Meet Toby Maxwell, SageCon's Technical Coordinator

Toby Maxwell

A few years ago, Toby Maxwell moved to Oregon after years at Boise State University and the U.S. Geological survey where he worked across the entire sagebrush domain, although never in Oregon. Soon after arriving, he was introduced to SageCon, and he quickly signed up to attend his first meeting which was in Lakeview in 2023, looking to see how folks were managing and thinking about sagebrush here in Oregon.

As a soil scientist, his interest lay in invasive grasses and how factors such as wildfire and invasive plants might affect — and be affected by — soil processes in rangelands and high deserts. Through his conversations with SageCon participants, he began developing outreach products with SageCon’s former technical coordinator, Megan Creutzburg.

Part of Toby's thinking when it comes to science and research is that there is a lot of information out there — and though it's important to keep learning and finding more, it's also critical to have conversations and get the information out and into the hands of the public land managers, ranchers, and landowners who are directly impacting these ecosystems. By making science accessible and actionable, you can make a greater impact on the ground.

Now, as SageCon's Technical Coordinator, he's doing just that! His dual appointment at OSU-Cascades and the Institute for Natural Resources has given him the resources to work with the SageCon community to build tools and opportunities to further sage-grouse and sagebrush steppe conservation. Below are two examples of his upcoming work.

Soil Health Workshop

September 30th in Burns, funded by NRCS and OWEB

SageCon is partnering with the Oregon State University, the Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center, the USDA Agricultural Research Service, and the US Geological Survey to host a workshop as part of this year’s SageCon Summit. By empowering participants to become scientists themselves – to ask questions on their own time and to understand how soil might respond to or alter the impacts of different management practices – this workshop aims to provide a better understanding of this unseen resource and support people in improving their land management practices.

IAG Decision Tree

With Mark Porter, ODA, and Megan Creutzburg, The Nature Conservancy

To support the seemingly endless need to help folks figure out what to do about annual grasses, the IAG Decision Tree provides a set of questions that are relatable yet science based, resources that are attainable, and supports decision-making that aims to better the sagebrush ecosystem health.

We're thrilled to have Toby as the SageCon Technical Coordinator — continue to keep an eye out for more resources and opportunities to connect. Feel free to check out his OSU faculty page or send him a message.