Updates about the latest accomplishments—including latest research, publications, and awards—by students, faculty, and staff
Libbi Miller, Education, published the article "Exploring critical reflection in a virtual learning community in teacher education" in the journal Reflective Practice: International and Multidisciplinary Perspectives.
Feb. 17-20 eighteen theatre majors attended the virtual Kennedy Center American Theatre Festival. Gwynnevere won the regional Aspire award and will represent Region 7 in Washington DC. Sammi won a scholarship to CSU Summer Arts to study with Second City improv, and Destiny won a one week scholarship to the Stagecraft Institute of Lighting in Las Vegas. Congratulations students!
Sing C. Chew, Professor Emeritus, recently published a new monograph: Ecology, Artificial Intelligence, and Virtual Reality (Life in the Digital Ages). Rowman and Littlefield Publishers. 2021.
Jasper Oshun and Margaret Lang published an article in the February issue of AAPG Explorer. The article, which details the positive and lasting impacts of their 'Bonanza en los Andes' project to HSU students, the community of Zurite, and hydrogeologic science was featured on the cover. A link to a pdf of the issue is below:
https://geology.humboldt.edu/sites/default/files/aapgfeb21explorer.pdf
Jason Laugesen has been selected as an awardee for the 2021 CSU Student Research Competition. Jason is an anthropology major with a focus on Mesoamerican archaeology. He is a research assistant at the Geospatial Archaeology Research Center and at the Cultural Resources Facility at HSU. For the past year and a half, Jason has been working under the direction of Dr. Cortes-Rincon on the Belize Archaeology Project. He uses ArcGIS to make maps of the ancient Maya structures and any other cultural features such as roads, quarries, and hydrology. The competition will be held virtually on April 30th.
Published the article "Classification, Koszulity and Artin-Schelter regularity of certain graded twisted tensor products" in the Journal of Noncommutative Geometry, DOI: 10.4171/JNCG/395
Catalina Cuellar-Gempeler earned the NSF Career award, one of the most prestigious awards offered by NSF.
Undergraduate Karley Rojas (Botany) has received a science fellowship from the Agricultural Research Institute for their proposed study of native plants that have the potential to be utilized in the context of agroecosystem building as consistent with regional TEK. They will be working with their mentors Dr.Buddhika Madurapperuma and Craig Benson.
Twelve CNRS students competed in the international Mathematical Contest in Modeling-- an annual four day intensive competition. Teams of 3 worked intensely to apply mathematics to a real world problem. Students worked on mathematical models applied to competing populations of fungi, musical influence, and optimizing our nation's delivery of higher education. The contest happened virtually due to the pandemic.
Rebecca Robertson (Anthropology faculty) recently published a paper, Empirical and Practical Implications for Documenting Early Racial Transfer Gaps in New Directions for Community Colleges:Transfer Partnerships for More Equitable Outcomes). This research used a nationally representative sample of students drawn from the Beginning Post-secondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:12/14) to quantitatively examine inequities in early transfer among racial/ethnic groups.
Chris Aberson of the Department of Psychology recently received the Western Psychological Association’s Outstanding Teaching Award for 2021. The Western Psychological Association is the oldest and largest division of the American Psychological Association. The society hosts an annual conference that draws 4,000 attendees a year.
Undergraduate Sarah Aguiar (ESM) received a $6,400 science fellowship from the Agricultural Research Institute for her proposed study to track phenology of California poppies from different parts of California and Baja California. She will be working with mentor Dr. Kerry Byrne (ESM) on the project.
Former graduate students Xerónimo Castañeda, Allison Huysman, and their advisor Matt Johnson published a paper in Ornithological Applications entitled, "Barn Owls select uncultivated habitats for hunting in a winegrape growing region of California."
Sophia Lemmo (Forestry graduate student advised by Lucy Kerhoulas and Rosemary Sherriff) gave an invited talk about the post-drought demographics of select true fir species in northern California at the Annual Meeting of the California Pest Council.
Lucy Kerhoulas (Forestry faculty), David Hammons (forestry undergraduate student), and Nick Kerhoulas (Wildlife faculty) published a paper in Northwest Science investigating bigleaf maple within-crown leaf morphology and seasonal physiology.
A study by Lucy Kerhoulas (Forestry and Wildland Resources faculty), William Weinberg (FWR undergraduate student), Jessica Suoja (FWR undergraduate student), Ryan Maberry (FWR undergraduate student), Chris Lee (Cal Fire Forest Health Specialist), Dave Baston (Core Lab), and Susan Marshall (FWR faculty) was written up by the National Park Service for "Stories of Science":https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/sos-diseased-trees.htm. This work investigated the physiological effects of Phytophthora ramorum leaf infections on understory hardwoods in Redwood National Park and is being published in Madroño (in press).
Sophia Lemmo (Forestry graduate student advised by Lucy Kerhoulas and Rosemary Sherriff) was awarded a Student Fellowship of $10,800 from the CSU Agricultural Research Institute for her M.S. investigation of forest mortality and regeneration in northern California.
Lucy Kerhoulas (Forestry faculty), Wade Polda (Biology undergraduate student), Nick Kerhoulas (Wildlife faculty), and Pascal Berrill (Forestry faculty) published a "research":https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2020.00049/full?&utm_… paper in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change on how management can influence conifer seedling physiology, growth, and survival.
Phil van Mantgem (USGS researcher), Lucy Kerhoulas (Forestry faculty), Rosemary Sherriff (Geography faculty), and Zach Wenderott (Forestry graduate student) published a "review paper":https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2020.00041/full?&utm_… in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change on how tree-rings can be used to verify that management can moderate forest drought responses.
Thanks to Will Goldenberg and SPF for putting together a great video highlighting our water development work in Perú: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Cz0rVMWDYE. Thanks to Jazmin Sandoval and Nathalie Rivera (Film), Yojana Miraya (Env. & Com.), and Laurel Smith (ERE) for collecting footage.
ESM professor Alison O'Dowd recently published a chapter "Urbanizing River Channels" in the Treatise on Geomorphology (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.12500-X
Former graduate student Hilary Cosby had her thesis research published in the Journal of Mammalogy, co-authored with mentor Dr. Micaela Szykman Gunther in the Department of Wildlife. The paper is entitled: "Variation in diet of river otters by season and aquatic community."
The co-authored paper “Fabaceae (legume) pollen as an anthropogenic indicator in eastern North America” was recently published in the journal Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. Dr. Teale’s background in historical ecology and Dr. Chang’s expertise in data analysis allowed the combination of historical records and pollen records to assess whether legumes (such as clover) reflect European settlement. Preview the article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-020-00815-w
Dr. Chelsea Teale was recently elected Treasurer of the Society of Woman Geographers. SWG was formed in 1925 as a response to the all-male Explorers Club, and financially supports women in many fields with fellowships, grants, and programming.
Zachary Erickson, Kevin Boston, Pascal Berrill (Forestry & Wildland Resources, CNRS) were awarded an Intertribal Timber Council, Native American Natural Resource Research Scholarship for Zachary's forestry MS thesis research into defining stewardship goals of native people, with case study example of the Wiyot tribe and HSU's Goukd'in (Jacoby Creek) Forest: “Identifying forest management objectives of the Wiyot”. $4,200.
Published two articles in the Volume 74 of the Handbook of Latin American Studies, published by the Hispanic Division of the Library of Congress and University of Texas Press. Pasztor has been an author and contributing editor of the Handbook, and a consultant for the Hispanic Division, since 1994.
Dr. Amy Rock was recently invited to join the Editorial Board for the California Geospatial Review, a peer-reviewed publication which showcases geospatial teaching and research within the CSU.
Dr. Sara L. Chase Merrick, an Assistant Professor in the Child Development, was awarded a $50,000 grant to help support her Hupa Language Immersion Summer School. The Dreamstarter Gold grant from Running Strong for American Indian Youth, a nonprofit that offers immediate services and financial support to tribes nationally, will help Dr. Merrick transform her week-long Hupa Language Immersion course into a four-week summer program. Sara will be collaborating with the Hoopa Tribal Education Association and Hupa Language speakers for this important project.
Dr. Pam Bowers and Dr.Katharine Dill (Marist College) co-authored an article titled: "Building a Better Field Seminar." The article and will be published in the upcoming issue of The Field Educator.
Dr. Jill Anderson, Dr. David Adams, and Dr. Chris Hopper are providing support for the Yurok Tribe Youth Engagement in Sports project that is designed to promote physical activity and sports participation for middle school students. Dr. Anderson is managing the research and evaluation activities and providing instruction in nutrition for Yurok Tribe personnel. Dr. Adams is supporting the implementation of the physical activity programs in schools and sharing ideas on how youth can maintain a healthy lifestyle at home. All three faculty serve on the project leadership team that is completing year 1 activities in a two-year project.
The Steinbergs are pleased to announce the release of their new edited volume, Resilient Communities across Geographies (Esri Press, 2021). The book presents a collection of case studies examining the application of geographic information systems (GIS) to environmental and socioeconomic challenges for analysis, planning, and, ultimately, more resilient communities. Each chapter explores a spatially driven approach to challenges of environments and communities working to achieve and support resilience.
Dr. Sara K. Sterner, School of Education, published Expanding Academic Writing: A Multilayered Exploration of What It Means To Belong as part of a special issue of Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education entitled The Messy Affect(s) of Writing in the Academy with her long time writing partner Dr. Lee C. Fisher (Minnesota Writing Project). The article is available at the following link: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/taboo/vol19/iss5/5/
"Undergraduate Soil Science Training in the USA," was recently published in the Soil Science Society of America Journal. Co-author Susan Edinger Marshall discovered that Humboldt State University is among only four universities in California (and 15 in the eleven Western States) that offer sufficient coursework for graduates to qualify as federal Soil Scientists CSA (Crop Soil Agronomy) News featured this article in their December 2020 issue. Free access is available at: https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/saj2.20140
Professor C.D. Hoyle received a Fundamental Physics Innovation Award from The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the American Physical Society that will support a 6-week research collaboration with Dr. Luciano Di Fiore and the gravitational physics group in Naples, Italy during the summer of 2021. This work, that is supported by the INFN and the University of Naples, will focus on developing a novel experimental platform for testing the fundamental properties of gravity at short distance scales, as well as solidifying a longer-term international collaboration.
The Child Development Association (CDA), a student-led RSO, successfully procured an AS grant of $695 to facilitate virtual self-care activities for HSU students. The CDA is inviting professionals including dance teachers, fitness coaches, meditation/yoga practitioners, artists, and personal finance professionals to help students invest in their mental/physical health. These self-care Fridays will run between February and April 2021. Luke Gauthier, the Child Development senior and treasurer shares, “I feel accomplished and excited for next steps. I want to positively affect many people with this grant. [Successful grant writing]also gives me confidence in what I can accomplish”.
Dr. Leslie Rossman, CFA Chapter Lecturer Representative, has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the California Faculty Association
Dr. John Meyer and Dr. Joice Chang of the Department of Politics co-authored “Continuities and changes; voices and silences: a critical analysis of the first three decades of scholarship in Environmental Politics.” The article was a collaboration with CAHSS Undergraduate Research Partner and political science major, Ileanna Spoelstra. It will be the lead article in a special, thirtieth anniversary edition of the international journal Environmental Politics to be published in February 2021.
https://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.humboldt.edu/doi/full/10.1080/09644…
Dr. Hyun-Kyung You from Child Development published, "Sociocultural and Family System Perspectives: Families Who Have Children with Disabilities." This textbook helps readers acknowledge and appreciate the unique and diverse experiences of families caring for children with a range of disabilities. Among various aspects of supporting children with developmental, medical, or educational needs, the text explores the everyday challenges and opportunities families may experience.
The late Professor Emeritus Bill Devall left behind a book manuscript that has just been published, Living Deep Ecology: A Bioregional Journey, Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group 2021. The book is his deep ecological journey living in the Klamath-Siskiyou Bioregion while teaching at HSU for nearly 30 years.
Dr Alison Holmes has just published her fifth book - Multi-layered Diplomacy in a Global State: The International Relations of California published by Palgrave Macmillan in London. Based on interviews with over 50 diplomats, tribal, city, county and state officials (including former governors), Holmes explores California's international activities and profile with key stakeholders and its impact on a developing area of diplomacy and global governance in theory and practice.
Dr. Larson recently contributed an essay, "A liberdade de morrer" (The Freedom to Die), to a project entitled "O Mundo desde Aquí: A pandemia da COVID-19" (The World from Here: The COVID-19 Pandemic). This series, financed by the municipal government of Pontevedra (Galicia), Spain, brought together writers from 23 countries to consider how COVID-19 has shaped their home societies and politics. Dr. Larson’s piece considers how the politicization of science and the truth jeopardizes public health, yet that this freedom to die is very much a part of our society in the U.S. The series can be found here:
https://www.igadi.gal/web/sites/all/arquivos/igadi_-_o_mundo_desde_aqui…
Published an opinion piece about the Secretary of Education in Biden's cabinet.
https://www.ajc.com/education/get-schooled-blog/opinion-replace-betsy-d…
Prof. Robert Cliver, HSU History Department, was recently interviewed by Prof. Felix Wemheuer of the University of Cologne about his new book, Red Silk: Class, Gender, and Revolution in China’s Yangzi Delta Silk Industry for the YouTube channel Studying Maoist China. The interview can be viewed at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UwwMEk5Rbw&t=37s.
Prof. Robert Cliver, HSU History Department, gave a remote (Zoom) talk about his new book, Red Silk: Class, Gender, and Revolution in China's Yangzi Delta Silk Industry, for the Chinese Business History Webinar of the Hong Kong Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Hong Kong on Dec. 4 (Dec. 3 Pacific time).
ESM Professor Alison O'Dowd was invited to give a talk at Portland State University on "Impacts of dams and an opportunity for renewal: Case studies of the Elwha and Klamath River Dams" on November 13, 2020.
HSU’s weather station is up and running again on the top of Van Matre with the help of Facilities Management, IT and GESA support. Funding for the upgraded station came from CAHSS and Rosemary Sherriff. View the weather at weather.humboldt.edu or Weather Underground (station ID KCAARCAT44) by searching for Humboldt State Weather Station or going to wunderground.com/weather/us/ca/arcata (Alliance Station). Links to the weather station and monthly (daily summary) records will be posted on Rosemary Sherriff’s Dendroecology Lab webpage starting January 2021. Contact me directly for hourly records if interested.
Dr. Deepti Chatti was invited to share her research at Brown University. She gave a research talk titled "Stirring the Pot: Energy Access and Environmental Injustice in the Context of Climate Change" on November 20, 2020 at the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society (IBES).
Mark Colwell, Chelsea Polevy and Hannah LeWinter published the last of three papers summarizing the importance of Humboldt Bay to shorebirds along the Pacific America’s Flyway. Their work, funded by Audubon California, shows that the bay hosts a diverse (52 species) and abundant (~850,000 individuals) assemblage of mostly sandpipers and plovers rear-round, justifying its designation as a site of international importance under the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network. See their work at: https://www.waderstudygroup.org/article/14584/
Libbi Miller, chair of the School of Education, presented at the webinar "CO Learning Lab to Close the Teacher Diversity Gap: Five Campus Teams Share Their Progress" as part of the CSU Educator Preparation and Public School Programs webinar series (November 20, 2020). The work presented presented at the webinar was compiled in collaboration with James Woglom (Art), Heather Ballinger (Education) and Sarah Green (Education).
Dr. Nievita Bueno Watts joined a panel of invited speakers at the Ecological Forecasting Initiative (EFI) National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) Research Coordination Network - Conversations on Diversity and Data seminar series. The participants shared information about their programs and their thoughts on the topic "What do diverse students need to thrive in data- and computer-heavy settings?"