Latest Achievements

Dr. Sara Sterner and Amy Conley received a grant from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing to support a dyslexia awareness program. The program will provide professional development for literacy educators, program leads, and supervisors, and will shape curriculum/assignment redesign of literacy coursework in the School of Education to include: 1) Dyslexia awareness, 2) Research-based screening procedures, and 3) multisensory phonics instruction. The program will be implemented with the help of various School of Education faculty, program leads, and supervisors.

Robert Freiberger (HSU class '20) and Associate Professor Claire Till (Chemistry) are co-authors on a recent publication in the AGU journal Global Biogeochemical Cycles for their work measuring trace metal concentrations in the surface Pacific Ocean. Freiberger analyzed the samples as an undergraduate while doing summer research in the Till lab. The article is titled, "Does sea-spray aerosol contribute significantly to aerosol trace element loading? A case study from the U.S. GEOTRACES Pacific Meridional Transect (GP15)" and is available open access here: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2022GB007416.

Associate Professor of Chemistry Claire Till is a co-author on the recent article entitled "Diminished carbon and nitrate assimilation drive changes in diatom elemental stoichiometry independent of silicification in an iron-limited assemblage", which is published in the Springer Nature journal ISME communications. The open access article is available here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43705-022-00136-1

Dr. Timothy Mulligan and Dr. Andre Buchheister received a $122,000 grant from the San Jose State University Moss Landing Marine Lab to continue an ongoing, collaborative off-shore reef monitoring program.The study collects data on the diversity, abundance, size structure, and movement of rocky reef fishes in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and associated reference sites. The project is part of the state-wide California Collaborative Fisheries Research Program (CCFRP), which is funded by the Ocean Protection Council. This program is evaluating the effectiveness of California MPAs and providing valuable data for the sustainable management of rockfish and other fish species.

Rose Francia (Director, TRIO Educational Talent Search) received a continuing grant from the Blue Lake Rancheria to support the TRIO Talent Search program. Funding will provide educational support to Hoopa Elementary and Hoopa High School students through group STEM activities, individual mentoring or tutoring based on students’ desire, need and efficacy levels, and classroom support.  With an additional award from Sponsored Programs Foundation to expand the 2022 CSU Summer Algebra Institute, twenty-five BIPOC youth who didn’t pass math have access to a math enrichment program, progressing towards graduation with confidence. Collaborators include the Hoopa and Round Valley summer school programs. 

The Cultural Resources Facility (CRF) received a $500,000 grant to survey and document historic and pre-contact resources within approximately 10,000 acres in the Six Rivers National Forest. The project will offer paid internships and student employment through CRF, and is therefore able to provide Cal Poly Humboldt and College of the Redwoods students with applied experience within the field of Anthropology, Geospatial, Geology, and other departments within the university. If a faculty member is interested in having their students participate in these surveys, or if students want to apply for a position, please email crf@humboldt.edu.

Frank Fogarty (Wildlife) and colleagues developed a novel community model to examine how habitat area and its fragmentation affect breeding bird communities in the Great Basin desert. Their work was publish in Ecological Applications and can be accessed with the following citation: Fogarty, Frank A., Yen, Jian D. L., Fleishman, Erica, Sollmann, Rahel, and Ke, Alison. 2022. “ Multiple-Region, N-Mixture Community Model to Assess Associations of Riparian Area, Fragmentation, and Species Richness.” Ecological Applications e2698. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2698

Matt Johnson, Amy Sprowles, Steven Margell, Kat Goldenberg, and Raven Palomera recently published a paper entitled, “Impact of a first‑year place‑based learning community on STEM students’ academic achievement in their second, third, and fourth years” in the journal Innovative Higher Education. The paper reports the effects of the first three cohorts of the Klamath Connection PBLC made possible by contributions from all across the university and funding from the campus’s HSI STEM grant from the US Dept of Education. 

Dr. Frank Fogarty and Dr. Ho Yi Wan received a $89,000 grant from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) to support research into the habitat requirements of Lewis’s Woodpecker, a woodpecker species that are the top priority Oregon Conservation Strategy species for the East Cascades. The project will examine the relationship of habitat variables, including wildfire and vegetation, on Lewis's Woodpecker populations in the Oregon East Cascades. Findings will help managers better understand the declining species, and inform efforts to maintain or restore suitable habitat. Collaborators will include ODFW biologist Kalysta Adkins and the East Cascades Audubon Society.

Several Cal Poly Humboldt students were recognized at the annual conference for the American Society of Ichthyologists & Herpetologists. Biology Graduate Student Melody Tew received the Raney and Hubbs awards and presented her research on the developmental origins of White Sturgeon scales. Biology Graduate Student Nicole Rahman-Garnier received the Cashner and Raney awards and presented her research on the olfactory (scent-sensing) anatomy of local Rainbow Trout. Recent Marine Biology graduate Jordyn Neal received the Clark Hubbs award and presented her research on the comparative anatomy of the skulls and inner ears of sharks, using high-resolution CT scanning.

Dr. Andre Buchheister and Dr. Rafael Cuevas Uribe have been awarded a $150,000 grant from CalTrout to support their research on Sacramento Pikeminnow, an invasive fish species in the Eel River. The project will assess how a novel method (the Trojan Y Chromosome Strategy) could be used to eradicate the species, because pikeminnow are hindering recovery of several threatened salmonid species. Insights from the study will provide fisheries managers and scientists with innovative, tactical advice on how to regulate invasive Pikeminnow to enhance recovery of threatened California salmonids. Project collaborators include Stillwater Sciences, the Wiyot Tribe, and agency scientists.

Jen Dyke (Director, TRiO Upward Bound) received a $1.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to continue Cal Poly Humboldt’s TRiO Upward Bound program, a college preparatory program designed to generate the skills and motivation necessary for post-secondary educational success among income eligible high school students whose parents have not attained a four-year college degree. Funding will allow the program to increase educational attainment and college entry of students in regional secondary schools in Humboldt and Trinity Counties.

Nick Angeloff and Dr. Marisol Cortes-Rincon received a grant from the Gold Ridge Resource Conservation District (GRCD) that will allow the Cultural Resources Facility (CRF) to conduct a cultural resources and botanical investigation for the GRCD’s Iron Horse Fish Screen Project (IHFSP), a stream remediation project that will remove barriers to Salmonid migration along a creek. CRF’s investigation will identify known or unknown cultural resources within the project location, and ensure that no historic resources will be impacted by the project. 

Dr. C.D. Hoyle received a continuing grant from the National Science Foundation to support an ongoing collaborative project with Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). The project, which is physically based at IUPUI, is dedicated to developing an apparatus to measure the gravitational constant, G, with unprecedented precision. This constant is the least-well-known fundamental constant in nature, and its precise determination is of broad interest to a wide variety of disciplines from precision measurement to cosmology. The project will provide the opportunity for Cal Poly Humboldt students to be involved through summer research and conference presentations.

Kimberly N. White, Kimberly Vincent-Layton, Brandilynn Villarreal, Frank Cappuccio, and Chris Harmon received a Student Success Network Equity in Action grant ($14,984) for their project, "Does the Use of an Interactive General Chemistry Textbook Improve Student Perceptions of and Use of the Textbook and Increase Equitable Outcomes?" This project seeks to understand the impact of interactive web-based learning on equity outcomes.

Professor Joshua R. Zender was featured in WalletHub's piece about Balance Transfer Credit Cards. Read the piece here: https://wallethub.com/credit-cards/balance-transfer/#expert=Joshua_R._Zender  

Nick Angeloff and Dr. Marisol Cortes-Rincon received a grant from the Save the Redwoods League (SRL) to support a Cultural Resources Facility (CRF) archaeological survey on SRL land. The survey will cover an area of land where a cultural artifact was found during construction of a new trail on the SRL’s Shady Dell property. CRF’s investigation will be conducted to assist the SRL in their obligation to comply with California historic resource regulations, and continue a relationship between SRL and CRF to protect both the environment and historic resources.

Chris Aberson published “BetterReg: An R Package for Useful Regression Statistics” in the Journal of Open Source Software (https://joss.theoj.org/papers/10.21105/joss.04280). The article reports on a freely available tool for calculating a number of common statistical values that were not previously available for the R software platform.  The work stems from materials develop in Dr. Aberson’s Regression and Multivariate Statistics course, highlighting how teaching can also serve as scholarship that benefits other instructors.

Muma, R.; Webb, L.W.; Zald, H.S.J.; Boston, K.; Dagley, C.M.; Berrill, J-P. 2022. Dynamics of stump sprout regeneration after transformation to multiaged management in coast redwood forests. Forest Ecology and Management 120236.

Professors Erin Kelly and Jeff Kane (Forestry) and Benjamin Graham (Psychology) received a US Departments of Interior & Agriculture Joint Fire Science Program grant to study post-wildfire recovery in communities of California and Oregon. They will be working with graduate students and community partners to implement this project.

Anthony Lucero won the Geosystems Award which is the top prize for undergraduate geospatial research for his paper titled “Drone Photogrammetry: Using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to Represent the Underrepresented.” Otto Schmitt earned the second-place Joe Beaton Professional Poster Award for his research poster titled “The Effects of Rising Sea Levels in Humboldt County on FedEx Ground.” Angela Valladares placed first in the Professional Digital Cartographic Award for her entry titled “The Great Earthquakes of September 19th.” Yuichi Ambiru took the first-place Professional Paper Cartographic Award for his map titled “Iceland, the Island of Volcano and Glacier.”      

Josh Zender recently published a case study titled "Exploiting the Unemployment Insurance Program: A Role Play of the Actions of State Officials at the Height of the Coronavirus Pandemic" in Sage Publications.  This case positions the reader to consider the ethical pathways confronting budget planners of a state unemployment compensation system at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jacky Baughman and Melanie Michalak, professors in the Geology Department, received a one year grant from the Geological Society of America AGeS-DiG (Awards for Geochronology Student Research- Diversity in Geochronology) program of $14,975 to support a cohort of six undergraduate students in the 22-23 academic year to undertake original research using geochronologic methods. The support includes a stipend, cost of analyses, and travel to a Spring conference to present their work. 

Jacky Baughman and Melanie Michalak, professors in the Geology Department, received a one year grant from the Geological Society of America AGeS-DiG (Awards for Geochronology Student Research- Diversity in Geochronology) program of $14,975 to support a cohort of six undergraduate students in the 22-23 academic year to undertake original research using geochronologic methods. The support includes a stipend, cost of analyses, and travel to a Spring conference to present their work. 

A subset of members from the Ecological Reference Points (ERP) Team were recognized for their ERP Stock Assessment for Atlantic Menhaden. This team of scientists helped to significantly advance the understanding of menhaden and its role as an important forage fish, providing the Commission with the tools needed to manage menhaden in an ecologically sustainable way. Of special note are Dr. David Chagaris and Dr. Andre Buchheister, experts in the field of fisheries resources, predator-prey interactions, and ecosystem-based fisheries management and models, for their work on the development of the ERP model which is currently being used in management.