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To start off Citizen Science Month, Sharman Apt Russell takes us into the arroyos of southwestern New Mexico where she has been helping monitor wildlife. The tracks of mountain lions are common and easy to identify, but the tracks of the endangered meadow jumping mouse are rare. Would she recognize them if she saw them? How would she know for certain?

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The meadow jumping mouse has a saltatorial superpower: it’s able to leap ten times the length of its body, up to three feet. These animals are also good swimmers. And diggers. And sleepers. In some areas, they hibernate ten months of the year. In 2014, a New Mexican subspecies was listed as federally endangered, and that’s how I got to know these mice, study their footprints, and learn the word “saltatorial” (adapted for leaping).

The OSU Press remains open, although our office in Valley Library is closed until further notice. Staff members are working remotely and can be reached by email. At this time, we’re working hard to keep projects on schedule and to support our authors, readers, and publishing partners.

Please note that our distributor, the Chicago Distribution Center (CDC), will be unable to pack and ship books from its warehouse until further notice due to an Illinois state order. We have shifted many of our books to a remote manufacturing and delivery model to keep them available for purchase and delivery. We are also working to make more of our books available as e-books for immediate download through our website. However, many of our print books will be backordered and will not ship until after CDC reopens. We encourage you to order our print books from your local independent bookseller’s website or other online retailers. We are sorry for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.

Recently, OSU Press interns Ashley Hay and Isaiah Holbrook attended PubWest’s annual conference. Both on the cusp of entering the publishing industry, they reflect on their experience at this publishing association’s conference below

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Ashley:

Last week, I was lucky enough to attend PubWest in Portland as an intern at OSU Press. Despite my youthful status and relative inexperience in the industry, I encountered friendly conference-goers, thoughtful conversations, and colorful debates over the course of the day. While at times I found myself overwhelmed at the depth and community of the industry I’m planning to enter, I think this was a useful step in immersing myself into this strange new culture.

In Black Woman in Green, Gloria Brown and Donna Sinclair share Gloria’s journey as the first African American woman to become a forest supervisor with the US Forest Service. In this blog post, they describe their process and present an excerpt from the book.

On this Valentine’s day we celebrate a different type of love—our love for the great state of Oregon! On February 14, 1859, Oregon was officially granted statehood by President James Buchanan. To recognize this day in honor of Oregon’s 161^st birthday, we are sharing a snapshot of Oregon’s history through the development of sports. Brian S. Campf’s Sporting Oregon highlights the growing popularity of sports such as baseball, football, and basketball during the mid-1800s, and the unity and camaraderie that sports inspired in Oregonians. What better way to depict Oregon’s history than through excerpts of Sporting Oregon!

The 19th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified 100 years ago today, giving women the right to vote. Long before they could vote, women in Oregon were shaping our history and fighting for political, social, and economic justice. Among them was Marie Equi, a Portland physician and one of the first "out" lesbians in Oregon. Today's blog post examines some of the ways that Marie Equi has made her way into contemporary classrooms and offers some suggestions for further reading.*           *            *           *           *