Updates about the latest accomplishments—including latest research, publications, and awards—by students, faculty, and staff
November, 2021
Dr. J-Pascal Berrill and Dr. Christa Dagley have received a $227,000 grant from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, CAL FIRE to support Phase I of a collaborative “pyrosilviculture” research project between HSU, UC Berkeley, and UC Cooperative Extension. The prescribed burning fuels reduction project on Jackson Demonstration State Forest will demonstrate and compare various approaches designed to help timberland owners be proactive in reducing potential impact (severity) of future wildfires. HSU undergraduate and graduate students working on this large-scale wildfire risk mitigation project will collaborate with forestry and fire management practitioners, researchers,
Taylor Team (MS student, Geology), Melanie Michalak (Geology) and Susan Cashman (Geology) co-authored a conference presentation at the annual Geological Society of America meeting held in Portland, OR, entitled, Neogene-Quaternary faulting in the Klamath Mountains Province, California and Oregon: evidence from geology and thermochronology. Their work addresses newly identified or constrained crustal faults in the Klamath Mountains.
Samuel Bold (MS student, Geology) was selected for a prestigious $4,000 American Federation of Mineralogical Society scholarship from the California Federation of Mineralogical and Geological Societies. Sam's MS thesis work uses geochronological methods to date timing of uplift and faulting along the Van Duzen River.
Tyler Ladinsky (Geology M.S. '12), Harvey Kelsey (Geology) and Melanie Michalak (Geology) published their Final Technical Report in collaboration with USGS scientists, from their paleoseismic studies on the Little Salmon and Goose Lake faults near Hydesville, CA, funded by the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program. The report is entitled, In Southern Cascadia, do upper plate faults rupture in concert with subduction zone earthquakes: a paleoseismic investigation of the Little Salmon fault zone. The work helps to quantify earthquake hazards in northern California. The full report is available at this link: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/cfusion/external_grants/reports/G19AP00046.pdf
Lonny Grafman co-authored a new book with Dr. Joshua Pearce on how communities come together to harness the power of the sun and how other people can do it as well.
Thanks to a partnership with Humboldt State Press and the Appropedia Foundation with the backing of a very successful Kickstarter campaign, this book is available free to all that need it.
Interested in renewable energy, solar power, photovoltaics, community-based projects, DIY, or preparing for a zombie apocalypse (or Public Safety Power Shutoffs)? You can find out more and get your copy at https://www.tocatchthesun.com
A new cooperative grant from the Bureau of Land Management to HSU will support graduate students working with Wildlife faculty member Dan Barton to study conservation of seabirds and the Trinidad Seabird Protection Network around Trinidad Head and Sue-Meg over the next three years.
Working with colleagues from four other institutions around the country, Wildlife faculty member Dan Barton co-organized and facilitated a workshop "Active Learning in the Wildlife Classroom: Engaging students beyond the field" with 30 participants at the annual meeting of The Wildlife Society in early November 2021.
INRSEP+ was recognized at the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) 20 years + recognition ceremony for continued excellence in mentoring. INRSEP was originally honored in the PAESMEM class of 2000.
A recording of the event can be seen here: https://paemst.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6880153236f96abb2f9e1d566&id=62477548be&e=5bd7670971
INRSEP is at 36.38.
Wildlife graduate student Janelle Chojnacki has received a grant from The Nuttall Ornithological Club to fund her research into the foraging behavior of common ravens, and their predator impact on the western snowy plover, a federally threatened bird. The project aims to address the causal factors related to increased raven abundance and proximity to plover nesting areas to provide conservation practitioners with useful information for identifying key areas to focus mitigation efforts. Results will be applicable to other prey species throughout ravens’ range in North America.
Chojnacki received the award working in collaboration with her graduate advisor, Dr. Barbara Clucas.
On October 28, Christina Hsu Accomando, professor of CRGS and English, presented an invited talk, "Critical Race Theory: A Vital Lens to Examine Systemic Racism," at the Bedford/St. Martin's WPA Workshop.
October, 2021
Stephen Nachtigall presented a solo exhibition of new works titled "Languisher" at the Morris Graves Museum of Art. The exhibition is open to the public from October 9th to December 12th, with an artist talk to take place on November 7th.
Amber Gaffney, Associate Professor of Psychology co-chaired a symposium titled Identity motives and the rationalization of polarization: Research, practice and a call for inclusive leadership and gave a talk titled To the victor belongs the spoils (the ability to fundamentally change political parties) at the Society for Experimental Psychology (SESP). Dr. Gaffney’s co-author for the talk was Lily Syfers, a Psychology Academic Research MA graduate who is currently completing a Ph.D. program at the University of Alberta. SESP is among the most prestigious and exclusive organizations in social psychology. Membership is by invitation only.
Dr. Rafael Cuevas Uribe (Fisheries Biology) has received a grant from the Western Regional Aquaculture Center to support a collaborative aquaculture project between HSU, Virginia Tech, and Kodiak Seafood and Marine Science Center, which aims to collect and assemble information on western aquaculture and distill it into easily accessible digital media forms.
Funding will enable Cuevas Uribe and a graduate student to collect farm-level data from fish farmers in California, and then produce at least one video vignette that highlights the farmers, their care for their animals, the commitment to environmental stewardship, and social responsibility.
Chris Aberson, Professor and of the Chair Department of Psychology, recently published a paper titled Building Interactive Tutorials for Teaching Psychological Statistics Online with learnr in Technology Innovations in Statistics Education. The paper provides a detailed guide for statistics instructors in developing interactive tutorials that include videos, quizzes, and space for running analyses using R. Dr. Aberson first presented as a workshop in 2019 for the Center for Teaching and Learning.
Dr. Bell recently gave an invited talk at the 50th Anniversary Celebration of Title IX and Women's Athletics at Syracuse University in New York. Her talk, "When Black Women Athletes Enter, We Enter With Them," is an excerpt from her forthcoming book Sporting D.I.V.A.S. : Black Womanhood, Empowerment & Citizenship.
HSU Communication Professor Dr. Maxwell Schnurer and Critical Race, Gender & Sexuality Studies Lecturer Ana Bernal received a $300,000 grant from the Department of Justice Office of Violence Against Women to support the continuation of the HSU Consent Project, a 9-year long campus program that aims to prevent and respond to sexual assault, dating and domestic violence.
Funding will directly support efforts to broaden the reach of the program’s prevention work, it’s team, and it’s capacity to support victims/survivors. It will also further the program’s capacity to offer restorative justice processes through Title IX.
Frank Fogarty (Wildlife) published a new paper demonstrating that observational data can be useful for predicting songbird nest sites in Ibis. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ibi.13020
HSU Fisheries Biology Professor Dr. Darren Ward received a grant from the Cooperative Institute for Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Systems to support an ongoing research collaboration project between HSU, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Fisheries Ecology Division, and the California Coastal Area Office, NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region.
The project supports research and graduate student training related to habitat and conservation of federally-listed salmon, and allows for enhanced research efforts that complement NOAA Fisheries research and management information needs in northern California.
Jaese Lecuyer ('22) and Lauren C. Wieland ('20) and Dr. Troy Lescher (Theatre Arts) published the “Doctoral Projects in Progress in Theatre Arts, 2021” report for the Association of Theatre in Higher Education [ATHE].
President Tom Jackson, Jr. was named Highline College’s Distinguished Alumnus for the 2020-21 year." Read more about the recognition here.":https://thunderword.highline.edu/2021/09/30/distinguished-alum-found-hi…
The Lora Webb Nichols book has been shortlisted for the Paris Photo - Aperture Foundation PhotoBook of the Year.
Book curated and edited by Art Professor Nicole Jean Hill.
Dr. Deepti Chatti (faculty in Environmental Studies at HSU) presented her research at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health on September 30. Dr. Chatti's talk was titled "Taking community voices seriously in international development research".
September, 2021
As leading representative of the Geoscience Alliance, HSU’s Dr. Nievita Bueno Watts (Director, INRSEP+) is participating in a collaborative project with UC Berkeley, UArizona, and the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) to connect Native American students and programs through the National Science Foundation INCLUDES Alliance Project, “Broadening Career Pathways in Food, Energy, and Water Systems with and within Native American Communities” (Native FEWS Alliance).
Project collaborators include Dr. Alice Agogino, UC Berkeley; Dr. Karletta Chief, UArizona; Carrie Billy, JD, AIHEC; Dr. Diana Dalbotten, U Minnesota; Dr. Marco Hatch, U Western Washington.
HSU Wildlife Professor Dr. Micaela Szykman Gunther has received a grant from the Humboldt County Fish and Game Commission to support ongoing research into the diets of two local at-risk species, the Humboldt marten and fisher, and their predators. The project aims to analyze diet data to help inform land management practices that may benefit the two species, and to understand predator impact that will further help land managers and conservationists.
Project collaborators include Dr. Katie Moriarty (National Council for Air and Stream Improvement), graduate students Alyssa Roddy and Erika Anderson, and two undergraduate students.
Dr. Steinberg (Adjunct Professor, Geospatial Sciences) is one of a select group of State Department Exchange Program Alumni chosen to participate in the upcoming Thematic International Exchange Seminar (TIES) on “Environmental Diplomacy and its Impact on American Society”
In February 2022, alumni from across the United States will convene in Denver, Colorado to explore the economics of environmentalism with a focus on how to build new green infrastructure, transition to renewable energy, increase environmental justice, and support sustainable environmental practices that create new economic opportunities.