Latest Achievements

Associate Professor Paul Cummings has authored several entries in the most recent volume of "Teaching Music Through Performance in Band," published by GIA. This publication is unique in the series, as it includes only solo works with wind band accompaniment. Cummings contributed eight biographical sketches of composers, along with annotated listings of their works for solo instrument and band. He studied numerous monographs and journal articles, communicated with living composers and reviewed liner notes from a variety of recordings. http://www.teachingmusic.org/bandSolos.cfm

Humboldt State’s Child Development Lab has been re-accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children through 2017. The Lab received 100 percent on seven of the ten standard domains and above 90 percent on the remaining three. The CDL staff are: teachers Jillian Mooney, Jennifer Mager, Maddie Torrey, Jesika Mitchell and faculty supervisors Mary Ann Hansen and Carol West.

Sondra Schwetman will hold a solo exhibition at the Curris Center Gallery at Murray State University in Murray, KY from June 8 - July 30, 2012. For images of her work, visit www.Sondra-Schwetman.com.

Hayden Thomas and Brandon Durr were selected as the winner and runner-up, respectively, of the 2012 David Kalb Awards. Established by former Associated Students President David Kalb ('76, Political Science), the awards recognize students who have demonstrated personal commitment and leadership by taking an active role in student government.

The Humboldt State Climbing Team placed 10th in the USA Collegiate Climbing Series (CCS) National Championships April 21 in Everett, Mass. Coming off of a recent win at the 2012 Northern California Regional Championships, the team sent six climbers to the event: Alex Borst, Kyleen Carey, Nolan Kloer, Taylor Knott, Arielle Rensink, and Lydia Zowada. Borst placed fourth overall in the national event among 80 male competitors. Based on their cumulative individual scores, the team ranked 10th among 30 schools at the competition. The ranking includes all Division 1, 2, and 3 schools.

Junior Nicholas Klein-Baer was one of 12 U.S. students awarded a fellowship by the Russian Geographical Society to conduct archeological fieldwork in Tuva, Russia. Nick will spend June 2012 at the "Valley of Kings" camp near Kyzyl, the capital of the Tuva province. His work will focus on salvaging cultural artifacts before the construction of a new railway connecting Kyzyl to the Kuragino transportation node in Krasnoyarsk. The international expedition aims to bring together Geography and Archeology students from around the world.

Adjunct Wildlife Faculty Member Sharon Kahara co-authored an article in _Great Plains Research_ titled "Wetland Hydrodynamics and Long-term Use of Spring Migration Areas by Lesser Scaup in Eastern South Dakota." The research modeled spring wetland use based on surveys carried out over two decades. Results dispelled scaup preference for semipermanent wetlands and established the importance of permanent, hydrologically dynamic wetlands for long-term use and therefore conservation concern.

Assistant Geography Professor Matthew Derrick co-authored an article titled “A Splintered Heartland: Russia, Europe, and the Geopolitics of Networked Energy Infrastructure” in _Geopolitics_. The paper interrogates the geographical logic of Russia’s role as an energy provider to Europe by focusing on the provision of gas to Europe via Nord Stream, an underwater pipeline that went online last year. The paper describes a rapidly evolving networked space that effectively “splinters” the territorial integrity of the region and thereby complicates notions of Eurasian geopolitics that emphasize proximity, territorial hegemony and state-centric international relations.

Brian McElwain presented two workshops entitled " 'I Don't See Race': An Exploration of the Psychology of White Privilege" at the 13th annual White Privilege Conference March 30, 2012 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The workshops explored ways that anxiety, fear, guilt and shame make it difficult for white people to discuss and acknowledge racism.

Professor William Wood and student co-authors Jay A. Brandes, Brian D. Foy, Christopher G. Morgan, Thierry D. Mann and Darvin A. DeShazer published a report on the maple syrup odor of the candy cap mushroom. The project culminated 25 years of research, since identification of the chemical responsible for the unique odor has been elusive. The odor causing chemical, quabalactone III, is not present in living candy cap mushrooms. It is only found in dried mushrooms and likely results from the reaction of a rare amino acid on desiccation.

This research was published in Biosystematics and Ecology [Volume 43, 51-53 (2012)].

Student writers for The Osprey and Lumberjack received several awards at the California College Media Association's Awards Banquet held April 21 at CSU Fullerton. The annual event honors the best in student media at community colleges and universities around the state.

The Lumberjack placed second in the Infographic and Photo Illustration categories and took home third in the General Newspaper Excellence, Back to School or Orientation Issue, Sports Story, General Newspaper Excellence, Photo Series and Special Section categories. Alum Derek Lactaoen's ('11, Journalism) April 27 Lumberjack story also nabbed first place in Arts and Entertainment. The Osprey took home second in the Magazine Review category and third in General Magazine Excellence.

Studio Art senior Alex Anderson was one of forty students from around the country be included in FUSION, the 2012 Society of North American Goldsmiths Conference Student Exhibition. Anderson has been in the jewelry and small metals program for three years and the honors program for a year and a half. Her work is on display through May 12 at the HSU Annual Juried Student Exhibition.

The HSU Speech and Debate Team was named the 2011-2012 Northwest Forensics Conference Division II Debate Sweepstakes Champion. The team was also named the 2011-2012 Northwest Forensics Conference Sweepstakes Bronze Medal Program.

Ashley Randall and Hoshimi Tominari presented original research at the Bay Area Undergraduate Communication Research Conference held at Santa Clara University on April 21. Ashley presented "'Pumps vs. Pants': The Construction of Gender in 'The Real L Word' " a feminist criticism of the television show "The Real L Word." Hoshimi presented an ideological criticism of the Japanese fashion magazine "Vivi" entitled "We Are Barbie Girls, In the Japanese World."

Kathryn Wiles, Ecology junior, has been selected to receive a 2012 CSUPERB Presidents’ Commission Scholar Award to fund her summer research project titled, ”Investigation of Horizontal Gene Transfer and Biogeography among Thermoacidophilic Isolates from Lassen Volcanic National Park, California, USA.” Wiles' faculty mentor, Dr. Patricia Siering, was instrumental in writing the proposal. Her adviser is Dr. Erik Jules. A committee of CSUPERB faculty and deans selected 25 proposals out of 67 submitted. The CSUPERB Presidents’ Commission will meet award winners and mentors in August 2012 at the CSU Chancellor’s Office in Long Beach.

A team of HSU Environmental Resources Engineering students gained a meritorious score in the recent Consortium for Mathematics and its Applications (COMAP) Mathematical Modeling Contest. HSU ranked in the top 11%, competing against more than 3,350 teams from the U.S. and overseas universities.

Only 27 schools received a higher ranking than Humboldt State. Each team prepared a report detailing its solution to one of three candidate modeling problems. HSU teammates Andy Harris, Craig Lorenc and Solomon Homicz addressed the problem of determining the best schedule for whitewater rafting visitors to a remote and scenic river.

Associate Professor Nicole Jean Hill's photography series Artifacts & Incidents is featured in the spring issue of Exposure, the photography journal published by the Society for Photographic Education. Hill's large format color photographs explore human and animal activity along the periphery of rural communities throughout the American West along the boundary between public and private spaces. Assistant Professor Julia Alderson provided the accompanying essay.

The photography series will be exhibited at the Piante Gallery in Eureka from May 4-26 and The Front Gallery in New Orleans from June 9 - July 7.

Humboldt State’s Science on Tap series, organized by Physics Professor C.D. Hoyle, was recently recognized by the SPS Observer for “being an especially good example of what science cafés are great at: helping the public understand physics in a world where science is an integral part of life.”

Science Cafes are international programs held in informal settings designed to promote scientific discussion. The Observer is the national magazine for the Society of Physics Students.

Lonny Grafman presented "Platforms Tackling Social Innovation and Global Development Challenges: Proliferation, Collaboration, and Coordination" at Scientists Without Borders with support from the Rockefeller Foundation Conference in New York on April 9, 2012.

Biological Sciences student Jessie Hagadorn (Advisor Dr. Jacob Varkey) has been awarded a 2012 Global Youth Advocacy Fellowship.

The fellowship, which begins in April 2012, will provide specialized training from the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the opportunity to participate in youth-led global advocacy at the Commission on Population & Development (CPD) meeting at the UN in New York City. Fellows will also participate in a youth coalition at the International AIDS Conference, which will take place in Washington, DC in July 2012.

Dierdre is a 2003 graduate of the Art Department, emphasis in Jewelry and Small Metals. She has founded a shoe company, deeFind, which specializes in wearable works of art. Please visit http://www.indiegogo.com/deeFind-shoes for info on her current indiegogo campaign.

Dierdre Wallace, Founder/Shoe Designer
deeFind
www.deeFind.com
dierdrewallace@yahoo.com
530.200.7848

Geography Professor Stephen Cunha has published a book chapter on the origin and worldwide diffusion of national parks. In it, he explores how the American idea of preserving wild landscapes took shape in 1864 when Yosemite Valley and a nearby grove of Giant Sequoias were set aside as Yosemite State Park. During the next century the idea of protecting and conserving natural environments spread over much of the world. Broadly speaking, parks and other protected areas of one sort or another are now found in 95 percent of the world’s countries.

William Wood published a report on the volatile organic compounds from first year canes of the invasive Himalayan blackberry. Succulent young leaves had chemicals that were not present in mature leaves. These chemicals showed significant activity against the feeding of banana slugs and are known to repel aphids.

Banana slug antifeedant in the growing cane tips of Himalayan Berry, Rubus armeniacus. William F. Wood. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 41, 126-129 (2012).

Jeff Coomber and Nicole Log were selected as the first- and second-prize winners, respectively, in the Charles R. Barnum History Contest, for which they submitted research papers on an aspect of local history. The Charles R. Barnum History Awards were established in 1952 by a grant from Charles Barnum, a realtor and insurance broker in Eureka who was a member of the Humboldt State College Advisory Board from 1946 until his death in 1953.

Will Ruiz has been named the recipient of the 2012 Dr. John Hennessey Award, which is presented to a history major and graduating senior who has demonstrated outstanding academic merit. The award was established in memory of Dr. John Hennessey, a former professor of history and department chair at HSU. Will's name will be added to the Hennessey Award Recipients Plaque on display outside the History Department office.

Jeff Mielke has been awarded the 2012 Johnston-Aronoff Award, which is presented to an outstanding student who is pursuing a career in history as a teacher. The Johnston-Aronoff Award was established by Guy Aronoff, a lecturer in HSU’s History Department, and his wife, Judy Johnston.

Prof. Jayne McGuire and her EDUC 377 class were advanced to the state level for judging for the CSU Moodle users competition.

Lonny Grafman co-facilitated an un-conference experience on "infusing innovation and entrepreneurship into engineering education" at the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance Open 2012 Conference in San Francisco, Calif., on March 22, 2012.

Campus photographer Kellie Jo Brown received a first-place award from the CSU Chancellor's Office for her submission in the Center for Community Engagement photo contest. Brown was honored for her action shot of business students volunteering at the Raven Project during HSU's annual Day of Caring.

Ninamarie Jeffrey, a junior political science major, has been selected for the prestigious Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX) for Young Professionals. The program, funded jointly by the U.S. Department of State and the German legislature (the Bundestag), provides full funding for a one year cultural exchange with the opportunity to work, study, and live in Germany. The CBYX fellowship program recruits 75 young adults from across the United States in business, engineering, technical, agricultural, and other fields. Ninamarie will spend six months at a German university, and will then be placed in a five month paid internship appropriate to her interests and field of study.

The National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) will present its Sport and Exercise Psychology Dissertation Award to Humboldt State University Lecturer Sheila Kelly.

A national honor, the Sport and Exercise Psychology Dissertation Award is given in recognition of student research that has the greatest potential for making a significant contribution to the knowledge base in sport psychology. It is presented for the outstanding doctoral dissertation completed during the previous year.

The Office of Development & Alumni Relations has been awarded a Silver award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education in District VII (CASE VII).

The award recognizes the Humboldt Alumni Discovery Project, in which current students reach out to HSU alumni to talk about campus memories, life after college and what an HSU education means to them. In its first year, seven students with the Discovery Project conducted more than 350 interviews with alumni across California.

The CASE VII awards recognize excellence in alumni relations, fundraising, public/government relations, advancement services, specials events and communications within the district, annually.

Psychology Academic Research M.A. student Michael Le received the Western Psychological Association’s Maslach-Zimbardo Research Award in Social Psychology. Le’s research focuses on how a prominent theory relevant to prejudice (Integrated Threat Theory) differentially predicts evaluations of African Americans by White and Hispanic/Latino students. The award, which is funded by an endowment created by Dr. Christina Maslach (Professor of Psychology at UC Berkeley) and Dr. Philip Zimbardo (Emeritus Professor of Psychology, Stanford), goes to the top student submission in Social Psychology. Le will receive his award this April at the annual Western Psychological Association conference.

James Floss directed The Language Archive for Redwood Curtain Theatre in Eureka, Calif. The show, which runs through Saturday, Mar. 10, has been a critical and financial success.

Heriberto Herrera, a first year graduate student in School Psychology (Psychology), received the Pearson Minority Scholarship from the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP). One of five named scholarships to be awarded to minority students nationally, Herrera was the only first year graduate student to receive an award this year, and one of a very few non-doctoral students to ever receive this award. He is the first HSU student to receive this award in the 24 years the scholarship has been in existence. Herrera received a $5,000 scholarship and reimbursement for his trip to Philadelphia to receive his award.

Steve Smith, dean of the College of Natural Resources and Sciences, has announced the appointment of Dr. Frederick (Rick) Zechman to be the college’s associate dean, effective July 1. Currently the interim associate dean at the College of Science and Mathematics at CSU Fresno, Zechman is a professor of biology. He earned his Ph.D. in botany at Louisiana State University and his M.S. at the University of New Hampshire. His primary areas of research are molecular phylogenetics, biogeography ecology and biodiversity of marine and freshwater organisms. Zechman will succeed professor of mathematics Dale Oliver, who will continue as interim associate dean until July 1.

Sociology instructor Daniel Davis had his Social Research Methods syllabus and instructors guide published in the American Sociological Association's (ASA) peer reviewed teaching resources library TRAILS (Teaching Resources And Innovations Library for Sociology). It is currently posted as a feature resource on their homepage: "trails.asanet.org":http://trails.asanet.org

Sara K. Henry, Director of Special Projects for the Vice President of Student Affairs Office, recently published an article in About Campus entitled "On Social Connection in University Life." The full article in PDF can be accessed through the "HSU Library":http://library.humboldt.edu.

Brandy Hurtado from the Department of Anthropology was awarded the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Fellowship. She will be working under the supervision of Jamie Roscoe, CRF Director, during the spring semester.

Adam Forbis, Robert Gustas, and Kyle Ports from the Department of Anthropology were individually awarded the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Fellowship. They will be working under the supervision of Professor Marisol Cortes-Rincon during the spring semester.

The David Westphall Veterans Foundation Board, Angel Fire, N.M., has named Kim Hall, director of Humboldt State’s Veterans Enrollment and Transition Services, the first recipient of its Spirit of Angel Fire Award for exemplary support of U.S. veterans. Hall will be recognized at an awards and benefit dinner March 10 in Albuquerque. The foundation takes its name from Marine platoon leader David Westphall, 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, 3rd Division, who was killed in action in a battle near Con Thien, South Vietnam, in May, 1968.

The Santa Clara Review, a biannual publication of poetry, writing, art, and music through Santa Clara University, will be featuring Humboldt State student Alison Morse in the 2012 February issue. Morse's piece "Strawberry Seed Holder" will be featured in the visual arts section. Additionally, Alison Morse’s copper “Strawberry Seed Holder” has been selected for inclusion in the Cu|29: Contemporary Work in Copper exhibition at Mesa Contemporary Arts, Apr. 6 through Aug. 12, 2012. This exhibition is being held in conjunction with the Society of North American Goldsmiths annual conference. She is currently a senior in the art department, with a focus in jewelry and small metals.

On Jan. 26, 2012, Professor Wood presented a worldwide American Chemical Society WebinarTM to 500 participants titled: Chemistry Stinks! And How Nature Uses These Noxious Chemicals. The webinar consisted of a 20 minute presentation of his research on skunks, giraffes, garter snakes, wolverines and weasels followed by 30 minutes of questions and answers from the audience. The program was moderated by Professor Darren Griffin, University of Kent, UK. In the future, this ACS Webinar will be available for viewing at http://acswebinars.org/.

The in-house laboratory at Humboldt State University’s Student Health & Wellness Center has received national recognition for quality patient testing and overall laboratory practices. The Commission on Office Laboratory Accreditation (COLA), Columbia, MD., an independent, non-profit accreditor directed by physicians, has honored the center with a “Laboratory Excellence Award” for ensuring accurate and reliable test results. The commission, founded in 1988, accredits almost 8,000 medical laboratories nationwide, enabling them to meet federal regulatory standards. “We are very proud of the quality work done by our lab staff,” said Mary Grooms VanCott, the Student Health & Wellness Center’s interim director, and Susan Whitney, lab supervisor. The center is an accredited outpatient facility that provides basic medical services to enrolled students at no charge. Elective services are offered at low cost. In addition to primary and urgent medical care, the center provides health education, counseling services and liaison with other North Coast medical institutions and services. It is located at One Plaza Avenue on campus, northeast of Library Circle.

For the second year in a row, Humboldt State’s Veterans Enrollment Services and Transition Office is listed in the Guide to America’s Top Military-Friendly Colleges and Universities by Military Advanced Education, the monthly magazine of career advice and educational opportunities for service people. The 2012 Guide recognizes HSU for policies and practices that meet the magazine’s new, more demanding criteria for inclusion. The V.E.T.S. office is located in Lower Library Room 58 and online at "humboldt.edu/veterans/community":http://www.humboldt.edu/veterans/community.html; the phone number is 707/826-6272.

The Center for Afghan Studies at the University of Nebraska has selected the textbook Investigative Reporting: From premise to publication, authored by Assoc. Prof. Marcy Burstiner, for translation into two Afghani languages as part of a program to teach modern journalism principles and practices at the University of Kabul and prepare Afghani students for media careers.

The book will be translated into Pashto and Dari as part of a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Embassy. Investigative Reporting: From premise to publication was published in 2009 by Holcomb Hathaway Publishers. For more information: "hh-pub.com":http://www.hh-pub.com/.

Students Ginger Fletcher-Santillan and Ana Kolpin recently received a mention on MAKE Magazine’s blog (http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2012/01/solar-heater-from-can-lids-and…) for their "parabolic solar cooker":http://www.appropedia.org/Parabolic_basket_and_tin_can_solar_cooker. The frame for the solar cooker was made by weaving together invasive blackberry canes. Recycled tin can lids provided the reflective surface. “I like to see the clever thinking that can result from radical design constraints,” says Sean Michael Ragan, the MAKE contributor in his "review of the project":http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2012/01/solar-heater-from-can-lids-and…. A clearinghouse for do-it-yourself projects and tips, MAKE is a quarterly publication, that is part magazine, part book, which celebrates the independent mindset.

Anthropology alumni, Ariel Gruenthal, was recently published in the Journal of Forensics Science for an article she co-wrote on the topic of forensics. The abstract can be viewed at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1556-4029.2011.01909.x/abstract.

Gruenthal, who graduated in 2008, was named Humboldt County's first female deputy Coroner in 2010.

Geology professor Sue Cashman and Kyle French (’11, Geology) have received a mention in the third edition of Structural Geology of Rocks and Regions, a collegiate, structural geology textbook. The text explores the on-the-ground research conducted by undergraduates in Cashman’s structural geology class, as they assess damage to Ferndale Cemetery caused by the 6.5 magnitude earthquake that struck off the North Coast in January, 2010. In his senior thesis, French took that research further by comparing the directions of the toppled grave-site monuments to the likely direction of the seismic waves that caused the damage.

Sheila Kelly has been recognized for her work in sports psychology by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE). Kelly, a lecturer in the School of Kinesiology and Recreation, is the recipient of this year’s Sport and Exercise Psychology Dissertation award for her student research on sports psychology. The award is granted to a researcher who has the greatest potential for making a significant contribution to the knowledge of sport psychology. Kelly will be honored at the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance’s National Convention and Exposition in Boston, Mass. March 13-17.