Latest Achievements

Justin Luong (FFRM) and colleagues recently published in Nature Ecology and Evolution on the how California grasslands are experiencing rapid shifts in response to climate change, resulting in plant communities that are more thermophillic, or adapted to warmer conditions. Understanding these plant community shifts to climate tolerances can help inform invasive species and conservation management.  A link to the manuscript is here.  

Sixteen students and faculty from Cal Poly Humboldt's Fisheries Biology Department attended the American Fisheries Society meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, joining over 2,000 global participants to share research and build collaborations. Humboldt representatives delivered ten presentations and chaired a symposium on integrating Traditional Ecological Knowledge with genomic approaches in fisheries conservation. The department also hosted a gathering for alumni, faculty, and friends to reconnect and celebrate shared achievements. Travel and registration costs were primarily funded through grants, illustrating the professional development opportunities available to students through active research and involvement in major scientific events. Learn more

Recent Marine Biology alumni Jordyn Neal and Sam Rodrigues, with help from Assistant Professor Allison Bronson, co-authored a paper on the inner ear anatomy of sharks, published in the journal The Anatomical Record. Jordyn and Sam reconstructed the inner ear spaces within shark skulls using the on-campus CT scanning facility. This work, especially in the context of relatively sparse prior studies on these structures, serves as a strong baseline for future comparative anatomy research on the hearing and equilibrium apparatus of cartilaginous fishes.

Sebastian Evans, Natural Resources, was awarded the Harry & Shirley Bailey Award for an Outstanding Physical Geography Paper at the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers conference hosted at Cal Poly Humboldt for his paper titled, "Vascular and Nonvascular Plant Succession of a Recently Extinct Glacial Foreland in the Trinity Alps Wilderness of California." Sebastian's paper investigates vegetative expansion and successional change following rapid glacial retreat near Thompson Peak in the Trinity Alps Wilderness, using a chronosequence approach to analyze growth forms and species interactions.

Catriona Barr, Natural Resources, was awarded the Tom McKnight & Joan Clemons Award for Outstanding Paper at the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers conference hosted at Cal Poly Humboldt for her paper titled "What Does Recovery Look Like? Defining and Describing Post-Fire Recovery in Communities of Northern California and Southern Oregon." Catriona's study examines post-fire recovery in rural communities across northern California and southern Oregon, highlighting the gaps in recovery resources and emphasizing the critical role of community-based organizations in fostering resilience and long-term recovery.

RRS undergraduate Dino Santia was awarded a $3,750 research award over this past summer to support his ongoing independent research project in Kerry Byrne's lab, entitled "Seed Bank Emergence Study."

RRS undergraduate Dino Santia has been awarded an $8,000 NEXTGEN research fellowship from the Agricultural Research Institute to support his independent research project in the Byrne Lab (ESM Dept), entitled "Seed bank Emergence Study." 

Natural Resources graduate student Jesse Laine (ESM option) has been awarded a $25,000 NEXTGEN research fellowship from the Agricultural Research Institute to support his proposed study entitled "Insect biodiversity in a restored coastal grassland." Jesse is a first-year graduate student in Kerry Byrne's lab.

Dr. Eugene Novotney, Department of Dance, Music, and Theatre, recently travelled to Port of Spain, Trinidad, W.I., to serve as an adjudicator for the 2024 Trinidad and Tobago National Steelband Music Festival. Dr. Novotney served on a panel of judges consisting of scholars and musicians from the Caribbean and the Americas and adjudicated 12 steelbands that had successfully completed the qualifying round of competition. The festival was held at the Jean Pierre Complex in Port of Spain and was conducted by Prime Minister Keith Rowley and sponsored by Pan Trinbago and the Trinidad Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and the Arts.

Kyleigh Brine was a selected choreographer and performer for the Emergence Dance Festival held at the Gibney Theatre in New York this past Summer 2024. She performed original choreography titled "on the backs of hardworking women" which utilized jackets and blazers as a costume and prop to represent the invisible burden that most women carry.   

Dr. Loren Cannon, Philosophy, was recently invited to submit an essay of his newest work to the Journal, “Logos:  A Journal of Modern Society and Culture.”  His essay, “The Backlash Continues: How Two Recent SCOTUS Rulings Pose a Threat to LGBTQ+ and Especially Trans And Gender Non-Binary Persons” is in the newest volume of the journal  In this essay, Cannon looks closely at two SCOTUS cases, 303 Creative v. Elenis and Kennedy v. Bremerton School District. Cannon concludes that these decisions legally protect religious expression, even when it is both coercive and discriminatory in the marketplace.

Dr. Nievita Bueno Watts received a $600,000 grant from the USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to support and strengthen their diversity recruitment mission. The Natural Resource Career Development Program will include educational workshops and activities organized by Cal Poly Humboldt’s COMPASS/INRSEP (Indian Natural Resources, Science & Engineering Program) staff. Focused outreach will center on Hispanic students who will receive guidance in NRCS career fields, required courses, resume building, and assistance in applying for federal internships and positions. This program will support Hispanic undergraduate and graduate students interested in becoming future leaders in agricultural fields

Faculty Karen Davy, viola, and Cindy Moyer, violin, play in the Watershed String Quartet, which is a community service group that volunteers 2 hours of performance for the highest bidder in fund-raising auctions for local non-profit organizations. On September 28, the Watershed quartet was auctioned off at the Eureka Symphony Gala, resulting in $2,350 added to the Eureka Symphony's funds. Previously, the quartet has been auctioned off by the Humboldt County Libraries and the Clark Museum, for performances at a memorial service and a student fashion show. Performance plans have not yet been arranged with the successful Eureka Symphony bidders.  

Cheyenne Ty, Amanda Case, Emmanuel Mezzulo, Abigail Penland, and Kamila Larripa had their paper accepted for publication in the Spora: A Journal of Biomathematics. The paper is called "An Agent-Based Model of Microglia and Neuron Interaction: Implications in Neurodegenerative Disease" and explores the role of a type of immune cell in the brain through modeling.

Dr. Alison Holmes (Politics) was invited to present to the annual September Conference on the Resolution of Intractable Conflict (CRIC) based at Oxford University by a former colleague, Lord Alderdice (first Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, former Leader of the Alliance Party of NI and retired President of Liberal International). The paper, based on her current research, was entitled "Subnational-ism: the best hope for a peaceful collapse of the nation-state?" She was subsequently offered publication in a volume of selected conference papers. 

Undergraduate students Wendy Kornberg and Claudia Alfaro Hernandez were each awarded an $11,000 California State University Agriculture Research Initiative-NEXTGEN in a systemwide competition to conduct independent research related to agricultural resources with Dr. Justin Luong. Wendy Kornberg will evaluate how indigenous microorganisms (IMO) inoculation can be used to benefit regenerative tomato production in south county. Claudia Alfaro Hernandez will evaluate how microhabitats created by solar microgrids shape plant communities and soil properties on local rangelands. The data will be used to inform ecological restoration plant selection for future management goals related to native plant diversity, pollinator habitat, and sheep grazing.   

Dr. Joshua J. Frye and his co-author Dr. Steven R. Goldzwig (Professor Emeritus at Marquette University) have published a new scholarly monograph. Colleague and collaborator Dr. James F. Woglom provided original artwork for the book.  Rhetoric and Democracy in a Post-Truth Era offers a timely examination of public communication and political culture in the United States and the systemic feedback loops that have amplified democratic dysfunction and violence. Frye and Goldzwig identify and analyze four key perils (post truth; polarization; [social media] platforms; and populism) in the interplay of complex systems.

PI Dr. Jieun Lee (University of Northern Colorado), along with co-PIs Dr. Gary Langham (American Assoc. of Geographers), Dr. Amy Rock (UCGIS), and Dr. Laxmi Ramasubramanian (CUNY-Staten Island) have received a $1 million NSF ADVANCE grant to support women in geography and geospatial sciences.  Building on the Golden Compass project and UCGIS' TRELIS program, the 4-year project works with departments to support increased representation and advancement for women in STEM, specifically examining opportunities for equity and inclusion for foreign-born women faculty.  More details can be found on the AAG site: https://www.aag.org/aag-embarks-on-national-partnership-to-support-fore…;

Nievita Bueno Watts received a $600,000 grant from the USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to support and strengthen their diversity recruitment mission. The Natural Resource Career Development Program will include educational workshops and activities organized by Cal Poly Humboldt’s COMPASS/INRSEP (Indian Natural Resources, Science & Engineering Program) staff. Focused outreach will center on Hispanic students who will receive guidance in NRCS career fields, required courses, resume building, and assistance in applying for federal internships and positions. This program will support Hispanic undergraduate and graduate students interested in becoming future leaders in agricultural fields.

Drs. Andrew Stubblefield and Rosemary Sherriff are Coordinating Leads on California’s Fifth Climate Change Assessment’s Regional Synthesis Report for the North Coast, focusing on how climate change is impacting six counties in northwestern California. The assessment is supported through the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research and aims to inform on-the-ground implementation and decision-making at the local, regional, tribal, and state levels, focusing on communities most vulnerable to climate change. Lead authors include Dr. Daniel Lipe, Dr. David Narum, Dr. Keith Parker, and Jennifer Marlow. Learn more about the assessment here.

Dr. Troy Lescher recently published “Doctoral Projects in Progress in Theatre Arts, 2024” for the Association of Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE). This annual report, which included the participation of over two dozen national and international institutions, identifies and publicizes new researchers as well as their dissertation titles and topics.

Dr. Rouhollah Aghasaleh has been included as a biographical listee in Marquis Who's Who. In recognition of this prestigious honor, Dr. Aghasaleh will be featured in the organization's flagship hardcover registry, Who’s Who in America. Marquis Who's Who, the world’s leading biographical publisher since 1899, continues its tradition of profiling individuals who have made significant contributions in their fields through notable achievements or positions of responsibility. The inclusion of Dr. Aghasaleh reflects the distinguished accomplishments that have garnered the attention of the Marquis Who’s Who Selection Committee.

Amanda Dinscore, a College of Professional Studies Librarian, and Dr. Debbie Gonzalez, Social Work, published an article entitled Addressing Barriers to Research-Informed Practice: A Library and Social Work Collaboration to Empower Future Practitioners, which describes the challenges social workers face, once they graduate, to utilize research to inform their practice. The article describes an approach to addressing these challenges through an open pedagogy assignment, the creation of the Humboldt Social Work Knowledge Commons.   

Professor Josh Meisel (Sociology) gave a poster presentation on "Gender and Global Cannabis Cultivation" at the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy in Montreal in June with co-authors Julie E. Brummer and Thomas Friis Søgaard (Aarhus University), Gary Potter (Lancaster University Law School), and Jodie Grigg (Curtin University). The research draws on data collected as part of the 2020 International Cannabis Cultivation Questionnaire administered to small-scale growers in 18 countries.  

Professor Hyun-Kyung You in Child Development and her colleagues published an article, “Revisiting Transnational Activities: Korean Immigrant Mothers’ Home Visit for Families,” in Sage Open. Continuing research on transnational families, this original research explores the return trip experiences of Korean immigrant women with children. Purposefully planned and coordinated trips to Korea were not only for children to enhance their Korean identity but also for their transnational relationship with aging parents.  https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/21582440241240912   Co-authors are Yu-Jin Jeong (Jeonbuk National University) and Sungeun Yang (Inha University) in Korea. 

Dr. Tristan Gleason received a $440,000 National Science Foundation grant to support collaborative research with the University of Oregon aimed at improving the retention of diverse students in undergraduate pre-service STEM teacher preparation programs. The project will examine systemic barriers and inequitable practices that impact the preparation of future STEM educators, and contribute to the general knowledge base about institutional transformations that support the development of a diverse STEM teacher population.

A library editorial team has published the 46th volume of the Humboldt Journal of Social Relations on the topic Academic Libraries Creating Global Community: Operating Outside of Traditional Roles and Spaces. Inspired by the work of our own amazing library, Kyle Morgan, Morgan Barker, Amanda Dinscore, Brianne Hagen, Carly Marino, Garrett Purchio, and Kimberly Stelter assembled some of the best library community work across the nation to celebrate the import of these critical efforts. We hope this publication will inspire librarians everywhere to tackle challenges beyond their own traditional library walls. Read at https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/hjsr/ or https://www.amazon.com/dp/1962081133.

Janelle Adsit was accepted to the Global Arts in Medicine Fellowship, founded in Nigeria in 2018. As part of the 2024 cohort, she will collaborate with colleagues from 36 countries to pilot new programs that utilize the arts to support health justice and community wellbeing. Projects will be presented at the upcoming Global Arts in Health Festival. https://artsinmedicinefellowship.org/

Professor Chris Dugaw updated and published a new edition of the text Laboratories in Mathematical Experimentation: A Bridge to Higher Mathematics, which is used in Cal Poly Humboldt's Mathematical Experimentation and Proof course. This text is composed of a set of sixteen laboratory investigations which allow the student to explore rich and diverse ideas and concepts in mathematics.  With the help and support of the original authors at Mt Holyoke and colleagues at University of Texas, El Paso he modernized it to use contemporary computer software. The text is freely available from The Press at Cal Poly Humboldt here.    

Professor Sarita Ray Chaudhury published a qualitative analysis of online user-generated content (UGC) titled "Laugh like Surpanakha": Modern Literary Re-imagining of a Famous Villaness in Indian Folkloric Traditions, in the journal Cultural Analysis. This study explores how modern readers perceive Surpanakha’s characterization in Kavita Kane’s novel The Lanka’s Princess. Findings suggest readers’ willingness to accept Surpanakha’s villainous traits as expressions protesting mainstream expectations of the female ideal. https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~culturalanalysis/volume22_1/pdf/Chaudhury…

Dr Gaffney along with three former Cal Poly Humboldt alum published a paper, Our group is worth the fight: Group cohesion is embedded in willingness to fight or die for relatively deprived political groups during national elections, in Translational Issues in Psychological Science. The first, second, and third authors all graduated from Cal Poly Humboldt with a Master's in Psychology from our Academic Research Program. One of the authors, Benjamin Anjierdwerden, is currently a lecturer in the Psychology Department.

Armeda Reitzel delivered an invited presentation on her "Success Story" in open pedagogy through her use of LibreTexts open educational resources. Her talk was a featured presentation at LibreFest 2024 in July 2024.

Sarah Lasley's short film "Welcome to the Enclave" received a glowing review from critic Collin Souter in the Features section for RogerEbert.com. Souter writes that the film has "one of the strangest and funniest closers to a short film I’ve seen in a long, long time" and notes "when [he] programmed this film for the Chicago Critics Film Festival (where it won the Audience Award), [he] knew it had to close the block. Every film had to, in some way, lead up to this one." https://www.rogerebert.com/features/short-films-in-focus-welcome-to-the…

Dr. Allison Bronson received a National Science Foundation grant to study the inner ear structures of sharks, using CT scanning and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). This work will evaluate whether ear shape differs between shark species living in different habitats, potentially developing a predictive model for inferring the ecology of extinct fishes. The project involves collaborators at the University of Michigan, University of North Carolina WIlmington, University of Birmingham, and University of Auckland, and will use specimens from Cal Poly Humboldt’s Fish Collection and other museums throughout the United States.

Dr. Rachael Wade received a 2024 Norma J. Lang Fellowship award from the Phycological Society of America. The award supports genome sequencing of the red alga, C. berteroi. While algal species tend to assume restricted ranges, C. berteroi is widespread and can be found across nearshore environments in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Dr. Wade’s work will explore this cosmopolitanism, and data from the study will later be used to reconstruct the species’ ancestral range, and identify adaptive traits that have facilitated its distribution. Understanding drivers of cosmopolitanism can increase understanding of algal adaptation in the face of climate change.

Professor Alison Holmes (Politics) spent the 4th of July leading an Election Night Watch 'seminar' for the international colleagues attending her course at Oxford University. Having run two national campaigns for the Liberal Democrats and having worked at the BBC, Holmes offered context and guided the audience through results throughout an exciting night. The Conservatives were voted out, the Labour Party took control, and the Liberal Democrats became the third-largest party in Parliament. Holmes will be going to the LibDem party conference in September to cover the event for a London magazine.  

Dr. Tyler Evans has published a new paper in collaboration with Professor Alice Fialowski (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary) and her (former) Ph.D. student Professor Yong Yang (Xinjiang University, China). The paper, titled 'On the Cohomology of Restricted Heisenberg Lie Algebras,' appeared in Linear Algebra and its Applications in July, 2024. The authors classify all possible restricted Lie algebra structures on modular Heisenberg Lie algebras and explicitly describe the 1- and 2-restricted cohomology spaces. The full text of the article is available at no cost until September 3, 2024 at https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1jQ~85YnCtZG1.

Dr. Rachael Wade received a 2024 Norma J. Lang Fellowship award from the Phycological Society of America. The award supports genome sequencing of the red alga, C. berteroi. While algal species tend to assume restricted ranges, C. berteroi is widespread, and can be found across nearshore environments in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Dr. Wade’s work will explore this cosmopolitanism, and data from the study will later be used to reconstruct the species’ ancestral range, and identify adaptive traits that have facilitated its’ distribution. Understanding drivers of cosmopolitanism can increase understanding of algal adaptation in the face of climate change.

Native American Studies faculty member, Dr. Kaitlin Reed's first book, Settler Cannabis: From Gold Rush to Green Rush in Indigenous Northern California was chosen as the winner of the 16th Annual Labriola National American Indian Data Center National Book Award. 

A film made by Environmental Studies majors Hunter Circe and Sean Stippick in Professor Sarah Lasley's "Social Change Filmmaking" class last spring was accepted into the Earth Connection Film Festival. Their film, Troglodyte, follows a man paralyzed by anxiety over a looming climate disaster. His mental turmoil and isolation, brought on by an obsessive consumption of climate doom media, manifests as a physical sea cave, which he ultimately escapes when his television breaks. Hunter and Sean will receive $300 for being accepted and have their film premiered on July 20 at the Buskirk Chumley Theatre in Bloomington, IN.  

Congratulations Jamie Jensen! Jamie was appointed to the California Commission on Aging by California Governor Gavin Newsom. The California Commission on Aging has 25 commissioners appointed by different public office officials, it serves as "the principal advocate in the state on behalf of older individuals, including, but not limited to, advisory participation in the consideration of all legislation and regulations made by state and federal departments and agencies relating to programs and services that affect older individuals." Read more at https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2024/06/newsom-appoints-cph-associate-professor.html.

In partnership with Redwood National Park and the United States Geological Survey- Arcata Field Office, Jeff Kane and graduate student Megan Joyce from the Department of Forestry, Fire, and Rangeland Management will be examining the impacts of restoration thinning treatments that burned in the 2023 Lost Fire on surface fuel changes, tree mortality, regeneration, and secondary redwood forests. Information from this study will aid managers in determining the ability of restoration thinning treatments to mitigate impacts from wildfire and will advance our understanding of fire effects in secondary redwood forests.  

The California Center for Rural Policy (CCRP) recently received two summer bridge grants from the Yurok Tribe through their Klamath Promise Neighborhood grant. The first grant supported a Community Literacy Celebration where families were able to share the joy of early literacy with book giveaways, cozy spaces for reading, and opportunities for parents to learn how to support their children in learning to read. The second grant supports ongoing efforts to inspire young people to pursue education and careers in healthcare through the E3 program with summer employment in the healthcare sector in Del Norte.

Drs. Kaitlin Reed and Cutcha Risling Baldy received a grant to design and implement professional development opportunities for faculty and staff in the humanities that will provide a pathway for ethical integration of Indigenous knowledge into their teaching, research, and service. These opportunities will include faculty book circles, speaker series, and intensive syllabus workshops, and will lay the groundwork for Cal Poly Humboldt to become a place for faculty from other universities and institutions to look to for models on integrating Indigenous knowledge systems at a university-wide level. Funding comes from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Lucy Kerhoulas received a $180,000 grant from the Columbia Land Trust to investigate white oak responses to forest restoration thinning treatments aiming to reduce fire fuels, overstory competition, and tree drought vulnerability. This project will measure oak physiology before treatments and two years after treatments; findings will help hone management prescriptions to maximize Oregon white oak resiliency at the eastern edge of the species' range. The project is in collaboration with Oregon State University, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Columbia Land Trust, and the East Cascades Oak Partnership and will support one graduate student and numerous undergraduate students.

Regina Khoury (MS Student, Environmental Systems - Geology) and professor Brandon Browne (Geology Department) presented their original research poster in Spokane, WA, at the May 15-17, 2024 Geological Society of America Cordilleran Section Meeting. Their research poster, titled "Petrologic and Geochemical Constraints on Pre-Eruptive Storage Conditions of Magmas Erupted During the ~12.5 ka Flare Up of Medicine Lake Volcano, CA," described the results of Regina's MS thesis, including detailed field mapping of lavas and vents, whole-rock geochemical analysis of lavas and pyroclasts, and in situ chemical analysis of tiny crystals within lavas and pyroclasts.   

In May, Professor Alison Holmes (Politics) graduated Phi Kappa Phi from Montana State University's Native American Studies Graduate Certificate program. Intended as a way to inform her work with the Karuk Education Department, they honored her with a necklace created by a young person taking part in a cultural mentoring program (funded by a grant Holmes helped to write) which she wore with pride at the Humboldt commencement. 

Lucy Kerhoulas received a $50,000 grant from Save the Redwoods League to examine the influences of Redwoods Rising restoration treatments on forest water sources and drought responses in Redwood National and State Parks near Orick, CA. Tree-rings, stable isotopes, and physiological measurements will all be a part of this work. Findings will help foster drought-resilient ecosystems by informing managers about how treatments influence forest water sources and what treatments most effectively maximize water availability for plants. Collaborators include Anthony Ambrose, Andrew Stubblefield, Alana Chin, Phil van Mantgem, Lathrop Leonard, and Jason Teraoka.

In her new book that came out on May 13, "The Existential Toolkit for Climate Justice Educators: How to Teach in a Burning World," Dr. Sarah Jaquette Ray draws on a decade of learning from Humboldt students about how to be an educator in times of climate disruption. Given CPH's ongoing and pivotal legacy of student activism, it is clear that college students need a pedagogy that supports them in meeting the polycrisis. Bringing emotions research, neuroscience, and liberatory pedagogy to the center, the book helps climate educators in particular be more embodied and trauma-informed.

Dr. Oscar Vargas and collaborators have published a new scientific article "Towards a Monophyletic Infrageneric Circumscription of Adesmia DC. (Dalbergieae, Leguminosae): a Taxonomic Revision in Adesmia series Adesmia" in the journal Phytotaxa. https://phytotaxa.mapress.com/pt/article/view/phytotaxa.639.1.1