Transect for Rural to Urban Oregon

TRU Oregon
fire, water, climate into the future

TRU — where the transect begins.

A partnership between Southern Oregon University and Portland State University, TRU Oregon shares rural to urban projects — amplifying community voices and building resilience across 280 miles of corridor.

A partnership of Southern Oregon University Portland State University
TRU Oregon · SOU Ashland ↔ PSU Portland · Climate Knowledge Corridor
What is TRU?

A transect from
rural to urban

TRU Oregon is a research and community platform co-led by Southern Oregon University (SOU) and Portland State University (PSU). The transect runs 280 miles — from the Siskiyou foothills to the Willamette Valley — tracing Oregon's climate future in real time.

Public-funded universities provide education to communities. TRU Oregon is at the front of this.

Ashland sits at the southern end of the TRU transect that also brings the rural perspective to Oregon's climate future.

Portland is at the northern end of the TRU transect and provides a more urban perspective on the challenges ahead.

Issues

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💧
Water
Snowpack loss, Rogue River flows, drought policy, and watershed equity.
🔥
Fire
Wildfire risk, smoke health impacts, evacuation planning, and defensible space.
⚠️
Compounding Hazards
When drought, heat, fire, and flood converge — and systems fail together.
🌡️
Climate Change
Long-term shifts in temperature, precipitation, and seasonal patterns across the transect.
🤝
Equity
Who bears the burden of climate impacts, and who has access to resources and recovery.

Featured Projects

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One transect. Two universities. One climate future.

SOU in Ashland anchors the rural end. PSU in Portland anchors the urban end. Together they span Oregon's climate future.

280
Miles of transect
2
University partners
~10°F
Warmer summers ahead by 2080

The TRU Corridor

Full map →

The TRU transect runs 280 miles from SOU in Ashland to PSU in Portland. Click either anchor city to learn about the climate issues and projects active there. More corridor cities will appear as collaborators join.

WILLAMETTE VALLEY ROGUE VALLEY PORTLAND PSU ASHLAND SOU N ~50 mi

Map Legend

PSU / Portland anchor
SOU / Ashland anchor
TRU transect
Portland
PSU · Urban anchor
Ashland
SOU · Rural anchor
PSU · Urban Anchor

Portland

Oregon's largest city and northern anchor of the TRU transect. Portland State University leads urban climate research.

SOU · Rural anchor

Ashland

The southern anchor of the TRU transect and home to Southern Oregon University. Ashland is gives context to the TRU climate future.

Share your
project or story.

TRU Oregon is built on community knowledge. If you're working on something related to water, fire, climate adaptation, or resilience anywhere along the Ashland–Portland transect, we want to feature it.

Submit Your Project →

We're collecting projects on:

Issue Area

Water Wildfire & Smoke Heat & Drought Compounding Hazards Community Resilience Equity & Access Biodiversity Agriculture Emergency Response Policy & Governance

Type of Work

Storytelling Place-Based Planning / Co-Production of Knowledge Data Inventory / Gap Public / Stakeholder Engagement with Science Environmental Justice Restoration Economy

Project submissions are stored in a linked Google Sheet. All data is community-owned and openly accessible. Google Forms — no account required.

Stay on the transect.

Get project updates and climate insights from the TRU corridor — SOU to PSU.