicole Vaillant, Jeremy Fried. 2018. Fuel treatments: Are we doing enough?
• Rachel White, Paul Hessburg, Sim Larkin, Morgan Varner. 2017. Smoke in a new era of fire
• Rachel White, Susan Charnley, Gordon Grant, Mary Rowland, Michael Wisdom. 2016. Restoring rivers, sustaining communities
• Rachel White, David Nicholls, Allen Brackley, Robert Deering. 2015. Alaska’s energy anxiety
• Rachelle S. Meyer, David L. Nicholls, Trista M. Patterson, Rachel E. White. 2013. Energy efficiency in U.S. Forest Service facilities: a multiregion review
• Rachel White, Rhonda Mazza. 2011. Landscape models: helping land managers think big

Other Publications

• Report
  

  Pacific Northwest Research Station— 2022 Update on the West-Side Fire and Climate Adaptation Research Initiative

Multimedia

• Webinars

  SCIENCEx Soils: How can Soil Science Lead to Resilient Forests?

Science Delivery

• Science Findings
  

  The very prickly caterpillar: Navigating Douglas-fir tussock moth outbreaks