Julie Risien

Dr. Julie Risien serves as the Interim Associate Vice President for Research Advancement. In this role, she leads the Office of Research Advancement (ORA), which is dedicated to increasing OSU’s competitiveness for federal and foundation funding by strategically leveraging the university’s unique research strengths. Under her leadership, ORA drives key initiatives including building faculty research excellence through targeted fellowships, professional development, incentive and seed funding programs;  and advancing transdisciplinary and engaged research practices through cross-sector collaboration and strategic partnerships to support faculty teams pursuing large extramural awards. Risien works to scale research impacts by participating in national efforts that strengthen universities' capacity to deliver societal benefits and innovative solutions.

Dr. Risien has a broad disciplinary foundation in marine ecology, natural resource management and social sciences. With a doctorate in environmental sciences her scholarship examines the transformative power of collaboration, professional learning and interinstitutional learning networks. Her career began in the non-profit sector working in conservation, international development, and philanthropy as a program officer for a family foundation. Since joining OSU in 2006 with Oregon Sea Grant, she has served in key leadership roles including a decade as Associate Director and operational lead of the OSU STEM Research Center and dual roles as the OSU Director of Transdisciplinary Research and founding Director of Polar STEAM.

Joining the Division of Research and Innovation Leadership Team in 2026, Dr. Risien continues her decade-long service on the leadership team of the NSF-funded center for Advancing Research Impact in Society (ARIS), where she currently co-leads the Research Impacts Institutional Innovation (RI3) initiative.