Updates about the latest accomplishments—including latest research, publications, and awards—by students, faculty, and staff
James Floss, Lecturer in the Communication Department, served on a panel for The Northern Humboldt Union High School District's Career Frontiers Program, in partnership with College of the Redwoods, the Decade of Difference Initiative, and Humboldt State University, who invited local high school students and their parents to a series of college information panels. He answered their questions and shared insights and perspectives about the differences between high school and college, along with his expectations for being successful in college. He also provided testimony from 25 of his current freshmen students on the rigors of being a college student.
HSU students Elizabeth ("Lizzie") Philips and Phil Santos advanced to the top 16 at the U.S. Universities Western Regional Debate Championships held March 24-26 at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma WA.
USUW as it is called brought over 60 debating pairs representing 20 schools from Arkansas to Hawaii, from UCLA in Southern California to the University of British Columbia in B.C. Canada. Lizzie and Phil advanced to the quarterfinal round (the top 16) where they lost a close debate about whether or not the EU should pursue protectionist economic policies with the UK post "Brexit." The tournament is touted as a regional preview of the National Championships which the team will be attending next week.
Prof. C.D. Hoyle was awarded $55,000 as part of a larger $600,000 collaborative National Science Foundation grant in conjunction with Syracuse University and IUPUI. The project will establish a new experiment that will measure the gravitational constant, G, with unprecedented precision and will attempt to resolve the discrepancies between recent measurements. The funds will mainly support HSU students who will do research during the summer at IUPUI and play a substantial role in establishing the new experiment. More information can be found here: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1708024
Congratulations to Bill Trush, Adjunct Professor in the Department of Environmental Science & Management and Co-Director of the HSU River Institute for receiving the “Golden Pipe” award from the Salmonid Restoration Federation at their recent annual meeting in Davis, CA. The Golden Pipe is an award for innovators in the salmon restoration field. https://www.calsalmon.org/about/awards/golden-pipe-award
Kerri J. Malloy, Lecturer in Native American Studies, presented his paper Tuluwat: From Apology to Support at the Emerging Expertise: Holding Accountability Accountable conference (April 6-9, 2017) at the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. The conference brought together a diverse array of early career scholars, lawyers, policymakers, and NGO Staff to work on issues germane to the aftermath of mass violence to generate novel ideas about past cases and contemporary ones. Participants explored “accountability” as a theoretical concept, methodological concern, moral principle, legal demand, and a form of ethical engagement.
MSc (Environmental Systems-Geology) students Mindi Curran and Tim Bailey presented their work at the annual Salmonid Restoration Federation Conference in Davis, CA on March 30-April 2. This year's theme was "Restoring Watersheds and Rebuilding Salmon Runs." Both Curran and Bailey were invited to give oral presentations in the "Using Photogrammetric and Aerial Vehicle Technology to Support Salmonid Restoration Planning and Engineering" topical session, which was aimed to teach specific tools to researchers using high resolution imagery to quantify aspects of stream habitat.
Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy published two articles.
"We Fight for the Land, The Earth, Everything: From Bears Ears to the High Country of California" was published in an edited collection "Edge of Morning: Native Voices Speak for Bears Ears." A copy of this book was sent to members of Congress to support making Bears Ears a national monument.
"Water Is Life: The Flower Dance Ceremony" was published in the 30th Anniversary Edition of News From Native California Magazine. This article explores the connection between Native women and water.
Both articles can be found on Dr. Risling Baldy's website: http://www.cutcharislingbaldy.com/publications.html
Librarian Marissa Mourer was selected to serve as a panel presenter at the national Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) conference in Baltimore, MD, March 2017, which convenes every two years. Marissa shared her original project, "Library Brain Booth" during the panel entitled, "Transforming Academic Libraries into Centers for Wellness, Relaxation, and Contemplation."
Congratulations to Leticia Sanchez an International Studies major with a concentration in Global Culture and Karl Gareth Jones Oman, an Environmental Resources Major, who have both been selected to receive the Spring 2017 HSU Global Ambassadors Fund award.
The purpose of this award is to support full-time HSU students seeking to study abroad anywhere in the world for at least a semester and to cover costs not readily paid from other sources. For those aiming to study abroad in Spring 2018, details of the application process are available at: http://www2.humboldt.edu/internationalstudies/global_amb_scholarship.html
The next deadline will be: October 2, 2017.
Erin Kelly, Assistant Professor in Forestry, was awarded the Educator of the Year by the California Forestry Association. She received the award at the annual CFA gathering in Napa, California on March 2.
Dr. Kelly also joined the Forest Policy Committee for the Society of American Foresters (SAF), the largest professional society for foresters in the United States. The Forest Policy Committee has 10 members representing academia, industry, and non-profit organizations; members met in Washington, DC from March 6-7 to recommend federal policy priorities for SAF staff and board members to relay to federal legislators and agencies.
Hunter Fine was invited to present communication scholarship on two panels at the Central States Communication Association Conference, Minneapolis, MN, 2017:
"The Cultural Practice of Riding Waves: Deconstructing Performances of Empire and Resistance." Contributed paper presentation “Framing: Dimensions of Culture, Identity, Media and Power” in the Intercultural Communication Interest Group.
Contributed position presentation “Community Policing—How Communication Education, Training and Theory can help Create Better Relationships among Law Enforcement and the Community” in the Intercultural Communication Interest Group.
Geographer Stephen Cunha’s Perestroika to Parkland: The Evolution of Land Protection in the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan, appears in Annals of the American Association of Geographers 107:2. In a span of twenty-four years a perestroika-inspired citizen and government coalition created one of the largest protected areas in the Palearctic Realm. The national park and World Heritage Site represents a significant milestone in the global movement that began in Yosemite to protect landscapes for the use and enjoyment of all people. See: www.tandfonline.com/eprint/wWsw383Cn56BPvEXq8Mb/full
Steve Martin had a peer-reviewed article titled 'Real and Potential Influences of Information Technology on Outdoor Recreation and Wilderness Experiences and Management' published in the Journal of Park and Recreation Administration.
The Switzer Foundation Environmental Fellowship flew HSU graduate researcher Keith Parker to Washington DC where he met with Senator Kamala Harris’ staff (Mar 13) and Congressman Jared Huffman’s staff (Mar 14). The subjects were Klamath River restoration and the 2016 Klamath Power and Facilities Agreement dam removal timeline. Keith spoke from the perspective of a Yurok tribal member living on the river merged with his thesis work in the Klamath basin. Klamath River environmental justice issues of blue-green algae blooms, health quarantines, fish kills, low water flows, and other issues disproportionately impact California’s three largest tribes in the basin.
Dr. Dallasheh was invited to present a paper at Cornell University. Entitled "Between Nation and State: Nazareth’s Palestinian Citizens’ legal Strategies in Israel," the paper was presented, despite the storm. It was also streamed and can be watched at: https://cornell.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=191386bb-a712-4d16-9d14-d8c7204ab990
Matthew Derrick received a Title VIII Fellowship to study the Kazakh/Kyrgyz language at the Central Eurasian Studies Summer Institute (CESSI) this summer at the University of Wisconsin.
Christine Mata, Associate Dean of Students at Humboldt State University, and co-authors Chia Claros, Gina A. Garcia, and Marc P. Johnston-Guerrero have published a chapter in New Directions for Student Services, no 157, entitled “Helping Students Understand Intersectionality: Reflections from a Dialogue Project in Residential Life.” Mata, a doctoral student in the Higher Education and Organizational Change program at University of California-Los Angeles, has developed and presented several on-campus trainings this spring semester 2017 regarding Microaggressions and Bystander Intervention as part of HSU’s efforts to create an inclusive campus community.
Mark Colwell and current and former students (Lizzie Feucht, Matt Lau, David Orluck, Sean McAllister, Amber Transou) published a paper in Wader Study, an international journal dedicated to shorebird ecology and conservation. The work summarizes 16 years of monitoring to show that immigration is vital to recent population growth of Snowy Plovers in coastal northern California.
Professor of Anthropology Marissa Ramsier was recently invited to the Jacksonville Zoo in Jacksonville, Fla., to help examine a gorilla that was suspected to be deaf. The visit was featured on NBC's Today's Show. Video from the report is available here: http://www.today.com/video/watch-doctors-test-this-gorilla-to-see-if-she-s-gone-deaf-894807619843
History Professor Thomas D. Mays' fourth book, "American Guerrillas," will be out the first week in April. Here is a link to read more: http://lyonspress.com/book/9781493022298
There will be a book signing Friday, April 7 from 6-8 at the Wine Spot on F Street in Old Town Eureka.
Dr. Ray was invited to speak about the environmental humanities, race, and justice at the University of Oregon on March 2. The visit also included a writing workshop for a collection Dr. Ray is producing with colleagues there, titled Latinx Literary Environmentalisms: Justice, Place, and the Decolonial.
ENST major Madi Whaley, ENGL majors Jacqueline Lowe and Miranda Olberg, and E&C master's student Natalia Cordoso, were selected to present their own research at the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment conference in Detroit in June. Madi, Jacqueline, and Miranda received undergraduate research awards from CAHSS to support their trip.
ENST major Shanti Belaustengui Pockell has been accepted to join the California Student Sustainability Coalition Writing Team-- a huge honor. The CSSC unites, connects, supports, and empowers students from across California to transform their educational institutions and communities into models of ecological, economic, and social sustainability. The Writing Team creates written content related to the student or youth voice in the sustainability movement to be featured on the CSSC website, newsletters, and other social media platforms. Shanti will be turning in about 1,000 words a month, highlighting the work of the HSU community in regards to Sustainability and Environmental Justice work.
Adam Carter will present his paper, "Using Programming Process Data to Detect Differences in Students' Patterns of Programming" at this year's ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE) in Seattle, WA.
Matthew Derrick recently was selected as a Fulbright Scholar. The award will support him while on sabbatical for the 2017/18 academic year, while he conducts comparative field research in Central Asia. For the duration of the award he will be affiliated with American University of Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
Physics student Sean Haas recently had his first peer reviewed article published in National Conference on Undergraduate Research Proceedings. Haas' paper is titled, "Searching for a Connection Between Radio Emission and UV/Optical Absorption in Quasars," the abstract for which can be viewed online here: http://www.ncurproceedings.org/ojs/index.php/NCUR2016/article/view/2028.
Humboldt State debaters Lizzie Phillips and Philip Santos took first place at the 2017 Steeltown Invitational debate tournament in Pittsburg, CA. Benjahmin Johnson was also ranked as the 7th best speaker.
"Ecosystems of California" won two 2017 PROSE awards, which are given by the Association of American Publishers. It won the award for environmental science, and the overall award for excellence in physical sciences and mathematics.For more information on AAP 2017 awardees visit:
https://proseawards.com/winners/
Librarians Tim Miller (Digital Media and Learning) and Sarah Fay Philips (Coordinator of Instruction and Reference) presented at the Evidence-Based Teaching & Learning Lilly Conference (February 23-26, 2017). The title of their presentation was “Creating a Lifelong Learning Culture: Motivating Learners and Engaging Educators”. The conference provides a forum to share and model a scholarly approach to teaching and learning that reports quality student learning outcomes while promoting professional development of faculty.
Joshua Frye (Associate Professor, Communication) recently presented a paper at the Western States Communication Association annual convention in Salt Lake City. The paper was a part of a panel entitled "Centralizing Food Justice's Place(s) in Environmental Communication. Other panelists included colleagues and collaborators from the University of Utah, Northern Arizona University, and the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. Frye's paper introduced some theoretical tenets to shape critical environmental communication inquiry into food justice agency.
Mark Szymanski (MS Student, Geology) received a $1,000 research grant from the Northern California Geological Society. Mark will these funds to measure oxygen isotope ratios of olivine crystals in lavas erupted over the last 750,000 years in the Sierra Nevada. Results from Mark's thesis will advance our understanding the controls of where mafic volcanoes form and how they evolve.
Tyler Stumpf (Asst. Professor, Management) recently had a research paper entitled "Institutions and transaction costs in foreign-local hotel ventures: A grounded investigation in the developing Pacific" accepted for publication in the journal Tourism Management. As opposed to the status quo approach to foreign-local hotel ventures in developing Pacific Islands which is predicated on idealistic presumptions regarding formal institutions, this study elucidates how transaction costs associated with such ventures can be economized by recognizing, valuing, and utilizing informal institutions.
Amy Sprowles (Biology) and Kerri J. Malloy (Native American Studies) presented their paper “Klamath Connections: creating cultural awareness through interdisciplinary study and community partnerships in the next generation of STEM professionals” at the Critical Histories and Activist Futures: Science, Medicine, and Racial Violence conference (February 24-25, 2017) at the Program in History of Science and Medicine at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The conference focused on issues of science and racial violence as objects of historical study, and considered the lingering inequalities and injustices within history as a discipline.
Dr. Fine has recently published an article and performance video in Liminalities: A Journal of Performance Studies. The work explores the modern day commute through a critical qualitative performance methodology:
Fine, Hunter H. “Deconstructing/Performing The Commute: Proto-Poststructuralist Theory and Individual Motility.” Ed. Michael LeVan and Daniel Makagon. Liminalities: A Journal of Performance Studies 12.4 (2016).
Emeritus Professor Ron Fritzsche (Fisheries Biology) was a contributor to the recently published FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes, "Living Marine Resources of the Eastern Central Atlantic, Vol. 3 Bony Fishes Part 1 (Elopiformes to Scorpaeniformes)," Kent Carpenter and Nicolette DeAngelis eds, FAO, United Nations, Rome 2016. Dr. Fritzsche contributed the section on the fishes of the order Gasterosteiformes (Syngnathidae, Fistulariidae, Aulostomidae and Macrorhamphosidae), pages 2231-2248.
The Silver Lamp Luncheon to honor HSU employees who have reached their 25 years of service mark will be held on Thursday, March 2, 2016, 12:00-1:30 p.m., in the University Center Banquet Room. The following staff and faculty members will be celebrated:
Drew Petersen, Strength Coach, Athletics
Carl Hansen, Dean, College of eLearning & Extended Education
Dave Marshall, Lecturer, Computer Science; Lead Lab Design/Development, ITS
Rosamel Benavides-Garb, Chair & Professor, World Languages and Cultures
Dale Oliver, Professor, Mathematics; Ombudsperson
Carol West, Lecturer, Child Development
HSU Fencing Instructor, Antone Blair, was recently recognized as Fencing Master, one of only five in the world. For more information about Antone, please see http://www.martinez-destreza.com/instructors/provost-antone-blair and a recent interview in the HSU Lumberjack http://thelumberjack.org/2017/01/18/qa-with-fencing-master-antone-blair/.
Geography major Nathaniel Douglass was recently awarded a $1,500 scholarship from the Northern California chapter of URISA (Urban and Regional Information System Association) to continue his study of Geography and passion for GIS/Cartography.
Tyler Stumpf (Asst. Professor, Management) recently presented a research paper written in collaboration with HSU School of Business faculty Kate Lancaster (Associate Professor, Accounting) and Nancy Vizenor (Asst. Professor, Management) entitled "The dual perspective revisited in Pacific Island hotel operations" at the West Federation CHRIE Conference in San Diego, CA. By inductively examining management operations systems in Pacific Island hotels, this study delineates theoretical insights on how Western and East-Asia Pacific perspectives can be integrated to optimize hotel operations in cross-cultural contexts.
Director of Housing & Residence Life Stephen St. Onge, Health Education Assisatnt Mary Sue Savage, student Yvette Cerna and Student Health Center Director Brian Mistler will host a presentation at the 2017 NASPA conference in San Antonio, TX, March 11-15th, 2017 on "Creating a Consent Themed Learning Community. NAPSA is the organization of Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education.
Steve St. Onge, Director of Housing and Residence Life has been asked to join the National Housing Training Institute as a faculty member for their June training. Dr. St. Onge has also been asked by the Association for College and University Housing Officers International to prepare a half day workshop at their international conference in July of this year on Crisis and Risk Management in university housing operations.
Humboldt State University's Range Plant Identification team placed 5th in a contest that has been described as one of the toughest in recent memory. Deedee Soto, an HSU Botany major with a range minor, placed 5th in the individual category. Coached by lecturer/NRCS Rangeland Specialist Todd Golder, other team members include Mariah Aguiar, Amanda Albright, Melissa Chase, Axel Sanchez, Eric Garcia, Monica Rodriguez, Steven Gilster, Tess Palmer, Darren Pinnegar, and Kaelie Pena. These students were enrolled in RRS 475 Advanced study of Range Plants, offered every semester.
Most plant species on this test were grasses and many consisted of mere fragments of material. We owe much to HSU's exce
Janelle Adsit (Assistant Professor, Writing Practices) and Mirabai Collins (English major) will present at this year's Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) conference next week in Washington, D.C. The title of their presentation is "Postcolonial Perspectives on Workshops of Empire." The panel responds to Eric Bennett’s provocative new book Workshops of Empire and calls for decolonizing approaches to understanding creative writing pedagogy. They examine the University of Iowa’s relationship to creative writing programs in Hong Kong, the Philippines, and among First Nations peoples.
We have recently published an 11-page peer-reviewed article detailing the results of an undergraduate research project: Annette A. Tabares and Robert W. Zoellner; "Magnesepin, 1,4-dimagnesocin, 1,4,7-trimagnesonin, and their C6H6Mgn, n=1-3, isomers: A density functional computational investigation"; Heteroatom Chemistry 2017, 28, 21355. The journal, Heteroatom Chemistry, specializes in the chemistry of organic molecules containing some non-carbon atoms, which are often referred to as "heteroatoms".
HSU Physics & Astronomy senior Charlotte Olsen presented a poster of her work on tidally triggered star formation at the American Astronomical Society's 229th meeting in Grapevine, TX. The poster, titled "A Search for Triggered Star Formation in the Compact Group of Galaxies NGC 5851, NGC 5852 and CGCG 077-007," represents a joint research collaboration between the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center X-Ray Galaxies Group and HSU. Charlotte's travel to the meeting was supported by the John Mather Nobel Scholarship, which she was awarded for work she accomplished during a summer 2016 NASA internship.
Geography Professor Stephen Cunha’s review of “Jumbo Wild” appears in magazines and festival catalogs in North America, Europe, and Oceania. This documentary film portrays a 25-year battle in Canada’s iconic Jumbo Valley that pits developers of a large ski resort against conservationists, backcountry skiers, and First Nations, who revere it as home of the grizzly bear spirit.
Geography Professor Stephen Cunha is coauthor of "Geosystems Core," a college-level introductory text for physical geography. Stephen authored 7.5 of the 15 chapters on geomorphology, global climate, plate tectonics, and water resources. Included are 60 of his images from six continents.
Tasha Howe was invited for a week to the National Chengchi University in Taipei, Taiwan, to deliver a two day violence prevention training program, as well as train masters in counseling students on developmental psychopathology. She also delivered a large lecture to undergraduate students on the neuroscience of love and attachment.
Tasha Howe delivered an invited address at the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families in London, focusing on building children's resilience in low and middle income countries - a joint effort with University College London. She introduced people from 60 global NGOs who work with traumatized children to the ACT Raising Safe Kids Program, for which she is a master trainer.
Dr. Leena Dallasheh was a commentator at a roundtable she organized at the American Historical Association (Denver, CO) entitled “Israelis, Americans, Arabs and Palestinians and the Historical Peace Process in the Middle East.”