Updates about the latest accomplishments—including latest research, publications, and awards—by students, faculty, and staff
May, 2021
Kamila Larripa was selected to conduct research at the American Institute of Mathematics in June. She and collaborators will build stochastic models for immune cell dynamics.
Arianna Thobaben (Supplemental Instruction / Learning Center) and Jessica Citti (Writing Studio / Learning Center) facilitated a workshop called "Breaking the Virtual Ice: Online Tools and Activities to Build Community Among Student Staff and Beyond" at the Association of Colleges for Tutoring and Learning Assistance (ACTLA) 46th Annual Conference (April 2021).
Anthropology Assistant Professor Dr. Gordon Ulmer was recently awarded a grant from the HSU-ERFSA for his proposal "Socioecologies of Human-Wildlife Interactions in Northern California". His project will utilize a range of methods from anthropology (ethnography), ecology (habitat analysis), and wildlife studies (camera trap surveys) to investigate how residents in Northern California perceive, describe, and take action on issues involving wildlife.
April, 2021
HSU GESA Students Sweep the Awards at CGS:
McKnight Professional Paper Award (undergraduate), 1st place: KATIE PIPER, “Nature’s spigot: Bofedal presence in the Peruvian Andes Mountain Range”
2nd place: JESSICA JANECEK, “Placing memory, preserving individual stories amid myth: The Humboldt Cannabis Oral History Project”
McKnight Professional Paper Award (graduate), 1st place: JARED WHEAR, “The Las Vegas water grab is dead: Prior appropriation water law at its best?” (HSU Geography, 2012; PhD candidate in Geography, Syracuse)
Professional Paper Cartographic Award (undergraduate), 1st place: FAITH REHAGEN, “The Baja California Peninsula”
2nd place: MICHAEL FLYNN, “California fire map”
Congratulations to our 2021 Forestry and Wildland Resources Department scholarship recipients! At the annual (Zoom) awards banquet, over $50,000 in scholarships were distributed thanks to the generosity of alumni and other donors.
A new scholarship for Soils and Botany students was created to honor Aidan Leaf Mullin, who planned to attend HSU in 2020 but passed away unexpectedly. The scholarship will support students who exemplify Aidan’s spirit and ideals.
Special congratulations to Department award winners: Cameron Miller (Professional Promise), Judson Fisher (Academic Excellence), Allyssa Glaser (Outstanding Range Student), and Dr. Aaron Hohl (Outstanding Faculty Member).
Sarah Green, Libbi Miller, Heather Ballinger (School of Education), and James Woglom (Department of Art) presented "Expanding Equity Through Reducing Barriers: Applying Improvement Science to Justice in Teacher Preparation Application Processes"at the 2021 Carnegie Summit on Improvement in Education.
Senior Geography major Michael Flynn earned second place for undergraduate cartography for his map “California Fire Map” at the 2021 conference of the California Geographical Society (CGS), held April 23-25.
Senior Geography major Faith Rehagen earned prize for undergraduate cartography for her map "The Baja California Peninsula" at the 2021 conference of the California Geographical Society (CGS), held April 23-25.
Sophomore Geography major Jessica Janecek earned second place for undergraduate research presentation for her paper "Placing Memory, Preserving Individual Stories Amid Myth: The Humboldt Cannabis Oral History Project" at the 2021 conference of the California Geographical Society (CGS), held April 23-25.
Senior Geography major Katie Piper took top prize for undergraduate research presentation for her paper "Nature’s Spigot: Bofedal Presence in the Peruvian Andes Mountain Range" at the 2021 conference of the California Geographical Society (CGS), held April 23-25.
Jasper Oshun received a Fulbright Award to teach hydrogeology at a university in Lima and conduct water resources research in collaborations with communities in the region of Cusco. The teaching and research will occur between February and July of 2022.
Arianna Thobaben (Supplemental Instruction / Learning Center) and Jessica Citti (Writing Studio / Learning Center) facilitated a workshop titled, "Breaking the Virtual Ice: Online Tools and Activities to Build Community Among Student Staff and Beyond,"
at the Association of Colleges for Tutoring and Learning Assistance (ACTLA) virtual conference on April 23.
Joshua Frye, Communication, was recently invited to join the Advisory Board for Windlift, Inc. Windlift is a sustainable wind-energy research and development firm developing airborne power generation (APG) technology.
Kerry Byrne, Assistant Professor (ESM) published a paper in the journal Rangeland Ecology and Management entitled "Technical Note: A Rapid Method to Estimate Root Production in Grasslands, Shrublands, and Forests." Many thanks to Kellie Jo Brown (HSU Marketing and Communications) for taking excellent photographs for this paper.
See the abstract here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2021.02.004
Armeda Reitzel participated as a judge for group exhibits at the 2021 California State National History Day event held virtually throughout the state of California on April 18, 2021.
Sam Kelly (Environmental Science and Management Senior) and Cessair McKinney (December 2020 Environmental Science and Management graduate) presented their capstone research project at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research. Their talk was titled "Innovation in Restoration: Estimating Seed Counts Using a Photography App." Read their published abstract here: https://apps.cur.org/ncur2021/search/Display_NCUR.aspx?id=112796
Berit Potter (Art) was interviewed for the short documentary "Mosaic is Light" produced on the occasion of the exhibition “Mosaic is Light: Work by Jeanne Reynal, 1940 - 1970,” at Eric Firestone Gallery, NYC. She also contributed an essay to the exhibition's catalogue. "Mosaic is Light" has been featured in "4 Art Gallery Shows to See Right Now" in The New York Times, Artnet: Editor's Pick, and "Goings On About Town" in The New Yorker. The documentary is available here: https://vimeo.com/520124010/4713b27be6
Math student Bridget Opperman will present a research poster on "Mathematical Analysis of Virus-Immune Dynamics and Implications for Treatment" at the National Conferences on Undergraduate Research.
Education lecturer presented at American Educational Research Association Annual Conference her research "Creating the future of California’s teacher preparation of literacy instruction together after RICA" in a paper session “Exploring Models of Literacy Instruction” on April 12.
Dr. Joshua Smith, Chemistry, published a paper,"Strategies for Design of Potential Singlet Fission Chromophores Utilizing a Combination of Ground-State and Excited-State Aromaticity Rules" in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 12, 5602–5617
https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.9b12435
Dr. Joshua Smith, Chemistry, published a paper, "Triplet State Baird Aromaticity in Macrocycles: Scope, Limitations, and Complications" as part of The Journal of Physical Chemistry virtual special issue “Josef Michl Festschrift”.
J. Phys. Chem. A 2021, 125, 2, 570–584
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpca.0c08926
Joshua Frye, [Communication, Journalism and Media] was recently awarded "Top Paper" from the Freedom of Speech Division of the Southern States Communication Association (SSCA) for his paper, "Polarization, Public Communication, and (Un)Civil Society", which he presented virtually at the SSCA annual convention. The paper examines the multiple causality of divisive and violent political culture that the US has witnessed during the Donald J. Trump Presidency. Dr. Frye was also an invited panelist to discuss the intersections of Freedom of Speech and the 2020 Presidential Campaign.
Dr. Joseph Dieme has published his latest novel "Dans la peau d'un immigré" (In the Skin of an Immigrant). The book follows the experiences of a Muslim immigrant from Senegal in pursuit of the American Dream. From Dakar, destiny leads him to Paris; then to the African neighborhood of Little Senegal in Harlem, NY. Soon after his Senegalese wife joins him, their lives are changed by the September 11, 2001 events. To escape anti-Muslim policing and violence, he, his wife, and two undocumented African housemates leave NY and settle in a small Midwest town where they hope to find refuge. https://www.editions-harmattan.fr/livre-dans_la_peau_d_un_immigre_joseph_dieme-9782343220147-69509.html
Dr. Deepti Chatti has been awarded the prestigious Alastair McCrone Promising Scholars Award this year for her outstanding scholarly contributions and promise.
Dr. Amy Rock (GESA) published an article 'Bringing geography to the community: community-based learning and the geography classroom'
\http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10708-021-10408-3