Dr. Starry is an associate professor at Portland State University where she teaches urban ecology and other related courses in the Honors College. She’s advised numerous honors thesis projects and is also co-PI on an NSF-funded S-STEM scholarship program that supports PSU’s EAGLES (Engagement Achievement and Graduation for Low-incomE Students) scholars to consider research on environmental pollution. Professor Starry studies ecoroofs as model systems for understanding how design and management decisions affect the ecological, social, and political functions of urban open spaces. More specifically, her recent externally funded projects address how ecoroof design can affect human health by influencing air quality, and by providing horticultural therapy. Previous publications, in journals such as Ecological Engineering and Urban Ecosystems, have explored local and global patterns of ecoroof biodiversity using beetles as indicator species as well as the role of plants in the ecoroof water cycle. Locally, she serves as a member of the Green Roof Information Thinktank (GRiT) Board of Directors, and as an organizing committee member of the Urban Ecology Research Consortium. She has also co-authored an ecoroof coloring book: Growing up in the city: a greenroof activity book.
Professor Starry holds a doctoral degree from the University of Maryland and has also held positions in State government (in PA) and non-profit organizations before returning to academia.
Selected Publications:
Laguerre, A., Brennan D. L., Starry, O., Rosenstiel T.N., and E.T, Gall. 2023. Characterization of volatile organic compound emissions and CO2 uptake from eco-roof plants. Building and Environment. 234:110158.
Starry O., Viray, A., Park-Egan, B., Terway, A.C., Oxendahl, T., and T. Burdsall 2022. A Pilot Study Considering Ecoroofs as Therapeutic Landscapes. Front. Sustain. Cities 4:811306. doi: 10.3389/frsc.2022.811306
Gonsalves, S., A. Szailles, S. Brenneisen, and O. Starry. 2022. The influence of green roof design on beetle diversity and other measures of community composition. Urban Ecosystems 25(1): 205-219.
Ramasubramanian, P., Luhung, I., O. Starry, S.B.Y. Lim, C. Shuster, and E. Gall. 2021. Impact of green and white roofs on HVAC filters and indoor ventilation air. Building and Environment 97(4):107860
Starry, O., J. Lea-Cox, A. Ristvey, and S. Cohan. 2016. Parameterizing a water balance model for predicting stormwater runoff from green roofs. Journal of Hydrologic Engineering 21(12): 04016046.
Starry, O. 2016. Ecosystem ecology as a framework for organizing and advancing greenroof research. Israel Journal of Ecology and Evolution 62(1-2):97-102.
Starry, O., J. D. Lea-Cox, J. Kim, and M.W. vanIersel. 2014. Photosynthesis and water use by two Sedum species in green roof substrate. Environmental and Experimental Botany 107:105-112.
Felson, A.J., M. Pavao-Zuckerman, T. Carter, F. Montalto, B. Shuster,N. Springer, E. Stander, and O. Starry. 2013. Mapping the design process for urban ecology researchers. BioScience 63(11):854-865.