Rate My Professor Alan Shay

Alan Shay serves as an Instructor in the Department of Horticulture at Oregon State University, focusing on residential and commercial landscapes through the Beaver Landscapes program. He holds undergraduate degrees in art and horticulture, along with a Master of Agriculture (MAg) from Oregon State University, earned between 2007 and 2010, after which he joined the faculty. Prior to academia, Shay accumulated over 38 years in the green industry, including 27 years managing landscapes at prestigious sites such as the Eugene Country Club, The Oregon Garden—where he directed the installation of tens of thousands of native plants—and DeSantis Landscapes. His early training at OSU emphasized conventional maintenance practices, but experience collaborating with ecologists shifted his focus toward sustainable approaches. As manager of the Oak Creek Center for Urban Horticulture (OCCUH), Shay has spearheaded efforts to certify the center as a Certified Wildlife Habitat, demonstrating sustainable methods that enhance urban ecosystems, riparian vegetation, and watershed health. Under his leadership, OCCUH promotes biodiversity through low-maintenance practices and serves as a hub for educational outreach on urban horticulture.

Shay teaches a diverse array of courses, including Sustainable Landscaping (HORT 255, an Ecampus course certified by Quality Matters), Landscape Maintenance and Design, Residential and Commercial Landscapes, Advanced Permaculture, and Herbaceous Plant Materials. His academic interests revolve around designing urban landscapes that harmonize aesthetics for people with functional habitats for pollinators, blending native and non-native plants suited to the Willamette Valley's summer-dry Mediterranean climate. He recommends drought-tolerant evergreens, herbaceous perennials, and early bloomers like willows, hazelnuts, Oregon grape, and camas to ensure year-round appeal, supplemented by resources such as the USDA's Plants for Pollinators in Oregon guide. Shay has pioneered pollinator hotels on OSU's 500-acre campus—open-frame structures using drilled wood blocks, teasel stems, and spirea for cavity-nesting species—and expanded them to community sites. His contributions extend to OSU Extension podcasts on topics like urban landscapes for pollinators, wildlife habitat connectivity, and watershed interconnectedness, as well as seminars at events like the Farwest Show exploring cultural interpretations of urban landscapes. Key publications include the 2017 HortTechnology article 'Switchgrass and Little Bluestem Cultivars Show Consumer Preference for Native Grasses.' In 2021, Shay received recognition through the OSU Ecampus Awards for excellence in HORT 255.