Latest Achievements

Updates about the latest accomplishments—including latest research, publications, and awards—by students, faculty, and staff

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David Marshall, Breck Robinson, Cade Webb, Information Technology Services

ITS Enterprise and Client Technology has received $50,000 worth of Amazon Web Services (AWS) credits from the CSU Office of the Chancellor. These credits will be used to explore cloud services to expand our Virtual Lab. For this project, we will focus on using AWS for computationally or resource intensive processes and applications.

Epsilon Upsilon Chapter,

Delta Phi Epsilon Sorority, Inc. Biennium Convention Epsilon Upsilon Chapter & California Alumnae Association Humboldt State University.

The 2018 International Leadership Forum for the Delta Phi Epsilon Sorority, Inc. was held in Buffalo, NY June 28th - July 1st, 2018. This biennium convention was attended by nearly 400 delegates around the country and marked the kick off for Delta Phi Epsilon’s new strategic plan. The event included distinguished alumnae speakers, professional development workshops, and the opportunity to celebrate Delta Phi Epsilon’s 100+ years of sisterhood and service.

The Epsilon Upsilon Chapter at Humboldt State University sent delegates to represent the HSU Chapter, one of two active chapters on the west coast. HSU’s undergraduate delegates included current Chapter President Michaelah Cole (Marine Biology, Senior) and past Vice President Operations Jasmine Calvillo (Cellular Molecular Biology, Senior).

Additionally, the California Alumnae Association, primarily composed of HSU graduates, had five alumnae representatives from Humboldt State University attending.

The Epsilon Upsilon Chapter at Humboldt State University was chartered in 1988 and currently has close to 60 undergraduate members. A second chapter was recently established on the west coast at California State University, Los Angeles in fall 2016.

*Organizational Awards*:
Outstanding Alumnae Newsletter Award: Epsilon Upsilon, Humboldt State University
-- Awarded to the active undergraduate chapter with the most creative and engaging outreach program targeted towards their alumnae graduates.
Outstanding Senior to Alumnae Programming Award: California Alumnae Association, Humboldt State University & California State University, Los Angeles.
-- Awarded to the Alumnae Association that excels in preparing collegiate senior members for alumnae membership during the biennium.

*Individual Awards*:
Sisterhood Award: Margie Janes, Epsilon Upsilon, HSU Class of 2006
-- Presented to a volunteer who demonstrates loyalty and devotion to all aspects of Delta Phi Epsilon, including time, participation, commitment to communication, and contributes above and beyond the description of their position.

For more information about Delta Phi Epsilon at Humboldt State University visit
www.dphie.org or https://dphiehsu.weebly.com/

Tim Miller, Sarah Fay Philips, Jessica Citti, Library / Writing Studio / Learning Center

Tim Miller (Library), Sarah Fay Philips (Library), and Jessica Citti (Writing Studio / Learning Center) presented "Creating and Coordinating a Collaborative Workshop Program: Librarians and Writing Studio Coordinator Share Insights and Lessons Learned" at the Library Instruction West 2018 Conference (July 19-20) in Grand Junction, CO.

Melanie Michalak, Susan Cashman, Geology

Melanie Michalak and Susan Cashman (Geology) were awarded a 3-year, multi-institutional National Science Foundation grant, with Eric Kirby (OSU) and Kevin Furlong (Penn State), to study geologic deformation in the Klamath Mountains. This research addresses both mountain building (long term deformation) and crustal strain associated with megathrust earthquakes (short term deformation). Principal investigators and students will partner with Hoopa Valley Elementary School’s 6th grade teachers for research-related activities and field trips for HVES 6th graders. HSU was awarded $158,636 to support graduate and undergraduate students, 6th grade teachers, supplies, and analyses.

Kerri J. Malloy, Native American Studies

Kerri J. Malloy, Lecturer in Native American Studies presented his paper “Marshall, Whitman and Baum: Selections from the American Terminal Narrative” at the "Words that Kill" conference organized by the George and Irina Schaeffer Center for Study of Genocide, Human Rights and Conflict Prevention at the American University of Paris (May 28-30) in Paris, France.

Seafha Ramos, Wildlife

Seafha Ramos, Research Associate and Lecturer in the Wildlife Department, published an article, "Considerations for culturally sensitive Traditional Ecological Knowledge research in wildlife conservation". The paper will be included in the June 2018 issue of the peer-reviewed journal, the Wildlife Society Bulletin.

Students in GEOG 300 and GEOG 301; Dr. Laura Johnson, Geography

Over the last year, students in GEOG 300, Global Awareness, and GEOG 301, Int'l Environmental Issues and Globalization, published papers on public blogs under the instruction of Dr. Laura Johnson.

Students in GEOG 300 created an 'Encyclopedia of Objects of Concern,' in which they creatively examined how seemingly mundane, ordinary objects connect people, places, and beings across the globe. Check it out here: https://humboldtglobalawareness.weebly.com

And in GEOG 301, students collectively developed case studies of resistance, re-imagining, and re-building, collaborating to probe innovative movements, organizations, and frameworks. Check it out here: https://reimaginetheworld.weebly.com

Emily Cobb, Art + Film

Emily Cobb attended and participated in the "Digital Meets Handmade" symposium in New York City on May 16th-18th. The symposium was organized by the Fashion Institute of Technology and the Politecnico di Milano in Milan, Italy. She presented her paper abstract "Sleight of Hand: Digital Influence on Contemporary Jewelry Education" and was a member of the panel that discussed "Has CAD gone Bad?"

Michael Le, Office of Institutional Effectiveness

Michael Le, Research Associate in the Office of Institutional Effectiveness is an invited panelist and presenter at the 58th annual conference for the Association for Institutional Research (AIR) held May 28 to June 1, 2018, in Orlando, FL. Michael won the Best Presentation Award at the 2017 California Association for Institutional Research (CAIR) Conference which comes with a $2,000 travel grant and automatic inclusion in the AIR Forum schedule. The Forum is the world’s largest gathering of higher education professionals in institutional research, effectiveness, assessment, planning and related fields. Learn more at: http://forum.airweb.org/2018

Bethany Rizzardi and three CSU Chief Information Officers, Information Technology Services

Bethany Rizzardi (Interim CIO), Hilary Baker (CSU Northridge), Dr. Christine Miller (CSU Sacramento), and Tosha Pham (Cal State LA) presented "Room at the Top: Cultivating Gender Diversity in IT Leadership" at the 2018 CSU Tech Conference (July 30-Aug 2) in Sacramento, CA.

Dr. Brian Mistler, Bethany Rizzardi, Student Health & Wellbeing / Information Technology Services

Dr. Brian Mistler (Student Health & Wellbeing) and Bethany Rizzardi (Information Technology Services) presented "Supporting Gender Non-Conforming Students: Psychological and Technological Considerations in Working with Chosen Names and Pronouns" at the 2018 CSU Tech Conference (July 30-Aug 2) in Sacramento, CA.

Professor Marissa O'Neill, Social Work

Professor Marissa O'Neill published in May 2018 Journal of Public Child Welfare: "IV-E or not IV-E, that is the question: comparisons of BSW Child Welfare Scholars and matched trainee confidence and retention"

ABSTRACT

Our longitudinal study examined the effectiveness of BSW IVE Scholar training compared with a matched cohort of traditionally trained employees. The BSW IV-E Scholars felt significantly more prepared than their traditionally-trained coworkers. BSW IV-E Scholars were significant investment of training dollars for IV-E at the Federal, state, and local levels.

Link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15548732.2018.1444531

Professor Jen Maguire, Social Work

Professor Jen Maguire recent panelist for the Assembly Committee hearing on Campus Climate

Wednesday, May 2, 2018 at the California State Capitol, HSU Department of Social Work Professor Jen Maguire served as a panelist for the Assembly Select Committee hearing on Campus Climate.

The hearing, chaired by Assembly Member Shirley N. Weber, included input from California Community Colleges, CSUs, and UCs advocating for college student basic needs and a Q&A with the Legislators.

Dominique Birdsong, Art + Film

Graduating senior and Honors Painting participant Dominique Birdsong, was selected by her painting professors, Teresa Stanley and Gina Tuzzi, to participate in the 10th Annual Art of Painting Conference and Exhibit at John Natsoulas Gallery in Davis, California in March. The exhibit featured the work of 20 top young college student painters from across the state. The exhibit and conference is geared towards nurturing dialog on contemporary painting and fostering interaction between young artists and established professionals in the field. A full-color catalog featuring Dominique's work, as well the work of other top students, was produced.

Dominique Birdsong, Art + Film

Graduating senior and Honors Painting participant Dominique Birdsong, has been accepted into the MFA program at the Royal College of Art in London, England. The Royal College of Art offers postgraduate degrees to students from over 60 countries and is considered to be the world's leading art and design university, according to a recent international survey. It has also been consistently placed first in the OS World University Rankings. Dominique was accepted into the program through a highly competitive selection process, submitting paintings from her "Trapped" series, paintings that explore issues of identity and loss. You can see more of her work at Birdaydesign.com.

Sarah Jaquette Ray, Environmental Studies

Dr. Ray has been invited to speak on "Coming of Age at the End of the World: Eco-grief and the Climate Generation," at UC-Santa Barbara on June 1.

Sarah Jaquette Ray, Environmental Studies

Dr. Ray has been invited to speak on "Coming of Age at the End of the World: Eco-grief and the Climate Generation," at UC-Santa Barbara on June 1.

Emeritus and Retired Faculty Association Faculty Award Winners, Various

The ERFA Faculty Awards winners were honored on May 8 at the University Senate Reception. This year's winners are:

Barbara Clucas, Department of Wildlife
Melissa Hawkins, Department of Biological Sciences
Margarita Otero-Diaz, Environmental Resources Engineering
Michihiro Clark Sugata, Department of Sociology

The website for the awards is: https://www2.humboldt.edu/senate/erfa/faculty-awards

Geography Students, Geography

Humboldt came home with several top awards from the 72nd Annual California Geographical Society meeting in Sacramento. The 18 current students, along with alumni, who attended represented HSU Geography with strong enthusiasm and professionalism.

We had three student awardees. Samuel Wood won first place for the Cartography Paper Competition. Joshua Shindelbower won second place for the Cartography Paper Competition. Quint Migliardi won third place for the Digital Cartography Competition, and several of our students landed Student Travel Awards. Well done!

"Photos and more information here.":https://www2.humboldt.edu/geography/cgs2018

Geography Students, Geography

Congratulations to our 2018 Geography scholarship recipients! At the annual awards BBQ, scholarships and awards were distributed thanks to the generosity of alumni and other donors. A new Kosmos award was created this year for leadership and creativity in geospatial science and cartography. Congratulations to recipients Miyako Namba (Dr. John L. Harper Memorial Scholarship), Hartford Johnson (Herring Geography Scholarship), Quint Migliardi (Dr. Joseph S. Leeper Scholarship), Kevin Greer (Suzanne Wetzel Seemann Scholarship), Amy Lautamo (Webb Bauer Award), Andrew Gibbs (Excellence of Scholarship, National Council for Geographic Education), Joshua Shindelbower and Gilbert Trejo (Kosmos Awards)

Barbara Klessig, Anthropology

Barbara Klessig has been invited to teach an experimental archaeology workshop in textiles at the University College Dublin,Ireland May 18th to students in their MSc in Experimental Archaeology.

Chemistry Club, Chemistry

The Chemistry Club, "The Free Radicals" received two awards from The American Chemical Society. They received a commendable student chapter award and the green chemistry award! Students in this club actively participate in outreach and fun science activities as well as career building workshops.

Mele’ana ‘Akolo, Charles Biles, John Cortenbach, John Dellysse, Sean Haas, Buddhika Madurapperuma, Carla Quintero, Library

Congratulations to authors accepted in vol. 2 of HSU’s peer-reviewed Ideafest Journal. Publication forthcoming at digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/ideafest/.
Mele’ana ‘Akolo “A Feminist Interpretation of Women’s Work with Koloa in the Tongan Community”
Charles Biles “Teaching Apportionment”
John Cortenbach and Buddhika Madurapperuma “Survey and Map Distribution of English Ivy at Patrick’s Point”
John Dellysse and Buddhika Madurapperuma “Developing a Coastal GIS Model of Sri Lanka to Pinpoint Areas at Risk of Tsunamis”
Sean Haas “Searching for a Connection between Radio Emissions and UV/Optical Absorption in Quasars”
Carla Quintero “How Many Quasars Have Extremely High Velocity Outflows?"

Cyndy Phillips, English

Cyndy Phillips has formed a local independent press, SequoiaSong Publications, which specializes in bringing voices and art to print that might not otherwise make it to mainstream publishing. SequoiaSong's first publication (in conjunction with HSU Press)--a children's bilingual picture book written by Peter Jain and illustrated by South Bay and Pine Hill Elementary School students-- will be released at Arts Arcata on May 11, 5:30-7p.m, at Wrangletown Cider Company, 1350 9th Street, Arcata.
The book serves as a fundraiser to support the music, art, and library programs of South Bay Union Elementary Schools.

Housing & Residence Life, Housing & Residence Life

Humboldt State University has been featured in Unique Venues magazine, in an article titled "The Time of Your Life: 8 colleges and universities provide one-of-a-kind experiences."

View the magazine online at http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/html5/reader/production/default.aspx?pubname=&pubid=dca6305d-b9f5-47fe-8411-fafa9662718d

Ramona Bell, Cheryl Johnson, Lisa Castellino, David Hickcox, Amber L Blakeslee, Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

In her work in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Ramona Bell was a part of a team who received a $200,000 grant from the CSU Office of the Chancellor for Advancing Faculty Diversity. The grant, awarded Fall 2017, is to help support the retention and recruitment of underrepresented faculty of color.

Amy Rock, Geography

Amy Rock and Ryan Malhoski have co-authored Mapping with ArcGIS Pro, a practical approach to cartographic design and decision-making with tutorials for ArcGIS Pro and integration into ArcGIS Online.

Jeremy S. Johnson, Noah K. Dunkley, Gabriela D. Martinez, Anthony E. Sanchez, and C.D. Hoyle, Physics & Astronomy

Congratulations to these student and faculty authors for the successful publication of an article titled "Novel Tests of Gravity Below Fifty Microns" in the peer-reviewed Proceedings of The National Conferences On Undergraduate Research (NCUR), 2017. Jeremy Johnson also presented this work at the conference itself, which was held in Memphis, TN in April, 2017.

Nicholas Hernandez, Physics & Astronomy

Nicholas Hernandez presented a poster providing a research update on work being done in the HSU Gravitational Physics Laboratory at the 2018 April Meeting of the American Physical Society (APS), which was held in Columbus, OH April 13-17.

Katia Karadjova, Library

Librarian Katia Karadjova was awarded a scholarship by the Society for College & University Planning (SCUP) to present at the SCUP 2018 annual conference in Nashville, TN, July 14-17. She will be presenting jointly with the Dean of Libraries at Drexel University in a panel session, Assessing Library Spaces as Learning Environments Goes Beyond Measuring Occupancy.

Colin Mateer, Anais Southard, Lonny Grafman, Environmental Studies

As covered in the Times-Standard, Environmental Studies majors Colin Mateer and Anais Southard and Environmental Science and Management major Aida Castro worked on a water catchment system in Loleta, under the guidance of HSU's Environmental Engineering/Appropriate Technology faculty member, Lonny Grafman. Check it out here: http://www.times-standard.com/article/NJ/20180419/NEWS/180419784

Maral N. Attallah, Critical Race, Gender & Sexuality Studies

Maral N. Attallah (Lecturer in the Critical Race, Gender & Sexuality Studies Department) will participate in a two-week seminar at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in DC (June 2018).The seminar is titled, "Racial Practice: Theory, Policy, and Execution in Nazi Germany and the Jim Crow South".

HSU Model UN, Politics

Students in the Model United Nations program participated in the Model United Nations of the Far West conference in San Francisco. Competing against more than 450 students from 30 universities, students from Humboldt State represented Kenya, Panama, Slovenia, Syria, and Vietnam.

HSU’s team received several awards. Kenya (represented by Averie Middleton, Sessi Fletcher, Syd Long, Jenesy Gabrielle Burkett, and Mara Arvizu), Slovenia (represented by Alex Banaskiewicz, Isabelle Tisson, Kayla McClelland, and Hailey LaJoie), and Vietnam (represented by Ryan Thomas, Nick Thomas, Alexis Borwn, Fabian Cuevas,and Dani Saldaña) were recognized as top performing teams.

Russell Gaskell, World Languages & Cultures

Congratulations to Club Advisor of the Year, Russell Gaskell. Russell teaches Spanish and is the Club advisor for Lambda Theta Phi. The award is given to advisors that not only advise their clubs but also mentor and help club members develop their leadership and professional skills.

In the words of club members, "Professor Gaskell has been... spectacular ever since he has been the advisor of the Lambda Theta Phi. What Russell has done is provide us with a crazy amount of support that makes us feel like he's a part of our family. ... He’s an amazing professor, a hell of an advisor, and more than being just our advisor, he is one of us."

The ideals of Lambda Theta Phi are the following: Academic Excellence; Brotherhood; Leadership; Latino Unity; Service. Lambda Theta Phi brothers perform community service, sponsor events which highlight and celebrate Latino heritage, participate in educational workshops, and enjoy many social programs. As a result of their active participation in every aspect of college life, they are developing their organizational, communication, and leadership skills, all while pursuing the coveted diploma.

Todd Larsen, Housing & Residence Life

Todd Larsen, Associate Director of Business Operations in Housing & Residence Life was selected to be on the Exhibits Committee for The Western Association of College and University Housing Officers (WACUHO) Annual Conference and Exposition for 2019. The Exhibits Committee provides an opportunity for Association members, Corporate Affiliate members and non-member vendors to collaboratively network and share ideas and products through an open exhibits area at the Annual Conference and Exposition. This past conference, there were over 50 exhibitors including design architects, construction managers, rooms management software, furniture providers and more.

Donyet King, Housing & Residence Life

Donyet King has been appointed as one of the Tri-Chairs on the Women of WACUHO Committee for the Western Association of College and University Housing Officers.

WoW strives to give women a voice in Student Affairs and create professional development opportunities, like regional Drive-In Conferences, mentoring programs, and scholarships to attend the annual WACUHO Conference.

Donyet is passionate about creating professional opportunities for women and other underrepresented groups. Congratulations on your appointment, WoW and Student Affairs are lucky to have you!

Cindy Moyer, Music

Scales and Arpeggios with Shifting Practice by Cindy Moyer has been published by Galaxy Music Corp.

Leena Dallasheh, History

Dr. Dallasheh has been awarded the National Endowment for Humanities (NEH) Awards for Faculty at Hispanic-Serving Institutions. This award is for completing her book manuscript, "Contested Citizenship: Nazareth’s Palestinians in the Transition from British Mandate to Israel, 1940-1966."

Leena Dallasheh, History

Dr. Dallasheh participated in College and University Educators Workshop at the Council for Foreign Relations in New York, NY. The workshop brings together over 100 professors, from around the USA, who are teaching courses on or related to international relations and U.S. foreign policy, along with those from other fields who are interested in introducing global issues into their classroom.

Leena Dallasheh, History

Dr. Dallasheh presented a paper entitled "Despite the Nakba: Palestinian Nazareth in Israel" at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. The paper was a part of the Institute for Middle East Studies Annual Conference 2018 - Nakba: Past and Present.

Rosemary Sherriff, Geography

Rosemary Sherriff (Geography) co-authored a new perspective paper titled "Advancing Dendrochronological Studies of Fire in the United States" in the new journal Fire. http://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/1/1/11/html

Michael Vernon, Rosemary Sherriff, Jeff Kane, Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management

Alum Michael Vernon (MS 2017) with Rosemary Sherriff (Geography), Jeff Kane (Forestry), and Phil van Mantgem (USGS) published a paper titled "Thinning, tree-growth, and resistance to multi-year drought in a mixed-conifer forest of northern California" in the journal Forest Ecology and Management.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2018.03.043

John Meyer, Politics

John Meyer will serve as an invited Visiting Scholar at the University of Reading Centre for Climate and Justice, UK, from May 21-June 9, 2018. While there, he'll work with the Centre's Ph.D. students and is also organizing a workshop on "everyday environmentalism and climate populism" to include presentations by Julian Agyeman (Tufts), Nancy Fraser (New School), Lisa Disch (Michigan) and Sherilyn MacGregor (Manchester).

https://research.reading.ac.uk/centre-for-climate-and-justice/

Roman Sanchez, Dance, Music & Theatre

Roman Sanchez – HSU Theatre Arts Senior

At the National Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, held in Washington, D.C., Roman Sanchez was honored to receive the ASTEP scholarship - an all expense paid trip to attend the Artist as Citizen Conference at Juilliard this summer. He also received the National Arts Impact Award (Cash prize, all-expense-paid trip back to DC to speak on behalf of arts activism to Congress).

As a bonus he was able to be mentored by Deans of YALE's School of Theatre Management, Vicki Nolan & Kelvin Dinkins Jr., and have powerful, one-on-one conversations with Jane Alexander, David Saar, Jorge Huerta, Luis Valdez, and many other nationally-recognized lea

Alex Childers, Brianne Hagen, Sarah Godlin, Hartford Johnson, and Carly Marino, Library

Students Alex Childers, Sarah Godlin and Hartford Johnson, and Librarians Brianne Hagen and Carly Marino presented "Researching the Redwoods: A New Approach to Archival Internships" at the Society of California Archivists' annual meeting in Yosemite.

Kyle Morgan and Morgan Barker, Library

Librarian Kyle Morgan and Instructional Designer Morgan Barker presented the poster “Publishing Simplified: A High-Impact Productive Disruption, Teaching the Publishing Process for Student Self-Efficacy” at the CSU Symposium + PolyTeach Joint Conference.

Kyle Morgan and Garrett Purchio, Library

Librarians Kyle Morgan and Garrett Purchio presented their hands-on workshop “Students Lead the Learning: A Game Show Approach to Teaching Database Searching” at the CSU Symposium + PolyTeach Joint Conference.

Forestry and Wildland Resources Students, Forestry, Fire & Rangeland Management

Congratulations to our 2018 scholarship recipients in the Forestry and Wildland Resources Department! At the annual awards banquet, over $55,000 in scholarships were distributed thanks to the generosity of alumni and other donors. A new scholarship was created by the family of Allan Eugene Nilson, who taught for 14 years in the HSU Forestry department. The Nilson scholarship will support high-achieving students with financial need.

Special congratulations to Kristy DeYoung, recipient of the Professional Promise Award, and Mike Padilla, recipient of the Academic Excellence Award. Also congratulations to Dr. Kevin Boston, recipient of the student-selected Outstanding Faculty Member Award.

Sarah Jaquette Ray, Environmental Studies

Dr. Ray was invited to give a public lecture, "Coming of Age at the End of the World: Eco-Grief and the Climate Generation," at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania.

Jonathon Salinas, World Languages & Cultures

Spanish major, Jonathon Salinas, will present "Representation and Contributions of Latinas in the Gay Liberation Movement" at the UCLA Qscholars Undergraduate Research Symposium on May 18th.

As a queer person of color, Jonathon works to highlight narratives of underrepresented groups in the LGBT+ community to empower and engage his communities. Director at HSU's Queer Resource Center, activist and, community organizer, Jonathon organized Humboldt County's first ever inclusive Pride event to bring attention to the racism, ableism, misogyny, transphobia, and many other forms of exclusion that plague queer/LGBT+ spaces.